Rivera Clubster 45 112 Combo

Not much to add here. An OD channel boost on the footswitch, but I just keep the boost on as I use the OD channel for leads only. The key features for me where the 2 channels, light weight, and DI out.

This is my first tube amp, coming from the PODxtl. At first I tried using the POD in front and in the fx loop, but I had issues with hum and noise, so I eventually moved to dedicated fx and now run the following... Strat/EMG active pups,Crybaby95Q, Route66-V2, Amp, in fx loop H20-V2, EVH P90, BBE stomp, vol pedal. I run the clean channel with bright on, and OD channel with boost on. The tone on clean ch, and with R66 comp/OD is jazz - classic rock, and the OD channel gives me lead and sustain with feedback when needed... for days.

Its been fine so far

Extra thanks to Rivera who helped me through the process of thinking I had amp problems with the POD(even sent me new tubes). And to MF for letting me return the C25 and get the C45.

I searched through a lot of amps before settling on the Clubster 45. I started with the C25, but there wasn't enough headroom, so I moved up to the 45, and find this to be tone heaven. The reason this amp is perfect for me is the tone, light weight, and direct out, plus the slant front cab really works. This is my first tube amp, coming from the PODxtl. At first I tried using the POD in front and in the fx loop, but I had issues with hum and noise, so I eventually moved to dedicated fx and now run the following... Strat/EMG active pups,Crybaby95Q, Route66-V2, Amp, in fx loop H20-V2, EVH P90, BBE stomp, vol pedal. I run the clean channel with bright on, and OD channel with boost on. The tone on clean ch, and with R66 comp/OD is jazz - classic rock, and the OD channel gives me lead and sustain with feedback when needed... for days.

I liked the Boogie express, but no DI out seemed like a limitation, and 50% more $s. Everything else in the class seemed to weight twice as much, and I value mobility so this was key.

Extra thanks to Rivera who helped me through the process of thinking I had amp problems with the POD(even sent me new tubes). And to MF for letting me return the C25 and get the C45... For garage band, house parties, and clubs, what else could you need. If you need more, just use the DI to the board, or I keep my Tech21 PE as an external powered cab for a larger venue. Initially I thought that not having the OD ch boost on the foot switch would be an issue, but I just keep it on and only use the OD ch for leads, and use the R66 OD on the clean channel for everything else. The one thing I would like is LEDs on the foot switch so I know whats on, but at just over $1K for this amp, it smokes the competition for the price. I got a great padded cover from d2f on ebay, fits perfect.

Clubster 45 features 2 channels, 2 volumes plus a master volume, solid-state reverb, effects loop, presence control, standby switch (a definite plus), a bright pull on the clean, a gain pull on the dirty channel, 1 12" celestion seventy 80 speaker & footswitch to control channel and reverb. Uses 2 EL34's and 2 preamp tubes and is solid-state rectified. Lots of pros, only cons are that gain pull (for extra gain) has to be done manually...would be best on the pedal as a 3rd button for a lead boost.

Great marshall type gain. Clean is good too, but not the best. But it still is usable. I can nail Santana's "Europa" exactly with this amp and a TS-808 in front...very rich sound...EL34's rock. I did, however, take out the Russian tubes and put in NOS Amperex EL34's and the bass really tightened up dramatically. I also took out the stock speaker (seventy 80) and put in a Celestion Vintage 30 and it made a huge difference for the better...much more dynamics. Reverb is OK, but what do you expect for a solid-state reverb. You can run a reverb or delay throught the effects loop if you want lusher reverb. Amp is very quiet, well-built, nice looking and light-ish. I've bought and sold many amps because they didn't make the grade, but this Rivera is a keeper. I won't knock off any points for the speaker because it sounds good, but it can sound better. You can't blame a mfr. for using a middle-grade component to keep the costs down so its affordable. The main thing is that the amp is capable of great tones with easy to do upgrades like tubes and speaker.

Only had one issue: a resistor in the effects loop was "open" and I had to have it repaired. Now, great! Not really a reliability issue, but more a defective part. Works well now. My amp tech said he wasn't impressed by very many amps, but was impressed with this clubster 45.

Haven't had to try them yet, but I've heard these guys are cordial and reply.

OVERALL: I think these amps are a bargain used as you can get them for around $600-$650 used. New, they run around $1099. I was so impressed by this Rivera that I bought a brand new Rivera Venus 6 head from A-Sharp Music Co. in Washington state....WOW!!! I am also adding to my Rivera arsenal as I'm in the process of acquiring a Fandango 55 head. As for the Clubster 45; great bang for the buck. Huge sound stage from this amp. This amp made 3 of my Mesas expendable and I sold all 3 Mesa combos. Definitely a KEEPER AMP as you can get quite a few sounds out of it and takes pedals well. In my opinion, Riveras are very underrated...get one, you'll like it!

I bought this used, it was made in 2004. It has 2 EL34's & 2 12AX7's,has a 12" speaker, reverb, & features channel switching w/ a clean channel & a dirty channel.You can read all about the bells & whistles on Rivera's amp site online & also hear some good samples of this amp & all the others they manufacture.I play in a cover band that focuses on sixties music, we play mainly corporate events, private parties, & casinoes. I had previously been using a Fender Champ II (Rivera designed) & a brown Fender tube reverb with lots of pedals in this band.I was looking for a more versatile tube amp with a 12" speaker & better saturation. I have been playing for 40 years & have owned lots of tube amps, but mainly played Marshall & Fender amps. This amp is a perfect blend of Marshall 50 watt punch & Blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb cleans.

This amp is stock, with the only mod being a 12" Jensen C12N replacing the stock Celestion it came with. I got out my Strat first to try this amp out, really love it through the clean channel, perfect for all the 60's Britpop we cover. Then I put my Tele through the clean channel w/ some reverb...great twang & spank for the old school country we cover. Then I got out the Les Paul & put it through the lead/dirty channel...classic 50 watt Marshall Plexi sound for all the classic hard rock we cover. Then I got out my Les Paul Jr...SWEET MOTHER OF TONE!!! This is MY sound, the sound I LOVE, the sound of full on crunch, in your face ROCK & ROLL!! Hell Yeah!! Man, do P90's sound righteous through this amp! Okay, I'm going to take a deep breath now...I get too excited talking about this amp, but not nearly as excited as when I play through it.

I bought this amp used on Ebay & was horrified to see my UPS guy hauling a box with both ends broken open, strewing plasic packing peanuts across my lawn while apoligizing about the condition of the box. Who in hell packs a amp in a used, banged up box, taped only once with PACKING PEANUTS as it's only protection!!!??? An hour later, after picking peanuts out of the speaker frame, under the reverb tank & every nook & cranny of the amp, I was expecting the worst. But seeing nothing was screwed up cosmetically, I put the tubes in & said a prayer as I fired it up... everything worked! A trip across the country without a case & basically without a box & everything remained intact & in working order...that says a lot about how Rivera builds amps.I have been playing/torturing this amp daily w/ no problems.

My amp was bought off of Ebay & was missing it's back panel. Rich was very friendly & helpful in getting me a replacement made. This was on an amp that wasn't bought new, so it's speaks well of the golden customer service Rivera provides to it's users. If I have any problems, I have no doubt they will help me get them solved. I will be using their amps for a very long time, so that's a good feeling to have.

I have been playing for 40 years. I have a lot of vintage gear, including Marshall, Fender & Vox amps. This amp is exactly what I was looking for: channel switching, dirty & clean channels, plenty of power if I need it, great tube tone, built to last, & light enough to haul around without needing back surgery. My only criticism would be that the reverb doesn't have the warmth & depth of my Fender brown unit, but I use it so sparingly, it's not really an issue for me.If this amp were stolen, I would track down the thieve, gut them, & sell their body parts to buy a new one. This is a great amp from a great company.

This is amp has the basics and if everything worked as designed it would be an excellent choice for the well-rounded musician.

When I first bought this amp I was absolutely satisfied. I play predominately progressive rock and high gain blues styles. The cleans on this amp are excellent. As far as distortion it is passable but frustrating. At moderate to high volumes it is extremely compressed. What I mean by compressed is when you attempt pinch harmonics the amp "chokes" and it is extremely difficult to pull off this technique. When using my Mesa Boogie or Fender I am able at will to accomplish this technique with no effort or problem. This amp has some serious flaws in design.

As far reliability. I will not gig with it let alone record with this amp. It produces mystery tones such as static and unwanted distortion on the low clean notes to such a degree it is absolutely annoying. The effects loop is useless. The effects loop sucks the tone and life out of your signal and defeats the very purpose it was designed. This amp has been a problem from the first week of purchase. I have had it a year now. I have tried everything. I have replaced the tubes twice. I have sent it back to Rivera once and the amp still has issues. I cannot in good conscience recommend this amp. I even sold it only to have to refund the money because of the above issues. I even advised the new owners of these problems when I sold it at a very substantial discount because of the defects.

Customer support at first was excellent. They even paid the freight for the amp to be shipped back to their shop. At first they were workable and responsive. But it is at the point now they don't reply to my emails. I think they are done with me and this amp. So really, the bottom line is am I happy? Have they taken care of the issues? And is product working as it was supposedly designed? No! I will never recommend or buy from Rivera again. I learned a painful and expensive lesson.

My experience: I have been playing over 35 yrs. I own a lot of equipment and have never experience the frustration and problems I have experience with this product. By the way, this is the first review I have ever done and I was inspired by my negative experience to try to save any others what I have endured. Please pass on this model and brand and save yourself some money and most of all time and frustration.

The sound quality is the only area of my concern for this product.
The clean channel will treat any decent guitar to the best it's ever going to sound.
Put a humbucking axe through it on the hi-sensitivity jack and it will wail like an early Santana recording...true.
Also, the difference between either channel on this amp and Riveras more expensive designs are not worth the mentioning.
I had to check this amp fro a pulse because I thought it was alive.
it barks at you on both channels, sustains, feeds back at levels and makes one wonder what else they might need from an amp....Not much, actually
it gets a 10
Ps...that reverb is far too deep and treble-inclined, tho! Shame.

Superb. Don't stay up nights thinking of fuch overdrives, dumbles, marshalls, fenders, two rocks etc.
Buy a rivera and get a good nights sleep.
Nuff said.

45-watt two 12AX7preamp and two EL34 power tubes and 12" Celestion speaker. It features two channels - channel one distortion with a pull out control for lead boost - channel two clean . It has a two button footswitch which is simple and effective. You have to preset the distortion channel on the amp first and the pedal will only activate that distortion mode (with or without lead boost feature). I bought the amp for the clean channel after auditioning its brother the Chubster at a local music store. The Clubster has a few more features so hence the purchase of the Clubster.

The Clubster has way more power than one could ever possibly use unless you are playing in a stadium. The amp is a rocker and blueser. It is NOT a metal machine. I play Reverend guitars, rock and blues, my main guitar is a Charger with two P-90's and the amp is a perfect match. The amp comes with a Celestion G12-80 which was the only minor set-back on this amp. The speaker was lifeless and "pianolike" and more a PA speaker than a guitar amp speaker. I replaced it with an Eminence Legend and the amp now is full of musical overtones and tube saturation. The clean channel with tube saturation and overdrive at volume and presence on 5 is the sweetest setting for classic rock and a blues tone from hell. I would give it a 10 except for the stock speaker which knocks it down a notch. The problem with stock speakers is universal to most amps - the manufacturer has to go with a "neutral voiced" speaker.

The amp is built like a brick poop house and will stand tough for years of dropping off loading docks bumping into airheads and roadie abuse. I see no need for a back-up amp. This amp is rock-solid! Tubes are easy to replace and accessible. Speaker was a little more difficult to remove and replace.

Called Rivera a few times and talked to Paul Jr. himself. Very freindly and helpful - I won't probably ever have to send this back to him for any serious service work.

I am mainly a hobbiest, collector and occasional player - I like to sit in at gigs and practice with bands - mainly just like to rock out with freinds either at clubs or at home and have done it for 40 years! My guitars include three Reverend guitars, a Custom Shop Tele and a Maple fretboard LP Custom (rare). This is the finest amp I have come across for versatile tone and great tube sound. Previous amps owned were Fender HRDX, Peavey Musician solid state 100 watt head / 4x12 cab. I was looking for an American made amp - you know like Fender used to be? If this amp was stolen or lost it would be replaced with another one with my Eminence speaker mod of course.

I bought this Clubster in 2005. The features are well covered in other reviews. It is a two channel amp with the usual Rivera voicings - Fenderish clean and Marshallish drive channels. Nice features - reverb, effects loop, seperate channel EQ's, all tube, solid construction, 45 watts, footswitch to switch channels and turn reverb on aand off, bright switch on the clean channel, boost switch on the drive channel.

The only features it is missing is a footswitchable boost (you have to engage the boost manually) and a three band EQ on the clean side.

Sound wise, this is a great amp. The clean channel is pretty sparkly and can get some very nice tones. The Drive channel is awesome! It will do everything from blues to classic rock to almost metal quite easily. With the right OD pedal you could probably do metal too, but it really is not a metal amp.

I play a very wide variety of music styles: country, blues, classic rock, pop, gospel. This amp covers the ground very well. I use a wide variety of guitars also (Tele, Ibanez, Strat, P90 clone, etc). Every guitar sounds good through this amp. It is very quiet until you really crank the volume, then it gets just a little bit of noise, even with single coil pups.

The clean channel gets an 7.5 - and the drive channel a 9...so average of an 8.

Never had a single problem with the amp, and i don't expect to...

I've never had to use the customer support, but i have heard it is top notch!

The Clubster 45 is a great two channel combo that give a lot of tone for the money. I really love the amp, but the music I am doing now (almost all country/country rock) demands more of a single channel amp that really excells at clean (like a Dr Z), so i may end up selling this amp, very reluctantly.

I have been playing on and off for about 30 years and have owned a fair number of good amps - this is up there with the best of them. The upper level Rivera's are incredible - the Clubster is mearly awesome. This amp does about anything you could want an amp to do, and does it all very well. I may keep this anyway....

I purchased this amp used a few weeks ago. It looks virtually brand new, but the date I don't know. So far it has proven to be versatile and suits my styles of playing, which are rock, jazz, blues. I like a very clean sound for my rhythm sound most times, and this amp has a very chimmy Fender-like sound on the first channel (it's a two channel amp). The amp is 45 watts which translates to a sound too loud to practice with, so I purchased an attenuator, which brings out the nice crunch at the top end. Seems to have a lot of balls for a small amp. There are two reasons I bought this amp, 1 is the size. It's light enough for me to carry without getting a hernia, and two, I needed an amp to use in the studio, and even at 45 watts, that's a lot. It does have a master volume on the dirty channel which allows some nice pre-power tube distortion which sounds really sweet. It came with the stock Celestion 80 speaker and at this point, I have no reason to change that. It does have an effects loop which I have an equalizer plugged into which helps me further tweak my sound.

The amp has 2 EL34 power tubes, and is built very well. Attention to detail is very good.

I use three Gibson guitars primarily. All with humbuckers. 2 Les Pauls (1971 Black Beauty with a Seymour Duncan "JB" pickup at the bridge, with in and out of phase switching on the volume pot). The other Les Paul is a 1992 Classic, with the stock 496R and 500T humbuckers. I also, (mostly) use a Gibson ES 335 with 57 Classic Humbuckers. Feedback with the ES is of course always there, but it's controllable if you get off the axis of the speaker and move around a lot. I do a lot of Steely Dan stuff, lots of SRV type blues, and blowbacks from the past like Page, and Jeff Beck, Clapton and all the standards. With minimal tweaking I got very respectable sounds right off the bat. The amp seems to work well in various environments, club, or studio, or my little studio at home. It's clean channel can get some distortion on 10, but I'm never past 5 or 6 on it anyway. I do get some hum out of it, but I believe that's mainly me with the pedals and eq's and such. Straight in, the amp is very quiet.

So far I haven't had a problem. I do have a backup, but it seems to be rock solid. I mean, if I dropped it off a tailgate onto a concrete road, I'd be sure it would be damaged, but for everyday bumps and scrapes, it's a little tank.

I called Rivera twice, once for a manual, and once because the amp didn't work. Turned out to be a bad cord in the effects loop. Not there mistake. They were great both times. Talked to Richie and he was cool and very interested in the problem. Nicest people to deal with.

Playing since 1966. Have had many guitar/amp setups, tried everything there was (my Dad owned a music store), and after all this time, I'm finally (thankfully!) back to tubes.

I originally wanted to buy a used Princeton, but for the prices they were asking on eBay and around, I thought it was foolish to pay that much for a really old used amp. Especially when it probably will need new caps, tubes, speakers or whatever. But for me, tubes were still the only way to go. Rivera had a good reputation, I've seen and heard their amps used by lots of people and always liked their sound. So when I plugged in my guitar at the store to try it, I smiled. I haven't done that in a while. I have a Line 6 (AX2) which I hate, and I'm very happy with this one. If it were stolen, I'd buy another Rivera, probably the same amp, but maybe the 25watt version since I don't need that much wattage. I tried this amp against a couple of other tube amps, (Marshalls, Vox, and some Fenders), but came back to plug in to this one again.

I wrote a review before for this amp, but it was not published. Perhaps because I'm not writing stuff that's bad about it, but honestly, it's a great amp. Everyone has their own ear however, and no two musicians are exactly alike, so who can say. For me, it's exactly what I was looking for.

I bought this amp used, I think it's a 2005 or 06. Doesn't really matter much to me. It's stock with no mods, and I have to say that I'd rather not mess with it as the sound is great with just a little bit of tweaking. Everyone has already done a great job on mentioning the features of this amp so I won't be redundant, or repeat, or say the same things that have been posted. (I'm being satirical here...)

I'm using this amp with 2 Les Pauls ('71 and '92) but primarily use it with an ES335. Sound is incredible, although, and this is not because of the amp, the feedback can be deadly if you aren't in the right place. That said, I can get all the sounds I finally have always wanted to get. I've had a Marshall Major which I couldn't turn up very much, which of course sounds outrageously clean. I went to a Fender Bassman, which was good, but still didn't do it for me and various other amps, more than I wish to think about how much I lost on. Then I finally figured out what I needed was less watts and more crunch. So I went to Harmony Central and read the reviews here on this amp and was sold. Went to a local store, found one used, plugged in my '335 and fell in love.

Just one thing, buy an attenuator (like a THD Hot Plate). I did this and hooked up two EQ pedals, one to the effects loop and one in the daisy chain. Absolutely the best sound I've ever got out of any amp. Been playing for 38 years and my family owned a music store for two generations.

Can't really say as I've never had to have it serviced, but am fairly confident it will hold up.

Never had to have it repaired, but called Rivera about a manual for it and they were very nice. I do know they have a great rep.

38 years, but I'm not too old that I can't buy green bananas. My other equipment, Dunlop Wah-Wha, General Guitar Gadgets OC280 Compressor, Orange Squeezer, 2 Berringer EQ's, THD Hot Plate, and tons of wires. What do I love about it? The tone man, the tone. What do I hate? Nothing, but I wish it had the gain boost on the pedal also.

If you are tired of carrying some monster amp, and don't have roadies to grunt for you, and you hanker for a real tube sound, I think you should at least try this amp out. I may not be for everyone, but for jazz, blues, and rock, it's a really nice affordable (now adays) choice.

If I were stolen, I'd be looking to kick someone's ass.

I bought this amp 4 months ago. Very versatile & full sounding 2 channel 1x12" w/ two EL34's at 45 watts. I play mostly country, rock, Stax, Motown, rockabilly in bars, ballrooms & larger festival stages.

Mainly use modified '72 Tele w/Bardens. Pedalboard includes original TS 808, Boss Compressor, Boss Cho., Boss Digital Delay, Expandora 2 dist., MXR Phase 90 & a Tremulator into the Hi input. But this amp sounds great sans the effects. OD channel is great for rock, but not for metal. Clean is warm & organic, even w/ my Barden pickups, which tend to be bright. It's one of the few amps I enjoy plugging straight into.

I've played w/out a backup since I can remember, only because it hasn't been feasable to carry an extra. But I do take a SansAmp to go direct in a worse case scenario, & plenty of spare tubes, etc.
I bought this amp 4 months ago, use it an average of 3-4 nights a week both in-town & out. Power tubes recently bit the bullet. I'm hoping to get a little more life out of the new set replacing them. Also, there was a dirty pot on the second channel that was cleaned under warranty.

Haven't dealt too much w/the company yet, though I did get some pretty quick returns on a couple of emails that I sent. Also have an authorized service center where I bought it that pretty much took care of replacing power tubes & cleaning a dirty pot. Warranty is 3 yrs.

I've been making my living playing various stringed instruments in road/bar bands, country artists & studios for 31 yrs. I currently own a Kendrick Black Gold 35 (for sale), an early '70's Fender Princeton amp, Fender American Strat, an old Dano, Harmony/Silvertone "Les Paul" hollowbody, Gibson Earl Scruggs banjo, Epiphone mandolin & a cheap dobro.
Past amps that I've owned include Matchless Chieftain 2x12", Mesa Boogie MK III & one of their 4-10" amps, '70's Fender Deluxe Reverb modded w/6L6's, a '68 Fender Super Reverb (miss that one), various Peavey, & a small Silvertone. The Barden PU's in my Tele can be pretty harsh thru most amps, but sweet when you find the right one. So far, the right ones seem to be several mid-'60's & early silverface Vibrolux & Super Reverb amps, most tweeds & this Rivera. I like a clean warm sound to build on, not too glassy & brittle. The Rivera Clubster made me smile like a monkey when I plugged into it, very sweet. I was looking for something to replace my Kendrick Black Gold 35 that had, for some reason, lost it's mojo even though I had Gerald recap & retube it. But I didn't want to pay $2000 for a guitar amp. I compared Dr. Z's Maz JR.s & Sr.s, but the Rivera was just warmer to my ear. But that's just my opinion. If it were stolen, I'd probably get another one just for it's portability, versitility & great sound.

Very versatile 2 ch with switching with great Reverb! Nice petal switch came with it as well. I like the 112 config but I changed out to a TONE TUBBY 12" Ceramic speaker whitch was a HUGE improvement. I use this amp both at home and live applications and the feature set of it has never let me down; from fat jazz to pop/rock or rockabilly it seems to deliver nicely. It's not as versatile as my Mesa Trem-0-verb but, I would not expect that as it was half the price.

I play many styles and have been happy with the amp though each one especially after changing the 112 to the TONE TUBBY ceramic. For both single and dual coil guitars this amp really has some great sounds that are easy to dail in. I also, like some other users have some rattles on the low freq's that I'm trying to get rid of which is not easy. This is the onl;y aspect of the amp that I'm not thrilled. I'm giving it an 8 because of the rattles otherwise, the sounds score an 11. If I can get rid of those - wow! what a great all around (even studio) it would be.

Have not had long but, seems to be reliable as expected from Rivera.

3 year warranty which is awesome - I'm calling them today to find out where the rattles are.

I've been playing 20 years with some great and not so great tones but, I would buy this amp again as I really love the tone and sounds it can make. I hate the rattles but, I'm planning on getting rid of them ASAP. One other amp that I love is the Fender Blues Jr. Limited, if you can't or don't want to spend this much on the Rivera, I would suggest trying the Fender.

2005 model , 2 channel amp with and effects loop and ability to drive a external speaker cabinet. One 12 " Celestion Seventy 80 speaker. Two EL-34 output tubes and two 12AX7 preamp tubes. Rugged cabinet. Each channel has tone and push pull gain controls. This amp also has reverb and presence controls. Amazingly lightweight for a 45 watt amp.

I am using a 1975 Les Paul with Seymor Duncan 59 neck and JB neckpickups. I also have a 2004 Fender standard with custom shop 54 reissue pickups. Both guitars sound awesome with this amp. I have played rock for most of my career and this amp's lead channel absolutly nails the classic rock sound. The clean channel is very versatile and is vey good for everything from smooth jazz to chikin pickin country. The other amps I have are Marshall 50 Watt JCM Lead combo and Marshall 100 W chorus valvestste. I will sell both of these now because I don't need them. The revera is very lightweight and sounds better to me.

Too early to tell. It is very rugged looking.

Don't know.

This a great amp that will do great solo or with a full band. I forgot to say this thing is loud! I really shopped around for everything from fender reissue amps and Marshall combos and liked this one best. I looked at solid state modeling amps and didn't care for them. I am really a plug it in and play guy. This amp is very simple and sounds great.

1x12" Celestion G55 (I think). Seems like a unique speaker in that it sounds great clean or dirty. At my last several gigs (since I got the amp) people have been complimenting me a lot on my sound. This annoys me a lot since I've used a lot of gear I thought was good in the past and maybe I sounded terrible all these years. But, I guess that means the Rivera is really an amazing amp...and not just to my ears alone. Anyway, it has channel switching. I use the clean sound a lot (for jazz) and it sounds great. Excellent bottom and clean, warm, organic highs. I use the distortion channel sometimes for rock stuff and it really does sound excellent. Very high quality amp. The reputation is there for a reason.

I mostly use this amp with guitars with humbuckers in them. As I said above, I use the clean for jazz and the dirty channel for rock. It is so flexible that I could see using it for any style, blues, country, jazz, even metal. I used to enjoy playing metal in the '80s and still whip out the distortion sometimes and, this amp gets a GREAT classic metal sound. None of that thin-sounding transistor radio sounding whine that other amps get. Just meat, and more meat. Very musically voiced eq. It is a quiet amp. Quieter than any Fender I've used and quieter (definitely) than my solid state amps.

I've only had this amp for about six months, but I've bounced it around in cabs in NYC and used it on a lot of gigs and have had no problems whatsoever. It just fires up and always gives me the meaty sound I want. No mush, just organic-sounding meaty tone. Impressive.

I did call Rivera once to ask them a question about the documentation and they did get back to me within a day or two and were very nice. I appreciated that a lot. I've heard from other people they were good with customer service. Kind of an old-school vibe with this amp in terms of workmanship and attitude towards the product. It's cool to see that.

I've been playing for 23 years now. I've owned nearly every brand of amp over the years (except for a few lesser known good amps) and the Rivera is a "new classic" for sure. Just 'cos it's not old doesn't mean it doesn't deserve to be in the same category as the classics. I'm a vintage snob, so it pains me to actually say that, but it's true. If it were lost or stolen I'd get another Rivera. I'd probably get the Clubster 45 again because it has huge huge tone and can be carried by one person. Other tube amps of this style weigh a ton and sound like mud; the Rivera sounds excellent and can actually be lifted with one arm!

This is a follow-up to the review below, about two weeks later - very different impression now.

Yes, but . . .

OK - here's the thing - I had the amp three weeks, and it developed a chim-ey rattle in the chassis on low notes in particular, which at first I mistook for tube microphonics - not too impressive for a brand new high-end amp. I could understand this if the amp was cranked to 8, but this was happening at around 2. I brought it back to the store where they offered a replacement for a fresh one out of the box, & Lo & behold the same problem with the second unit, despite the manager then pulling all the tubes out in the store & replacing them in both units to see what happened, to no avail. Not only that, one of the LEDs in the second unit was burnt-out. I had previously tried the smaller Clubster 25 as noted below and it had a fried reverb - so what am I to conclude - I tried 3 of these amps and 3for3 were defective in some way. This was a huge disappointment as I loved the tone otherwise, but you can't record much with an amp that rattles, so I got my money back & bought a Classic 50 instead, which may not have quite the killer tones the Rivera had, but at least it works as it should.

This is a new model, and Rivera's first 'entry level' offerings. They're pricey, but worth every dime. I play mostly classic rock, with no effects other than an FD2.

I'm using an LP '60 Classic, a USA Tele & a USA Texas Special Fat Strat, all of which sound amazing through this thing. I got rid of my '65 Twin reissue because I was so blown away by this amp. The only thing I've heard that beats it is just about anything by Dr.Z, which comes in at 2-3 times the price. The Distortion channel is so versatile the only pedals I really need to use with this are the Footswitch (supplied) and a Boss TU-2. I'm now only using my FD2 to drive a much smaller & lighter practice amp I toss into the car to use for casual jams. I originally was attracted by the light weight (38 lbs), but I loved it so much I've ordered a 1X12 Cab to make it into a mini half-stack to use for gigs etc.

With the LP Classic I found it a little noisy in the hi-gain input, so I plug the LP into the Low Gain input with no problem. The Strat & Tele are fine in either.

I also have a Rickenbacker 370-12 string, and the clean cyhannel seems ideally voiced for the Rick - unlike my old Twin.

I would never use a tube amp at a gig without a back-up & for that I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, which I expect would never be used. Rivera seems to have an excellent reputation, but I've only had it for a month, so it's really too soon to say. Built like a tank, though.I have had zero problems or issues of any kind with this one, BUT this was the second one I tried out before buying however - I brought home the smaller Clubster 25 a couple of days before buying this one, and found it had a fried Reverb unit, so I brought it back. The other disappointment with the 25 was the lack of a standby switch, and the fact that although both the 45 and 25 are advertised as having 'Rivera Vintage Gold' speakers, in the 45 it's a 12 inch Celestion and in the 25 it's a 10-inch Eminence. So,for the extra power, the better speaker and a standby feature, for $200. more the 45 was a no-brainer. I'll rate it at 8 because although I understand that shit happens, a unit with a fried reverb right out of the box should not have made it out the factory door.

Called Rivera to enquire about what Cabs might be best suited & their pricing (recommended the C-112). The phone was answered by Paul Rivera personally - very impressive & very helpful. Riveras have only recently started to be available in Ottawa, Canada & in small numbers so local dealers don't have a lot of experience with them yet.

I've been playing for about 40 years, and if this were ever stolen, I'd track down the thief, ball his chick, and fry his ass by making him play my old Hofner through an un-grounded Marshall Plexi while standing barefoot in a puddle of Piss.