Any Rivera Knucklehead 55 head owners here?
- Thread starter Bob Zaod
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Baba
Shredder
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- 1,469
I used to work with the Rivera importer in Norway back in the 90s. Insanely well built and heavy AF. I recall the M100 being kinda hard to dial in, with push-pull functions on nearly every pot!
I dare anyone to find a more perfect gif
JiveTurkey
Goatlord
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Didn't they have some 400lb power amp called the Hammer?I used to work with the Rivera importer in Norway back in the 90s. Insanely well built and heavy AF. I recall the M100 being kinda hard to dial in, with push-pull functions on nearly every pot!
Bob Zaod
Rock Star
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- 2,872
Didn't they have some 400lb power amp called the Hammer?
That was me helping my wife re-arrange the sheds this past weekend. Her and her 300lb "boxes" of books. I am now paying for it severely.
Stratzrus
Roadie
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- 856
You should be able to get some authentic jazz tones
My first 100 watt head was a Rivera Knucklehead Reverb KR100. Channel 1 was indeed a great clean channel providing an incredibly wide variety of clean tones from blackface to tweed using the push pull knobs. I always said the clean channel alone would be a great amp, and I did use it for Jazz gigs. One of the best Jazz tones I've ever had.
Channel 2 was voiced similar to a Marshall but not the same. I thought of it as Marshall mixed with Fender, Great gain tones for Blues to Classic Rock.
Channel 3 was the high gain channel and again seemed like a mix of Mesa and Fender more than just being a Mesa clone. Slipknot's Mick Thompson had one modified to be a signature amp that he used with Slipknot called the K Tre.
As wonderful as that amp is, I've had it for over a decade, I had two concerns: the master volume on channels 2&3 had to be above 3 in order to sound good and at that setting the volume was way too loud for anything other than playing live in a good sized venue. In order to compensate, players came up with "the effects loop trick" by setting the effects loop send and return knobs to the same setting somewhere below unity gain. That helped quite a bit but was only useful to a limited degree.
My other concern was the shared EQ for channels 2&3. There was no setting where both sounded their best and the best compromise left both sounding less than ideal. Since it was a MIDI amp I planned to EQ them with my Fractal FX8 with individual settings for both but I ended up going with a Sig:X and eventually a 1x12 combo instead of hauling around a 100 watt head and 2x12. Still, I love that amp and would highly recommend checking it out for anyone who is looking for a three channel 100 watt head.
My living room rig before I replaced the Knucklehead Reverb with a Fryette Deliverance D120. The 2x12 under the VHT cab is a Rivera Sub 2 500 watt 2x12 subwoofer.
Coalface1971
Groupie
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- 99
I'll stand corrected, indeed can gain up hotter than a 2203.
Baba
Shredder
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- 1,469
Everything in this post is spot on.My first 100 watt head was a Rivera Knucklehead Reverb KR100. Channel 1 was indeed a great clean channel providing an incredibly wide variety of clean tones from blackface to tweed using the push pull knobs. I always said the clean channel alone would be a great amp, and I did use it for Jazz gigs. One of the best Jazz tones I've ever had.
Channel 2 was voiced similar to a Marshall but not the same. I thought of it as Marshall mixed with Fender, Great gain tones for Blues to Classic Rock.
Channel 3 was the high gain channel and again seemed like a mix of Mesa and Fender more than just being a Mesa clone. Slipknot's Mick Thompson had one modified to be a signature amp that he used with Slipknot called the K Tre.
As wonderful as that amp is, I've had it for over a decade, I had two concerns: the master volume on channels 2&3 had to be above 3 in order to sound good and at that setting the volume was way too loud for anything other than playing live in a good sized venue. In order to compensate, players came up with "the effects loop trick" by setting the effects loop send and return knobs to the same setting somewhere below unity gain. That helped quite a bit but was only useful to a limited degree.
My other concern was the shared EQ for channels 2&3. There was no setting where both sounded their best and the best compromise left both sounding less than ideal. Since it was a MIDI amp I planned to EQ them with my Fractal FX8 with individual settings for both but I ended up going with a Sig:X and eventually a 1x12 combo instead of hauling around a 100 watt head and 2x12. Still, I love that amp and would highly recommend checking it out for anyone who is looking for a three channel 100 watt head.
My living room rig before I replaced the Knucklehead Reverb with a Fryette Deliverance D120. The 2x12 under the VHT cab is a Rivera Sub 2 500 watt 2x12 subwoofer.
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I had a brief stint with a duo twelve which I'm pretty sure has less gain available then the knucklehead, and it could chug for sure. The only thing holding it back metal wise was more just the nature of open back combos then the amount of gain available
Well I just saw this so you didn't get it. Where did you move in N.C. I live in S.C. I'm in the upstate and I have one with a 4-12 cab with V30s in it. I'm not sure of the year but it looks brand new, and I don't know what to ask for it, that's why I'm on this forum. lol
