Rivera M100-112

I think this amp was born in 1992. It is an all tube combo unit with a 12 inch Electrovoice EVM12L speaker (factory installed), 4 EL34 power tubes and 5 12ax7 preamp tubes. A Pentode Triode switch for altering the tube tone and a high/low power switch. With these switches I can change the output power from 100w, 50w, 25w to 10w. This is the most versatile amp that I have ever fallen in love with. I primarily use it for Jazz and Jazz-Rock and Christian music. It gives me the smooth distortion when I need it and clean, clean, clean when I need it. It has two main channels with an extra Slavemaster gain for each channel. I can kick-in the Slavemaster gain on any channel giving it two more channels to work through. Also, when the effects loop is not being used it can be used as another master volume. Each channel has: Master Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, push pull for boost/Ninja (ch2) on each. Reverb (one of the best) can be turned on and off from the footswitch. Focus (controls speaker damping) and Presence (like a bright control) are also available on each channel. The Fs1 footswitch controls reverb, effects loop and channel selection. You can add the Fs2 footswitch to control the slavemaster and Ninja boost. There are too many feachers to write about. Wish it had a headphone jack and a switch for EL34 or 6L6GC power tube choice. And yes it is heavy.

I consistently use two of three guitars. A 1996 Gibson ES-165 Herb Ellis archtop and a 1999 Blues Hawk. I also have an early 70's Epiphone ET290 that I have out grown (neck is too thin). The Blues Hawk has Gibson P90's and through the Lo jack input, the pickups can be overdriven easily. I get a good range of tones and lots sustain. From clean and twang or smooth rhythm with overdrive. With the archtop (a single Gibson 490R pickup, I can go from Norman Brown to Wes Montgomery to George Benson. I prefer a little power tube overdrive with the archtop getting the sound of some of the older vintage Fender and Gibson amps that were turned up full power or close to full volume in those days. As expected there is more feedback with the archtop at high volume levels. This is not the fault of the amp. Although this amp provides mucho distortion (channel 1 Marshall voiced), I can tone it down to my preferences. It really sounds good with a friends American Strat with Dimarzio Virtual vintage pickups. He was amazed at how he could just about nail SRV and Hendrix.

So far so good. No problems. I would use this without a backup.

I bought this amp used in Sept 2000. Use it three to four days a week. No problems. Heard good things about Rivera product support. Have not had the need to contact them. I have no rating here.

This amplifier came with an EV12L speaker. It was a little harsh and brittle for my tastes so I replaced it with a Jensen P12N Alnico reissue. The sound is now smooth and crisp and the other most important part is that the combo lost about 10 lbs with the Alnico Jensen. I can get a good range of vintage Fender Twin sounds and the unique tone that I have been looking for with this speaker. I have been playing for 30 years and have a 70's Peavey Artist VT Series (collecting dust now) that has 4 6L6 power tubes, solid-state preamp with a Black Widow speaker and a Fender Pro Jr., for practice. The M100 is for the person who likes to tweak to find a great tone. I love tube amps. As I said above, I wish it had a switch for different variations of power tubes. As a used amp for the price I paid, I got a bargain. This is a professional quality amplifier and built like a tank. If it were stolen, I would hunt down the perpetrator and hang'em by his eyelids!

Basically, 2 channels, 100 watts, 1x12 combo. It's all tube and a combination of PCB and PTP wiring. There's a half-power switch and a Pentode/Triode switch. There are three different power levels you can run it at: 25, 50 and 100 watts. It's got tube driven spring reverb and a buffered Fx loop. There are two inputs: one 'Lo', one 'Hi'. They provide less or more distortion in the preamp. I prefer the 'Lo' jack, as you get a lot more gain.((((
The first channel is the 'British' channel. It sounds _exactly_ like a hot-rodded Marshall. There are two gain boosts on this channel: one increases distortion without too much compression, the other one just sends the amp over the top.
The next channel is the 'American' channel. This is better for clean, but it can go all the way up to a NASTY crunch. There is a footswitchable boost here which increases volume and distortion.
Both channels have a 'Notch' shift (which shifts the frequency of the mid). Both channels have independent EQs. They are passive but still quite interactive. There's a master volume for each channel. There is a 'Focus' control which controls how 'tight' the speaker response is. It can make the speaker sound a lot warmer or sterile, depending on the settings. The Presence control only made a subtle difference at first, but now the change is more noticeable.
There are two speaker jacks (in parallel) with selectable 4/8/16 ohm impedance.
The FX loop is not parallel, so you have to choose your effects carefully, but I don't use it much. It has 'Send' and 'Return' volumes to make sure that you don't overload the effects you use. These levels can be used as a 'Master master' volume. You can set the balance you like betwen channel 1 and channel 2, and then just turn the volume up using the FX loop levels. The FX loop is footswitchable, so I just set the levels up so that the FX-loop acts as a volume boost.
There is also a 'Slavemaster' feature which simulates power-amp distortion at low volumes. On the 'American' channel, it made the sound a lot warmer and added a touch of grit. On the British channel it made the sound a touch to dry for my ears, but it is really good if you want to try and nail that Santana sound (a la Black Magic Woman or Samba Pa Ti).
The amp is more than powerful enough. It's really versatile. There are 6 footswitchable sounds, but only 5 of them are distinctly different. One complaint: the stock footswitch can only control channel selection, reverb and the effects loop. I bought the optional footswitch so I can control: Channel selection, Slavemaster (the power amp distortion simulator), NinjaBoost (the crunch boost on the American channel), Reverb and the effects loop.

I(((( play primarily hard-rock, influenced by blues, fusion and _some_ progressive rock. I think there are three main styles of amps: British, Vintage American (a la Fender) and Modern American (a la Boogie). My ideal amp would be able to do all of these. This amp does the british and vintage american sounds so well, I can pretty much ignore the fact that it doesn't have a Boogie sound. I play through a Levinson Blade strat copy. The pickups are single-coils which are meant to be similar to Gold Lace sensors, they are designed by the same guy. I also have an onboard (active) preamp which EQs the sound to either a mid-boost or mid-cut.
The American channel sounds JUST like a Fender twin. I'd rather have a great clean and compromise the distortion channel a bit, so I opted for the (optional) JBL speaker. This makes it LOUD! This is a very versatile for rhythm, you can go from a shimmering clean to some really biting crunch.
The British channel sounds really full and glassy. If you like a more 'vintage' sound, you can switch on the Slavemaster.
Both channels are quite dynamic and respond well to changes in pick-attack, volume, tone, etc.
I use the amp mainly in Pentode mode. The sound is a lot more bright, and the distortion is a bit rougher. I can get some really nice blues/jazz tones out of the triode mode, though. In the triode mode the sound is a lot fatter, a bit darker and smoother, but there's too much of a lack of treble for most of my rock songs.

I gigged with it last night with no problems. On the way back, we were in quite a big accident, and the amp was thrown around a bit. No change in sound quality or anything, it survived fine! I've only had it for a week though, hence the 'n/a' rating.((((&&&

The warranty is 5 years and transferrable.
The support is GREAT! I have been e-mailing them for about 6 months (before I bought the amp), and Paul Rivera (the owner) replies to all of his e-mail PERSONALLY.
I don't think it could get any better!((((

I'm in love. The only thing this amp can't do is the really super-high gain singing Boogie sound, but there are so many great sounds on the amp, it's hard to notice that the Boogie sound isn't there!