An Exceptionally Fine 1965 Custom Color Epiphone Riviera

1965 Epiphone Riviera E360-TDC

This all original, custom color Epiphone Riviera guitar weighs just 8.00 lbs. Single-bound,  sixteen-inch wide, one and three-quarter inch thick laminated maple body with a maple central block. One-piece mahogany neck with a nut width of just under 1 5/8 inches, a standard Gibson 24 3/4 scale length and a medium profile. Black-faced 'long' headstock with inlaid pearl "Epiphone" script logo and pearl vertical 'cloud' inlay. Two-layer, black over white plastic truss-rod cover with  stylized "E" logo, secured by two screws. Serial number "360383" stamped in blind on back of headstock. Individual Kluson Deluxe 'double-line' tuners with oval metal buttons. Rosewood fretboard with 22 original jumbo frets and single-parallelogram pearl inlays. Two mini-humbucking pickups with outputs of 6.70k and 6.65k, each with a black rectangular label on the underside with "Patent No. / 2,737,842" in gold. Four layer, white over black plastic pickguard with silver and black Epiphone "E." Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch. Black plastic ribbed-side conical-shape "Witch Hat" control knobs. Gibson Tune-O-Matic (retainer) bridge with metal saddles and Epiphone 'Frequensator' tailpiece. Inside the bass 'f' hole is the pale-blue rectangular Epiphone, Kalamazoo label with 'style' "E-360 TD C" and serial number "360383" stamped in black. The 'custom-color' sparkling burgundy metallic finish has faded to a lovely golden color on the top, sides and neck. There are two very small surface marks on the treble-side back of the neck just by the sixteenth fret. The original jumbo frets show very little sign of wear and this fifty-three year old guitar plays and sounds just as it should. We would have given this guitar a strong (9.25) but because of the fading we will rate it at (9.00). Housed in the original Gibson four-latch, black shaped hardshell case with orange plush lining (9.25).

Introduced in 1962, the Riviera was Epiphone's equivalent of the Gibson ES-335 and had the same maple central block. According to Epiphone's records, the Burgundy Mist finish was only offered from 1966 to 1967, yet this guitar is clearly a 1965 model, and therefore must be one of the very first to receive this spectacular color treatment. Riviera's were used by many many great players, including Stevie Ray Vaughan.