Rivera Fandango 55 Head

Two inputs (High gain and low gain), all tube (Five 12AX7A in preamp, two EL-34 in output), two channels. British Crunch - With push/pull mid scoop, and boost. American Clean - With push/pull Treble boost, Mid notch and ninja boost. Built in reverb. This amp has all the features you could possibly want from an amplifier, can cover almost everything. 55 watts of power, very loud. Comes with footswitch for channel switching and boost switching for both channels.

I have a Gibson SG standard, a Japanese Tele with Dimarzios, and a Framus Diablo Custom with a Dimarzio Airzone bridge pickup. I play jazz, blues, rock, fusion.

I'll start with channel two as this is the clean channel. Basically you get a master and a volume control, with the volume providing the gain, and the master the overall volume. I started with the volume very low and the master high, to get maximum headroom with the cleanist tone possible. This gives a warm, jazzy tone, great with the neck pickup and the tone pot rolled off. as you start to crank the volume control it starts to break up, where all the highly coveted blue tones can be found. This amp just seems to have soul, the sound has a depth to it I've rarely experienced before. With the mid pulled out it gives a Blackface type sound, and the treble boost (if used carefully) adds a touch of high end sparkle. I rarely use the "ninja boost" as I found it simply acts as a volume boost. I was able to get fantastic tone out of all my guitars on this channel, but in particular the singlecoils of my framus and tele really sang out. Overall an incredible channel.

On to channel one, the British Crunch channel. The same master/volume rule applys here, so again I kept the volume (gain) control low to begin with. This channel has an unbelievable amount of gain on offer (especially witht the boost enabled), I rarely put the volume past about 5 or 6. I don't really find the mid scoop applys to my style of playing, so haven't really used it. The boost is a brilliant function, allwoing a killer solo to sing out in the middle of a song! With my SG, I coaxed a fat, warm overdrive, to more extreme amount if needed.

The reverb I find is a little extreme, I've never had it past 2. The focus control is interesting to experiment with, another nice touch. There is so much scope for tweaking in this amp, it literally sonically does everything I've ever wanted.

Built like a tank, this amp is solid. I've gigged it around 15 times now, and it's never let me down. I can't see it having any serious problems.

Never had any problems, so can't say.

I've been playing for 8 years now, and I feel incredibly privaliged to own an amp of this quality. I've owned/tried countless other high end brands, but none have come close to this. It is pretty expensive (hence the 9), but that is more than justified in my opinion and I actually believe it offers value for money considering whats on offer here. For my playing styles, it's simply fantastic.

The amp is a 2005 Fandango head, Palamino tolex, reverb (nice),2 channels, presence control, bass, mid, treble, channel switching, and Ninja boost. Has effects loop with buffered in out with level controls.
Switchable 1/2 power, triode/pentode I assume. All tube: 2 EL34s 5 12ax7s, I drive a 2-12 Revsound Cab loaded with Celestion 35s G12Hs, It has more than enough power to keep up with a full band...even a loud one. I have never run it over 3 with the pre vol on 7.5, as with all Rivera's I end up with the tone controls running 6,5,4, sometimes 7,6,5,
treble, middle, bass, not sure why..just ends up right for me.

Nice clean Blackface, full and smooth on channel 2, channel 1 is what I use mostly and can go from clean, to defined crunch, to nice chain saw with my volume pedal...an Ernie Ball (which I now have 4 of due to their extreme fragility..the pots get loose and rotate, the pivot for the foot pedal comes loose and you have to keep shovin it baack in like a worn out toilet paper roller..but, only game in town) I play a variety of styles from Steely Dan, Elvis Costello, Del Amitri, Dire Straits to Buddy Guy and Delbert and Los Lobos stuff...and some rockabilly. The amp cut it all. Noisy...hell no, even at full gain. I use it with a 68 335, a Nashville Deluxe Tele, my Warmoth strat with Bill Lawrence 250s and a stratoblaster pre, and an Ovation custom legend..it is all brilliant! Have I had better. NO. I have 35 other amps...Hiwatts, Marshalls, 20 Blackface Fenders, 2 other Riveras, and a GK250, all have their qualities..but the Fandango is it. Now, when I first recieved the amp it came loaded with Svetlana EL34s. I hated it. I was ready to send it back and decided to spend some time on it.
It is very pretty:) and as John Turturro said in MR DEEDS "sneaky, very sneaky." It sounded good once and a while and then back to crap.
I put some Mullards in that I got from my friend Owen at New Sensor.
I biased them, didn't change the pre amp tubes, and BAM. It rocked and continues to. I now run the Mullards in everything that takes EL34s.
The amp is very sensitive to pick attack, nuance and your volume control. All said..great amp.

Rivera amps are tanks. I live in NH and we haul a trailer. Last spring one of my Rivera combo and a Pavey Dleta blues launche into the air in the back of the trailer while going down 15 miles of frost heaves at a high rate of speed...I'm not a patient driver. I opened the trailer upon arrival to the club. The Rivera and the Peavey were both upside down. I took them in; the Peavey was dead, dead, dead. The Rivera's tone and volume controls were all sheared off. I plugged it in, used the end of my finger to adjust the controls and played the night.

People bitch about Michael. I have had nothing but intelligent, friendly, and helpful conversations with him. He has always been available when I call, and was the guy that suggested the Fandango to me. The other staff that I have spoken with ahve been great as well.
I had to send an amp back once for some general service and it got lost in the pile, but had been repaired and I was called within 3 hours of the search. Good enough for me. I'll stand by Junior and his crew. They're good folks.

I've been playing since I was 14 professionally, starting in Colleges around the Boston area. I turned 56 last week, I continue to play and have put my oldest son through University, my daughter is in college now, and my youngest following as she leaves. No retirement in my future...oh that's right I don't have a 401K...but I do have a ton of gear;) Compare with other products? No, it has it's own sound and character. No, it does not sound like a Marshall. If you want that you buy a Marshall. Does it sound like a Blackface...2nd channel very much so, only quiet, crackles, or ghosts. If it were lost, well, it wouldn't be. If it were stolen, I would catch the person trying to lope down the road with it and kick him down to the same size as the amp head, tie his arms into a handle, throw him in the back of the trailer and make him roadie for me for the next month. Theivin bitch.

This is a 2002 Fandango (EL-34's) converted from a combo to a head. Plenty of sound options but a parallel effects loop and footswitch for the reverb would bring a 10. The effects loop and reverb do sound excellent however.

Although it sounded great as a combo, hooking up a 4 x 12 cab really brought out the the heavy sounds I was looking for.

The "Fender Channel" is as good as it gets and truely lives up to the hype. Think of classic Fender with more balls.

The "Marshall Channel" is tricky and takes some time to dial in. The basic tone is warm, complex, and noise free. Just about any flavor of distorted sound can be dialed in using the Vintage/Modern switch, Scoop (actually a low mid boost), Focus, and Boost. This channel nails all the classic distortion tones but if you are after a good heavy sound, this amp really needs to be pushing a 4 x 12 at volume. I was about to unload this until I cranked it through a 4 x 12. The "heavy" sound of this amp can be brutal and punishing or sweet and singing. You wouldn't believe it if you just heard the combo version. Think of a thick growling boogie that cuts through the mix or a tight, focused Marshall.

Built like a rock. Three years with no problems.

Legendary. The Rivera's are good folk.

I like it. I'd buy another one.