Rivera Pubster 45

'07 Pubster, features covered on the website.

I know this amp is intended for distortion with its super high gained preamp, but I bought it for its great cleans. I play a Les Paul, so I plug into input 2 (low gain), crank up the Master volume really high and slowly bring up the Gain for a nice clean tone. From there I use pedals becaue I found this amp's distortion very nice for middle and high notes, but a little muddy on the low end.

Back to the clean tone - VERY punchy, sweet and articulate. It has a solid state rectifier so none of that overly compressed note attack (squish) when you're playing hard and or fast. When you really dig in, you get a pleasant light clip to the notes.

The EQ is VERY sensitive, so be careful :) . If you crank up the mids, your volume will go way up. My goal was to get a 50 watt X 1 12" speaker amp with punch and great tone, but with tube roundness and warmth. Its exactly what I got.

Too early, but the rep is that they are reliable.

This unit had a static issue in the circuitry when I got it through Ebay from a music store. Rivera fixed it, but it took a couple of months to get it back. They did a great job andf it sounds outstanding. They won a long term customer with this move. If I ever upgrade from this amp, I would defintely consider a Rivera. Actually considering the Chubster as a next step - bigger cab, all tube, more features, etc.

I covered all of this above. I think it is a high quality unit with tons of volume a rich tone.

I bought this amp in the UK for Pds 725 in July 2006. I live in Chile and can't get them here and so during a trip to London tried one out.
To be honest I was after the Clubster 45 as it had such a great review in Guitarist Mag. It has a date inside the amp of 2004 although the shop said they had only had it in recently.It had 6V6 tubes installed instead of the EL34's. Fortunately I asked for some spare tubes and was given EL34's and when I changed them the difference was huge. So the shop are going to give me a spare set of EL34's as they probably put them in as a demo comparision for a customer. I play rock blues and country ,anything from Clapton Hendrix Dire Straits Free to Eagles etc. We are a 3 piece band in Chile playing covers 60's / 70's / 80's covers

As I said I was after the Clubster but the shop was out of stock but the distortion channel is more biased towards blues so I wasn't so dissapointed as I understand that the Clubster has more of a metal distortion sound (ninja) That said it may be that the clubster can do th same as the pubster but has a bit more gain if required. You can certainly get variety using the tone controls and with a modded Boss compressor and the new TS08 Ibanez Tube screamer (in line) rather than using the effect loop the distortion sound is very good, think All right Now by free or a bit of ZZ top. But you do need the pedals to beef up the sound. The clean channel does distort after about 6 or so so you get a nice break up, (hendrix red house style)Putting the volume on 3 and whacking up the master on the clean channel and a bit of compressor is a nice snappy country sound (but you must have a modded compressor or a high quality one like Ross etc) Distortion is not high gain and I do miss that a bit as my previous amp Marhall AVT 150 although only partially tubed (pre amp) had more gain. BUT there is nothing like a fully tubed amp, and no simulators do it for me. Tubes are tubes. I use a Brian Moore Custom with EMG pickups 85 at the bridge Sa in the middle and 81 at the neck ( I know the 85 is normally the neck pick up but it's too dark sounding and I read on Harmony Central that some people had swopped the neck and bridge pickups and it sounded better. That's been my experience but I may swop them back to hear them on this new amp. Also play a Charvel strat to which I fitted a SD George Lynch screamin demon at the bridge a Kinman noiseless single coil in the middle and a SD hot rails at the neck (anyone else out there got this combination) Well the sound is great and brings out the best in these pickups. The clean sound is as good as a Fender ( and is as a review stated the Fender Superchamp reborn) It does suit my style of music and at the first gig even non musos (like my girlfriends mum) commented on the sound and how much better it was than my normal "noise" It's loud enough for pub gigs and I run an extra marshall single speaker cab on the other side of the stage to give the sound a bit more depth and it seems to enhance it very well. It does bring the overall volume you can get out of it down a bit especially if you have a 16 ohm speaker in the cab.

Well I have only had it a month or so and I do occasionally get what sounds like the tubes rattling. Changed them and checked they are seated ok and it has kind of gone away. It is well built for sure and as I dont play every week I am taking a chance and playing without a backup as due to a dodgy back the relative lightness of the amp was a big consideration as I simply couldn't hump round heavy large amps.

I did ring Rivera a while back and spoke to Paul Rivera Jnr but was asking about another one of their models then and not the pubster.
Local dealers down here is a non starter so I hope it doesn't have problems, I have a custom built flight case so treat it carefully and hope I won't have anything worse than tube replacement. It didn't come with an instruction manual or anything and is not currently on the downloadable ones on the Rivera site so they need to address this.

I have played for around 20 years. I also own a Marshall AVT 150 amp a Boss Compressor (modified) Tube screamer Dimension C, Digital Delay and GE7 Equaliser( modified)
I spent a long time researching what amp make to go for and even before I actually heard it, all my instincts told me that Rivera was the one for me. When the reviews came out for the pubster and clubster I guess my gut feeling was confirmed. Paul Rivera is a serious tube amp builder and I dont think I have heard his products bad mouthed by anyone. They are also a bit rare as so many people play marshalls or boogies etc it's nice to have a sound and amp that is different. If it was stolen I would probably go for the clubster as I think having the extra boost and individual settings for the distortion channel is worth the bit extra. But for my sound and band the pubster is ideal. I have played one or two other tube amps and a number of trannie amps but to for me this is the best one in the wattage size and weight. And I have to say again you can't beat an all tube amp. It is curious that the website states that it comes with a rivera gold speaker but mine has a celestion 70/80 speaker which sounds fine I just wonder what the gold one sounds like,

I guess my only complaint is that to switch from a real clean sound to a real distortion solo I have to use the tube screamer and wish that the amp didnt need an extra push (short of cranking up the volume on the clean channel to get the valves pushing. But the argument would be if you want that get the clubster.Anyone that likes a nice country sound and blues would not be dissapointed with this amp so well done Rivera.

Made in 2004, this amp is packed with the right features. It is a two channel amp with one 3 band eq section. It comes with an Accutronics 3 spring reverb and a footswitch to change channels and select the reverb. Powered by 2 EL-34 power tubes and 2 12AX7 pre amp tubes. It comes with a 12 inch Celestion speaker. It has line out for PA/recording, and effects loop, and an external speaker jack. The power cord is detachable.

Amp sound and tone is very subjective. An amp powered by 6L6 tubes does not sound the same to me as an amp powered by EL-84 tubes. To my ears this amp covers a broad spectrum between a classic Fender sound to a classic Marshall sound and falls about in the middle. I hate to compare it to the Fender and Marshall because it has its own unique sweet sound that is very warm, but with some bite. The volume, master, and eq section all interact, so tweaking the eq will result in a corresponding change in the volume and master levels. The great part about this amp is that you can dial in the amount of break up desired from super clean to really raunchy with the volume and master, and you can do it for both channels. You'll have to work at getting your tone dialed in, but you will be rewarded with this tone monster.

This amp is built like a fortress. Machine screws hold the chassis in place. The cabinet is super heavy duty as well and the chassis components are military grade. I've never had a problem with it. It is unbelievable well built for an amp in this price range.

I've talked with them on the phone several times. They are always helpful and take the time to make sure they have answered you question/issue completely. I've never had a problem with the amp, but I am confident that they would take care of it promptly. The dealer told me they were a great company to work with in every respect.

I've been playing a long time. I have never strayed far from the Fender Blackface sound, but I have always loved the sound of an EL-84 amp, especially when turned up. This amp has a really sweet clean sound with a little more personality than the Fender, and it has a great overdriven sound at higher gain like a Marshall with a little more definition and depth. When pushed, it sounds similar to a Budda to me. You can cover alot of ground with this amp. It takes some time to dial in and each of my strats requried a slightly different eq, but the tone well worth the effort. This amp is an unbelievable value for money piece of gear.