Epiphone's Equivalent of the Gibson ES-335

This guitar weighs in at just 8.10 lbs. and has a nut width of just under 1 5/8 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Single-bound laminated maple top, back, and sides with maple central block, one-piece mahogany neck, and rosewood fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets and inlaid pearl single-parallelogram position markers. Long headstock with inlaid pearl Epiphone script logo and pearl cloud inlay. Individual dual-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons. Four-layer (white/black/white/black) plastic pickguard. Two patent-number mini-humbucker pickups with black plastic surrounds and outputs of 6.79k and 7.12k. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch, all on lower treble bout. Black plastic bell-shaped knobs with metal tops. ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic retainer bridge with metal saddles and Epiphone Frequensator tailpiece. Serial number ("300329") on a rectangular blue label inside the bass f-hole. The tuners and the tailpiece are nickel-plated. Minimal belt buckle scarring on the back, a couple of tiny marks on the top, and some light finish checking. Apart from a small expertly and almost invisibly repaired seam crack on the left side of the headstock, this is an extremely clean guitar, but because of the repair, I will only give it a condition rating of 8.25 (excellent). Housed in its original black Epiphone hardshell case with royal blue plush lining (8.50).

Introduced in 1962, the Riviera was Ephiphone's equivalent of the Gibson ES-335 and had the same maple central block. The Royal Tan finish was replaced in 1965 with Sunburst. Rivieras were used by many great players, including Stevie Ray Vaughan and Lenny Kravitz.

In the June 22, 1965 Epiphone Price List, the Riviera in Royal Tan or shaded finish listed for $369.50 (Walter Carter, Epiphone: The Complete History, p. 121).