No love for Rivera Amps??

[Dave L]

Saigon Kick's tone wasn't an amp head

So it was the combo?

 

[rupe]

Saigon Kick's tone wasn't an amp head

Go on...

 

[Mailman1971]

Saigon Kick's tone wasn't an amp head

Go on...

 

[Bronco]

Saigon Kick's tone wasn't an amp head

So it was the combo?

It was a TBR-1SL (4 space rack mount)...he also goosed it with a Boss SD-1 or DS-1 (can't remember).

BTW, the M60 or M100 is very similar to the TBR series -- the major difference is the mid control on the TBRs (5 -position 'slope' control); the M series didn't have that.

Regardless, my M60 is an awesome amp...like many of the others' comments, the clean channel alone is worth getting the amp. I've compared mine to several old Fender Black Faces and it easily holds its own.

 

[skoora]

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.

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.

It's not ridiculous, I'm entitled to my opinion. I couldn't care less about how much you love it. Original question was why no love for the Rivera, I just confirmed why from my POV. Many people on here love their Recto's and that's perfectly OK. I don't like them at all and would never say someone who loves them is ridiculous.

I would love to hear some of your clips, describing setup that nails Randy and Yngwie and every tone you could imagine.

 

[bigdaddyd]

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.

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.

It's not ridiculous, I'm entitled to my opinion. I couldn't care less about how much you love it. Original question was why no love for the Rivera, I just confirmed why from my POV. Many people on here love their Recto's and that's perfectly OK. I don't like them at all and would never say someone who loves them is ridiculous.

I would love to hear some of your clips, describing setup that nails Randy and Yngwie and every tone you could imagine.

I would post the clip if I can find it, but to be honest I doubt it will matter since you seem to have a comprehension problem. Go to www.rif.org and get back to me and then I will look for the clip. Nowhere did I say you weren't entitled to your opinion. In fact, I said, it may not be the amp for you, and you do not have to like them. No one gives a shit if you like them. However, to make a generalization as to an entire brand not being able to make a decent sound, whether clean or crunch or high gain...that is just uninformed and yes, ridiculous.

Rivera, just like every other company makes many different models and they do that for a reason....to cover different styles. If you have played them all and still don't like them....who cares? Don't buy one. I don't get paid by them. I like plenty of other brands myself. In fact, I happen to love Fenders and Marshalls. That is where my love for Riveras comes from. If you are not a big fan of either, you won't like them. I am not a huge Boogie fan. If you love Boogie tones, you probably won't dig Rivera high gain. Now, I am generalizing like you, because I know Rivera makes some amps that sure will cover Boogie territory, but will be voiced slightly different, however most people might try an old TBR-1 gain channel and base their decision on that. That amp is designed around a vintage Marshall sound....not the right amp to compare. Same with some of the old M series amps. There are different amps, like later Knuckleheads and various others that are made for the higher gains tones. The difference between my KHR and my Duarte is quite apparent. If I can't get find my old clip, I will invite Kage over to run them through their paces and see what we can get. My old clip is already on the internet somewhere. I will have to find it. It isn't me playing. I am afraid I am not much of a demo guy. I am no Pete Thorn.

 

[Jeremy]

I for one have a huge love for Rivera amps & accessories. I was able to nail 'my sound' with the KR100 with little to no effort. I have had many compliments on my live tone locally, and there really isn't many players out there with Rivera's in general. I love their unique sound.

I think however that Rivera has a distinct voice to them that will either work for you or not. It's like any other amp out of there. Maybe for the high-gain market, many people just haven't given them a try due to availability? They're not the most common amp out there (ie. you can go to almost any music store and are guaranteed to find a Marshall, Mesa Boogie, or Line 6) but IMO have alot going for them besides their amazing clean channels. The build quality, flexibility, etc. are all up there for sure. I think that Rivera's got a great foundation and reputation with years experience in many, many genres but not too much in the Metal. The Knucklehead's (Reverb, Tre, KR-7, etc.) are their foot in the door but defenitly need to work on marketing and maybe getting some more 'known' players using them. As already mentioned previously, their C/S is excellent but their marketing could use some work.

However, I personally try not to guage popularity by internet musician forums as they are all usually the same with either a HUGE e-boner for the Fractal Audio Axe-FX or a boutique amp built by a forum member (Fortin, Peters, DAR, Roccafort, etc.) that many have never heard of.

 

[skoora]

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.

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.

It's not ridiculous, I'm entitled to my opinion. I couldn't care less about how much you love it. Original question was why no love for the Rivera, I just confirmed why from my POV. Many people on here love their Recto's and that's perfectly OK. I don't like them at all and would never say someone who loves them is ridiculous.

I would love to hear some of your clips, describing setup that nails Randy and Yngwie and every tone you could imagine.

I would post the clip if I can find it, but to be honest I doubt it will matter since you seem to have a comprehension problem. Go to http://www.rif.org and get back to me and then I will look for the clip.

First off Fuck you. Second, I'm ridiculous and now I have a comprehension problem. This is why I love forums. You have a negative opinion of an amp and people who like the amp attack you personally. Suck a fucking Dick. Oh yeah and rif.org is helpful if I want to help a kid read asshat.

However, to make a generalization as to an entire brand not being able to make a decent sound, whether clean or crunch or high gain...that is just uninformed and yes, ridiculous.

If you could actually read I gave the Rivera a lot of props for an excellent clean and crunch from the clean channel. I just think the high gain tones are shit, again fuck you.

I am not a huge Boogie fan. If you love Boogie tones, you probably won't dig Rivera high gain. Now, I am generalizing like you, because I know Rivera makes some amps that sure will cover Boogie territory, but will be voiced slightly different,

Again if you could read, I said I don't care for Boogie so why would I want to get Boogie tones out of anything. I have tried on and off every model rivera makes in the last several years, I can't comment on TRB-1 or M series. I've demoed a lot at all volume levels, all knuckleheads including older K55's and K100's, Venus series, Fandango, Suprema, Quiana, Pubster, Chubster.

I'm glad you have a brand that really does it for you but if someone doesn't like some of it especially when asked why aren't brand X given love, don't be a dick about it. Even though we're not talking face to face try a little respect and courtesy.

 

[Heritage Softail]

First off, Fuck you.

Second, ....Suck a fucking Dick.....again fuck you.....

Even though we're not talking face to face try a little respect and courtesy.

 

[bigdaddyd]

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.

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.

It's not ridiculous, I'm entitled to my opinion. I couldn't care less about how much you love it. Original question was why no love for the Rivera, I just confirmed why from my POV. Many people on here love their Recto's and that's perfectly OK. I don't like them at all and would never say someone who loves them is ridiculous.

I would love to hear some of your clips, describing setup that nails Randy and Yngwie and every tone you could imagine.

I would post the clip if I can find it, but to be honest I doubt it will matter since you seem to have a comprehension problem. Go to http://www.rif.org and get back to me and then I will look for the clip.

First off Fuck you. Second, I'm ridiculous and now I have a comprehension problem. This is why I love forums. You have a negative opinion of an amp and people who like the amp attack you personally. Suck a fucking Dick. Oh yeah and rif.org is helpful if I want to help a kid read asshat.

However, to make a generalization as to an entire brand not being able to make a decent sound, whether clean or crunch or high gain...that is just uninformed and yes, ridiculous.

If you could actually read I gave the Rivera a lot of props for an excellent clean and crunch from the clean channel. I just think the high gain tones are shit, again fuck you.

I am not a huge Boogie fan. If you love Boogie tones, you probably won't dig Rivera high gain. Now, I am generalizing like you, because I know Rivera makes some amps that sure will cover Boogie territory, but will be voiced slightly different,

Again if you could read, I said I don't care for Boogie so why would I want to get Boogie tones out of anything. I have tried on and off every model rivera makes in the last several years, I can't comment on TRB-1 or M series. I've demoed a lot at all volume levels, all knuckleheads including older K55's and K100's, Venus series, Fandango, Suprema, Quiana, Pubster, Chubster.

I'm glad you have a brand that really does it for you but if someone doesn't like some of it especially when asked why aren't brand X given love, don't be a dick about it. Even though we're not talking face to face try a little respect and courtesy.

Wow, someone needs to take the stick out of his ass. Listen, I have no problem with you. Clearly you have no idea what I am saying. It has nothing to do with you, or what you can and can't like. You seriously, just don't understand what I wrote, and quite frankly I don't care enough about you to make another attempt. As for the Boogie comment, the "you" wasn't you per se, but a general you. Once again, you missed my point. Happy New Year.

Oh, I missed the last part of what you said, because quite frankly I didn't bother to read your post, it was to full of fail...I read Heritage Softail's quote. Yeah you are correct...we aren't speaking face to face. I doubt you would be getting so bent out shape if we were, because I have no negative tone in my comment. Anytime you want to speak face to face, talk to Kage, he knows where to find me.

 

[skoora]

First off, Fuck you.

Second, ....Suck a fucking Dick.....again fuck you.....

Even though we're not talking face to face try a little respect and courtesy.

Hey, I can see the humor in that, he struck first so it was on as far as I was concerned.

 

[skoora]

Oh, I missed the last part of what you said, because quite frankly I didn't bother to read your post, it was to full of fail...

oh how HC of you....of course you read it and you then cried little Rivera tears. When you quote someone and don't specifically express "you" refers to anyone, of course it sounds like your directly addressing who you quoted. That's why I made sure to say Fuck "you" after quoting you.

Look, I basically praised half of an amp that isn't making serious in-roads to the hard rock/metal community because the half I didn't care for is the half that matters to that community. If it did they would be as prevalent as any other maker at the same price point. They're well made and look good. But IMO they don't deliver where it counts. A kick ass hard rock/metal sound. It's fine you disagree, as tone is subjective but when you say it's ridiculous for someone to think so and they can't comprehend, that's personal. So I got personal. In the almost 4 years I've been on this Forum I don't remember one excited NAD post on a Rivera except maybe for Mailman and his KR7 which he sold soon after of course

I'm already over it by this sentence so if you're OK with it lets agree to disagree and not worry about it anymore.

 

[chumbucket]

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.

I'm looking forward to hearing your clips. If you have another axe tuned up a little higher that A#, that would be cool too. If you open it up, take some gut shot pics if you could. I'm not a touring musician but I hate having fragile, delicate PCB amps fixed. I want the shit to hold up for a while. But from what I've read and heard, you don't really have to worry about it too much. The build quality is allegedly very good.

 

[Jordon]

I'll get the clips together tonight.

 

[Jordon]

Ok, here we go.

Harder rock/alternative metal song.

PRS Custom 22 with a Tremonti Treble in the bridge. Strung with SIT 11-60 strings in A#.

Signal chain was as follows: PRS ---> Mogami Platinum instrument cable ---> Boss NS-2 ---> Another Mogami cable ---> Rivera K-Tre Reverb ---> Splawn straight 4x12 with Vintage 30's.

There were 2 SM57's and a 421 on one Vintage 30. It was run through a Neve Portico preamp.

There are 4 rhythm tracks, one humbucker and one coil-tapped tone on each side. The amp was kept the same for all guitar tracks, except the gain boost was used on the coil-tapped tracks.

I spent about 10 minutes micing and dialing things in, I just wanted to get some quick clips, so take them for what they are.

Minimal post-processing. HP'd at 90hz, small .5db boost at 95 hz, and a slight dip at 3.5khz. LP'd at 15khz. Lightly compressed to even out the chugs.

The mix was done to highlight the guitars.
Full Mix
Guitars only

EDIT: mind the gap between 0:23 and 0:37. There's no verse to the song yet

By the way, I helped track a pop-punk band with this setup today using a stock American Strat. Sounded amazing. Dialed in a very "classic" style tone. I'll post clips ASAP.


For contrast, here is the same song (same guitar, different performances) using Amplitube 3: Bam sucka Of course, that mix wasn't geared towards showing off guitar tones and it's insanely bass-heavy.

 

[Jeremy]

Ok, here we go.

Harder rock/alternative metal song.

PRS Custom 22 with a Tremonti Treble in the bridge. Strung with SIT 11-60 strings in A#.

Signal chain was as follows: PRS ---> Mogami Platinum instrument cable ---> Boss NS-2 ---> Another Mogami cable ---> Rivera K-Tre Reverb ---> Splawn straight 4x12 with Vintage 30's.

There were 2 SM57's and a 421 on one Vintage 30. It was run through a Neve Portico preamp.

There are 4 rhythm tracks, one humbucker and one coil-tapped tone on each side. The amp was kept the same for all guitar tracks, except the gain boost was used on the coil-tapped tracks.

I spent about 10 minutes micing and dialing things in, I just wanted to get some quick clips, so take them for what they are.

Minimal post-processing. HP'd at 90hz, small .5db boost at 95 hz, and a slight dip at 3.5khz. LP'd at 15khz. Lightly compressed to even out the chugs.

The mix was done to highlight the guitars.
Full Mix
Guitars only

EDIT: mind the gap between 0:23 and 0:37. There's no verse to the song yet

By the way, I helped track a pop-punk band with this setup today using a stock American Strat. Sounded amazing. Dialed in a very "classic" style tone. I'll post clips ASAP.


For contrast, here is the same song (same guitar, different performances) using Amplitube 3: Bam sucka Of course, that mix wasn't geared towards showing off guitar tones and it's insanely bass-heavy.

Nicely done!!

 

[johnny q]

I have had 4 Riveras. They all had the best clean channels that I have ever heard on any amp. The gain channels are hit and miss with me. I would (and probably will) buy another.

This is exactly what I was going to post. I own the R212 and the clean channel is as good as any Fender clean channel (and its an El34 amp!) But the British channel is, like you said, hit and miss. I did manage to dial in a great tone with an Eq in the effects loop, gain low and a good OD in front of the amp.

JQ

 

[Jordon]

Nicely done!!

Thank you sir. How do you like the Seven cab? I was thinking of replacing the Splawn with a couple of those.

 

[skoora]

I have had 4 Riveras. They all had the best clean channels that I have ever heard on any amp. The gain channels are hit and miss with me. I would (and probably will) buy another.

This is exactly what I was going to post. I own the R212 and the clean channel is as good as any Fender clean channel (and its an El34 amp!) But the British channel is, like you said, hit and miss. I did manage to dial in a great tone with an Eq in the effects loop, gain low and a good OD in front of the amp.

JQ

I think one of the reasons I feel so bummed about the dirt channel on the Rivera's is because the clean channel is truly amazing. I tried a lot of Rivera's trying to find the one with a dirt channel I liked (I'm very Marshall orientated) but didn't find one. I would actually dig a Rivera that just had the clean channel twice. Set one for blackface and one for Tweed w/dirt. Cover my Fender fix. I think a lot of guys are trying to find that amp that can be Fender and Marshall/Hot Rod in one but it hasn't been made yet that I can find.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

My review of my K-Tre. And still to this day, my review is spot on.

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