Mesa vs Rivera

[keithus77]

Hey guys (while I'm asking questions, I'll ask another).

Anyone here own any of the Mesa Mark series and a Rivera R series?

Just wondering how they compare in tone.

A guy I knew owned a Rivera R60 and it was a great amp - very nice sounding, loads of features, but a little underpowered (Boogies don't seem to have this problem!)

Just wondering how the two amps compare and what the consensus (if any) on which is the better amp.

 

[SFW]

Apples to Oranges. Riveras have a British (their take on the Marshall sound) crunch tone. Booth amp companies build their amps like tanks. However, I don't think you can say that one is better than the other. They are just very different animals. If you want the Boogie sound, then only a Boogie will do. If you want Fender clean and Marshall dirty in one box, then Rivera is hard to beat.

 

[axwielding1]

Can't comment much, but I did play a Rivera Quiana 4-10 once..
That was a great amp..Excellent cleans, excellent gain, great reverb. A very wet and saturated tone...After playing many amps that weekend, the Quiana was like comparing a spinet piano to a Hammond organ..
Really nice, and the Ninja boost was awesome...
ax. 8)

 

[keithus77]

Thanks for the comments guys.

I should correct my earlier post about my friend's Rivera. It was a Rivera R55 amp.

I remember it having really smooth, high gain and the clean sound on it was very nice, lush Fenderish (makes sense, Paul Rivera/Fender etc).

I also remember the Ninja boost was fantastic. Like an extra application of gain on stacks of gain! My only gripe with the R55 would be not enough power - my 60 watt MkIII would seriously blow it away for volume. I would think the R55 is probably the equal of about 30 watts in terms of volume.

Given the choice between my MkIII and a Rivera R55, I'd have to say...either. I think each amp has its own characteristic pros that would make people hear your tone and say 'that sounds awesome'. I certainly would buy a Rivera amp given the right price. They are, however, a bit rare in Australia, and very expensive. Shame really, one of the world's best amps being so hard to buy, especially second hand, in Oz.

 

[marshman]

You may want to give that another look, muchacho...My r30 (30 watts of el34 in a 1x12 cab) has proven to be more than adequate to hang with a nomad 55 in a blues band situation.

My only 'complaint' about the Rivera is that the ninja/solo boost is just too loud for non-band jamming. If you're just chilling out/practicing, the volume difference is huge. Not a big deal in band context, however.

Not tryin' to talk you out of a Mesa, mind, just chimin' in with my experiences.

 

[SFW]

You chould check out an M60 combo. It's Rivera's Mark IV. Very nice amp.

 

[keithus77]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Maybe I was harsh on the R55. The experience I had with the R55 was that its volume wasn't quite loud enough - perhaps this guy's amp had a faulty power tube or something that wasn't quite right.

The amp itself - as I said previously - was fantastic. I remember using the Ninja boost when we had a band room, and I wasn't sitting like 20cm from the amp Home practice with powerful amps like my Marshall 1/2 stack or the MkIII turned up loud, just dosn't do you ears any favours when basically sitting on top of your amp! As you said, you really need a bigger room or to be jamming with the band to really hook in volume wise.

Rivera's are extremly well-built amps, and had heaps of features. The R55's reverb - I recall - was excellent. Plus the amp looks a million dollars. (Don't know why, asthetically, Rivera ever went with the metal grill and carpet covering their pro series. Ok, they probably wore hard, but looked crap! Sorry Rivera! The R series amps look much nicer.)

But as I said before I'd buy a Rivera without hesitation. I believe the R55 is about $4k new in Australia while the Hundred Duo goes for about 5 large. Pretty pricey, but then again a new MkIV in Oz will set you back about 5 1/2 - 6 grand depending on finish etc. Pity, cause it puts these fantastic amps out of contention for most people.

 

[Pundix]

I've had a few Rivera amps in the past including an R30, R55 and duo100. I like the amps a lot, they all do a very good Fender clean with great reverb and a very respectable Marshall type crunch. Two sounds I've never found duplicated as well in any other amp. However, they did sound very underpowered to me. The R30 did not have enough volume to be used in a live situation with a drummer. The R55 did a little better, but still felt like it was being pushed to compete with the drummer. The duo100 was okay for that, but never sounded like 100 watts to me. It sounded more like a 50 watt amp. That was the only drawback though, the amps sounded great.