C
chumbucket
Well-known member
Dave L":1nw39k83 said:
They tube sockets and pots mounted to the chassis or PCB's?
They tube sockets and pots mounted to the chassis or PCB's?
H
HELSTRUME
New member
They make some of the best sounding amps.
Dave L
Well-known member
chumbucket":3vuf2vhf said:
Chassis mounted. They´re built as well and road-ready as any amp you care to mention. High-quality components and careful engineering all the way. Looking at other nice amps, these should be more expensive than they are.
On the second-hand market they´re one the best deals out there, but I guess it´s not that funny if you bought one new and grew tired of it. As with almost everything, the original owner takes the hit.
bigdaddyd
New member
I have been saying this for years. Riveras are my favorite amps. I agree with whoever said that I am fine with them staying small as long as they stay in business! I got all of mine used and dirt cheap...and the best part is that Rivera still supports them. They know their amps rule and are rock solid and well built, so they will support them even if they are used. I paid less than half retail for each of mine and they were pretty much mint when I got them. One was used once for a session and the other did need some minor work, which the owner paid for, but I sent it to Rivera and instead of just doing the fix, they rebuilt the amp since it turns out I had one of the first KHR55 made and they wanted to upgrade it new specs for me. They did that for free. They just charged the cost of the regular fix, which was like 2hours time and rebuilt the entire amp to new spec...and they knew I bought it used. The only catch was that they asked if I could let them do it on their time and not need it back right away...which was no problem. They still had it back to me quickly. The tech even made sure that I had it set up to my specs with the tubes I like, since he could now build it however I liked it and worked with me to help me get it dialed in to suit me. This was all at his request. They go beyond customer service. Rivera rules. 
Dave L
Well-known member
bigdaddyd":10h4ef1e said:I have been saying this for years. Riveras are my favorite amps. I agree with whoever said that I am fine with them staying small as long as they stay in business! I got all of mine used and dirt cheap...and the best part is that Rivera still supports them. They know their amps rule and are rock solid and well built, so they will support them even if they are used. I paid less than half retail for each of mine and they were pretty much mint when I got them. One was used once for a session and the other did need some minor work, which the owner paid for, but I sent it to Rivera and instead of just doing the fix, they rebuilt the amp since it turns out I had one of the first KHR55 made and they wanted to upgrade it new specs for me. They did that for free. They just charged the cost of the regular fix, which was like 2hours time and rebuilt the entire amp to new spec...and they knew I bought it used. The only catch was that they asked if I could let them do it on their time and not need it back right away...which was no problem. They still had it back to me quickly. The tech even made sure that I had it set up to my specs with the tubes I like, since he could now build it however I liked it and worked with me to help me get it dialed in to suit me. This was all at his request. They go beyond customer service. Rivera rules.
That´s a great story, and I´m not surprised. That´s what you get with a company that hasn´t grown too big and business-oriented... and if the price to pay is low resale and not being able to swamp them with emails I´m all for it.
glpg80
Well-known member
i have played a K-Tre. ive heard much worse amplifiers - although it had a sound, it wasnt the sound i was looking for. i twiddled knobs and gave it some volume - it just wasnt a tone that was inspiring to play or was a good basis to start on.
they arent bad amplifiers, and it didnt sound bad, it played great as well. just nothing i saw that gave that "wow" factor of a tube amplifier running at volume.
they arent bad amplifiers, and it didnt sound bad, it played great as well. just nothing i saw that gave that "wow" factor of a tube amplifier running at volume.
Dave L
Well-known member
glpg80":2ztwmj08 said:
Like you said, it probably just wasn´t the sound you were looking for. I´m not thrilled with the K-Tre, either... it´s way too modern for me. But luckily they make several different amps
And the bane of the Rivera owners is like always the master volume... if you haven´t had it up to 3.5 or 4 you basically haven´t heard the amp yet. All tube amps have it to a certain degree, definitely, but the Riveras are the worst offenders in that regard that I´ve ever played.
mightywarlock
Well-known member
I had a line on one for $700 locally.
After a couple weeks of thinking about it, even thinking of buying it to sell on ebay,
I decided it just wasn't what I needed and was a waste of time.
After a couple weeks of thinking about it, even thinking of buying it to sell on ebay,
I decided it just wasn't what I needed and was a waste of time.
rupe
Active member
I don't remember which model(s) they used, but Saigon Kick recorded their first album with Riveras and got some crushing tones.
Dave L
Well-known member
I think the Saigon Kick stuff was either the TBR1-SL or the M/S amps. Probably the S120.
Tonelover
Well-known member
Clean on my Venus 5 is truly spectacular. It has a push/pull which is supposed to be like Blackface/Twin, one is really warm and the other is more sparkly, but not too bright or icepicky. The bright is still really warm too. Both are completely usable. I tried about seven amps over the past year and the clean on this absolutely is the most full, warm, organic and pleasing that I have heard. I don't know much about the Venus 6 so can't speak much for that. From what I understand though the 5 has a bit more of an aggressive distortion. I did pay full retail (ouch) for my Venus 5 head and there is a used combo on ebay right now with a start of $1,390 and no takers yet.
Dave L
Well-known member
Yeah, there´s always that awesome dedicated clean channel. I couldn´t imagine finding a better clean channel, certainly not in a channel-switching high gain amp. It´s really one of the best clean circuits out there, especially when using the low gain input for more headroom and a slightly warmer tone.
The Venus 6 is definitely more old school, the 5 has as much gain as the Knuckleheads but sounds a lot different due to the power amp. I guess it comes down to what you mean by smooth; for bluesy tones and more classic rock the 6 probably is the better choice, and for John Petrucci the 5 is the way to go.
The Venus 6 is definitely more old school, the 5 has as much gain as the Knuckleheads but sounds a lot different due to the power amp. I guess it comes down to what you mean by smooth; for bluesy tones and more classic rock the 6 probably is the better choice, and for John Petrucci the 5 is the way to go.
bigdaddyd
New member
Skid Row used them as well. A lot of session guys use(d) them. They are quite popular. I got turned on to them along time ago at Rudys here in NYC back when they had the old amp room upstairs. It was basically full of Riveras, like the entire line and the guy that ran it was uber cool. He would let me hang out there and would show me everything. I would buy my pedals there, but could never afford the Riveras. Then I would walk into a Sam Ash or something and see a TBR or M series used, for like $400 because no one knew what it was...including the store. I was in college and had no money and would be killing myself. I swore when I had the $$$ I would start picking them up and did. This was before the internet was big and people started to get a clue. My KHR 55 and my Duarte can pretty much cover everything, but I still want a TBR-M or SL and will prob pick up a power amp at some point. One of the poweramps sold on ebay recently, for like $575 in what looked like mint shape. I mean that is just a crazy good deal.
Dave L
Well-known member
Yeah, the TBR power amps are real sleeper amps. I haven´t tried one of the dedicated power amps, to be honest, but I´ve used my TBR1 as a power amp pretty extensively - and it flat out rocks. On par with any VHT or Boogie, but no one knows what they are.
I didn´t know about Rivera until maybe 1999 or 2000, when Lukather came out with Mindfields and Livefields. Then I realized that Jay Graydon uses them too, and I bought my TBR not long after. Then I added the K55 a few years later, and since then I haven´t bought another amp. I sold the TBR a few weeks ago, though... it was tough to see it go, but I simply didn´t use it enough and it was sad in itself to just have it sitting there. I´ll sure miss it when I do need those late 70´s, early 80´s LA session tones.
I didn´t know about Rivera until maybe 1999 or 2000, when Lukather came out with Mindfields and Livefields. Then I realized that Jay Graydon uses them too, and I bought my TBR not long after. Then I added the K55 a few years later, and since then I haven´t bought another amp. I sold the TBR a few weeks ago, though... it was tough to see it go, but I simply didn´t use it enough and it was sad in itself to just have it sitting there. I´ll sure miss it when I do need those late 70´s, early 80´s LA session tones.
bigdaddyd
New member
Dave L":2m7jgsmg said:
Yeah Graydon has his own amp, it was called the Rake I believe. I played through many of those at Rudys and they were amazing.
skoora
Well-known member
I think it just comes down to sound. Does the amp rock? If Rivera's dirty channel was worth a damn they would be everywhere. Great build quality, useful features and an amazing Fender based channel that smokes for blackface and some tweed like tones...BUT..the high gain channel stinks on almost any Rivera I've played made in the last 10 years. Haven't played many older ones. It's grainy, doesn't keep tight in the lows when you finally get it to a good saturation point (even keeping the channel bass lower) and is just ratty. I know a lot of you guys in this thread are singing their praises and there's a lot they do right. For an amp to be big presence in a rock/metal landscape it has to crush on the distortion side. Rivera's just don't. Plus almost all the compliments I've heard in this thread are "great clean", which it has indeed. Not trying to be harsh but it just is. I want an American company to succeed that makes American made products but they need to rethink what they hear as a rock/metal overdrive.
Jordon
New member
I love my new K-Tre. I'll be posting clips very soon, but I'm playing in A#, and it's definitely a very nice high-gain tone.
lolzgreg
New member
Saigon Kick's tone wasn't an amp head 
bigdaddyd
New member
skoora":1wwumj5r said:
They might just not be for you. Plenty of people are able to get smoking high gain tones from Riveras. I know I can. I have had many people who have had the same theories as you plug into my rigs and dial in tones and be amazed. I brought my Duarte to an old Les Paul Forum get together in CT once and the dudes were blown away. Prior to that many of them spouted the same thing you just did. One of the took my LPC and took a whole 1 min to dial in a dead on Crazy Train tone, then another 30seconds to nail Yngwie. He then proceeded to dial in every tone he could imagine. This guy had been playing for decades and could build both Les Pauls by hand and Marshalls in his garage that would rivals those of the companies that make them. He is pretty well known for mods. The rest of the guys had similar experiences. Needless to say mine were the only Riveras there and they impressed most of the people at the get together. Does that mean everyone has to like them? No. Do you? No. But, to act like the gain channel is no good at all is just ridiculous.