Epiphone Riviera Matsumoku Value? (The "Oasis model"...)

simonhpieman

Got to insure this but am interested to know what all the "mods" it's had done do to the price. A short story for you (or skip down and look at the pics, whatever!):

The hire company Cato Music had a sale of all their gear they didn't need a couple of years back through eBay. It would appear they got their work experience kid to do it as they listed it as an Epiphone 339 (only ever made in China, to my knowledge) and priced it accordingly at the very reasonable end of what you'd pay for one.

Having cleaned up the mess I made from wetting my pants with excitement, I immediately arranged to go down there as I'd been after a good Japanese 335 for a while and had always wanted one of these but could never afford them.

I tried it out and fell in love straight away with the rich, bassy neck pickup that would have any jazzer in heaven. The bridge pickup was ok, too but the guitar had obviously suffered a lot of heavy use. The frets at the dusty end were beautiful, almost untouched and complete with nibs. It felt great up there.

Sadly, whoever had played/toured/owned this before was stuck firmly in cowboy chord country as the first few frets were pitted worse than I've seen on any guitar before. He/she was also a sweat monster as the bridge, tailpiece and screws on the bridge pickup were badly corroded. Nonetheless, it was still a bargain and I bought it (having haggled the already ridiculous price down by a further £50 - NEVER pay the asking!) knowing these, in Gallagher-correct colours, can go for in excess of a grand. It even came with one of those Epi hard cases, and while it had seen better days (and the sticker on it said it had also been used to cart a Hagstrom Viking about), a case is a case, especially given the price.

When I got it, it looked like this:



Epiphone aficionados will notice it's a Matsumoku Riviera, made in Japan and famous as the model Noel-bowl and Bonehead used in Oasis. And also not particularly like any Riviera that's gone before or come since. The serial number dates it as either November 1983 or a factory second as it starts with "311", though there is no other stamp denoting this so I'm inclined to believe it's an 83.

Did I mention someone had drilled it for left-handed controls? Given that the bridge is the "right" way round, I'd wager this was always a right-handed guitar that was drilled out for a southpaw. It also has a hole on the bottom horn where a strap button used to be and, sure enough, there are extra drill holes for a left handed pickguard. There's nothing like drilling a few holes in a guitar so you can save the finish from the odd stray pick...

The pickguard was missing (no great loss as these were white and pretty horrid) and the bridge pickup has obviously been changed. There was also a brass nut installed. And why not...

Sadly, the pitted frets meant it needed to go for a fret dress but at least that could be done at the same time the guy doweled the holes for me. That cost me in the region of £150 all in, I think.There was also some weirdness going on with the pickups in the middle position. The lovely folks on here later helped me discover that it's been wired out of phase. I will also note that the tech at Grizzly Guitars simply decided not to bother fixing that particular issue for me, even though we had a long chat about what it actually was and how it could be fixed. On that note, I was also disappointed that he literally filled the holes with dowel. Which he sanded down to height while simultaneously sanding through the finish (and the glue he'd spilled) in the surrounding areas. I was at least hoping for some nice maple plugs or something.

Several years later, the fretboard folks also helped me identify the pickup as a Gibson Dirty Fingers which is potentially worth almost half what I paid for the entire guitar! The gift that keeps on giving... I've not been able to get the neck out as it's jammed in a bit, but I assume that's the original MMK pickup. As I said before, it sounds WONDERFUL.

Anyway, once the holes were doweled, I found a nice Rockstar sticker to put over as many of them as it could, cos I like video games, America/Americana and I'm a rock star, or at the very least I like to play at pretending to be one! The sticker was apparently quite rare but I really liked it so chucked the £12 at them anyway. Reminded me a bit of Kelly Jones' semi that he had with the woman on it. Not that I like Kelly Jones but I always thought that guitar looked very cool in an Americana kinda way.

Having gigged it for a while, I decided it would be a good idea to replace the pitted chrome bits. The bridge that came on the guitar had fused totally due to the sweat so the tech gave me an old Japanese bridge he had knocking about. It turned out that had already collapsed when he fitted it (another black mark against him in my book) but it wasn't my main guitar and I plouged on, being too cheap to bother with it.

But earlier this year, I bit the bullet and got some Gotoh parts and replaced all the chrome bits with flashy new ones. Another £45ish. I also rubbed down the screws on the Dirty Fingers and got all the rust off them. Now it looks lovely and having backed the pickup heights off, particularly at the bridge, it sounds relatively sensible given the high gain Gibson pickup is perhaps the stupidest choice for a semi there ever was. It still squeals between songs if I leave the distortion pedal on but ho hum. I also thought about changing the volume pots so they get their lovely silver discs (and indeed their numbers!) back but I haven't as yet. I might, I might not.

So now it looks like this, battle scars and all:







It really is a beautifully made instrument. The maple neck is also a great feature. It makes it a bit heavier but maple necked semis always sound SO good!

So, any ideas what you reckon it's worth? I've got to put it on my Allianz insurance. I know I couldn't really replace it like for like due to all the crap that's happened to it but I've got to put something down. What would you pay for one, were you in the market? Would you even consider it due to all the "modifications"?!

Any and all input, as always, is hugely appreciated!

victorludorum

If you lost it would you replace it?

simonhpieman

victorludorum said:

If you lost it would you replace it?

I'd like to think I'm sound enough of mind not to leave it on a train, unlike some 90s rockstars we know...!

In truth I probably wouldn't replace it as I have another semi and it'd be hard to get another at all, let alone at a good price. But I'd definitely miss it a LOT.

underdog

The point is, it should be insured for what it would cost to buy a replacement one, (which would unlikely have been drilled for left handed) so what the price of a tidy one? That's the insurance value.

simonhpieman

underdog said:

The point is, it should be insured for what it would cost to buy a replacement one, (which would unlikely have been drilled for left handed) so what the price of a tidy one? That's the insurance value.

Good point well taken. I guess I'm half interested in what it's worth as is, just out of curiosity. And the fact my insurance premium is enormous due to having a vintage Starcaster on it.

stonevibe

I'd say about £200-300. But I'm no expert on Epiphone guitars in this state.

victorludorum

If you wouldn't replace it, why insure it?

stickyfiddle

underdog said:

The point is, it should be insured for what it would cost to buy a replacement one, (which would unlikely have been drilled for left handed) so what the price of a tidy one? That's the insurance value.

I would suggest getting a valuation from a dealer or other repeatable source. To get an insurance payout you’ll need that or proof of purchase, but presumably that would state the price you paid, and I would assume you'd want more than that post-improvements. 

lovestrat74

I sold mine, all original and in mint condition for 1300 earlier this year

Kittyfrisk

simonhpieman said:

victorludorum said:

If you lost it would you replace it?

I'd like to think I'm sound enough of mind not to leave it on a train, unlike some 90s rockstars we know...!

In truth I probably wouldn't replace it as I have another semi and it'd be hard to get another at all, let alone at a good price. But I'd definitely miss it a LOT.

' I have another semi and it'd be hard to get another at all' 
I know the feeling ...

simonhpieman

victorludorum said:

If you wouldn't replace it, why insure it?

I've got it in my head (rightly or wrongly) that I'll get nowhere near what another would cost me (£1300?) from the insurer were the worst to happen. Of course I'd replace it if I could, I love it!