Riviera P93 Circuit Wiring
Here’s the diagram of the electronics in my Epiphone Riviera P93, looking at the circuit from the rear.
It has three volume pots and one master tone pot. All knobs are 500k audio taper. Strangely, there appear to be three different brands of pots used in my guitar, Alpha, JS and a 3rd that I can’t identify.
There’s a .022uF capacitor on the tone knob. No capacitors on the volume pots.
My parts order from Mouser just arrived! Getting ready for lots of tone tweaking!
A new series on guitar electronics
This is part 1 of a new series on guitar electronics. In the video, I demonstrate how to get the electronics out of a semi-hollow body guitar, with some useful tips and tricks.
Once the electronics are out of the guitar, it’s relatively easy to try some experiments on the circuit to see how it sounds. I’m planning a number of upcoming experiments including:
- Experimenting with replacement pots
- Adding treble bleed to the volume pots
- Trying different tone capacitors to see how it changes the sound
- Replacing the jack with one with a longer bushing Switchcraft jack
- Replacing the pickups
- Putting all the electronics back into a semi-hollow body guitar through the f-hole
Every step of the way, I’ll be recording audio examples, how-to videos, and text writeup.
I look forward to hearing any comments or suggestions. Please let me know your experiences too!
Don’t know jack
What is up with the jacks on these semi-hollowbody Epiphone guitars. When I was shopping for guitars in the stores, I often saw Epiphone Dots and Sheratons with the jack missing inside the guitar. How can that be good for sales?! And when reading in the Epi forums, I saw folks complaining of this happening to them. Does this happen on the more expensive Elite Epi’s, or other semi-hollow body guitars?
Update: I added a 1/4″ inner-tooth lock washer between the nut and round washer, and it has stayed tight ever since.
I never thought it would happen to me. I made a point of periodically hand-tightening the jack when plugging in a cable, just to be sure.
Tune-o-matic, buzz-tastic!
The retainer wire on a standard Tune-o-matic bridge can buzz and rattle if the bridge isn’t machined to perfection.
I didn’t expect this to bother me as much as it does. The buzz doesn’t come through the amp, but I don’t usually play very loud, so hearing a buzzy rattle from the bridge results in a real lack of clarity in the sound I’m hearing.
Here’s a video where I demonstrate what it sounds like when the retainer wire on your Tune-o-matic gets all buzz-tastic.
Trying to fix it
Gibson/Epiphone factory in Qingdao
Let’s visit the factory in China where my new Epiphone Riviera was made: Qingdao Factory Tour. I love the picture of the drying room full of flying Les Pauls:
There’s lots more pics, and an interview with the plant managers, Scott Lewis and Lloyd Williams at Gibson Qingdao Factory – All Epiphone… All The Time!