So just how did these models differ from the basses they were replacing? Both had the same short (30 1/2") scale, a rosewood fretboard and 20 frets, and a Cherry finish - that is about where the similarities end. The #5120 was previously sold as the 1220 bass, the #1820 kept the same model designation as used by Aria. These were both rebranded versions of guitars that had been available since 1967 - under the brands Aria, Conrad and possibly many more. The first Epiphone catalogue of the seventies (Oct 1970) lists a dual pickup solid body bass #1820 at just $115, and an electric-acoustic equivalent to the Rivoli the #5120 at $135. The final Epiphone price list of the 1960s (June 1968) lists the single-pickup Newport at $270, with the Rivoli at $425. Epiphone production ceased at Kalamazoo in 1969, in favour of a number of similar looking, but considerably cheaper models produced by Matsumoku in Japan. The Rivoli was identical (excluding headstock shape and pickguard) to the EB2.īoth the Newport and Rivoli basses were short (30") scale, and in 1963, Gibson produced it's first long (34") scale model, the Gibson Thunderbird and the Newport-styled Epiphone equivalent, the Embassy Deluxe.Īs the 1960s ended, American guitar companies were really struggling to compete with cheaper imports from Asian manufacturers. The Newport had it's own body and headstock shape although functionally and tonally very similar to the EB0, it looked very different. It was only manufactured in small numbers, and was joined by the solid-body Epiphone Newport based on the Gibson EB0 in 1961. The first Epiphone bass guitar was introduced in 1959: the hollow-body Epiphone Rivoli based on the Gibson EB2. These Epiphones were every bit as good as the Gibson guitars with which they were produced side-by-side.
The point of this duplication was to allow them to be distributed to stores who wanted Gibson quality products but had not been lucky enough to be selected as the Gibson dealer for a certain area. These were branded as Epiphones, but usually based on Gibson models, sharing hardware and Gibson construction methods, and sometimes almost identical. Once Epiphone guitar production was moved to the Gibson plant, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, new models started to appear. The Epiphone electric bass story begins in 1957. This page is about the older Epiphone basses: those built by CMI in Kalamazoo, and those built for Norlin in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Today, Epiphone bass guitars are a huge part of Gibson's product line, offering several pretty accurate reissues of classic Gibson and Epiphone bass models, but at a quite affordable price point.
This was actually the first Epiphone electric bass they only built upright acoustic basses in the 1950s prior to it's purchase by Gibson/CMI - in fact part of the rationale for taking over Epiphone in 1957 was to get the associated bass tooling. Think of vintage Epiphone bass guitars, and you probably picture a hollowbody Rivoli in the hands of a 1960s beat group.
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