strokingit Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Hello, I am about to buy my first guitar (WOO!) and i have narrowed my options down to two guitars. I can buy a vintage 65 Riviera (made in kalamazoo, michigan) from a local dealer for 450, the condition for its age is remarkable and it plays like a charm. OR i can buy one of these new 2007 dots/rivieras. Since i am an admitted noobie to guitars in general, i would love to know the pros and cons of this decision. Any help is MUCH appreciated, thanks! :] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Hello' date=' I am about to buy my first guitar (WOO!) and i have narrowed my options down to two guitars. I can buy a vintage 65 Riviera (made in kalamazoo, michigan) from a local dealer for 450, the condition for its age is remarkable and it plays like a charm. OR i can buy one of these new 2007 dots/rivieras. Since i am an admitted noobie to guitars in general, i would love to know the pros and cons of this decision. Any help is MUCH appreciated, thanks! :'] First off. There is no way you're going be able to buy a 1965 Riviera from a dealer for $450. An uninformed private seller ? A maybe. What I think you're being sold is a guitar made in Japan in the early/mid 70's that does say Epiphone" and it says it's a Riviera on the interior label and may has a label that suggests the company that made the guitar is located in Kalamazoo but the guitar isn't a vintage Epiphone USA Riviera unless the dealer is really on the pipe. A Vintage Riviera is going to start at about $2500 and get real close to $4500 depending on year and options. The easiest way to tell is by the serial number. First of all if it doesn't have one embossed in the back of the headstock then it absolutely is not a Kalamazoo model-and that model number on the Kalamazoo interior label will be E 360 TD or perhaps other letters. If it says "EA 255 Riviera" it's the low end Japanese one . If the interior label is present and says "Riviera AS" and has no model number then you've got a good Japanese one and for 450 these would be a great deal but I have a feeling yours is a early '70/late 70's Matsumoku-made model with a bolt on neck in which you'd be well as advised. Post a pic to let us know what we're dealing with so we can inform you. ...and Al's your uncle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 A Vintage Riviera is going to start at about $2500 and get real close to $4500 depending on year and options. ...and Al's your uncle. Wow! $2500-$4500? ...and I traded mine (at the dealer where I used to work in '66)' date=' for basically it's cost, (which was around $450 in those days) on another guitar he had. Sometimes you can make some bad decisions when you don't know what the future can bring... . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdgails Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 if its a bolt on neck riviera, its crap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchie1281734003 Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Uncle Al was absolutely right in what he said,all i would like to add,is if the Riviera is Matsumoku,it might not necessarily,have"AS"after the name.The "AS"stands for the colour,in this case ANTIQUE SUNBURST,you may find the guitar label says RIVIERA N,or RIVIERA WR,in which case the guitar is either N for NATURAL or WR for WINE RED.Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strokingit Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 thanks 4 all the help fellas, im gonna get a pic of the serial # and the neck structure and post em up on here. but i totally get you al im gonna make sure i dont get ripped on a deal like this haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RotcanX Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 You don't need a picture. It's dead simple: if the neck is bolted on, it's crapola and you should walk away. If it has a set neck, buy it, assuming there are no issues such as a warped or twisted neck or other damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Uncle Al was absolutely right in what he said' date='all i would like to add,is if the Riviera is Matsumoku,it might not necessarily,have"AS"after the name.The "AS"stands for the colour,in this case ANTIQUE SUNBURST,you may find the guitar label says RIVIERA N,or RIVIERA WR,in which case the guitar is either N for NATURAL or WR for WINE RED.Hope this helps.[/quote'] Absolutely true. Thanx for the correction and clarification. My mind was working that it *was* a '65 and if so it would have been one of two kinds of sunburst-the typical vintage sunburst or Royal tan which is a minimal burst pattern and often tends to look very olive green with age. Cherry wasn't an option until '66. $450 for a Matsumoku? I'd say grab it too. $450 for a later Asian version? It'd have to be something special. $150 for the EA-255 IF it came with a nice case. A photo or even a serial number will solve this mystery in a hurry. ...and Al's your uncle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RotcanX Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 True, true.. but I'm assuming that this "Nashville, Tennessee" confusion indicates some kind of Nipponese origin. My bet is it's an Aria though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strokingit Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 yeahh my bad it is acutally supposed to be a 66 model cherry flavor. im still waiting on the photo for the serial # but it does look like it does have a screw on neck. did the 66 come with a screw on neck? i just dont wanna get ripped here. i want to post a picture but im new to these forums, haha ;) how do you post a pic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 yeahh my bad it is acutally supposed to be a 66 model cherry flavor. im still waiting on the photo for the serial # but it does look like it does have a screw on neck. did the 66 come with a screw on neck? i just dont wanna get ripped here. i want to post a picture but im new to these forums' date=' haha ;) how do you post a pic?[/quote'] If it comes with a bolt -on neck don't even bother with it-it's CRAP and your saying it's cherry red pretty much sums up that it's a LOW END Japanese/Matsumoku-made instrument from the early 70's.- Either a model number EA-250 or EA-255. For $450 you can buy a hell of a nice guitar like a brand new Dot that will blow that cheesy crap completely away. NO USA-made Epiphones ever came with bolt-on necks. What's happened is they've deciphered the serial number to 1966 but those serial numbers aren't the Gibson serial numbers used by Epiphone from 1957 to 1970 so it's BS. IF you really. really must have that particular guitar offer the guy a hundred bucks for it-There's one at a local flea market that's been there since last summer and they want $150. I've been having problems myself trying to post photos so I'm not the one to ask. Good luck. ...and Al's your uncle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferris14 Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Frenchie: I need help with choosing a guitar. I'm a beginner, and I don't know much about guitars yet. I know I want something like an ES-325 but I don't want to spend a whole lot on a guitar yet $500 is what I'd like to stay around. This may sound stupid but what about taking a single melody make Gibson or something else, and putting a vintage mini-humbucker in it? Again, I don't know much, but I'm all ears! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeMTL Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Hey, Im kind of in the same situation as the guy who wrote about his riviera for 450. Alot of You seem to know what your talking about and i am wondering where i stand with my epiphone. The pic of my guitar is my avatar..can you tell what type is it? thank you...I got it for 250$... and the tag says epiphone 510ZT/// thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Hey' date=' Im kind of in the same situation as the guy who wrote about his riviera for 450. Alot of You seem to know what your talking about and i am wondering where i stand with my epiphone. The pic of my guitar is my avatar..can you tell what type is it? thank you...I got it for 250$... and the tag says epiphone 510ZT/// thanks[/quote'] One moment while I channel the now-deceased (or at least now-ceased) Uncle Al....OOOOMMMM...I'm getting a message from the other side...yes...I do believe..uh huh...it's UNCLE AL... Hi Ya kids!..the guitar in the photograph was originally an Aria model called a 5103T. In 1971 (and not a moment before) Norlin, who then owned Gibson, contracted with Matsumoku, the parent company of Aria, to make a line of lower end, Japanese-made imports under the Epiphone brand name. At first they simply put Epiphone-esque headstocks and logos on the existing Aria models and yours was called a 5103TE (earlier ones might only say 5103T and later ones might only say 5103E)..this was only in 1971 so you can know that your guitars was made in 1971. In 1972 the model became known as an EA-250. These are not great guitars but if you're happy with it and it's in good shape and playable... $250 seems reasonable...OK I gotta go..being dead isn't as easy as it sounds and it sure is hot where I'm at...but the music's better here...none of that floating on a cloud harp crap...OK back to Nelson... whoa...that was weird... Hope that helps. Nelson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeMTL Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Finally some real light shedding...thank you nelson... ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claydots Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 I have one of the early bolt neck Rivera's with the 3 point Schaller humbuckers and the strip tuners. It sounds so Kinks or Voxey (unplugged or plugged in) that I would not get rid of that guitar until it's time to stop and just have an acoustic. I know it's not of any real $$ value, but tone wise... Maybe I got one of those one in a hundred guitars but I have never had problems with it. The neck is sleek, it hefts well and balances well. The 'buckers just scream. I thought about putting them in something else but all the vibe is in the guitar. Like I said, it sounds great unplugged so the tone isn't in the PUP's, it's the guitar. Not all of them are dogs.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrien Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Hi guys! could you please check out my topic concerning an old epiphone riviera?? thanks!! http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=7193 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 One moment while I channel the now-deceased (or at least now-ceased) Uncle Al....OOOOMMMM...I'm getting a message from the other side...yes...I do believe..uh huh...it's UNCLE AL... OK I gotta go..being dead isn't as easy as it sounds and it sure is hot where I'm at...but the music's better here...none of that floating on a cloud harp crap...OK back to Nelson... whoa...that was weird... Hope that helps. Nelson "Earth to Uncle Al"...come in please! How are things on the "other side"? :- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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