NGD: Epiphone Riviera Custom P93

grayn

I went to PMT, in Leeds, this morning.
A shop I'd not been to before.
To try out an Epiphone Riviera Custom P93.
It's another one of those guitars I've been looking at, for some time.
I guess I'd had it in my head that at it's price, it couldn't be as good as it looks.
I've been a P90 fan for many years.
But like you'd expect, not all P90s are equal.
I suppose the single P90, on an old SG Junior, would be the prime example.
A thick, single-coil sound, with plenty of bite but a depth and sweetness in there, too.
I've been disappointed with some P90s, on quite pricey guitars.
And reasonably impressed by some, on relatively cheap models.
And this guitar has 3!
All of the dogear variety, my favourite.
Non dogear P90s just don't look as ballsy, IMO.
Well I'm happy to say, the P90s on this Riviera sound just how I'd hoped they would.
I can't say they sound like a vintage SG Junior's P90.
It's impossible to say.
Being mounted on a maple, semi-hollow bodied guitar.
But they do have the characteristics, my ears were listening for.
Plenty of grit and output but that sweetness, too.
Absolutely beautiful, played clean.
With a depth and tonailty to help self expression.
Pushing a little overdrive, these pickups sing very nicely, indeed.
The build quality and finishing on this Riviera, is very good.
No flaws, that I can see or feel.
This is a very solid guitar and quite a weighty beast.
Not a problem for me but for some, it may be an issue.
The Bigsby is the B700, which I don't think is as good as the B60, on my Gretsch.
It's mainly down to the tension bar, IMO.
It may hold the strings down on the bridge saddles, very firmly.
But it also inhibits the effectiveness of the vibrato system.
Fortunately after use, it doesn't detune the guitar, which is a plus.
I'm seriously considering changing the strings from 10s to 11s and running them over the tension bar.
I'm not a thrasher, so can't foresee any saddle popping problems.
I got my Gretsch for playing RnR, Rockabilly and song writing.
The Riviera is more for blues and rock.
And it really suits that role.
Each pickup on this guitar has it's own volume control, with a single, master tone.
With a 3-way selector, that only effects the bridge and neck pickups.
This gives vast array of sounds, easily accessed.
The P90s sound great, individually.
And when you have the middle pickup on, with one or both of the other pickups, you get a mild out-of-phase sound, that sounds awesome.
The Riviera may be a little weighty but it does balance perfectly, on a strap.
Would I change anything?
The Bigsby, as said and I think a bound headstock would have been nice.
Any mods?
Possibly some locking tuners.
All together then, a guitar that lived up to it's promise.
And for very little cash.
On the cash front, PMT do a price matching service.
So I got the guitar for £110 cheaper, than they were asking.
And I picked up a very solid Stagg case, for the Riviera, for £69.
It fits very snugly, as does my Gretsch.
Result!

grayn

grayn

grayn

Legionreturns

Looks lush! Any feedback issues? 

grayn

Legionreturns said:

Looks lush! Any feedback issues? 

Not so far.
They had the demo amp, in a small booth, cranked right up and it had no issues, at all.
I turned it down to save my ears.
Sounds great, at home

guitargeek62

You have an interesting way of typing.

rlw

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Jack_

Is this some sort of poem in disguise?

ChrisMusic

Nice score there grayn.

I love P90s, so three of the little tone monsters got me all excited.

Found a Wildwood video with Greg Kock at the helm of one of these, sure sounds good to me...

Duration 5:11

grayn

Thanks for the vid.
He didn't check out most of the tones available, by adjusting the middle pickup, volume.
Some nice playing though.

jonnyburgo

I really enjoy, Greg Koch's, playing.
He can, really play.
Congrats on the, NGD.

Sassafras

Gets my seal of approval.
Very
nice
looking
guitar.

grayn

I just got into the habit of going to a new line, on completing a sentence.
I hope it isn't too confusing for folk

thermionic

Lovely dark cherry colour on that, sets it apart from the ubiquitous Dots.

grayn

Cheers.
It really is a lot darker, in person, than it appears on vids and pics.

darthed1981

Congrats dude - I've been thinking of trying one of these out.

I literally can find NOTHING wrong with Epiphones, they get bashed a lot but they seem to make staggeringly good guitars for the money and good guitars full stop.

ennspek

I
Like
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H
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grayn

darthed1981 said:

Congrats dude - I've been thinking of trying one of these out.

I literally can find NOTHING wrong with Epiphones, they get bashed a lot but they seem to make staggeringly good guitars for the money and good guitars full stop.

I totally agree.
I've owned a lot of high end guitars, over the years and this Epi really stands up with them.
I'm not saying all Epis are great, I simply don't know.
But this one is remarkable and hard to put down.