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Not surprising, Rivera is owned by some person called Paul Rivera. I think it’s a little surprising that his name is Paul, however that’s about it. While I dislike to spread rumors about realities I do not know, this is press, which’s that the press is everything about. The rumor on the street is that Paul Rivera worked for both Marshall and Fender for years modifying guitar amplifiers for the rock stars that could pay for to have them modified. If this is true, it will discuss a lot about the Rivera Knucklehead.
The Rivera Knucklehead is a 100 watt, all tube, 2– channel guitar head. Each channel has a gain increase. Both channel switching and the gain increases can be controlled by the footswitch. As with every 100 watt head, this thing is ferociously loud. It consists of an impacts loop with control of input and output for effects and whatnot. The Knucklehead utilizes 5 12ax7 tubes for the preamps and 4 EL 34 power tubes. Each channel consists of tone controls and a Focus and an Existence knob are global, which indicates they effect both channels. It would have been great to have a spring reverb on the Rivera. That’s the only function that it’s lacking.
American Channel (Clean Channel).
To begin with, I should state that the tidy channel isn’t a lot like a tidy channel, necessarily. It’s more like a Fender channel. I mean that if you crank up the gain on the tidy channel, you will have a really distorted noise in the manner in which a Fender misshapes. This noise is not going to be what you want for metal most of the times, although it may manage an Iron Maiden kind of noise. Turning the “Ninja Boost” off and backing the gain down brings you pull back into Fender territory. It’s not a precise clone of the Fender noise, always. Televisions utilized are not generally discovered in Fenders and even if you had the exact same tubes, the Fender noise is quite different from amp to amp. You have significant alternatives in your tone. I imply incredible!!! You have the normal bass, mids, and treble. By taking out the treble pot you engage the “brilliant increase” and when you take out the mids you engage the “mid scoop”. The tone controls are the most delicate that I’ve ever seen on a guitar amplifier. In truth, the tone knobs can be too sensitive.
Plugging a strat or tele provides you the genuine offer tone. It’s basically a Fender amplifier. Plugging a Les Paul or PRS is a various ballgame. The tones are unreasonable on this channel. You need to be able to get anything you desire out of this Fender side that you would anticipate a Fender to do. This amp is really conscious different guitars and it’s tone will alter more dramatically than other amps.
Distortion Channel (Marshall Channel).
Alright, I called this side of the amp the Marshall channel. The tone is not exactly a Marshall. I own a 1971 Marshall Super Lead. It’s sound is quite a bit different than what you hear in the Rivera. I wouldn’t say the tone is necessarily better or even worse, however various. When you get to this quality of guitar amplifiers, they are all good, it’s just a matter or preference.
The distortion channel has a gain increase, bass, mids, and treble. Once once again, these tone controls are as delicate as you will ever discover in a guitar amp. It’s foolish just how much control you have more than your tone. This amp has excessive gain, if you desire too much gain. With a Les Paul, I do not believe I have actually put the gain past 12 O Clock, ever. You would not believe how various this amp sounds when you take the mids to 0 and after that approximately 10. It’s a night and day difference.
With the gain boost shut off, this thing feels like a good medium to low gain distorted amplifier. As I said, selecting the right guitar and tone settings can be time consuming, but getting whatever you want is a possibility. It’s worth attempting all your guitars with this amp. There will be some that undoubtedly shine more than others. In this setting, it’s no problem at all managing tones such as AC/DC and other 70s tones. I ‘d probably choose my 1971 Superlead first for this application though, even if of the tone distinctions, however I could make a guitar player looking for that tone extremely happy as well.
When you engage the gain increase, this thing is all out death. I’m talking deathmetal death, if that’s what you are trying to find. In my opinion showing up the gain to a foolish quantity, cranking the lows and highs, and digging all the mids is incredible overkill. I ‘d say it’s unusable. The kid down the street might absolutely like it, however. I think that’s the fantastic aspect of this amp. You can make the noise too thin or too thick … too bright or too dull. It depends on your playing, your guitar, and your tone settings.
With the gain increase on and the all settings on 7, this amp is a complete blown rock device The tones inside this amp are outstanding. You will find a sound that you like. It simply takes some time to find that perfect combination. This takes more time than a Marshall does. In some cases the mids on 5 are excessive when the lows are on 6. However lowering the lows down to 5 may need a bit more mids, for example. I’m saying that the tone controls are high dependent on each other.
This amp would always be my very first choice playing out live. It’s a massive noise if I desire and gives me 4 fantastic sounds with the footswitch. Going from mega gain to unclean clean is simply a step away. Going from quite clean to low gain distortion is also simply a click away. I ‘d state it is among the very best live amps you can buy.
In the studio … well, this thing gets utilized on almost every project I do. I haven’t discovered a job that it didn’t work well on. I’ve tape-recorded nation, rock, and death metal with this amp and each and every single among them was extremely delighted with it.
In conclusion, I wouldn’t alter a thing about the Rivera. It is worth every cent.
