Members lowbrow Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 Tell me about it! I'm gassing.... They made them a few years ago in one of the Korean plants. Looks like this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BG76 Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 This is crazy, I have been meaning to post for the past couple days about what model that is. My friend has a blue one that is pretty nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 yep. mine's "antique natural". got it cuz i wanted a mahogany neck. waddya wanna know? almost every bit of hardware was complete {censored}e. pups were crap (gave em to jj), pots were more like on/off switches, switch was cheap. and plastics tuners? i mean, come on. tailpiece is fine. bridge looks kinda wimpy but it'll do. neck feels a hair fatter than my 60s gibby neck, not bad. fret work wasn't bad, not as smooth as gibby. fretboard could use a bit of a roll on the edges. tuner holes look they were drilled by a monkey having his first day on the job. didn't notice till after i bought it. really ridiculous how bad the job is, maybe 1/8" away from where they should be. in conclusion: except for the tuner holes, decent wood but count on putting more money into it to upgrade the incredibly crappy hardware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lowbrow Posted September 30, 2010 Author Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 GAS GAS GAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 One of my first guitars was an original 60s version. An absolutely increrdible guitar if you like thinner necks. Played like a gem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lowbrow Posted September 30, 2010 Author Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 ...almost every bit of hardware was complete {censored}e. pups were crap (gave em to jj), pots were more like on/off switches, switch was cheap.... Ah. Hmmm. Thanks for the info. I have played the one I have my eye on and it plays well and I like the neck, but I haven't been able to plug it in. Pots and switches are easy...but those pups...that's the key element. Where they that "typical" Epiphone muddy, or? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 muddy AND wimpy. just no beef. they might be better in a solid body but not good in the riv. have a set of old electra minis (which i've heard and love) and a set of old GFS memphis minis (which i haven't heard yet but are supposed to sound great). the riv will be getting one of them (likely the electras). BTW - some semis have access to the innards at the bridge pup, not the riv. it's working thru the f-hole only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 also BTW - replaced my tuners with grover deluxes so i didn't need new screw holes. made a world of difference to the feel of the guitar. didn't feel like a toy anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 Epiphone's mini's are just some generic, Asian-made OEM mini's. Bland and anemic. Not sure if real Gibsons will fit...they only sell the Epiphone-style mini's in Les Paul Deluxe P-90 housings. I have a box full of vintage mini's and the LPD-style have shorter mounting legs than the ones used in Epiphones and SG's. They should still fit, but may need a trimmed spring. I think GFS uses the same PU for both mounts. Either way, a pair new mini's will run you from $75 (GFS)-$320 (Lollar) on top of the price of the guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 The Gibson mini fits. The Firebird mini does not. Worth the swap. I had the same experience with the import mini on my kat. Even the Kent Armstrong import minis are better. EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 Epiphone's mini's are just some generic, Asian-made OEM mini's. Bland and anemic. Not sure if real Gibsons will fit...they only sell the Epiphone-style mini's in Les Paul Deluxe P-90 housings.I have a box full of vintage mini's and the LPD-style have shorter mounting legs than the ones used in Epiphones and SG's. They should still fit, but may need a trimmed spring.Either way, a pair new mini's will run you from $190 (Kent Armstong)-$320 (Lollar) on top of the price of the guitar. yep. i got concerned when i saw an ad for another riv. the owner said he had a luthier mount a seymore duncan mini inside the epi cover cuz the SD was shorter. not sure about standard gibby size but the epi minis are identical to my electra and GFS minis as well as some deisel minis i used to have, mounting and dimension wise, so i'm inclined to think it's the SDs that are funky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 oh yeah - my GFS set was $65, some great reviews on the web. electra minis were $350 but they came with a guitar attached. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 yep. i got concerned when i saw an ad for another riv. the owner said he had a luthier mount a seymore duncan mini inside the epi cover cuz the SD was shorter. not sure about standard gibby size but the epi minis are identical to my electra and GFS minis as well as some deisel minis i used to have, mounting and dimension wise, so i'm inclined to think it's the SDs that are funky. Well, I know with Firebird mini's the vintage Gibson PU's are a slightly different size and shape than modern Gibson Firebird PU's. IIRC the newer ones are slightly larger and don't fit in vintage mounting rings. But the Epiphone-style should all be the same except for the mounting legs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 you would know better than i about this stuff. i have no experience with anything other than what i already mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lowbrow Posted September 30, 2010 Author Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 Hmmm...replacement pups, pots and switch plus you gotta work through the f-ing f-hole. My GAS is kinda receding. Thank you for the input gentlemen. I'm going to ponder this a bit...it may make more sense for me to get another 60's Gretsch Clipper and re-fit it like I did my main axe. The Epi was going to be used for backup mostly...or maybe I just ought use one of my solids for backup...chances are I won't need it anyway (knock on wood). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 casino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BG76 Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 The deal is add up what the guitar costs - there are a couple on ebay for about $700 which seems high but maybe that's what they cost. Then figure pots, switches, tuners, knobs (I'm assuming it has metric knobs?), etc... and pickups and you have to put $1000 into it just to get that stuff done. Makes it seem like less of a deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 The deal is add up what the guitar costs - there are a couple on ebay for about $700 which seems high but maybe that's what they cost.Then figure pots, switches, tuners, knobs (I'm assuming it has metric knobs?), etc... and pickups and you have to put $1000 into it just to get that stuff done.Makes it seem like less of a deal. for that kinda money, you might find an elitist riv (they're kinda rare tho) which wouldn't need those upgrades. an casino (not elitist) from the same era (late 90s) goes for around $475 (saw 2 recently that didn't sell). they had a hog neck also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lowbrow Posted September 30, 2010 Author Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 I do my own work and the one I'm looking at is $400 with hardshell....and I still think it might not be the way to go... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lowbrow Posted September 30, 2010 Author Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 casino That's an option. The new ones are pretty damn nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bsman Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 The tailpiece on rivieras always seemed to me to be a bit of a nightmare -- rather unnecessarily delicate-looking. Are they pretty solid, or prone to breakage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 mine seems solid, prolly better than a casino in ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 The minis in my Riveria were actual gibson pickups. I compared them to my les paul deluxe and they had the same tone, resistance and frequency responce. They both had the same patent pending stickers as well. I highly doubt theres an epiphone version of a mini in them, Nor do I think they are using third world cheap versions of the pickup. I suppose its possible but I haven't seen or heard of an epiphone version of the minis. If there was, the only upgrade path would be to get actual gibsons or use Seymour pups. Anything else would be a step down. On mine, the rythum pup had a very woody tone and the lead pickup just plain cranked with a nice edgey dig. The Dot I have is a piece of junk in comparison to the riveria. It isnt even in the same league playing wise or tone wise. The Frequensator tailpiece is a big key to its tone. It makes the bass strings brighter and the top strings easier to bend. The Riveria was a higher end semihollow above the Dot or Casino at the time. The only reason the casino was so popular is the Beatles used them. That didnt make them better guitars. The Riveria was a much better build all the way around. Great tone and playability. I'm just wondering if the quality or the reissues matches the original. If it does, its a fine instrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 There is definitely a different, cheap, OEM Epihone version of the mini-HB. It can be found in the '90s Epiphone Les Paul Deluxe, the Alleykat, the Korean Rivera and others. The Epiphone Elitest used Gibson PU's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 Yep. My Alleykat had a cheapo in it. EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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