Epiphone Limited Edition Riviera Custom P93 Electric Guitar 

Comments about Epiphone Limited Edition Riviera Custom P93 Electric Guitar:

What a great service. I could not get this particular model/colour in the UK so I was a bit anxious ordering a guitar unseen from the US. I should not have worried. The service was excellent and the guitar was better than described!! I would most definitely deal with you again. Thanks!!

Comments about Epiphone Limited Edition Riviera Custom P93 Electric Guitar:

im a luthier on the side and have experience building and repairing guitars so the minute i got this guitar out of the box i set it up just like i wanted it so be prepared to do the same. the truss rod needed to be tightened and action lowered but most importantly the intonation is terrible. the A string will not intonate at all with the bridge in the location it is, it is still about a quarter step flat at the 12th fret. hopefully when i put a roller bridge in it it will have more room to intonate it accurately.

im already planning on rewinding the pickups myself so i have some nice custom ones because the stock ones are very bland and muddy.

the bigsby is the only part that i really enjoy so far but without a roller bridge it still offers some tuning issues itself.

i also had a slight cosmetic flaw where the fretboard meets the top, some cracking in the laquer. also the pickup covers were not fitted right with the pickguard, by this i mean the pickguard prevented the covers from sitting flush as intended and required some adjusting.

i would definitely buy this guitar from a store so that you know what your paying for.

Comments about Epiphone Limited Edition Riviera Custom P93 Electric Guitar:

No complaints whatsoever about the guitar. It was packaged well and arrived in perfect condition. Shipping costs to Canada are high by virtue of the international destination that USPS charges. It was delivered very fast though. I later found the same guitar on a Canadian site for the same price but shipping within Canada was free.

Comments about Epiphone Limited Edition Riviera Custom P93 Electric Guitar:

Musicians Friend was great as always, I was very unhappy with the quality of the guitar. I own 6 Epiphone guitars and for the money they all are one of the best values on the market, until now. The P93 pickups were more than 1/4 inch from the body with no spacers,the sound was muted and uneven. The looks are great from a distance butdoes not meet the quality of the Epiphone Les Paul Custom, J200, Hummingbird, Les Paul Studio or the Sheridan 2. Thanks for the refund.

Comments about Epiphone Limited Edition Riviera Custom P93 Electric Guitar:

Some of the reviews I have read about Ephiphone guitars concerned me, but this one is beautiful. The finish is great, the electronics are good and the set-up was good (minor adjustments required.) My only complaint (observation) is that this is one heavy ax. Of course Gibson electrics are heavy and while that bothers some, it also makes for amazing sustain performance.

Comments about Epiphone Limited Edition Riviera Custom P93 Electric Guitar:

It's a beautiful guitar. However, after years of different configurations in terms of strings, heights, and whatnot, I have deduced that the main problem with this guitar is that the pickups are just plain terrible. Absolutely the least inspiring things I have ever used. However, the neck is wonderful, the set-up in general is very nice and has so much potential. It has great tone potential for a guitar at this price, but you really don't want these pickups.

It's a good deal but because most people probably don't have the money, time, or skill to change pickups, the pickups being so lifeless really get in the way of its potential.

Here's a note...all of my musician friends, from the gospel people to the heavy metal freaks to the acoustic guys to the simple classic rock guys, and every one of my jazz friends, found this to be an uninspiring guitar in terms of sound. I talk about it specifically when it's plugged in because well, it's an electric guitar. Who plays electrics in concerts unplugged?

Comments about Epiphone Limited Edition Riviera Custom P93 Electric Guitar:

the only thing that really kills this guitar is the ability to get low action, that is an issue to me because it makes it harder to play.
having 3 p90 pickups is cool, but the center one is always on, wish you could just turn on each one all buy itself
great looking guitar non the less, but the action can only go down so far because of the height of the pickups. If you like low action this is not your guitar. you will get serious fret buz if you try to go to low and you will still have way high action
you would really have to shop around to find more for your buck, but you can if you look and take your time.

Comments about Epiphone Limited Edition Riviera Custom P93 Electric Guitar:

This is sharing play with my Strad, Has a great (loud) sound, you can get any sound out of this instrument. I have had everyone comment on how beautiful the Red/Gold combo is.

Comments about Epiphone Limited Edition Riviera Custom P93 Electric Guitar:

I missed playing electric guitars but couldn't justify buying a Gibson since I no longer play professionally. My first guitar was an Epiphone in 1972 and I saw this one in your catalog and had to have it. It sounds great. I love this guitar.

Comments about Epiphone Limited Edition Riviera Custom P93 Electric Guitar:

I'm giving it an overall 10 simply because it has that rare combination of great looks, very good tone, and wonderful price. As noted, if you want something that will sound great for jazz and blues, especially anything like Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, or BB King, then this is the guitar to buy. I'm not a big country player, but I can sure see this one fitting into country really well, too. As for rock, I'd stick with this one for classic rock, especially with songs from the mid-60s through late 70s. As I noted, I cranked this baby up to play Takin' Care of Business and was shocked at how quickly I found the perfect sound (playing through a Spider amp at fairly clean settings). I have also been able to quickly emulate a lot of great Les Paul sounds with this guitar. I'll stay away from the Strat sound, but for that I have a Strat anyway. As it sits, with the group I play with I'll take my Strat and this guitar to 90% or more of the gigs, and I'll likely play this guitar for a good 50% of what we do. It has that much versatility and overall sound quality that I can use it for a lot of different songs and different sounds.
Everything I write is based on the fact that this is a cheaper guitar, and that's a very good thing. So let's start with features. The three P93 pickups are much better than I expected. This is my 3rd Epiphone semi-hollow body guitar, and so far it is clearly my favorite. The reason is the pickups. They give me so much more expression and tonal quality than my prior models (Dot and Sheraton II). Both prior models are good, but the addition of this 3rd pickup really seems to offer me more in the way of style choices. This is especially important since I wanted to make clear changes between styles of music I was playing. With the P93 options I can easily go from a late 70s era pulsing-rock (Taking Care of Business sounds better than on any other guitar I've every heard) to the warm tones of Jazz and Blues. Add to this the tremolo and overall good looks to see why this has quickly become one of my favorite guitars.

The neck design is my second favorite thing about this guitar. I've grown accustomed to the slightly wider neck of my Taylor acoustic, so finding a similar feel in an electric was important. Since I'm a bigger guy the wider neck also gives me a bit more room to move around the neck and still get quality tones. Again, the money issue is very important, and if I had the money to buy a really nice Gibson then I probably would. But given that I needed to stay affordable this is the perfect option for size, playability, and tone.

Finally, when it comes to features the overall look of the guitar is a big plus as well. I chose the Cherry finish and it is stunning. The offset of gold hardware and tailpiece make this that much better looking. The first day I took it to jam with some friends at a local watering hole and I had just about everyone commenting on how great the guitar looks. I also know that Epiphone guitars typically hold up pretty well to use, and I have do doubt this guitar will be the same.
Two things keep me from giving this guitar a 10 for quality. The first are the knobs. I don't know why, but most of the Rivieras that I've looked at had the same oddity on the knobs. They look okay, but they wobble. It's almost as if the plastic part is not fitted very well to the metal potentiometer underneath. Not quite lose, mind you, but just not on straight. It's almost as if the inside of the actual knob is routed 1/32nd of an inch too big for the shaft underneath; then it was glued in place by a 7th grade shop student.

The second thing is the dang "E" on the pickguard. That is one UGLY plastic add-on for such a beautiful guitar. My Sheraton had the same gawdy stick-on piece on the pick guard. Fortunately, you can easily remove the darn thing. The guitar looks 100% better with it off. It's not as if someone would not see the "E" on the cover for the truss bar on the headstock. That's fairly decently done. And it's not just the Epiphone trademark symbol tha makes it ugly. It is the actual stick-on that is used. It looks cheap and doesn't add anything to the guitar.

Other folks have noted a few problems, but so far I haven't. The quality is good enough that I was able to start playing some great music within minutes after unpacking. Take the time to clean the guitar, though. Use a good cleaner. There is a residue on the neck (and I assume other spots as well), so if you don't clean it you'll end up with dirty fingers really quickly. My guess is this residue is some type of moisture barrier for the packinging. Once

Tuning the guitar was quick and easy. The tuning heads allowed for precise tuning and the instrument stayed in tune for a surprisingly long time. I expected that it would fall out of tune quickly (new strings, new guitar, etc.), but it didn't. In fact, I only made minor modifications during the first hour or so of playing. Later, when I came back the next day, the guitar was still moderately well tuned. After a couple days the strings and neck were in place and it has maintained very good tune even with extended playing time.

I dumped the included chord right away and used my wireless system. There was no discernable noise or hiss, which a few others had complained about. The connections all seem sturdy, and the overall quality of the instrument is high enough that I think it will hold together well while on stage or when practicing. I can see getting many years of enjoyment from this instrument.
I'd rate this as "moderate" to "exceptional" in overall value. In part because the price is just so dang low. I've played $1500 Less Paul and Stratocasters that didn't feel or play as good as this instrument. The ONLY semi-hollow that I've played that I liked better was an ES335 Gibson, but the price was also much higher.

Among mid-price market guitars ($500 to $900 range), I'd say this is does exceptionally well. Compared to lower price (especially hollow body or semi-hollow body) guitars then this is surely an exceptional guitar. In fact, I'm not sure you can find a simarly priced guitar that will be better.