Riverhead bass Owners

[FatOwlBass]

I have owned 3 Riverhead basses in the last 10 years and every one was excellent. Just curious if we have any Riverhead bass owners here. If you do post pics!

My current Riverhead is a Gracia RGB-64H. Made in Japan by Headway. These were made by the same company that made the original Bacchuss and STR japan basses. The quality is on par with many USA basses like Fender, Musicman, etc.

Mine had gold hardware but I prefer nickel with the blue finish. I had the pickup custom made by Kent Armstrong. It has a Nordstrand 3 band, series parallel switch, Hipshot kickass bridge, Hipshot mini clover USA, Ash body, Maple neck, ebony fingerboard, and Gotoh res-o-lite tuners. light weight and great tone!
Here is a link to a catalog.
Link Removed

 

[bgartist]

I had a 5 string jazz in the early 90’s - clear ash body with maple fretboard. I had a Bartolini preamp installed from Lakland. It was an awesome bass but I sold it when I discovered My Pedulla Rapture J5.

 

[Bassumbando]

Hi guys.. anyone could give me some info about this one? Model? Woods? based on what i got around here, looks like its a MIJ from late '80. anyone has one of this? thanks.

 

[msb]

I just missed a Unicorn on our local kijiji yesterday .

 

[neutralomen]

Hey everyone! I have a strange Riverhead phantombass problem that requires a wiring diagram. The previous owner bypassed the active EQ and the wiring is all janked up. If any riverhead owner could maybe reverse engineer a wiring diagram from their bass, that would be really helpful. I'm happy to pay for this task. Here's the thread. DM me if anyone can help me out! Thanks!

Bizarre Riverhead Phantombass Active electronics problem. I need a hero!

 

[msb]

A friend bought the Unicorn , and then found another headless bass , so I wound up with the Unicorn . He said there was just room for one headless bass . My win !

 

[randalhicks]

I have owned 3 Riverhead basses in the last 10 years and every one was excellent. Just curious if we have any Riverhead bass owners here. If you do post pics!

My current Riverhead is a Gracia RGB-64H. Made in Japan by Headway. These were made by the same company that made the original Bacchuss and STR japan basses. The quality is on par with many USA basses like Fender, Musicman, etc.

Mine had gold hardware but I prefer nickel with the blue finish. I had the pickup custom made by Kent Armstrong. It has a Nordstrand 3 band, series parallel switch, Hipshot kickass bridge, Hipshot mini clover USA, Ash body, Maple neck, ebony fingerboard, and Gotoh res-o-lite tuners. light weight and great tone!
Here is a link to a catalog.
Link Removed

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Hey! Just found this as I haven't taken my Riverhead out of it's case for a minute and was trying to find model as I have never found it. Your link to that catalog helped!!!

Attached is my 4string Gracia Bass RGB-54H!

 

[AyeYoItsRocco]

Just picked one up as a trade in and couldn't be happier. Riverhead Gracia RGB-64H.

 

[bgartist]

That's the same bass from the original post.

 

[FatOwlBass]

Just picked one up as a trade in and couldn't be happier. Riverhead Gracia RGB-64H.

That looks like it was mine. I upgraded the preamp, knobs and hardware. Excellent bass!

 

[AyeYoItsRocco]

Tha

That looks like it was mine. I upgraded the preamp, knobs and hardware. Excellent bass!
View attachment 4167501

Thats awesome. The shop I got it from, the owner said theg are fairly hard to find, is this true?

 

[FatOwlBass]

Tha

Thats awesome. The shop I got it from, the owner said theg are fairly hard to find, is this true?

Very hard to find. I have owned a red one and the blue one. The build quality is equal (in my opinion) to a Sadowsky or other high end bolt on fender type basses. I sold it to buy a Levinson Blade 5 string. Research Devisor basses and Bacchus of Japan. Top of the line quality stuff. Riverhead made in Japan and Headway.

 

[Crystaleyez]

Fellow unicorn parent here... I have a pink pearl. It's so refreshing to finally see some recent posts, I haven't been able to find out much about my precious. I'd love to get my hands on a Jupiter as well.

 

[Andrew Mcleay]

Hi, I know this is an old thread but I can't find the info I'm looking for. I have me eye on a 80s Riverhead Jupiter RJB-900. It's to far to go see it so I'm wondering does anyone know the fretboard radius on these ? Are the Fretboards relatively flat (over 12") or curved (under 10") I like the feel of the curved fretboards. Cheers

 

[emjazz]

Found this Riverhead hanging on a wall in a shop. Got it for $350 (traded in some things and paid $80). It's as good as any $2000 and up bass I've played. Will need better tuners, but has great pickups, small frets, a Gotoh bridge, a great neck, and plays beautifully. A total find!

 

[msb]

I’ve always done blues and roots gigs so buying the Unicorn was Plan B , I figured if this blues thing didn’t pan out I could grab the Unicorn and join up with some new wave or ska outfit .
Still playing the old stuff today , but if the circus ever comes to town I’ll be ready .

 

[Kurt Fletcher]

I just got my mitts on a 1984 Mij Riverhead Jupiter 1300 P/J after a decade of searching. This thing plays like a dream... unfortunately the pre amp is a little sketchy, it overheats and starts to distort after 20 mins of play. Unplug it plug it back in and all is clear again for another 20 mins. Not the battery.. I tested that 3 times. So I've got a Aguilera OBP-3 pre amp on order to drop in her and get her back up to snuff. I can't wait! The neck on this thing is like butter! And I got extra lucky with the production ... only the 625th bass to leave their factory... from what I'm seeing online the first few thousand were of superior quality. I believe it!
Here she is.

 

[emjazz]

These basses are just so good

 

[Kurt Fletcher]

These basses are just so good

Those who know this bass, know.
I had never actually tried one until I bought this one. But loved the design, look and had heard good things about build quality, playability and versatility so decided to take a chance when this came up locally on FB marketplace. It plays like a dream. Not disappointed at all!

 

[Kurt Fletcher]

So after almost a year with my Riverhead Jupiter the honeymoon is still on! It's my favorite bass in my rather extensive collection. So much so that I've been hunting for another and lady luck was on my side today... I just picked up a Riverhead Unicorn in Pearlescent Pink so far I'm really impressed with it. Here is a puc of me with my 2 Riverheads. Now the find myself a phantom!