Epiphone E360TD-C12 Riviera Model 12 String Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1967), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 878538, sparkling burgundy finish, laminated maple body, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
This Epiphone Riviera C-12 string may be one of the less well remembered electric 12's of the 1960's, but is an excellent design and one of the better period instruments of its kind. When the electric 12-string boom hit in 1964-5, Gibson took the most expedient route and simply put double strung necks on existing models, avoiding the long design process of the Fender Electric XII. The Epiphone Riviera XII is generally it is the same as the 6-string model, with only a non-vibrato 12-string tailpiece and the requisite longer headstock to distinguish it.
The proprietary Epiphone mini-humbucking pickups are well suited to a 12-string format; Compared to the otherwise similar Gibson ES-335-12, this guitar is crisper and clearer-toned, while still being capable of cranking up to breakup level if desired. The neck is slim at the nut but gets chunkier as it approaches the body, topped with a bound rosewood fingerboard with slanted parallelogram inlay. The headstock has a pearl Epiphone logo over a small oval inlay and is fitted with double row Kluson Deluxe strip tuners.
This is a fairly rare example of the E-360TD-C12 finished in a very dark version of the "Sparkling Burgundy" lacquer finish used by Gibson specifically around this period; is appears less red and more "purple" than most. Only just over 500 total of this model were made in all finishes between 1966 and 1970, and very few were in this special livery. This is a cool and very useful electric 12, the favorite of at least one player -- Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys used a sunburst example of the Rivera 12 for many years in the 1960's and 70's.
Overall length is 44 1/2 in. (113 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This guitar remains relatively clean overall with some moderately heavy checking to the fairly thick metallic finish. Overall the instrument shows some dings and chips with one noticeable gash in the back of the neck around the 10th fret. The hardware is original except for a newer repro Tune-O-Matic bridge and the pickguard, which is also a correct modern reproduction. This is a very good player and a fairly unusual -- and great sounding -- electric 12-string. It resides in a period Gibson case that by the later '60s seems to have been issued as standard equipment for Epiphones as well. Overall Very Good + Condition.
