Italia Rimini

I bought the mother of "pearl" version of the 6 string. Wilkinson pickups and a unique tuning peg setup that has caused as much talk as the front finish.

The sound is like a cross between a Rick and a Gretsch....it really isn't right for cranking out with a 40 watt ampp and the pots slammed on 10 but when you tame it there are lots of tonal rewards.

This guitar is hands down the best under 650.00 dollar guitar I have ever played.....simply a wonder to play...I took the guitar to my luthier and he said it was the best factory setup he has seen( 30years)

With all this gimmickry something has to break right?See Below...

There Is NONE. I have a broken tuning maching . These guitars have tuning machines that say Italia on the back of each machine.... plus nice pearl buttons... I need to replace ONE of them (6th).... I can't get them to answer my 23 emails !! I have even tried to translate into japanese . As much as I LOVE these guitars they are so parts specific to each model I would suggest buying TWO so you have a parts slave. SHAME on them for leaving us customers out here without ANY CONTACT AT ALL!

I have been playing guitar since I was 3 years old. I taught Guitar when I was 9 years old and started joining bands when I was 12... I have played pro ever since... I own aprox. 50 guitars I wish I would have asked about a support contact.This guitar is a very easy guitar to play ,with great balance and weight. I only wish that I was able to play it!

I've got 2 Italia Rimini guitars. Both beautiful Korean made hollow bodies. These guitars are designed by Trevor Wilkinson, so all hardware is superb quality.


22 Frets - -Great Neck and Fretboard
Italia "I" Tailpiece and Wilkinson Bridge
Controls: Vol, Tone, 3 way Selector switch
One Rimini has P90s and the other sports Mini Humbuckers.

The controls are minimalistic, but the tone range is vast.
You get a full range out of the tone and volume pots. Actual 0-10 smooth, gradual changes.. as opposed to the standard "either 0 OR 10" type pots found in most guitars for under $2000.

I play live and studio for many styles and professional levels. These two guitars cover 99% of all the tones I need whilst still having a very individual sound.

Both guitars have very quiet and high quality electronic components.

The tones vary between the two guitars, but the consistent factor in all of the Italia guitars I've heard and played is that you get to hear each note.. these guitars offer great tonal detail in all ranges of the fret board in any kind of amp sound.. clean or dirty and so on.

I sum this section up by saying, on the Italia Rimini, each note gets equal weight, value and attention.

Both guitars came from the box set up to top notch standards. Even action across the board. This guitar's intonation stays true from the nut to fret 22.. thank you Italia!

Italia guitars are known for their retro style finishes.. which are stunning and exceptionally well done. Very tidy, well trimmed, no sharp frets, all in all a well finished product that will attract the attention of many.

I had a small burr in the E-String saddle on one of them that was easy to rub out with some Emery cloth. No big deal.

I play these two guitars on a daily basis.. and I am very hard on my guitars. The Italia is the only guitar I've owned that after a year it still felt and looked as good as it did on day one. I went from bringing 4 guitars to a gig to being comfortable and happy with having only my 2 Riminis. I bring 2 for choice of look and sounds... not for a back up. A+ on Durability and Dependability.

OK, here is where it gets annoying at the moment. Italia hasn't updated their website properly in over 2 years. New and even some current models aren't on the www.italiaguitars.com site.. I resorted to Musician's Friend for my research and browsing.

I sent a few emails to their contact page and have not heard a reply in 3 months. There is no contact phone number on the website as an alternative.

I'm not concerned about my current guitar, tho I wish I could get in contact with them about getting information regarding availability of more guitars as well as spare parts and so on.

Hopefully they sort that out.. Tho again, I'm not worried.. I just want more of their guitars! I ordered my first Italia Bass a few days ago.

I've been playing professionally for 10 years; live/studio/teaching/scoring. I currently own 10 electric guitars (Teles, Godins, Gibsons, Epihone) and I am slowly swapping them out for more Italia guitars. I play through Chute and Vox amps as well as amp simulators.

I have no complaint about the Italia Rimini, as it is hands down the best electric guitar I've owned, played, dreamed of.. The only negative is just about the availability and accessibility to more models and even to the company.

A reliable, good looking, original, comfortable, sexy, quality guitar, all for under $1000.

Stock Italia Rimini with white mother-of-pearl finish, three knobs, P90 pick-ups, no selector switch. Rickenbacker vibe. I like the slotted headstock. Would have preferred a selector switch rather than the turn in or out blending of the pick-ups.

Been playing it for a year through a Vox AC15 (blue speaker), Ampeg Jet 12R and a tweed Fender Blues Junior (with Bill M's modifactions). Each Wilkinson P90 pick-up sounds fantastic by itself, but I don't like the out-of-phase sound when combined. Will eventually get around to having the guitar rewired to get a more toneful sound when both pick-ups are on. Getting a very impressive sound with the cranked Blues Junior meanwhile - beautiful, toneful lead sound with those superior pick-ups.

Flawless guitar really. Came well set up (my friend's pink one was even better!). Easy to get hold of the strings and really bend them. Overall a very good player - just takes some getting used to the mother-of-toilet-seat look after having been a vintage Fender man for 20 years!

Very little doubt that this is a high quality instrument despite the rather affordable price. I tend to look after my six-string children very well and so I think this one will last a long time. I've had the factory strings on for over a year and I play it every week and it still sounds bouncy and fresh, quite astonishingly - where did those strings come from?

Doubt whether I'll ever need it. Intermusic at Bondi Junction are pretty good at keeping their customers happy too.

Been playing electric guitar since 1982 (phew! 25 years gone already!) and have owned probably 30 guitars during this time. This Rimini has been one of the most pleasant guitars I've ever played - so comfortable and responsive in the hand and the Wilkinson P90s are so clear and musical (not harsh). Bit weird looking though, as I said before, but it gets heaps of attention whenever I pull it out (by the way, not easy to find a hard case that fits). Ideally needs rewiring though to get in-phase pick-up combination.

This is the white pearl 6 string. I have pearl scratchplates on a few of my guitars and they look great. This looks slightly ridiculous with it's full pearl covering on body and neck. Maybe you can have too much of a good thing.

It's basically Italia's Rickenbacker clone. It's the same size and weight as a Ric 360 with a certain amount of carved looking shaping around the horns that looks like the Ric 381. Made who knows where.

It's very light but has good thinline semi-acoustic resonance. Has the set neck, internal centre block similar to the Ric 360 with the single binding on the back edge of the body. Bound neck and (presumably) rosewood neck. It seems very sturdy and stiff. Good design here.

Feels good in the hands and plays very well. The neck is very similar to a Rickenbacker. It's narrow at the nut but without the thick 'baseball bat' feel that the Ric's have. Personally a little wider would have suitred me more, but don't let it put you off. It plays very, very well. You get used to it very quickly and it begs for lead runs that start down low and scream up to the top. EXCELLENT NECK.

Two P90s with two volume controls and one tone. No pickup switch - you just use the volume pots to carve out the sound you want.

Let's face it, only two things really matter with a guitar. How does it sound and how does it play. This one sounds 'kin great. Those P90s are superb. I have been through just about every type and brand of guitar and these are sensational. Superb tone for lead work through my Laney tube amp. Lots of options for rythm when you blend the two pots. The tone pot seems pretty pointless - you seem to get two basic optoions with it - GODD SPARKLING AND CLEAR and MUFFLED AND CRAPPY. Won't work for jazz.

You do get crunchy Concrete Blonde fuzz, Clear, sparkling Chris Isaak clean tones (sounds better than the original). Lots of borderline breakup on the tubes. It's great for rock, psychobilly, 60's retro, superb early punk, blues of all sorts. THE PICKUPS ARE SUPERB. I use plenty of reverb and a couple of chorus pedals and I can get half a dozen different combinations already giving me lots of new ideas just from playing around with it. And I've only had it for three days and I'm still using the 'practically dead' original strings!

It won't sound like a Rickenbacker. I've owned a lot of Rics and they play like crap but have that magic tone. That tone is just not available with these pups. If you want to buy a Ric clone and are hoping this is it .. forget it. For that your best bet is to put two GFS Rickenbacker humbuckers in any good cheap semi-acoustic.

But don't let that stop you. THIS IS A GREAT SET OF PUPS! Fantastic for lead work. Tons of options for ryhthm. Reall scream with a tube-amp.

Did I mention how good the pickups are?

Mine was brand new in the cardboard box. It's sturdy. The neck doesnt flop around like my Gretsch el-cheapo. The finish is pretty good but the pearl finish hides the odd ripple in the top. Can't tell without looking for it but it's not a Mega-$$ guitar and you get a pretty good deal for the money.

Tuners look cheap but they seem to work ok. The input jack is a good, snug fit (better than many strats I've seen) and there are no probs with the pots - although one seems a few degrees off straight. Inside the f-hole it's painted matt black. It's a nice touch and makes it look pretty good. I have no plans to upgrade any of the hardware which is a good sign as I'm usually pretty picky.

In three days who can tell?

LOLOLOL!! Their website gives zero info. For this kind of money just take it to your guitar tech if you have problems.

Looks ridiculously retro with the Mother of Bowling Ball top but I wouldn't be ashamed to gig or record with it. Overall it's cheap, sounds superb and plays really nicely.

I've spent thousands over the years - had Gibsons,Fenders, Rickenbackers, Epiphones, Gretsches you name it and I've had it. I've been looking for the right multi-thousand $$ hollowbody recently and bought this because it showed up brand new and very cheap on EBbay.

Trouble is I can't find anything that justifies spending $AU4,000 - The difference between a new Gibson 335 and my Epi Noel Gallagher 335 just isn't that great. So I bought this new toy while I look for something worth the wait.

It plays great, looks ridiculous and sounds superb.

Incredible value.

I love it.

What nice guitaar this is. Body is very simalar to rickenbacker 330.
Finish is very good. I had some problems with the volume pod. Had to have it rewired.

very 60's.
The p0's are just great. I play it on a vox ac custom. Nice and clean and very crisp.
It comes very close to rickenbacker but at time has the attiude of an epiphone riviera. Due to the neck I think. I love my 1971 riviera and the Italia is just as good. Nice snug fit ..

had to set it up for my preferd playing style. Nice and close to the neck.

Like I said had to have the volume pods rewired falt from the factory.
The rest is very good build and is wel worth the money. I love the looks you get whilst on stage .... nobody really knows this guitar.

rewiring was done in the shop where I bought it.

If you can get one ... buy it try it and feel it.

It's an aquired tast bet I'm very happy to have her in my collection ...
Its a keeper guys !

Semi Hollow Body, P90 pickups, 3 controls: volume 1, volume 2 and tone.

All that you need...

I own a fender tele american standard and this one. my set is: italia - Boss TU2 - Marshall Shredmaster - Crybaby Wah - HK Tube Factor - EH Big Muff - Moogerfooger MF102 - Danelectro Pepperoni Phaser - EH Memory Man - Boss DD6 - Fender Twin Reverb 65 reissue.

This guitar sounds amazing with every setup I tried... It is a fantastic sounding guitar!!!

It arrived perfect in action. The construction seems very good. It??s designed and conceived by trevor wilkinson...

It seems very good, but who knows what??s gonna happen?

never tried.

It??s a wonderfull guitar in sound and design. I`m astonished...

2005
24 frets
2 volume
1 tone
2 single coil pickups
active
complete maple with pearl overlay
nek is fat
model looks like a rickenbacker 330, but the nek is like a epiphone riviera / casino.... Just bought is ? 750

it is a crossing between semi and full body
vox ac130
no noise
very rich sound
clean & crisp but much body
love the desigen

perfect !
good build
no loose ends
these guys know what it is to rock!

just bought it so !!!!
gonna play live on it next week

10