Rivera Chris Duarte BM100-115E

This amp is loaded with features and options, you can see them on the Rivera site. The main single feature that comes to mind is the high quality spk Rivera puts in this model, EV 15L. It is what makes this amp so heavy, but it has an amazingly powerful low end.

I think because this amp comes from the factory with an extended range mod it may be hard for some to find the usual amp sounds that you are used to right away. Hence some of the other reviews. I have owned many Fender amps in my 20 plus years of playing gigs and I am selling my Fender ToneMaster now to replace it with this fine example of handwired handcrafted amp. This amp beets the Fender custom shop hands down for workmanship and quality. As for the guy that said he couldn't find any tone in this amp, he must be tone deaf. Don't get me wrong you can overdue the tone controls because of the extended range, "less is more" on this one. Oh I almost forgot to say that adding an effects processor to the effects loop ie. Digitech Artist is a great way to enhance the preformance of any guitar amp.

I bought this amp used and have only had it for about two months now, it is a 95-97 model and has all the same tubes it came with from Rivera. No problems to date.

Paul returned my calls and my E-mails seems to be a really nice guy. And talk about getting advice from the source....

I think if you ever get a chance to pick up one of these used and add it to your collection you should do it.

You can read the features...far too many to list. lots of pull knobs.. dials.. and a footswitch that controls everything. Very versitile amp. Pentode/triode gives user option of as little as 8 watts for rehearsing at home but up to 100 watts if you require it. Big ass el34 tubes provide the power.

I use your basic strat and les paul custom. THis amp brings out the best in both guitars. ON the strat it sings those fendery tones you're so accustomed to. With the les paul, the distortion is downright mind blowing. That 15 inch EV makes all the difference. IN addition, I run it with a Rivera los lobottom (300 sub woofer) and the sound is nothing short of mind blowing. By far the finest sounding amp ever created. Period. Case closed.

It's a Rivera.

Again, it's a Rivera. Customer support was created here.

If this amp were stolen, first i'd look for the guy with the bad back since it weighs 80pds. ONce i found him, I would I would lock him in a room with some peavey solid state amps at full blast.

Plenty enought features...you really need to play with the amp to get the sounds that you are after...all sorts of variations...boosts, power tube configs, go to Rivera sight and check out the manual..

EVERY sound you can think of is in here...YOU have to find it..it really is not that big of a deal..once you get the feel of the amp everything falls into place..I thought I was lost with my Strat, switched to a Tele and it was perfect...each guitar will be different...which is as it should be..these are kinda like Ferrari's...they take some getting used to...

seems to be extremely well done...

have mailed Rivera on several occasions as to various ways of setting up the amp..always got an answer...that says something...

I traded a BluesPearl Bassman for this amp and I think I got the better of the deal..the Pearl is a great amp, however it only does one thing well...this amp does lots of things very well...and a great reverb..hammond long tank I think..I play everything from country to rock and alot of just myself stuff..been playing for 38 years..I really have had EVERYTHING, or at least it seems that way...this amp is upi there in the top 5 of all that I have had..mesa's, blackface twins, marshalls, you name it...the Rivera is as close to the best all round amp as I have had...this one I will keep...it is a bit heavy though..

This amp is layed out as a 100 watt EL-34, 2 Channel, with Reverb 115 combo. The amp has a front pannel 1/2 or full power switch and a very useable pentode/triode rear pannel switch. Rivera amps tend to be NASA-like in their love of control switches and push/pull pots. The front pannel is layed out as such...I'm going from memory so it may not be 100% but I'll try...From the extreme left...Hi input, low input, master vol for ch. 1, bass, middle w/250k shift if pulled out and 500k pushed in, treble, gain vol w/pull boost. Ch 2 volume, treble w/pull out eq boost, middle, bass w/pull out bass boost, Rivera calls it "contour", FX loop in/out push pot, Slave-Master...a kind of built in load box thing...reverb knob, power amp section controls, focus...a speaker dampining pot and a presence knob. Next on the front pannel is a 3-way switch hi pwr, standby, low pwr. As you can see the amp loaded up like a Swiss Army Knife. It is a heavy amp but has an excellent center of gravity. I recorded with the amp and giged with the amp. The amp has an excellent footswitch and is built like a tank...its for real.

I must say the Duarte Combo is a cool amp in theory but failed in the long run. I had a good idea of the sounds I wanted and got close to them...and even with a million pull-pots, sadly never got any of them. I use a custom Steinberger with a mahogany/maple nitrocelluose finished body. The neck is a stock steinberger composite. The amp was performed well, that is, it was quiet, but the lead channel was just dismal. It lack any trace of character, warmth, harmonic richness...etc...it was just gross. I thought it was me at first, so I went on an expensive mad pick-up replacement mission. It was a miserable experience. The tone just kept getting more annoying. The amp became the central point of agony in my life. The clean sound was good. However it lacked the harmonic goodness of a REAL tube amp like, a Matchless or a Budda or a Fender Vibro-King. I used the amp in rehersals and it sounded ok. It was loud enough to use in a band format. The reverb is the best thing about the amp. It was truly sweet...but reverb is just reverb, I wanted more TONE!!! In retrospect I should have tried more amps and shopped around more. At the time I did not know about Harmony Central. Any who is considering any Rivera amp...SHOP AROUND. My personal take on the Rivera design philosophy is they try to make a tube amp that will do everything...the end result however is an amp that does lots of stuff very poorly. The amps look awesome...but amps aren't for looking at!!! The day I sold my Rivera back to Guitar Center I felt as if a huge burden was lifted from my soul. But listen for yourself...

The amp is built like a tank. It is super reliable. Tube lasted the 6-7 months I had the amp.

I called Rivera and spoke to Paul in person. He's a great guy and helped me out with my questions. I had questions about the sound of the amp and how I could get the lead channel to sound good. He suggested using 6550 power tubes and rebiasing the amp to 39.5dcv. I never did that...I just sold it.

I've been playing for 15-17 years...I've played most, but not all amps. I have owned other Rivera products, a TBR-1 head...I sold it too. I had an awful experience with Rivera Amps. The company is cool and the folks there are really helpful...but they need to make a good amp first and foremost. Less switches and dial and pull-pots...more tone! I will not buy Rivera again. The amp just seemed to have this incredible 1.5-2.5k midrange notch that was beyond annoying!!! The amp looks really nice though.

This is, of course, a combo with a single Electro-Voice EVM 15" speaker. Rivera has earned a reputation of having lots of useful features on all of their amps, and this one is no exception. This amp has pretty much the same features as the BM100's, and the only difference I can think of is that it is a 1x15 combo with the EVM, so I'll spare you the long run-down, except for this historical note: listening to Chris' style, one can easily detect more than a passing debt to Stevie Ray Vaughan's own style, and one of the things that Stevie's amp tech, Cesar Diaz, did to his Fender Vibroverbs - 1x15 combos - was to replace the existing JBL 15" speakers with the Electro-Voice EVM speakers, to get that big, bright smacking clang, so, well, you do the math. Also, there COULD be a slight circuit change, but I doubt it.

Now I have made several submissions on this site, some on amps I own, and some on amps that I don't, but I felt that something needs to be pointed out on Riveras, something I failed to in my review of the BM-60. I'll start off by saying that on older Marshalls, many of the parts had up to 20% tolerances, thereby contributing to variable sound differences in the same models, and it's not just the tubes - it's the caps, resistors, output transformers, etc. Some amps are remarkably consistent (Matchless has a reputation for being picky to the point of going to the manufacturer and insisting that the bobbin on all the output transformers has an equal number of wraps, etc.) I wish I could say the same for Rivera. I'm not familiar at all with their construction techniques or materials, but what I DO know is this: they MUST have AT LEAST as much tolerance as the old Marshalls do. Case and point: my own experinces testing numerous Duartes, and eventually every Rivera in town (almost, anyway). When I first got wind that a local music store was getting a Chris Duarte, I was there the second day after it arrived. Plugging in a variety of Strats and strat-alikes, I was able to quickly find the sweet spots on the amps controls, and EVERY strat I tried sounded WONDERFUL. On the clean channel, it sounded like a big acoustic, only better. On the drive channel, it clang, it stang, it sang, and no matter WHAT I did, it always sounded great, even if I just bumped the strings. I came back for several more tests, each one equally fulfilling. Well, it sold, and both local Guitar Centers got one apiece. The first one I went to, I plugged in, and before I knew it, I had spent a hour and a half there (to the salespeople it probably felt a lot longer), still with no satifactory sounds. I mean, I set it exactly the same way, and then tried every other setting, and still the same result: a flat ping on the clean channel, and flat, fizzy, unmusical crap from the drive channel. I just couldn't believe it! It was almost THE worst amp I had played. I had always believed before that, within the same line and model, and amp is an amp is an amp, after all, it's the same electronics, right?! I tried the other Guitar Center, and it was somewhere in between - not nearly as bad as the second, but nowhere close to as GOOD as the first. I will say this: On the Rivera, when it's right, it's RIGHT! You will more than likely find one you love, you just have to try A LOT of the same model, and insist on THAT ONE. I still love Riveras, I'm just real choosy now.

Like I have said before, I don't own one, but I've heard that they are bullet-proof.

Hadn't had to deal with them, but I did write an E-Mail to the company asking a specific question, and Paul Rivera himself wrote me back, and was very polite and answered everything I wanted to know...

If you get a good Rivera, they're worth their weight in gold