which guitar?

[stratslingr]

alright, i've been looking at the epiphone riviera p93 for a while now and i really like the wine red/gold hardware (not really a fan of gold, but it looks good on the wine red)/p90 pups combination. i think it's a really cool guitar and it's priced pretty well too. i got to hold one and play it for about five minutes once and it felt okay, but looked like it had the same issues i've read about in reviews. mainly, it just needs a setup really bad and maybe some things upgraded. the riviera is basically a dot with some upgrades.

 

the other option is an epiphone sheraton. it is typically a very well made guitar and every one i've played has been great (even the newer chinese version). it is a very pretty guitar as well with the extra binding and inlay. however, if i go with the sheraton, i will need to pay the extra to buy a bigsby for it. the only good thing about that is that i can spring for a better bigsby. i'll be going with black out of the three finish choices. i really like the wine red of the riviera, but i've always wanted a black guitar too.

 

i am also planning on installing the passive graphtech ghost piezo kit to get some acoustic tone out of the guitar as well. the ghost system would work best with the bigsby because of the saddles they use. when i contacted other manufacturers, they actually advised against using their systems with a bigsby.

 

anyway, a 335 style guitar with a bigsby...

is it worth the extra money to go with the sheraton over the riviera? they will both be upgraded, but in the end, the sheraton would probably be a better guitar all around than the riviera would be. it would also cost quite a bit more.

 

any advice?

[23miles]

I think the Sheraton stock is a pretty nice guitar. With a few minor mods it can be terrific. With a pickup change they can be sensational.

I don't know much about that Riviera P93, it looks nice, but I think the Sheraton might be more versatile in the long run. The Epiphone Riviera or Riviera Jorma Kaukonen Signature model are both very fine dual humbucker double cutaway semis. My favorite 335 clone is the older Ibanez ArtStar AS-120. Frankly I don't think you can go wrong with any one of the Sheraton, Riviera, or AS-120s.