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Epiphone Riviera Semi-hollowbody Electric Guitar - Royal Tan

Semi-hollowbody Electric Guitar with Maple Body, Maple Top, Mahogany Neck, Laurel Fingerboard, 2 Mini Humbucking Pickups, and Frequensator Tailpiece - Royal Tan
16 Write review Item ID: EORRTNH
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Epiphone Riviera Semi-hollowbody Electric Guitar - Royal Tan
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Epiphone’s Classic Double-Cut Semi-hollowbody Electric

Favored by players like Jorma Kaukonen, Nick Valensi, Robben Ford, and Noel Gallagher, the Epiphone Riviera features a resonant semi-hollow body, along with a sustain-inducing center block. You’ll appreciate how comfortable this semi-hollowbody electric guitar’s Rounded C-shaped mahogany neck is, while its 12-inch-radius laurel fingerboard supplies you with fleet-fingered playability. Plug the Riviera into your favorite guitar amplifier, and you’ll be greeted by gorgeous, vintage-inflected tones via dual PRO mini humbuckers. The Riviera boasts a host of high-end details, including a rich-sounding Graph Tech NuBone nut, super-stable Epiphone Vintage Deluxe tuners, and a rock-solid LockTone Tune-o-matic bridge. A supremely balanced Frequensator tailpiece and an eye-grabbing pickguard with a foil-emblazoned “E” logo complete the Epiphone Riviera.

Semi-hollow construction blends hollowbody warmth and solidbody sustain

The Riviera is a double-cut semi-hollowbody electric guitar, much like the classic ES-335. It has a maple laminate body that produces a bright, resonant tone. Its solid center block performs double duty by enabling long-lasting sustain and resisting feedback. Guitarists of all playing styles will appreciate how comfortable the Riviera’s body shape truly is. If you’re gigging regularly and need a dependable axe with serious sustain, you owe it to yourself to give the Riviera a try.

Dual PRO mini humbuckers produce standout tone

What’s not to love about mini humbuckers? Players have loved them ever since their introduction decades ago. And so do the many guitarists at Sweetwater. They have a tight, beefy tone that’s well-behaved through clean amps. Once you kick on your dirt pedal and crank the gain, though, these humbuckers come alive with rip-roaring fury. The Epiphone Riviera has a classic control layout with individual tone and volume knobs for each pickup, plus a three-way toggle for easy pickup selection. This outstanding semi-hollowbody guitar also includes high-end CTS potentiometers and a heavy-duty output jack.

Epiphone — building high-quality instruments since 1873

Since Epiphone’s founding in 1873, they’ve produced innumerable iconic instruments. From long before the British Invasion of the early 1960s to metal, punk, thrash, grunge, and beyond, the Epiphone logo has stood for quality and value. Epiphone backs up their products with their limited lifetime warranty, so you can rest assured that your Riviera will give you a lifetime of tasty tone and playing enjoyment.

Epiphone Riviera Semi-hollowbody Electric Guitar Features:

  • A double-cut semi-hollowbody electric with ES-like styling
  • PRO mini humbuckers deliver tight, bright tone with focused output
  • Sleek rounded C-shaped neck feels great to play
  • Graph Tech NuBone nut is rich and resonant
  • Epiphone Vintage Deluxe tuners provide unmatched tuning stability
  • Riviera pickguard with foil “E” logo catches the eyes of your audience
  • Rock-solid LockTone Tune-o-matic bridge with a Frequensator tailpiece

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Additional Media

Electric Guitar Buying Guide

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Tech Specs

  • General
  • Number of Strings 6
  • Left-/Right-handed Right-handed
  • Body
  • Body Type Semi-hollowbody
  • Body Shape Riviera Doublecut
  • Body Material Maple
  • Body Finish Gloss
  • Color Royal Tan
  • Neck
  • Neck Material Mahogany
  • Neck Shape Rounded C
  • Neck Joint Set Neck
  • Radius 12"
  • Fingerboard Material Indian Laurel
  • Fingerboard Inlay Pearloid Parallelograms
  • Number of Frets 22, Medium Jumbo
  • Scale Length 24.724"
  • Nut Width 1.693"
  • Nut Material Graph Tech NuBone
  • Hardware
  • Bridge/Tailpiece Epiphone LockTone Tune-O-Matic Bridge with Frequensator Tailpiece
  • Tuners Epiphone Vintage Deluxe
  • Electronics
  • Neck Pickup Epiphone PRO Mini Humbucker
  • Bridge Pickup Epiphone PRO Mini Humbucker
  • Controls 2 x volume, 2 x tone
  • Switching 3-way toggle pickup switch
  • Miscellaneous
  • Strings .010-.046
  • Case/Gig Bag Sold Separately
  • Manufacturer Part Number: EORRTNH1

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Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5

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Gorgeous great sounding guitar

You really have to see this guitar in person to appreciate how great it looks. Of course how it sounds is more important - it sounds even better than it looks. The mini humbuckers are super versatile - great full jazz sound, takes gain on the bridge pickup really well, the middle position is a wonderful chinky grainy rhythm guitar sound for R&B, funk, and Americana music. It is a very bright sounding guitar - I run the tone knobs on 7 for both pickups - this seems to tame the brightness - being bright is a pro not a con - if you need something to cut through the mix and be full sounding at the same time this is your guitar. You can usually tame a bright guitar but you can't always clean up muddy pickups. I actually also own a Burgundy version of this guitar that I have started playing slide on - hence the need for another one in regular tuning. I cannot stress enough what a great design, pickups, neck, and build quality you get with this guitar.
by Henbro from columbia, MO on
Music background: Professional musician

Where Has This Been All My Life?

I've been playing guitar for 45 years. Owned many Epiphones, including a 335 & a Dot w/ Classic '57 Humbuckers. Somehow the Riviera flew under my radar. Wish I'd found this 45 years ago. I have found my "Forever 335".
The mini-humbuckers have the clarity & bite of a single coil while still having the beefy girth of a humbucker. Crystal clear clean tones without a trace of muddiness yet plenty of muscle to push an overdriven amp or even your favorite fuzz. Brighter than a P90 and less mids than Firebird pups. Perfect for my playing style (Classic Rock, mostly clean-ish w/ occasional high-gain soloing). These instantly became my favorite pickups. I will never change them. (Btw, I mod everything. I've upgraded the pickups on almost every guitar I've ever owned. Not these. Never. Imo, these mini-humbuckers are the finest pups that Epiphone has ever made).
Neck shape is about a medium-C. Less chunky than the Gibson rounded C and just a hair thicker than the slim-taper D on my Dot. Fits my (arthritic) hand nicely and is easy to play.
Build quality is what I expect from a modern Epi. Needed a setup & fret polishing out of the box but otherwise the fit & finish are immaculate.
Finally, this thing is just gorgeous to look at. Mine has a deep honey-gold color on the back & sides and the woodgrain just pops. I've had many compliments already by musicians & non-musicians alike.
by Rob W from NC on
Music background: Playing Guitar Since 1979

Epiphone did its homework!

I'm a luthier, so as soon as I play tested my Riviera, I took it apart. To my surprise, it is close to vintage spec in its construction. It has kerfed spruce (I think) between the maple body block and the outer plates. It has some form of mahogany for the neck and an extended tenon, not as long as vintage, but close. The body finish, though poly, is quite thin. Maybe the biggest surprise was the pickups. They are good enough to keep. The neck pickup reads at about 6k and keeps the neck tone nice and clear, true to mini humbucker timbre. The bridge pickup reads at about 7.5k. That gives it some bark as a bridge pickup and balances well with the neck pickup.

My criticisms are that the neck is more c shaped than slim taper (I may be the only guitar player alive who loves the slim taper neck profile, because I have small hands). The fret work and truss rod adjustment needed work to get good action. The guitar needed a professional fret levelling to play its best. The tangs of two frets hadn't been trimmed enough and they cracked the binding, but not badly. Finally, the bridge hardware buzzes. I'll replace it with a much better bridge.

All told though, it is a great guitar for the money. It's a pretty great guitar period. It looks wonderful and sounds really good. With some professional setup, which most people do with their new guitars anyway, it has the potential to be a very good instrument. I happen to have some spare vintage mini humbuckers that I'm going to swap in. Between the setup and the vintage pickups, I'll be reasonably close to vintage without spending an arm and a leg.
by Phil from Portland, Oregon on
Music background: Former Pro Player

My first Chinese made guitar

but Gibson's have gotten crazy expensive … so ….have to say I'm surprised at the high quality. Nice set up out of the box. Beautiful finish. Fretboard plays well. Frets smooth. Really nice sounding PUPS. Will definitely consider Epiphones for future needs
by Andy H from NJ on
Music background: Musician

Excellent guitar!

First a big shout out to Zach Richards, he went the extra mile! Thanks man! Hey Zach you were correct, this guitar is dark sounding! I normally don't review this quickly, however, here goes. My go to strings have always been DR Pure Blues 10-46s (nickel strings) I'll have to go to brighter sounding strings. It was surpirizing how dark this guitar sounds being a maple bodied one. I had it setup, I highly recommend getting it done when you purchase a guitar from Sweetwater. I'm using 2/3s less pressure to fret( Big shout out to Michael B. excellent tech!). I played the Riviera through a Vox amp and this thing is still dark sounding, tweeked the eqs and found excellent
tones. Intonation was dead on! the frets are smooth until you get past the 12th fret just a little rough, they won't cut your hand up though. I removed the gaudy pick guard, which is the only complaint I have about this Riviera, why hide such a beautifully grain top under a pick guard!. Love the mini buckers! the craftsmanship is fantastic! It stays in tune and responds very well to your picking, all pots are very responsive as well, beautiful sustain, gorgeous looks! Bottom line, buy one! OK gotta go buy a set of non-nickel strings!
by Mike Johnson from Moultrie, GA on
See also: semi hollowbody guitars, Epiphone, Epiphone Semi-hollowbody Guitars
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