Where does the Rivera Knucklehead k100 belong? what kind of amp is it? what amps (from other manufactures) would you compare it to?

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DensePlant

DensePlant

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I've seen very little online about the Rivera K100 Knucklehead, and I am hoping to get more information. Most of what I have seen covers the other amps in the line up. (ones that come after the originally released knucklehead)
How is it voiced? (vintage, modern, english, american ect)
How would you characterize it's sound?
Do/did you enjoy it? (what did you enjoy or dislike about it)
Any and all help is much appreciated. I hope y'all are having a fantasic new year!
knucklehead.jpg
 
A Fender style clean channel and a Marshall based dirt channel. Will have a bit more gain than an 800 does but is a little bit of a softer sound than an 800. I much prefer these to newer Rivera’s as I find newer Rivera’s to have a thick, but overly loose, fuzzy overdrive.
 
skoora said:
A Fender style clean channel and a Marshall based dirt channel. Will have a bit more gain than an 800 does but is a little bit of a softer sound than an 800. I much prefer these to newer Rivera’s as I find newer Rivera’s to have a thick, but overly loose, fuzzy overdrive.
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What amp is it most like/similar to?
 
Paul Rivera worked for Fender before starting Rivera Amplification so there is the clean channel. IMHO, the three Rivera's that I have owned (including the K100) had the best clean channels that I have played. Very versatile but can take some tweaking to get what you want.

The gain channels are Marshall'ish and need volume to bring the goods. Always had kind of a love hate thing with the gain channel. Mainly because I couldn't always get the volume up to where it needed to be. When you can though, it's all love.
 
I have a KR7, and had a Fandango.. They are actually pretty close the KR7 is just a 3 ch version hotrodded version of the knucklehead and the Fandango is very similar to the Knucklehead but 2ch.. Brilliant cleans matter of fact you can dial in cleans about 6 or more various ways and types with all the push pulls. Is that knucklehead just a 2 ch? I thought they were all 3.. on the dirt, ch2 is maybe warmer fatter love/hate, ch3 is more gain not so thick, cleaner/clearer sounding I sit on that ch more, and then they all have boost on all 3 chs.. and I think inside the amp you can set the boost level.. ive never messed with it.. The thing about that amp and Riveras that I have had, is below 3 on the master which is way loud, they dont sound right or good to me, if you try to play at low volume it starts sounding like a ss amp and buzzy... cheap sounded ... at least to my ears.. I think most amp manufactures will say, a 25, 50, 100 watt amp was never made to play at tv vol levels.. I can say I let a friend of mine use it for a show he was doing that I went to see when his amp was down and hearing it live turned up was amazing with his band... it did fantastic there.. I hardly use it at all myself, I have leaned the way of plexi amps these days..
 
nzsteve said:
I have a KR7, and had a Fandango.. They are actually pretty close the KR7 is just a 3 ch version hotrodded version of the knucklehead and the Fandango is very similar to the Knucklehead but 2ch.. Brilliant cleans matter of fact you can dial in cleans about 6 or more various ways and types with all the push pulls. Is that knucklehead just a 2 ch? I thought they were all 3.. on the dirt, ch2 is maybe warmer fatter love/hate, ch3 is more gain not so thick, cleaner/clearer sounding I sit on that ch more, and then they all have boost on all 3 chs.. and I think inside the amp you can set the boost level.. ive never messed with it.. The thing about that amp and Riveras that I have had, is below 3 on the master which is way loud, they dont sound right or good to me, if you try to play at low volume it starts sounding like a ss amp and buzzy... cheap sounded ... at least to my ears.. I think most amp manufactures will say, a 25, 50, 100 watt amp was never made to play at tv vol levels.. I can say I let a friend of mine use it for a show he was doing that I went to see when his amp was down and hearing it live turned up was amazing with his band... it did fantastic there.. I hardly use it at all myself, I have leaned the way of plexi amps these days..
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How would you describe or characterize the gain channels? English? What amp do they remind you of?
 
fek said:
Paul Rivera worked for Fender before starting Rivera Amplification so there is the clean channel. IMHO, the three Rivera's that I have owned (including the K100) had the best clean channels that I have played. Very versatile but can take some tweaking to get what you want.

The gain channels are Marshall'ish and need volume to bring the goods. Always had kind of a love hate thing with the gain channel. Mainly because I couldn't always get the volume up to where it needed to be. When you can though, it's all love.
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Which Marshall?
 
DensePlant said:
Which Marshall?
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JCM800 with a touch more high end. Need to get the volume up to get rid of the fizzy's. Clean channel is great at any volume and takes pedals great but the gain channel, at least on the older Rivera's, need volume.
 
Never owned or even played one but wasn't this Mick Thompson's (Slipknot) main amp for awhile? Also, I think Derek (trashedfdup) has one and I'd bet he would compare this amp to his Splawns.
 
The KTre was one of the meanest "Modded Marshalls" I've owned with a fantastic clean channel. It's been a long time since I've played the regular Knucklehead, though. I don't remember it being as Aggressive as the KTre or KR7.
 
There are several Knuckleheads. The original KH as pictured in the first post is like everyone said basically a great clean channel with blackface and tweed modes and a JCM800-ish lead channel. The shortlived Knucklehead II has the same clean channel but a hotter lead channel. The Knucklehead Reverb has three channels, basically the first two from the original version plus a more modern high gain lead channel. The KR7 is a tweaked KH Reverb and the K-Tre is a slimmed down version that´s mega heavy. The Lukather Bonehead also belongs in the KH family but is more of its own thing.
 
311splawndude said:
Never owned or even played one but wasn't this Mick Thompson's (Slipknot) main amp for awhile? Also, I think Derek (trashedfdup) has one and I'd bet he would compare this amp to his Splawns.
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Mick uses the KR7. He used the Fryette/VHT Ultralead until he teamed up with Rivera and helped design his own amp.
 
Dave L said:
There are several Knuckleheads. The original KH as pictured in the first post is like everyone said basically a great clean channel with blackface and tweed modes and a JCM800-ish lead channel. The shortlived Knucklehead II has the same clean channel but a hotter lead channel. The Knucklehead Reverb has three channels, basically the first two from the original version plus a more modern high gain lead channel. The KR7 is a tweaked KH Reverb and the K-Tre is a slimmed down version that´s mega heavy. The Lukather Bonehead also belongs in the KH family but is more of its own thing.
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what tonal differences are there from a k100 to a jcm800?
 
skoora said:
A Fender style clean channel and a Marshall based dirt channel. Will have a bit more gain than an 800 does but is a little bit of a softer sound than an 800. I much prefer these to newer Rivera’s as I find newer Rivera’s to have a thick, but overly loose, fuzzy overdrive.
Click to expand...

While this is somewhat true at low volumes, once opened up they really roar.
 
Well, the tone controls actually work well on the Rivera, but all in it isn´t as screechy and peaky in the high mids as a Marshall is. Maybe a bit more saturated and a bit thicker too, as things generally were back in the early-mid 90s compared to the late 70s. A lot of people were exploring that same market at the time; Budda, Bogner with the Shiva, Steavens, Naylor, the Demeter TGA2 Inverter and so on... a great clean channel and a thicker/bigger Marshall OD tone was a real popular thing. If you are looking for a 100% 2203 it´s not close enough, but if you want something to cover that general ground it´s fine.
 
Dave L said:
Well, the tone controls actually work well on the Rivera, but all in it isn´t as screechy and peaky in the high mids as a Marshall is. Maybe a bit more saturated and a bit thicker too, as things generally were back in the early-mid 90s compared to the late 70s. A lot of people were exploring that same market at the time; Budda, Bogner with the Shiva, Steavens, Naylor, the Demeter TGA2 Inverter and so on... a great clean channel and a thicker/bigger Marshall OD tone was a real popular thing. If you are looking for a 100% 2203 it´s not close enough, but if you want something to cover that general ground it´s fine.
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how does it compare with things like the slo100, shiva, buddah, be-100 or otehr hot rodded marshall types?
 
DensePlant said:
what tonal differences are there from a k100 to a jcm800?
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I have zero experience with that particular model, but based on the other Knuckleheads I own, I would say it probably got a fair amount more low end, and definitely more gain.

Regarding the fizziness at low volumes, this can be overcome by running the effects loop level at a lower setting, or putting a volume or boost pedal in the loop and turning the volume way down.
 
ZEEGLER said:
I have zero experience with that particular model, but based on the other Knuckleheads I own, I would say it probably got a fair amount more low end, and definitely more gain.

Regarding the fizziness at low volumes, this can be overcome by running the effects loop level at a lower setting, or putting a volume or boost pedal in the loop and turning the volume way down.
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Any advice on settings for the fx loop? I think my send is at 3 and my return is at two.
 
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