The electronics consisted of a single volume and tone knob, and a "choke-switch" (from 1959 onwards), which enhanced or cut the bass frequencies.

Its successor, the Epiphone 5120/EA-260, shared very few similarities to the original Rivoli, and had a bolt-on, full-scale maple neck, other hardware and a redesigned body.

[2] The original run from 1959 to 1970, with a hiatus in 1962-63, featured one model, the single-pickup variant, which remained structurally unchanged from start to finish.

Notable Epiphone Rivoli players in the 1960s include Ronnie Lane (The Small Faces), Chip Hawkes (The Tremeloes), Chas Chandler (The Animals), John Entwistle (The Who), Tony Jackson (The Searchers), Karl Green (Herman's Hermits); Paul Samwell-Smith,[4] Chris Dreja, and Jimmy Page of (The Yardbirds); Peter Birrell (Freddie and the Dreamers), Scott Walker (The Walker Brothers), Kevin Ayers (Soft Machine), and Bruce Foxton (The Jam).

More recent Rivoli players include Adam Clayton (U2), Nick Bearden (Jamestown Revival) and Robert Levon Been (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club).