Epiphone Rivoli

My Epi Rivoli was made in the Peerless Factory in Pusan, Korea, in 1995 (march).
The neck is mahogany with rosewood figerboard, and laminated maple top and back body. The bridge is made in Japan (combo). The original tuners runs well. The pickup is sidewinder. Varitone push button. This bass is in Black. It is very well built. Really good but the pickup.

Well, I have changed the pickup with an original 1967 Gibson sidewinder pickup from an old EB2. Now the sound is 10. Very bassy, no versatile tone, just for Animals, Yardbirds, Jethro Tull (Glen Cornick) and Cream (Jack Bruce). The bass souds very very well but isn't good for many kinds of music. BUT THE ORIGINAL PICKUP SOUNDS BAAAAAD. Unbalanced sound (the 4 and the 1 strings low level). The bass is good but not with the original pick up; To change the pickup is an necessary upgrade. The sound is a 10 with the gibson pickup but only 2 with the original pickup.

The factory setup is not good. But with my own setup plays great, very smooth, very low action. The finish is really good.

All OK.

I was needed the schematics for the pickup upgrade and Gibson answer me quickly with two schematics diagrams. Ok.

I am Fender bass player. I have many Fenders. But I have others brands too, Hofner, Aria, Peavey, Epi Ripper and this one.
Yes, the Rivoli and the Gibson EB2 aren't versatiles but plays and sounds really good for few musical styles.

I have a 1996 Korean made version of this bass which I bought second hand in 2004. The finish on both the neck and body is excellent and has stood up well so far. As with other reviewers of these recent Epiphones I feel the bass is let down by the quality of some of the hardware and the pickup. The original pickup is rubbish and the original tuners were not up to the job. Pots are OK. Bridge etc also OK apart from bridge studs pulling out of the body and needing some work.

I have replaced the pickup with a Gibson EBO original and the sound is completely transformed. Fitting this pickup took a little work because of the poor quality of the originals design. However totally worth the effort. Gibson pickups come up pretty often on E-Bay for $50-100. One fitted with the new pickup the 'boost' switch actually started to do something.

Replaced the tuners with Schaller BMs, again loads come up on E-Bay. Needed a little redrilling of fixing holes but otherwise OK. Tuning is now much more positive.

Brilliant for 1960's style. Loads of low end. Not a versatile instrument but with the right pickup and a good set up it produces loads of bottom end and woody tones.

Tried with flatwounds and nylon wounds. Prefer the flatwounds personally but each to his own. Fitted with Rotosound trubass strings you can achieve some brilliant double bass sounds.

Don't be put off if you try one with the original pickup. Gibson (or Dimarzio Model1?) replacements will transform the sound.

Don't know how these were set up by the factory but mine has certainly improved with some work. Very low action can be achieved with a little effort.

Frets not very well profiled and mine had suffered from roundwound string wear. Benefitted from a fret dress.

The bridge looks to be nickel plated and has developed a really cool patina over nine years.

Overall finish on body, neck and headstock is very good.

Probably quite fragile compared to solid bodies. On mine the bridge studs have pulled loose and needed work to fix. Otherwise pretty good - I would use without a backup

E-mailed Customer Support for advice when the bridge studs worked loose. Told me to take it to a repairer - how useful is that? Wouldn't bother contacting them again.

I'd buy another of these, although I think they have been discontinued for a few years. If I had the money I'd look for a 1960's original or a Gibson EB2 but at the moment these are out of my range.

Looks great and can be modified to produce a fantastic tone. If you buy one be prepared to spend some extra on a new pickup, probably tuners and a decent set up.

Unlike a few of the reviews, I've got an original early 60's model. It has a bakelite giant neck pickup (about the footprint of a Boss pedal) and there's another 'invisible' pickup underneath the bridge itself. Rivolis came with the bakelite pickup at first, and then a few years after Gibson bought Ephiphone out they changed to the big metal pickup you see on Gibson EB1's. If anyone knows how to date it, pls drop me a line. Apart from that it's just volume and tone, not even a scratchguard. Tone control is basic, but I'm rating the features high-ish, just for the weird pickup, I've not seen anything like it.

I'm playing through a Fender Bassman head, and an Ohm 2x18cab, also through an amp emulator for home recording/practice.
It has a good thumpy sound from the neck, a bit like somewhere between a solidbody and an upright bass. The bridge pickup is bust, so don't know what that sounds like (I've been told by a repair guy that this is fairly common on old Rivoli's). As the neck pickup is right under the end of the neck, there's not much choice of sounds, but the sound you get is pretty good. It's kind of raw, as you have the wooden 'thumpiness' coming through a monster pickup. If you distort it (Boss Super Overdrive), it sounds like a pimped up sonic golden chainsaw, add a phaser and you're Peter Hook....

It's not too bad accoustically either, I bought it as I wanted to practice bass more, without the hassle of plugging in, sure you can't busk with it, but it's good enough.

Overall, a very distinctive sound, but not too versatile with only 1 pickup working.

I had the bass set up when I bought it. It's a dream to play. It's got a shorter scale, so you can fly about. The action is bang on, which is pretty good given the simple bridge, and the age. The back of the neck has a few chunks of varnish missing, but fretside it's the business. It feels like the guys who made it were craftsmen who actually cared, rather than it was turned out by a rusting robot in a warehouse in Outer Mongolia.

This is an olde instrument, and a semi, so I get nervous looking at it, let alone playing out. So I don't really know. I guess it's lasted over 40 years, so it must be pretty reliable, but I wouldn't gig it, unless I was playing a televised stadium gig and had a specially built foam lined tour bus to transport it in, which I'm unlikey to do anytime soon. Sadly....

Not had anything to do with them, so who knows?

I've been playing for 20 yrs (eek!) and have quite a few guitars, Pre CBS Fender Jag, Gretsch Country Gent, various other Fenders, Hofners, Vox etc etc. This bass is up there with the best of the 'vintage' instruments I have. I wish I'd checked about the bridge pickup when I bought it, the guy in the shop told me it would be impossible to repair, which sucks. But I was blown away with how well this thing plays and didn't want to wait about to see if I'd find another. It's in great condition for it's age, and has a unique sound. The downside is that this is not a super versatile instrument, espescially with 1 pickup down.

If you have smaller hands, don't underestimate how much difference a smaller scale length will make in your playing. Previously I had a long scale bass, which was a real pig. Also, if you are mainly a guitarist, as I am, and want a bass, this is a great instrument, as it's neck feel is not miles away from a 6 string.

If it was nicked I'd be gutted as I looked for a while to find an old Rivoli or an Gibson EB1. I wouldn't think twice about buying another (as long as the insurance paid out), although given the money involved I'd try a little harder to find one where both pickups work! I guess that's guitar fever in action, once you pick a good instrument up, which plays so well, it's hard to put it down if you have a credit card! ouch....

I HAVE A 1996 SUNBURST RIVOLI WITH A DI MARZIO MODEL ONE PICKUP.THIS BASS HAS A SET NECK,SMALL SCALE,AND LIGHT STRINGS.

I LIKE THE FEEL OF THE RIVOLI AND EB2 BASSES.I USE IT WITH A SANS AMP AND BOSS DISTORTION FOR ROCK AND ROLL.MY AMP IS A FENDER BASSMAN HEAD AND A 2 15' AMP PEG CABINET.WITH THE ORIGINAL PICK UP THE SOUND WAS NOT VERY BRIGHT AND I HAD PROBLEMS WITH MY E STRING NOT BEING LOUD ENOUGH.I HAD THE BASS SET UP WITH A DI MARZIO PICK UP INSTALLED AND IT MADE THE SOUND MORE FULL AND BRIGHT.THE POLARITY SWITCH MAKES A DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU USE DISTORTION.WHEN THIS BASS IS SET UP RIGHT IT MAKES FOR A PERFECT ALL AROUND BASS.

I BOUGHT IT USED SO I DONT KNOW WHAT IT WAS LIKE FROM THE FACTORY.THEY HAVE BEEN DICONTINUED. DONT SPEND TOO MUCH ON BUYING ONE,SO YOU CAN PUT MORE MONEY INTO SETTING IT UP PROPERLY AND CHANGING THE PICK UP.I AM GOING TO REPLACE THE POTS EVENTUALLY.

VERY RELIABLE FOR GIGGING WITH OUT A BACK UP.I REPLACED THE STRAPS BUTTONS WITH SURE LOCK ONES.

NEVER USED.

I LOVE THE RIVOLI BASS AND I PLAN ON BUYING A 1960'S ONE.

Bought it brand new. Made in Korea.
Laminated top, 20 frets.
1 volume control, 1 tone control and 1 button that does nothing.
1 humbucker pickup. 3-point bridge.
Real sweet sunburst finish.
No included accessories.

My friend and I do an acoustic, guitar-bass duo. When I'm not playing my upright, I play the rivoli.
It has a nice, crisp sound in the mid to high-end range (D and the G).
The pickup doesn't do so well on the low end. When I'm ploughing away on the E, it sounds much quieter than the rest of the strings. I know the string itself is OK because I replaced them a couple of weeks ago. Which reminds me, the strings that came on it were very sloppy. I threw on some Fender flatwounds and the playability is much better now.

I think the store I bought the bass from adjusted the pickup when it came in, so I can't give the factory much credit for the action. I have no idea what the pickup looked like when it arrived.
Everything else is good. The finish is flawless. The bridge, nut, and controls are flawless as well (so far, anyway).

I bought this bass 2 months ago and I've taken it to 3 gigs and countless practices. Noting ever broke or let me down in any way. The strap buttons are solid but the strap gets twisted around too easily... not so good when you're doing a quick bass switch in the middle of your set.
It's taken a few mild hits and nothing came loose or got chipped yet.

I've never dealt with anyone on repairs for this bass. The only adjustment made so far was me playing with the pickup, trying to get more of a responce from the E bullet on that humbucker.

I have a mexican p-bass that I have put about 200 bucks or so into (new nut, new pickguard, bridge and pickup covers...) and I like playing that better. The sound is great and I've gotten REALLY comfortable playing it.
If this bass got stolen/lost, I would get something else... maybe an Epiphone Ripper. They're about half the cost and sound great.
I wish I compared it to the other basses in the store. But I had been drooling all over this baby for the last year and a half, so I was pretty bent on taking it home with me.
I wish it had a better pickup. That would really make a world of difference.
What I'm really happy about is all the compliments I get from almost everyone who sees it. Everyone thinks it's gorgeous... and so do I.
If anyone has any ideas on what I can do with the pickup, or suggestions on new ones, please contact me!