Rivera amps, tell me the good/bad

[cmh2007]

thanks for the info guys

[Dave L]

The Venus 6 is in all probability way too loud for apartment playing, but since you´re deep into "boutique" territory at that price point you might want to check out something in the top-shelf low-watt category and/or something that´s equipped with power scaling (which to my ears is the best way to get good tone from a tube amp at friendly volumes). Smallish tube amps are all the rage over at thegearpage.net, so you might want to head over there for more suggestions.

[VACharvel]

I just pulled the trigger on a Rivera M100 head from an unsold auction on E-Bay after talking to the guy for a while about it...and MarkD has been a great help with answering my many questions about them (thanks dude!!).

I got it for a little less than $700 shipped, and it's been recently retubed/rebiased and includes the footswitch to control the amp...which I don't think is a unreasonable price for a Rivera.

Everything I've seen/read/heard about them has been top-notch...and it should be all that I ever need for home practice/recording and if I ever do go back out to the clubs, will be a great live amp.

I'm stoked...can't wait to hear it and play through it and figure it out. I'm sure it's gonna be a huge learning curve for me, but I have time.

Any other M100 users out here besides Mark??

[Dave L]

Congrats, the M100 is a great amp and it has that early 90´s hard rock tone in spades! 700 bucks is a nice price, too... although most of the older Riveras are comparative steals on the used market, for some reason. I got my K55 in burgundy red tolex for less than what a similarly used 5150 would have cost me, and the TBR1 for about half of that.

[toejam]

i currently have a 15w crate and it gets really really loud. but i cant stand the sound of it. its solid state, and besides that my neighbors are pretty cool. i personally just prefer the sound of a tube amp over the solid state.

A 15-watt solid state amp won't get nearly as loud as a 15-watt tube amp.
My THD Univalve is 15 tube watts and can get really loud, but it's got a built-in attenuator, so it can do lower volumes without a problem.

[cmh2007]

Well, i have found the amp for me. my fiance's boss's husband makes very nice custom amps. he has a 2 watt tube amp that sounds out of this world, and will make any sound out there. its about 800 base price, but can be tuned for what ever i play, and is also custom finished with fancy maple, or what ever other wood, and speaker and tubes are your choice.
here is his website
http://chappellamps.com/

[sl2lover]

I own a KR100 and a Ktre and love em both!! Though only thing ive found that i dont like is they don't have enough presence(high-end treble) for me! Note that i like my sound really bright!!