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Review of the Rivera Knucklehead Guitar Amp

I've owned my Rivera Knucklehead since 1998. It's a small part

of my guitar amp collection which consists of more than 5 amps.

I'll tell you how the Rivera Knucklehead performs both on stage

and in the studio.

Not surprising, Rivera is owned by some guy named Paul Rivera. I

guess it's a little surprising that his name is Paul, but that's

about it. While I hate to spread rumors about facts I don't

know, this is press, and that's that the press is all 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 afford to have them modified. If this is true,

it will explain a lot about the Rivera Knucklehead.

The Rivera Knucklehead is a 100 watt, all tube, 2 - channel

guitar head. Each channel has a gain boost. Both channel

switching and the gain boosts can be controlled by the

footswitch. As with every 100 watt head, this thing is

ferociously loud. It contains an effects loop with control of

input and output for effects and whatnot. The Knucklehead uses 5

12ax7 tubes for the preamps and 4 EL 34 power tubes. Each

channel contains tone controls and a Focus and a Presence knob

are global, which means they effect both channels. It would have

been nice to have a spring reverb on the Rivera. That's the only

feature that it's lacking.

American Channel (Clean Channel) First off, I must say that the

clean channel isn't so much like a clean channel, necessarily.

It's more like a Fender channel. I mean that if you crank up the

gain on the clean channel, you will have a very distorted sound

in the way that a Fender distorts. This sound is not going to be

what you want for metal in most cases, although it might pull

off an Iron Maiden type of sound. Turning the "Ninja Boost" off

and backing the gain down brings you back down into Fender

territory. It's not an exact clone of the Fender sound,

necessarily. The tubes used are not typically found in Fenders

and even if you had the same tubes, the Fender sound is quite

different from amp to amp. You have tremendous options in your

tone. I mean TREMENDOUS!!! You have the typical bass, mids, and

treble. By pulling out the treble pot you engage the "bright

boost" and when you pull out the mids you engage the "mid

scoop". The tone controls are the most sensitive that I've ever

seen on a guitar amplifier. In fact, the tone knobs can be too

sensitive.

Plugging a strat or tele gives you the real deal tone. It's

pretty much a Fender amplifier. Plugging a Les Paul or PRS is a

different ball game. The tones are absurd on this channel. You

should be able to get anything you want out of this Fender side

that you would expect a Fender to do. This amp is very sensitive

to different guitars and it's tone will change more drastically

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 worse, but different. When you

get to this caliber of guitar amplifiers, they are all good,

it's just a matter or preference.

The distortion channel has a gain boost, bass, mids, and treble.

Once again, these tone controls are as sensitive as you will

ever find in a guitar amp. It's stupid how much control you have

over your tone. This amp has too much gain, if you want too much

gain. With a Les Paul, I don't think I've put the gain past 12 O

Clock, ever. You would not believe how different this amp sounds

when you take the mids to 0 and then up to 10. It's a night and

day difference. With the gain boost turned off, this thing feels

like a good medium to low gain distorted amplifier. As I said,

choosing the right guitar and tone settings can be time

consuming, but getting whatever you want is a possibility. It's

worth trying all your guitars with this amp. There will be some

that obviously shine more than others. In this setting, it's no

problem at all pulling off tones such as AC/DC and other 70s

tones. I'd probably go with my 1971 Superlead first for this

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application though, just because of the tone differences, but I

could make a guitar player looking for that tone very happy as

well.

When you engage the gain boost, this thing is all out death. I'm

talking deathmetal death, if that's what you are looking for. In

my opinion turning up the gain to a stupid amount, cranking the

lows and highs, and scooping out all the mids is tremendous

overkill. I'd say it's unusable. The kid down the street may

totally love it, though. I guess that's the great thing about

this amp. You can make the sound too thin or too thick....too

bright or too dull. It's up to your playing, your guitar, and

your tone settings.

With the gain boost on and the all settings on 7, this amp is a

full blown rock machine The tones inside this amp are

impressive. You will find a sound that you like. It just takes

some time to find that perfect combination. This takes more time

than a Marshall does. Sometimes the mids on 5 are too much when

the lows are on 6. But lowering the lows down to 5 might require

a little more mids, for example. I'm saying that the tone

controls are high dependent on each other.

This amp would always be my first choice playing out live. It's

a mammoth sound if I want and gives me 4 great sounds with the

footswitch. Going from mega gain to dirty clean is just a step

away. Going from pretty clean to low gain distortion is also

just a click away. I'd say it's one of the best live amps you

can buy.

In the studio.... well, this thing gets used on just about every

project I do. I haven't found a project that it didn't work well

on. I've recorded country, rock, and death metal with this amp

and every single one of them was very happy with it.

In conclusion, I wouldn't change a thing about the Rivera. It is

worth every penny.

About the author:

Brandon Drury's site, recordingreview.com has links to all sorts

of free recording

software.