Here's a really clean 1960 Rivoli.
Exceedingly rare as well.
Sunburst front & back, banjo tuners, Epiphone 'New York' logo, black plastic covered mudbucker.
Case is near mint as well.
Only issue is the broken bakelite Choke pushbutton switch. The switch works...just broken off.
She plays and sounds great!
Wow. That is indeed a rare find. Gorgeous condition. Congratulations.
Beautiful!
AWESOMEOLA!!!
What about the myth that the necks are thinner on these than on a Gibbie EB-2?
Wow, Chris. What a classic. Where did you find it?
WOW! That's a stunner. And a keeper, I'm sure. ;)
ShawinGGGG!!!! :mrgreen:
The bass is cool. The neck is not thinner per se...I consider it big medium. I have a couple 50's EB-2's and they are all a tad different but nothing remarkably different in terms of neck shape...all feel a bit beefy in a good way.
This bass belonged to a little old lady in Virginia who bought it to learn to play bass way back when...she never did and it went under her bed and never came out again until recently. Wasn't cheap but I look at it as a keeper as well. Nice side bar is it really plays amazingly well and the pickup just Rocks! very even on all notes...nothing gets thin (well with a mudbucker NOTHING gets thin) even in the choked mode.
With The RaveUps and our Animals tribute the Raving Animals it's all choked Rivoli all the time and this 1960 has a remarkable evenness.
You sure met the right little old lady.
I don't think you've mentioned the Animals tribute before. Is that a new venture?
Drool !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! very nice. :o
bleeding Christ what a great looker. Me nI'm turning for red to reen and back tot purple from beinig jealous. Love the banjotuners on it en the black pup cover. Man what a lady!
For sale - low mileage - one lady owner...
Isn't that one of those urban myths...?
Beautiful find... 8)
Forgive my ignorance, but what is a choke pushbutton switch?
???
It's a push switch on the Rivoli and EB-2, a/k/a baritone switch, that removes most of the low end. Some people mistakenly call it a bass boost since you get full bass when it's switched off, but there's no boost circuit.
Beautiful bass!
I guess it is sort of the old 'urban myth' realized. As you say...'Little-old-lady-never-played-under-the-bed' etc.
Apparently there were 11 of these Rivolis shipped in 1960...rare bird indeed ;-)
The 'CHOKE' is actually a small canister (rectangular) that houses a coil of wire. It is located under a rectangular piece of plastic with rounded ends just under the two-point bridge. The plastic cover is usually sealed down with a sort of gooey wax...no screws etc. When the 'Baritone' push button is 'OFF' it is the single humbucker (mudbucker) almost alone and the pickup has the huge robust sound we know and love.
Fact is on Gibson EB-2's & Rivoli's with the CHOKE feature the stock wiring never truly isolates the pickup from the CHOKE...even when the pushbutton is OFF and the sound is at it's mudbucking best. There is residual bleed from the Choke circuit that colors the sound of the humbucker. There are mods that some of us do that truly eliminates the CHOKE completely from the circuit for a 'third' sound. I have it on a 1963 Rivoli and it is truly a great sound...the humbucker has more mids and growl...kind of like a wide open mudbucker and 'choked' sound combined...great low end with a touch of midrange growl...very, very nice! And louder than either of the stock sounds alone. It is the actual sound of a mudbucker.
When the 'Baritone' pushbutton is in the 'ON' position the coil of wire (the CHOKE) is inserted in the circuit (along with a cap or two that is part of the CHOKE circuit) and it rolls off the low end, at first listen relative to a open mudbucker as useless. Fact is if you EQ properly the CHOKED sound is super useful and it IS the sound of many of the 60's best British Invasion groups.
Here's a link to a couple live videos with a 1964 Rivoli using the CHOKED sound:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4Tcs8LhOm4&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyCeru5UihI&feature=channel_page
Dave is right...most folks call the little bakelite pushbutton canopy switch a 'bass boost' button...quite the opposite, as Dave points.
Regarding The Raving Animals...we decided to take on doing the best set we could of the best Animals songs of the early period. I'm actually learning and playing all the Alan Price parts on a great Vox Continental. It has a sound that for what we are doing is THE sound!Of course the 64' Rivoli works perfectly for The Animals stuff as Chas Chandler was, besides Paul Samwell-Smith and couple others, the other huge officiendo of Rivoli's & EB-2's at the time. We did our debut gig A SLIM's in SF just this last Friday and from all reports on the money. Being I'm so new to this style of keyboards I'll take that as a successful gig ;-) Once we really gel it will kill.[/url][/url]