# Rivera Amplifiers



## bischbd (Mar 14, 2006)

Amp builders, repairers, aficionados and connoisseurs weigh in with your thoughts on Rivera amps.

In my mind they seem well designed and built and who wouldn’t like getting Marshall type distortion and Fender cleans from a single amp?

You thoughts on the new Venus 6, Fandango or other models……….

www.rivera.com

Rivera Amps


----------



## suttree (Aug 17, 2007)

the ones i've played in the past had great tones, but the controls were typically a little overwhelming (push pull everything). no doubts about the quality though, very nicely made


----------



## ben_allison (Sep 16, 2008)

I had an M60 a few years ago and I miss it all the time.

Riveras have lots of features. This is *good* for a "player" because you are able to adapt your tone to suit your gig/environment.

Riveras are very musical amps. They cover a lot of ground with ease.

They are also overbuilt – they'll outlive all of us! Great, solid construction.

That said, I do find them missing a certain... magic. It's hard to define. I feel like they get 90% of the way there. They're great, but not amazing.

If you're looking for channel switching heads that typically retail for under $2000, a Rivera could easily be in anyone's top 10.


----------



## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

never owned one... played a few... all were top end.. excellent build quality and tones... expensive but worth it... their transformers are awsome... all parts are of outstanding quality.


----------



## Big White Tele (Feb 10, 2007)

Ive owned a R100, M100, M60, KR55, and a Fandango. Pretty sweet, but Id describe the sound as High Fi. The cleans are sweet, in that hi fi audio kind of way. The od is different on all of these. The R and the KR being the best, The M's are weird, like a cross between a Mesa and a Valvestate. The Fandango is good. In my search for a great Fender side and a great Marshall side, these are halfway there. Just my opinion.


----------



## pattste (Dec 30, 2007)

I played a few Riveras when I was shopping for an amp. Pubsters and Clubsters and another model whose name escapes me that sells for $1500. I couldn't get a usable clean sound out of any of them. Ridiculously low headroom. At first the sales dude at Italmelodie didn't believe me. He tried and couldn't do better so he turned around and recommended an Ampeg Jet instead.


----------



## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Clubsters and Pubsters are great with Antiquated pickups... really nice with semi holo bodies IMHO.

cheers


----------



## keto (May 23, 2006)

I have SERIOUS gas for a Venus6. If anyone in Alberta actually carried one stock, I'd have played it and likely taken it home.


----------



## rwe333 (Feb 18, 2006)

Fine amps, indeed. Channel 2 is voiced similarly on most of their designs - it's incredible. I'm less fussy about their Channel 1 voicings... Love all the options, though it is a bit of a steep learning curve. M-series a fave here - used one for years...


----------



## bcmatt (Aug 25, 2007)

keto said:


> I have SERIOUS gas for a Venus6. If anyone in Alberta actually carried one stock, I'd have played it and likely taken it home.


I'm pretty sure I saw one at KickAXE music in Calgary. I think it is 9th ave SE. They carry Rivera. I thought they had a Venus 6 but maybe it was another little combo.
You could call and ask. I have their card in my wallet...
(403) 410-9199.


----------



## nitehawk55 (Sep 19, 2007)

I had a 1x12 Fandango with the EL34's for a while . You could go from Fender into insane Marshall with it . The clean channel was excellent .
Funny thing with Rivera Fandango , you don't see many of them for sale....must be a reason ?


----------



## bischbd (Mar 14, 2006)

*Thanks*

Thanks for you comments everyone. I'm with keto, I'd love to try the Venus 6. I've seen/heard a few demos and it looks like a great amp.

FYI, I was at Kickaxe a few weeks ago and they had a Quiana combo in.

Cheers!


----------



## mcgriff420 (Sep 30, 2008)

I demo'd a knuckle head reverb for a while, clean side was simply gorgeous, the gain side was kinda square -wave sounding, almost fuzzy. I nearly bought it for the clean sound alone, but you know..

I agree with above there sure was alot of push pull knobs..


----------



## FortinAmps (Oct 10, 2008)

bischbd said:


> Amp builders, repairers, aficionados and connoisseurs weigh in with your thoughts on Rivera amps.
> 
> In my mind they seem well designed and built and who wouldn’t like getting Marshall type distortion and Fender cleans from a single amp?
> 
> ...


The Venus is pretty cool. Rivera's are built very well. Paul Rivera's been around for a very long time. He helped Randall Smith of Mesa back in the day when Randall was working out of his house building amps. Paul designed some solid state amps for Yamaha back in the 70's which are still working today. Paul's designed and work for Fender Amps as well. 

His only downfall is that he's not Canadian:thanks5qx:

Cheers,
Mike


----------



## Guest (Oct 19, 2008)

I've been looking at that Venus 6 as a possible supplanter of my Fender Blues Junior. I bought My Fandango at Kick Axe in Calgary. They have a way better selection of Riveras than Avenue Guitars in Edmonchuck.

You might want to look at the R 30 Twelve as well. It's discontinued, I think but they are great little amps, too.

One thing though. If you buy a Rivera make sure you get your slip cover the day you buy the amp. I've been waiting for more than a year for a slip cover for my Fandango ext. cab.


----------



## bischbd (Mar 14, 2006)

*Fortin Amps*

I checked out your website and it looks like you build some nice amps yourself Mike.

How is that Meathead coming along?


----------



## FortinAmps (Oct 10, 2008)

bischbd said:


> I checked out your website and it looks like you build some nice amps yourself Mike.
> 
> How is that Meathead coming along?


Thanks for checking out my website. The MEATHEAD is almost ready. Here are some pictures of the front and back of it. Lots of R&D went into this one:smile:



















Cheers,
Mike


----------



## pattste (Dec 30, 2007)

FortinAmps said:


> The MEATHEAD is almost ready. Here are some pictures of the front and back of it. Lots of R&D went into this one:smile:


Absolutely ridiculous... and I mean it in a good way!

This is going to be a very special amp. It is great to see an amp designer creating something original as opposed to yet another 60's Fender or Marshall clone. I wish you much success.


----------



## FortinAmps (Oct 10, 2008)

pattste said:


> Absolutely ridiculous... and I mean it in a good way!
> 
> This is going to be a very special amp. It is great to see an amp designer creating something original as opposed to yet another 60's Fender or Marshall clone. I wish you much success.


Thanks for the kind words :food-smiley-004:

The next major project will be my NATAS amp which will push the high gain envelope. There's some thing about this amp that has never been done with guitar amplification before. I am very excited about this amp. 

Cheer,
Mike


----------



## thegame (May 15, 2006)

Hey Guys

I can attest to the greatness of Fortin's amps. He's not only pushing the envelope of tube amp design, he's smashing through it :rockon2:

Some really special stuff going on here !


----------



## rwe333 (Feb 18, 2006)

Great amps - bullet-proof construction, myriad tones. 

Channel 2 on many of their designs is the same - it's incredibly versatile. One could live there, no problem. 

While I'm less convinced of the Marshall-type voicings of their Channel 1, there's much to love w/ many Riveras.

Big fan of their EL34 designs - TBR, M-series, R-series, Jake/Rake, etc.


----------



## JonDrover (Dec 2, 2007)

I've had Boogie's, Fenders & Marshalls over the years but the Rivera M60 (bought in 1997) is the only one I can't part with. It has been dropped, flooded, drowned in beer etc... After hundreds of gigs it has NEVER failed me. It is over engineered and built like a tank. They are the best gigging amps.

Tone wise, there is alot of tone in the amp. For me though it took me some time to get used to it. Its not an amp you can plug in and play. You need to work with it but its well worth it...

Pic of my Rivera from a gig last year...


----------

