1993 Epiphone Riviera Ltd Ed 1 of 250 Made in GIBSON NASHVILLE USA Factory Limited Edition

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Increasing numbers of custom builders are offering cabinet aged tone woods of at least 25 years these days. Luthiers who swear by it also often charge an impressive premium to match. Is older better? I personally feel it DOES make a difference. I've been on this rock for more years than I care to recall, and while my short term memory seems to be escaping me more and more these days, fortunately, my long term memory is still sound; especially regarding things that actually matter to me, like the first time I played this girl!

The fewer and fewer vault dwellers that remain in my collection have been with me for quite some time now. Through whatever combination of rarity, superlative tone, timeless aesthetics, and ease of playability I've bonded with all of them. It's like the nuances of people you've known the longest; perhaps they may not change much overall, but you recognize when they DO change, when they've matured. Somewhere in this middle ground, hopefully they've become the best version of themselves they can be, retaining some of the strength, resilience, and vigor of youth, but having gained the wisdom of experience.

About ten years ago, I "rescued" this girl from the subtropical crazy hot and HUMID climate of Houston. And while the folks down in Houston are some of the most wonderful people I've EVER encountered, their climate is not only bad for hair (FACT), but potentially detrimental to electric guitars; depending on what one's tonal goals are. Unless you have an outstanding HVAC system, the wood never slowly dries out. While this may be a good thing for an acoustic guitar, it isn't, at least in my opinion, for an electric, solid or semiacoustic. I personally LOVE that "drier" amplified tone. When I first got her, she sounded good, but still new; like a rich, scooped, but stifled small acoustic. I keep a stable of vintage benchmark semi hollows, a '65 ES345, a '68 ES335, and had a '69/70 road warrior ES335. Acoustically, she is starting to sound much like the benchmark '65 ES345 and '68 ES335. She sounds much "drier". She now has that slight almost "banjo-like" unamplified tone of an older, dried out semi-hollow. Amplified and driven, it sounds uncannily like the '68 ES335.  The '65 ES345 is darker than both. There could very well be something to cabinet drying for 25+ years. Wouldn't you know it, this guitar is basically 28 years old now, the last 13 years of which it mostly spent in slightly drier and much more stable climate in a central closet (i.e. our defacto tornado shelter ;)

And while she makes it out perennially this time of year for a board oiling and neck check, general life circumstances and choices have finally convinced me to potentially grant her her freedom, and offer her up for sale. Gibson Nashville only made 250 of these, and 250 burst Sheratons. If you've always wanted a true nitro finished, BIG necked, "rounded ears", long tenon USA/ American-made Epiphone semi-hollow here is your chance! While the Terrada made MIJ/ MIA hybrid Elite Elitist/ JLH models are indeed fantastic instruments in their own right, there's a cachet to playing a true American made (not just finished) instrument, especially from this time period. After all, she herself is "maturing" and JUST entering the "sweet spot" of her existence, the 20 year or so window where she is sweetening tonally and still in great physical condition. She is 28 years old. Consider this. Vaunted vintage '59 to '63 Gibson ES335s were that age in 1987 to 1991! Think about it... Don't look now, but much more ubiquitous 80's 335 reissues are getting pricey. These are next in line... She is beckoning her future master!

While she's an incredibly clean instrument, there is a generous amount of worming on the back (see pics). None of it goes through the finish. The nitrocellulose finish itself still GLEAMS. Amazingly, there isn't any nitro-checking yet. The central closet where she has been residing has a very stable cool, drier climate; very little fluctuation; no alternating extremes which tend to induce brittle nitro checking. Given her age and the nitro Gibson USA was using at the time, she will however, likely start checking soon, especially if she is left "out" to play.

BIG neck profile. She tapers some, but in the real world not as much as the specs below suggest. She's still fills the hand in the first position; i.e.  "cowboy chord" territory. Probably a 50's,' 59 - '63 type ES335 profile. Comfortable D profile. No weird oblong or uncomfortable shoulder prominent neck.

Neck Depth
Just behind 1st fret   .862"
Just behind 12th fret .992"

Neck width at NUT         1.6875"   (1 & 11/16")
Neck width at 12th fret  2.06"

ALL CONFIRMED with my digital calipers. Looking at numbers now, looks similar to an LP 59 reissue neck

Fret life is excellent Better than 90%. Neck is straight. TR works as it should. The original plastic "E" has fallen off the pickguard but is INCLUDED; residual adhesive can be seen in the pickguard (see pic). MOREOVER, EVERYTHING ON THIS GUITAR EXCEPT THE STRINGS IS ORIGINAL.

There a few minor dings near the frequensator tailpiece (YES, these do IMHO function as advertised, I like these much better than the trapeze tailpiece my 65 and 68 have) and back of the neck that one doesn't feel when playing. There is also some superficial marking near the input jack (see pics).

OHSC has done it's job admirably, and has protected the beauty that hides within for 28 years running. It has done so at its own expense, as it has a fair amount of wear and tear (see pic), but all latches are present and fully functional.

Nashville USA Collection  (Gibson Factory)

• 1993-1994
• Limited run of 250 guitars
• Made in Nashville, USA
• Limited run of 250 guitars
• Built to exact specifications of original Riviera and Sheraton

Body:

• Semi-hollow body construction
• Laminated maple top
• Laminated maple body with solid maple center block
• Nitrocellulose finish

Neck:

• Laminated maple neck
• Rosewood fingerboard with trapezoid
• 24.75" scale
• 1.68" nut width

Binding:

• Multi-ply body & neck
• Single-ply f-holes

Electronics:

• Epiphone designed mini-humbucker pickups
• 2 Vol. 2 Tone controls
• 3-way selector switch

Hardware:

• Nickel hardware
• Tune-o-matic bridge with frequensator tailpiece
• Raised toirtoise pickguard with raised "E" emblem
• 
  

Colors:

• Cherry (CH)

Includes OHSC, no papers

Shipping ground insured in continental US only

Sorry, no trades please.

Thanks for looking!

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Note, I reserve the right to end this listing at anytime; as the guitar is up for sale locally and on other classified boards (thegearpage)