Splawn nitro vs Rivera knucklehead

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John_ne_Karmack

John_ne_Karmack

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Who's better for old school and low tuned metal tones( Slayer, Zakk Wylde, RATM ,TooL , Avenged Sevenfold, System Of A Down , Korn , Mudvayne, slipknot)
And who better for lead-crunch tones?
How these amps compares and feels in hands?

(Low tuned metal tone a little bit more important for me then old school and crunch tones*)
 
Never played a Knucklehead, but I had a Nitro a number of years back and also gigged in a band where the other guitarist had a Nitro. I didn’t love it. Seemed to lack character, but I also played it through v30’s. I believe he voiced it through those small/big block speakers, so maybe that was part of the issue.

That said, the Nitro seemed better for low tuned metal than lead crunch tones by quite a bit imo - it had more of a fuller low mid focus than an upper mid focus. It was also a bit stiff under the fingers. It really benefited from a boost to tighten it up and rein in the lows along with giving it some juice under the fingers. I believe there have been some different tweaks to the circuit since I had mine, though, so maybe some of that has changed now.
 
John_ne_Karmack said:
Who's better for old school and low tuned metal tones( Slayer, Zakk Wylde, RATM ,TooL , Avenged Sevenfold, System Of A Down , Korn , Mudvayne, slipknot)
And who better for lead-crunch tones?
How these amps compares and feels in hands?

(Low tuned metal tone a little bit more important for me then old school and crunch tones*)
Click to expand...
I have a Rivera Clubster Royale Recording Top-25w. The lead is voiced to sound like the knucklehead. I can tell you rn, the Rivera stays tight as can be, even when chugging in drop A, etc. Shockingly good. Spoiled me, as I run the lead channel w the stock boost engaged and that is all, no pedals needed. I would assume the actual KH is a monster but I love my model!

Also, the cabinet I am running it in has a WGS Vet 30 and a Panama Purpleback/WGS Invader 50. They pair very well together. Tight and meaty.
 
I gotta throw this out there. I played a gig with another band once and the guitar player used a Rivera Knucklehead into a V30 loaded 4x12. And I remember just being absolutely blown away by his live tone. Not sure about tone wood for his guitar or pickups - but he was a very good player (that always has a lot to do with it…) and his tone through that Knucklehead was just unbelievable. I chatted only briefly after soundcheck and between sets - he did not use any boost in front of the amp, and just had a subtle slap/echo through the loop. He said he just stepped on the ‘Ninja Boost’ for leads (at least I think thats what Rivera called it?). I admit, I could go buy a Knucklehead today and find myself totally bummed that I could not find that magic sound in there. But that night, I was floored.
 
I owned a Rivera K-TRE and it was a cool amp that has it's own thing going on but the foundation control is kind of hard to dial in, it had a usable lead boost but the low end can be a bit loose and it really needed to be boosted with a clean boost like a Maxon OD808. The amp has a cool grind to it but it also had some clarity to the bite which was enjoyable. The K-TRE has a Fender clean channel which is really nice. I think Shadows Fall used the K-Tre's if that helps your search.



I wouldn't overlook a Splawn Prostock or a quickrod, they have plenty of low end grunt and have a great growl to them, the Splawns can get very heavy sounding. My Splawn modded Marshall which is similar to the Prostock.
 
^

Treble on "0" is what I've been doing for years. In Kyles demo at the 10 min mark the QR wins. Nitro actually gets looser. Treble on 0 presence up. Boosted. EQ in loop.

But seriously @John_ne_ - you are not going to be able to get someone to build you an amp that is going to match an Ubershall, or Splawn, or Knucklehead, or Friedman, or Cameron, or Marshall, or Mesa, or etc, or etc.
 
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