Curious why we never talk about these amps

  • Thread starter Thread starter 311splawndude
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savant421 said:
Rivera K-Tre is IMO the most criminally underrated amp prob....well...ever! One of the meanest sounding EL34 amps out there! Loves Marshall and Krank cabs. Has smoked many "top tier" amps in my experience.
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I found the “newer” Rivera’s like this and the Knuckleheads just too loosey goosey in the gain and a tubby mess. The Rivera’s from the late 80’s/early 90’s (M series etc) were a lot tighter and more useable to me but they were chasing the modded Marshall teat back then, not the Recto one they chased with the revised models.
 
I don’t like talking up too much the particular Laney I have because I don’t want the used prices to get too high if I ever need to get another one.
 
311splawndude said:
Orange
Vox
Fender
Blackstar
Bugera
Eganater
Hughes & Kettner
(who else?)

I've played something from all of these, I just rarely see them come up.

Is it because we are too obsessed with Mesa, Marshall, Diezel, Friedman, Cameron, Wizard, Splawn, Bogner, Engl, Peavy, EVH, Fractal, Kemper, etc etc
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Fender ? Never heard of it. ?
 
I think a lot of the amps listed in the OP are easily found and tend to be good but just OK amps. Nobody gets excited about stuff they’ve already tried themselves and find to be fine, not kick ass. We’re on here to discover and experience the gear we don’t easily get our hands on.
 
The good news is on here at least we don’t overlook really the high gain stuff that really is the best we have. We just overlook some great value sleeper amps. The only really great high gain amp I don’t see get the attention they deserve on here is the Steavens Poundcake

The best non-high gain amps I’ve tried though don’t get talked about here: Jim Kelley, Ronin, Gjika, Jamison as well as the good vintage fender’s and Vox’s
 
skoora said:
I think a lot of the amps listed in the OP are easily found and tend to be good but just OK amps. Nobody gets excited about stuff they’ve already tried themselves and find to be fine, not kick ass. We’re on here to discover and experience the gear we don’t easily get our hands on.
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This exactly. And the only really great fender’s and Vox’s I’ve tried were from the ‘60’s and ‘50’s. Not the type of amps for this crowd
 
jabps said:
Stop, you're making me want another GH50 again.
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:p If you happen to live somewhere between Detroit and Indianapolis, I'll be swinging through in a couple weeks. Assuming my incoming amp doesn't get destroyed on its way to me, we could make a deal haha
 
Nashville Riff Co said:
1. No chug abilities
2. No Brown Sound
3. No boutique experience to get scammed through

What would be the point of talking about all those brands?!
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I think that sums it up fairly succinctly :dunno:

BTW guys, I knew the answer already - I just thought it would be a good topic of discussion.

RaceU4her said:
Aren’t 5153s fender?
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Yes. Edward commissioned Fender originally to design and build the EVH brand amps. And some guitars. EVH is a brand from Fender. They are made in the Mexico plants along with other (not all*) Fender stuff.


Erock said:
I think the brands like orange, vox, fender, etc... we know what they are about, and they get their love for their purpose. Not so much new stuff? H&K, every guitarist admires Alex, but hearing him live is the only exposure I've gotten to that amp in the US.

I don't really know about Blackstar; Bugera; or Egnater. They have some great sounding models IMO, but friends have warned me about quality. :dunno:
Not so much Egnater, I still want to take one of his classes.
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Actually, it appeared to me that Egnater was having quality issues as well. Not sure if it was a China thing or what was going on but I 'believe' I remember the Tourmaster, Renegade, Tweaker I think etc having QC issues. :dunno:

Not sure what the current status of the company is now. I know I enjoyed playing the Renegade and the Vengeance. :yes:
 
RaceU4her said:
Rivera is a strange one to me, I mean you got two of the biggest bands in slipknot and tool that use them, and skid row got killer tones with them, yet hardly any talk ever
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Their marketing is non-existent.
 
GuitarGuy08 said:
Their marketing is non-existent.
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True, but even still, outside of Metallica I can’t think of two bigger heavy bands in the last 25 years, I’d think even with no advertising having them use your gear would spark more interest than what I see. I’ve wanted a M100 forever but it’s just one of those amps I never came across
 
RaceU4her said:
True, but even still, outside of Metallica I can’t think of two bigger heavy bands in the last 25 years, I’d think even with no advertising having them use your gear would spark more interest than what I see. I’ve wanted a M100 forever but it’s just one of those amps I never came across
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Funny that I listened to those bands and had no clue about Rivera. I hadn't heard of them at all until I stumbled upon my Clubster Royale Recording.

It's such a monster!!
 
RaceU4her said:
Yeah that’s not good for them, dude has a sig model even, not sure which one the tool dude uses

https://www.rivera.com/product/heads/kr7-mick-thomson-signature/
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If Rivera did half of the social media blasting HK did a few years back, they would be totally fine. Those Grandmeister 40 amps fail left and right and people just keep snapping them up (Or they were). Is the tone good? Meh. Are they reliable? No. Are they affordable? Meh.... BUT they have a blue light and have been all over YT... Again, this was several years ago.

My Rivera is so far ahead of the HK stuff in terms of tone and 'Bigness' that it is laughable.

The Tri Amp kinda looks cool but mostly a pain in the ass and sounds like mush.
 
GuitarGuy08 said:
If Rivera did half of the social media blasting HK did a few years back, they would be totally fine. Those Grandmeister 40 amps fail left and right and people just keep snapping them up (Or they were). Is the tone good? Meh. Are they reliable? No. Are they affordable? Meh.... BUT they have a blue light and have been all over YT... Again, this was several years ago.

My Rivera is so far ahead of the HK stuff in terms of tone and 'Bigness' that it is laughable.

The Tri Amp kinda looks cool but mostly a pain in the ass and sounds like mush.
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Yeah H&K never even crossed my radar really, can’t say I’ve known a ba d who used them or even heard a clip of really
 
RaceU4her said:
Yeah H&K never even crossed my radar really, can’t say I’ve known a ba d who used them or even heard a clip of really
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Alex Lifeson is the big artist associated with HK I always hear about. That's it though.... And that is with their older, made in Germany stuff, none of this newer Made in China stuff they are pumping out.
 
RaceU4her said:
Yeah H&K never even crossed my radar really, can’t say I’ve known a ba d who used them or even heard a clip of really
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Tommy Thayer had a signature H&K Duotone when he joined KISS in the mid '00. I really have no idea if there was any difference from the standard model other than his signature on the front panel.
 
I have the Gus G Blackstar head and it is a great amp with tons of features. I have had zero reliability issues with it.

Another unique amp I have is an Aiken Invader II, which has power scaling and reverb in a plexi/alum face platform.
 
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