NAD incoming - Rivera Thirty Twelve

[Night Stalker]

I just traded my Gibson SGJ-14 for this

 

[Blix]

Those have great clean channels, but you don't want to hear my opinion on the drive channel.

 

[Night Stalker]

Those have great clean channels, but you don't want to hear my opinion on the drive channel.

That's okay. I've used a Knucklehead II as my main amp for about 20 years now. I get along with the Rivera drive channel. If you know how to make it work for you, it is absolutely great in a live setting, and cuts through like nothing else. My other guitar player has mostly played a original script 5150 over the years, and at some points an Orange Rockerverb 100. The KII just buried him in the mix with either of those amps. I've owned other Rivera amps as well, and they all seem to come alive at higher volumes. They can be tricky to dial in because the EQ controls have such a wide sweep, plus you have a lot of push/pull options that can make things a little confusing. My KII has an absolutely ludicrous amount of bottom end, so you have to use that judiciously. Plus, pickups and speakers can make a world of difference.

 

[Blix]

That's okay. I've used a Knucklehead II as my main amp for about 20 years now. I get along with the Rivera drive channel. If you know how to make it work for you, it is absolutely great in a live setting, and cuts through like nothing else. My other guitar player has mostly played a original script 5150 over the years, and at some points an Orange Rockerverb 100. The KII just buried him in the mix with either of those amps. I've owned other Rivera amps as well, and they all seem to come alive at higher volumes. They can be tricky to dial in because the EQ controls have such a wide sweep, plus you have a lot of push/pull options that can make things a little confusing. My KII has an absolutely ludicrous amount of bottom end, so you have to use that judiciously. Plus, pickups and speakers can make a world of difference.

Great it works for you! I used to work for the Rivera importer here back in the 90s, so got to try them a lot. I liked the Bonehead.
I remember those M100 combos, my back hurts by the mere thought!

 

[newholland]

i played across a stage from a guitarist for a long time with an m100 head. such amazing amps!

 

[laxu]

Those have great clean channels, but you don't want to hear my opinion on the drive channel.

As someone who knows little about Riveras, what's the problem with the drive channel?

 

[newholland]

As someone who knows little about Riveras, what's the problem with the drive channel?

i could see lead folks looking for a really give-y smooth tone finding it a little too hard, but theyre so adaptable. maybe like mesas they take long enough to dial in that a lotta people give up and move on to something thats simpler to negotiate.

 

[Blix]

As someone who knows little about Riveras, what's the problem with the drive channel?

I find them quite muddy and harsh at the same time.

 

[metropolis_4]

Congrats! One of my first good amps was a Knucklehead 55. I always liked this era of Riveras

 

[Night Stalker]

I spent a fair amount of time with it this weekend. I can say without a doubt that it's the best combo amp I've ever owned. I'm usually unhappy with combos because they tend to sound boxy, but this thing is great! It's ungodly loud for 30 watts though. I wish it had a half power switch, but other than that it is exactly what I was looking for. As for the drive channel, It's fantastic. Definitely not muddy or harsh. Maybe it's the speaker. The previous owner blew up the original speaker. I'm not certain, but I think these came with a Celestion 70/80, which I've never tried, but I've heard not so good things about them. He replaced the blown speaker with a G12M-65 Creamback. It's got great mids, and really suits the amp's fundamental mid-forward tone. Being at work today is torture, because all I want to do is go into my music room and play!

 

[Blix]

I spent a fair amount of time with it this weekend. I can say without a doubt that it's the best combo amp I've ever owned. I'm usually unhappy with combos because they tend to sound boxy, but this thing is great! It's ungodly loud for 30 watts though. I wish it had a half power switch, but other than that it is exactly what I was looking for. As for the drive channel, It's fantastic. Definitely not muddy or harsh. Maybe it's the speaker. The previous owner blew up the original speaker. I'm not certain, but I think these came with a Celestion 70/80, which I've never tried, but I've heard not so good things about them. He replaced the blown speaker with a G12M-65 Creamback. It's got great mids, and really suits the amp's fundamental mid-forward tone. Being at work today is torture, because all I want to do is go into my music room and play!

Awesome, and if they came with the 70/80 stock it explains why I disliked them , those speakers are bad.

 

[MatrixClaw]

I've only ever tried the Knuckleheads and K-Tre, but I loved those amps. Killer cleans and high gain.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I had a brief stint with a Duo 12. Sounded killer, but had some serious issues (I presume from previous owner abuse). I bought it from GC used so I ended up returning it, no need to deal with a broken amp drama when theres a return policy

But I thought both the cleans and gain channels sounded excellent. LOUD amp

 

[Frankencat]

Cool amp! I had one a while back and it sounded excellent after a little minor tweaking.

 

[Stratzrus]

I get along with the Rivera drive channel. If you know how to make it work for you, it is absolutely great in a live setting, and cuts through like nothing else..I've owned other Rivera amps as well, and they all seem to come alive at higher volumes.

That was the case with my Knucklehead Reverb KR100.

Gain tones sounded congested with the master below 3 and at that volume it was really loud, too loud for home playing,.

But to compensate we used the effects loop trick. Jumper the send and return and set the in and out knobs to the same value and you could lower the overall volume of the amp. It had a limited range of effectiveness but helped quite a bit if used judiciously.

 

[Night Stalker]

That was the case with my Knucklehead Reverb KR100.

Gain tones sounded congested with the master below 3 and at that volume it was really loud, too loud for home playing,.

But to compensate we used the effects loop trick. Jumper the send and return and set the in and out knobs to the same value and you could lower the overall volume of the amp. It had a limited range of effectiveness but helped quite a bit if used judiciously.

The effects loop trick definitely helps. I've been doing it with my Knucklehead II for years, but I don't jumper the loop, as I actually have effects in the loop. Without that, it sounds like a kazoo at low volumes. Unfortunately, the Thirty Twelve doesn't have send and return level controls. Even worse, the loop is line level and is designed to work with rack gear. That seems stupid to me that a combo amp is set up to use rack gear. I'm not sure how the loop (they call it a "patch") will play with my pedals as I haven't tried it out yet. I'll probably get a chance this weekend.

This brings up a question for anyone familiar with amplifier circuits. Are the send and return level controls just simple potentiometers? In other words, could they be easily added to the circuit to bring the loop level down to a place where it works with pedals? I also have an Electro Harmonix Switchblade Pro which has two send/returns for two separate loops, and each has a level control. Using this, I might be able to reduce the loop level to play nice with my pedals.

 

[newholland]

yup. i have a 100 ohm pot in my mark ii loop JUST for practicing at home. works great- not as great as just roaring away, but certainly better than getting arrested

 

[Stratzrus]

yup. i have a 100 ohm pot in my mark ii loop JUST for practicing at home. works great- not as great as just roaring away, but certainly better than getting arrested

A while back I was using my Knucklehead Reverb KR100 at a jam session with my buds from my old Brooklyn Hardcore band. We were playing in a studio on the second floor of the Vermont Jazz Center.

All of a sudden I saw a light flashing on the window so I looked out and a police car was outside shining it's spotlight on the window.
I yelled down "Is it too loud? Can you hear it outside?"

The officer yelled back "We could hear it up the valley!"

 

[newholland]

A while back I was using my Knucklehead Reverb KR100 at a jam session with my buds from my old Brooklyn Hardcore band. We were playing in a studio on the second floor of the Vermont Jazz Center.

All of a sudden I saw a light flashing on the window so I looked out and a police car was outside shining it's spotlight on the window.
I yelled down "Is it too loud? Can you hear it outside?"

The officer yelled back "We could hear it up the valley!"

well... to be fair, valleys do that