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Epiphone Riviera

 

Review of the Epiphone Riviera Semi-Hollowbody Guitar by The Man in the Jar

This instrument exudes an air of stately elegance as soon as you open the case.

Features of the Epiphone Riviera 

Tuners - Unbranded vintage-style covered types (not sealed) with small tuning knobs.

Headstock - The distinctive three-a-side Epiphone "egghead" peghead, black-faced with the Epiphone name emblazoned in abalone.

Nut - The white plastic nut abuts the fretboard. It's nicely cut and smoothly finished.

Neck - The Riviera was issued in 1962 (what a good year that was) as the Epiphone answer to the Gibson 335. The body and neck were, and are, identical to the 335. This set mahogany neck fills the hand in a luxurious fashion, the near parallel slimness offers a very professional and "grown-up" playing experience. The grain of the mahogany glows nicely through the translucent cherry finish.
The neck begins its flare into the heel behind the 15th fret and access to all 22 frets is quite easy. 

Fretboard - The dark rosewood fretboard has a lovely close grain that sets off the abalone parallelogram fret markers perfectly. Antique binding finishes off what is a very special neck indeed.

Frets - Medium and well-polished with a low, rounded profile.

Action - The Riviera came out of the box in perfect tune!  The factory set-up also provided a good action. Spend a few moments on your own set-up and the action could be made very slinky indeed.

Body - This guitar body is an absolute beauty. It's made from laminated maple with what looks like a mahogany central block (visible by peering in through one of the f-holes). Its big "womanly" curves are accentuated by a slight arching to the top and the back. The hollow wings are punctuated by two classic f-holes. A double dose of antiqued binding picks out the front and the back and sets off the gorgeous dark cherry finish to perfection.

Bridge - Standard tune-o-matic bridge with individual saddles, each adjustable for intonation. Height is adjusted by means of a screw at each end of the bridge assembly. This type of bridge is held on by string tension and will come away from the guitar completely if all the strings are removed.
Once over the bridge the strings are anchored in a strange looking tailpiece that is labelled "Frequensator, Pat Pending". The bass strings run a good six or seven inches behind the bridge before terminating in the tailpiece; the treble strings are given only half that distance. I've been unable to unearth any of the real science behind the Frequensator, but anything that's been invented by Professor Pat Pending is good enough for me! 

Pickups - These are labelled as NY mini-humbuckers and are another design feature that differentiates the Riviera from the 335. I really like the look of these pickups as they make the already generous proportions of this lovely lady look even more Amazonian.

Controls - Independent volume and tone controls for each pickup and a three-way pickup selector switch are nicely spaced on the guitars expansive face.

Pickguard - The vintage-style "floating" pickguard is supported on a chrome bracket and sports the Epiphone "E" logo.

Strap-buttons - There are two medium-sized buttons, one on the bottom of the body forming part of the tailpiece and one on the back of the heel. 

Output Jack - Set in the front of the body behind the controls. 

Finish - Excellent throughout. The cherry finish is gorgeous, much better than the photo would have you believe.

 

Sound of the Epiphone Riviera 

The bridge humbucker gives a bright, sweet tone that chimes in a very Rickenbacker style giving a perfect rock 'n' roll soloing, or jangly psychodelia, tone. The neck pickup running alone delivers its jangle in a far smokier atmosphere with almost aloof flatness. This tone is fantastic for ambitious jazz-chord voicings where the notes need to stand out with the authority of natural definition. Combining the two pickups delivers a rich tonal complexity with sweet, ringing highs and mids, underpinned by an understated, yet solid bass response with just enough sustain supplied by the mahogany central block to allow the notes to die sweetly without choking.
Overdriving these delicately balanced voices just a touch adds to the excitement, but take it too far and the subtle nuances of the clean sounds give way to brashness. Which is fine when you need it; the bridge pickup alone delivers a skinny, snarling, punkish aggression when overdriven hard.  

 

Overall Impressions of the Epiphone Riviera 

This is an extraordinarily classy guitar. It has the familiarity of a 335 blues workhorse yet delivers a more delicate jazz-flavoured voicing. You may miss a vibrato arm but the Frequensator tailpiece makes behind the bridge wobble antics an interesting possibility. Blues is certainly in the natural range of this little jazz-box and it will probably follow you as far as Brit-pop, but this lady is too classy to go any further. At least not on a first date.
The Riviera is a deeply satisfying guitar to hold, wear and play, with acres of tonal excellence for you to explore. The better you play, the more this guitar will reward your efforts.

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