? What does everyone think of Riveras ?

[dennq45]

Anyone here use Riveras?

 

[enigma]

I own a Rivera Quiana Studio - Guitarist magazine rated this 4 1/2 stars out of 5. I think it should be 5! Simply the best sounding amp for crunch and cleans. I'll have to see how it compares to RK II.

It has 55 watts, but when switched to vintage mode the power drops to 30 w. And, the tonal control on the amp is where it shines.

Go to their website, and you get to hear all their amps! Awesome site.

 

[zappaslaughter]

I own a 83 Fender Concert Series II that was designed by Rivera. It is hands down the best fender amp I have played through or owned.

even my LSC can't touch the clean bell like chime of that amp.

 

[zappaslaughter]

DOH.

I guess what I am saying is that the I would imagine Rivera amps to be as good as my amp designed by him.

didn't mean to hijack your thread

 

[flieger67]

I have one of the first Suprema 55's before they actually got the Suprema faceplates. Along with it, I have a Rivera 1x12 extension cab.

My other Rivera is an M-60 1x12 that I got used. As the speaker that was in it was generic, I had it replaced with a Kendrick Brownframe that sounds pretty good. The M/S series of amps are definitely deep amps with every knob seemingly having a push/pull function.

I really like my Riveras but I must admit that I'm really thinking a lot about a Stilletto Ace. Gotta take a test drive on one of those soon...

 

[Pundix]

I've owned a Rivera R30, two R55's and an M60. They are very nice amps. The clean channel is very Fender'ish with great sounding reverb and the gain channel is very Marshall sounding. I'm not sure how Rivera manages this, but he does. I'm using a Boogie MKIV these days, but would love to find another R30 or R55 to keep around just so my right arm doesn't end up three or four inches longer than my left.

 

[tubeydude]

I fixed a fandago (oops, I mean Clubster) for local fellow here a year ago or so. I gotta say, I was not impressed with the build quality. There were also more transistors and op-amps than tubes. It is billed as an "all tube" amp. This is clearly not true.
The fandago is one of the lower cost amps they make, but still it cost over 900 or something.

That is my one data point with rivera. We are spoiled with Boogies.

Erik

(edit: I had the model of the amp wrong...sorry)

 

[flieger67]

I fixed a fandago for local fellow here a year ago or so. I gotta say, I was not impressed with the build quality. There were also more transistors and op-amps than tubes. It is billed as an "all tube" amp. This is clearly not true.

If you truly are interested, you might go call Rivera, ask for Paul Jr. or Sr. and see how many of those "transistors and op-amps" are actually in the audio signal path.

The fandago is one of the lower cost amps they make, but still it cost over 900 or something.

That amp sits towards the top-end of their amp line. Now, someone may have been trying to move on off the sales floor at a low price, but that amp isn't one of the lower-cost Riveras, such as the Chubster or Pubster.

 

[tubeydude]

Flieger67,

I actually had the amp wrong. It was the Clubster, not the Fandango. I don't know whay I remembered the wrong name, but there you have it. I edited the post above as well. Sorry about that.

I know that Rivera has had a hand in designing some very cool and awesome amps. I've not really played many of them.

I am just relaying what I saw when working on a recent amp. I sure hope (and would expect) that the higher end amps don't have the solid state / tube ratio the Clubster has.

FWIW
Erik

 

[flieger67]

I know that Rivera has had a hand in designing some very cool and awesome amps. I've not really played many of them.

Paul Sr. sure has designed some great amps. He basically resurrected Fender's amp line in the early '80's with the Concerts and related amps. His designs for his own company are quite good. Check out the M/S series if you like versatility and I think he's done a great job on the Suprema, Fandango, Jake/Rake and his heavy rock/metal heads, the Bonehead and the Knucklehead Reverb.

I am just relaying what I saw when working on a recent amp. I sure hope (and would expect) that the higher end amps don't have the solid state / tube ratio the Clubster has.

Again, I have to ask what the big deal is with solid-state technology in a "tube" amp if the amp sounds great? Solid state devices can exist inside an amp for other than audio reasons, such as channel and mode switching. (I'm guessing that even Boogies have a few solid-state devices in them...) And even if they are in the audio path, the tone is the bottom line, right? Even the vaunted and highly sought-after Dumble Overdrive Special has an FET input that feeds the singal into a solid-state line-booster before the signal even reaches the first preamp tube. And look at how many people use solid-state distortion devices in front of their tube amps: SRV hit his Fenders with a Tubescreamer, Hendrix used a Fuzz Face and lots of the metal players on this forum are using solid-state boxes in front of their Rectifiers.

Seriously, I would encourage you to call or write Paul Sr. and chat with him about solid-state and tube technology. I think you would find it very interesting and find Paul to be a great guy.

 

[Guitarzan]

Seriously, I would encourage you to call or write Paul Sr. and chat with him about solid-state and tube technology. I think you would find it very interesting and find Paul to be a great guy.

I'll second that! Paul is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Right up there with Andy Timmons.

 

[Platypus]

I owned a Quiana.. was a pretty good amp but it didn't fit my needs and didn't wow me to a great extent. Great crunch though.

Heavy ******* too!

 

[tubeydude]

I don't think there is anything wrong with solid state per se. It has it's place. Most solid state amps I've played don't have the soul and feeling that most tube amps I've played have had. To be sure, I've played some terrible tube amps. I've also been wowed by a few solid state amps. Some of the best and most original tone ever (in my humble opinion) was had on some of the early King's X albums. Ty was using a solid state amps for those tones. (as far as I know)

I know that some boogies have solid state in a supporting role, but they are pretty minimal, for the most part.

I do have a problem when an amp that was marketed as an all tube amp ends up having a substantial number of solid state devices. I'm not just talking about diodes and voltage regulators, but op-amps in the signal path being used as a gain stage where a tube should (would) be if it were an all tube amp. Just call it a hybrid tube amp...that's all. I know marketing can be a bunch of smoke and mirrors, but still. :roll:

I have nothing but respect for Rivera's contributions to tube amp history. I also fixed a red knob fender evil twin (on of his creations) and have nothing but awe for that amp. Please believe that I am not putting Rivera down. I have spoken with people there over the years (never Paul himself thought) and found them to be quite nice as well.

I had only ever seen that one amp internally and played it after fixing it. I probably shouldn't have said anything at all as my experience with Rivera amps is certainly not vast.

FWIW

Erik

 

[flieger67]

No problem, Erik.

I've had a decent amount of experience with Rivera amps, having owned a few and gotten to hear, first-hand, several others including a one-off custom that Paul built for a friend of mine a few years ago. As such, I just want to make sure that Rivera gets a fair shake in this thread.

Riveras aren't for everyone as no amp is the be-all/end-all amp for every single player. And even though I'm very pleased with my Riveras, I'm probably going to pick up a Stiletto Ace later this year.

 

[konstantine3]

Rivera Knucklehead R 55 is just an awesome sounding amp head. Run it through a Marshall jcm 900 1960A and you will be in metal head heaven. The cleans are crystal the amp is just awesome.

Im into Rivera so much that if this recto stuff doesent satisfy me soon it may be traded for another Rivera.

I also have a Rivera Combo R-55 (Rick Nielsen model)

 

[mdortona]

I used to have a Fandango 55. I very much liked its versatility, but the clean channel kept breaking up rather easily (too easily in my mind) and over time became frustrating. Overdrive channel was great. Traded it for a '94 series [Evil non red knob] Twin-Amp (big mistake). Cleans were great, overdrive sucked and it wasn't easily modified. Stoopid on my part. Have a Heartbreaker combo and plan to test drive a Roadster this week-end to see if it's worth the 2K.