rivera knucklehead 55 opinions ?

[skarhead]

Hi

i have no way to test this amp , i haven't played any knucklehead either
i've always heard good things about knuckleheads but only about those 100 Watts models.

the guy is selling the head for about 900 bucks
this is the non reverb version

i'm also considering a 5150 or a triamp mk1 ( more the triamp than the 5150 , but i only need a good/very good hi gain channel not 6 channels [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] )

my musical tastes are old school thrash , brutal death metal , metalcore , and some type of 90's thrash ( machine head , pantera etc.)

will it do the job ? i'm definitely interested in a sound in the machine head burn my eyes direction , not scooped nu-tone.

does it have enough gain ?
will the 55 watts be enough ? ( i know marshall 2204 are definitely enough ;p , but i don't know about rivera).
what type of sound is it ? slayer-like boosted marshall ? or something in the line of rectifiers.

[BigDaddyD]

Re: rivera knucklehead 55 opinions ?

I am a huge Rivera fanatic, but based on the fact that you are basically looking for a super high gain, solid state sound like Pantera, I would have to say that it isn't the amp for you. If I were you I would grab a Marshall Valvestate or a Randall style. Sometimes solid state is the way to go. I truly believe that Riveras can do anything, and you might even like the Rivera better than your heroes tones, but if I wanted SS, I would go SS. From what I understand, the 5150 can be used for death metal, so maybe that is the amp for you.

That said, Korn and Slipknot uses Riveras, so maybe i am wrong. I don't listen to a lot of the bands you mentioned, but I do listen to Pantera. I can play Pantera on my Rivera, but then again, I am not trying to cop Dime's tone.

[BigDaddyD]

Re: rivera knucklehead 55 opinions ?

Regarding the wattage, Rivera amps are very loud amps. They are very conservatively rated

[skarhead]

Re: rivera knucklehead 55 opinions ?

where have i written that i wanted a overly scooped / ultra gainy tone [img]graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]

i want a good hi gain which is capable of doing those things (thrash / 90's metal ,etc. )

i heard a k100 once and it was nice but it was about 1 yr ago so i don't really remember.

i'm not looking for solid state, if i were looking for ss amps i'd choose randall but i want tube. i'm not a fan of "bzbzzzbzbzbzz" solidstate sound , not a huge fan of solid state sound in general.

i'm trying to achieve my own tone - that's why i'm either choosing a triamp or a rivera - those are pretty rare , not many persons use them either.

i don't have to have a super hi gain amp - i'n the 5150 i put the gain @ about 4.5 (+/- 0.5), in the triamp also about the same .

i don't want to copy dime's tone , midscooping SUCKS big time , i want to be heard onstage [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

i mentioned pantera in my musical tastes - musical tastes =/= sound tastes afaik ( ok maybe my english knowledge isn't perfect)

the clips of k100 on rivera site ( grindage.wav or sth like that ) has too much gain / 0 mids , and isn't very clear if you know what i mean.

[BigDaddyD]

Re: rivera knucklehead 55 opinions ?

Originally posted by skarhead:
Hi
my musical tastes are old school thrash , brutal death metal , metalcore , and some type of 90's thrash ( machine head , pantera etc.)

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">This is where I got my idea that you wanted a sound similiar to what you listed. Pantera is SS. Some thrash, death metal and similiar music use SS for the high gain and quick attack. If that is not the case, then you should have probably left this out of your post.

As for me, I would take a Rivera over any amp out there. I have had two and played many others, and I am always able to get pretty much any tone I want from them.

Try these clips. They show the versatility of the amp. This is the 1X12 version, so image in going through a cab such as a 4x12. It will have more power and deeper bass response. Also, keep in mind that these are only reference points. Each of these tones could be dialed in to suit your tastes with the eq section.

http://www.rivera.com/rivera.studio.r55112.html

Check out the "Thick and Ballsy clip" that is one of my favorites.

Just to clarify, these clips are from the R55. The knuckleheads tend to have more gain and power. The R series was sort of a moder/versatile, yet vintage style series. The K55 should be able to get similiar if not exact tones.

Also,

Make sure to listen to all of the clips for each. Here are the ones for the K100

http://www.rivera.com/rivera.studio.k100.html

You can see that there is quite a variety. I believe that you listened to grindage and complained that it had no mids...well it doesn't. The mids were set to 1. You have to realize that you can custom tailor these sounds to suit your needs. Also, don't forget about the Focus and Presence knobs which totally change the structure. The Focus changes how the amp reacts to the speakers. You can give it more of a "tighter" or "looser" feel. The Presence will refine the high end. I don't think you can really go wrong. My amp is the Chris Duarte model and is based off of the M series. It was designed for a blues player ala SRV type, but can still do metal. Imagine what a knucklehead can do [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[ June 22, 2004, 10:21 AM: Message edited by: BigDaddyD ]