Rivera S120-410 Stereo Combo

My amp was made in the mid 90's. It is probably the most versatile amp I have ever owned. It doesn;t have its "own" tone but that isn't why I got it. I have a host of old Fender amps (Tweed Bassman, BF Super) to get me those sounds. I needed an amp that could offer a close approximation of my favorite vinatge sounds. This does it very well. It has 2 very tweekable channels, stereo effects loop, tube driven reverb, stereo chorus (if you are into that), power class choices, wattage choices. I would gladly sacrifice the chorus for the focus and presence control of the mono versions of this amp. The slavemaster yields a very useable tone alternative and sports it's own FX loop. The ninja is great. It can make the pwer section really honk (ala my Bassman and Super.) Pleanty if gas at 60 watts per side.

I use 5 guitars. 1961 and 1957 Gretsch 6120's. 1965 Custom Telecaster, 1966 Fender electric XII and 1962 Fender bass VI. I have used this amp for blues gigs, progressive (radioheadesque) gigs and my own one-man loop-fest. It isn't noisey but I use nice tubes and take care of my gear. The clean channel can go from Twin Reverb infinite head room to early breakup. The bottom line is you needto know what you are doing and understand how amps do their thing to get the most out of this amp. The distortion can go from crunch to smooth compressed lead tones with very little noise and everything in between.

Rock solid. Never a moments problem.

Here is the problem. YOu have to get Paul Rivera himself involved if you need anything. 5 years ago I had access to him. My question were answered prompltly and, more importantly, correctly. If I needed a part it was to me very fast. His kid is much more heavily involved of the day to day running of things and he has proven to be a first-class idiot. He can't juggle more than one ball at a time and he doesn;t return phone calls. If I were buying a store full of ampshe would probably call right back. That is what made his dad so great. He seemed to really care that you amp was doing the best it could. I ordered a empty head cab from Paul Sr. 5 years ago and I had it in 3 days. I ordered a empty 2x10 cab to make an amp smaller from Paul Jr. and he didn't ship it for 4 weeks. The kid is in severe Los Angeles-mode. Paul Senior. Please talk to us again!!!!

I have been playing for 23 years now. I own a several vintage amps including the 1960 5F6A Bassman I mentioned earlier (btw, all the hype about that amp is true) I know good tone and at this point could dial any amp sound into this Rivera S120. It is a remarkable amp and should be recognized as perhaps the finest boutique amp ever made. Igt is very heavy, hence the 2x10 conversion but it is worht it's weight in gold. This guy makes very good stuff and outside of his incompetant off-spring is a shoe in for the tone hall of fame. If it were stolen I would chase the guiy down becasue at this weight he ain't going anywhere fast. I would probably taunt him asa I ran along side him before I beat him to a pulp with the footswitch. It gets and 8 because a $2000 amp isn;t any kind of value but I guess you get what you pay for. I paid that for my Bassman but it holds it's vlaue. This amps fetch less than half on the used market so buy one used.

I just got this amp, so I hope this is correct...Nah, not even going to try. Four tens, stereo, tonal combinations galore, multiple power select options (pentode/triode & full/half power - I think), Chorus & Hammond reverb, effects send & stereo return, Slavemaster control (acts like a dummy load - to attenuate?), Jeez!, there's more, but I need to get to bed soon.

This amp's subtleties took a couple days to get the hang of but my god!, it was worth the few hours of fiddling around to get friendly with it. I'm playing only Chandler gutars right now and the difference between the sound of the Rivera and my last rig (which was VERY nice) is amazing. (Now say this in your best spanish accent) "De amplifier - she is like a hwoman...) Really, this amp sounds "alive". I'm also using a Sony DPS-V55 effects processor (52 bit architecture & 20 bit conversion - very nice) & it's a killer combination. "I don't want to work, I want to play with this amp all day..."

I've only ha ths amp for a few days, but from the get-go I could tell it was solid. I'll have to say N/A for this category for honesty's sake, but I'll lay odds that this amp will definitely take alot & deliver alot in return.

I got the amp used (exactly one year old), but the people at Rivera treated me like I bought it new yesterday. Return that energy people, & buy one of these awesome amps!

I'll not go on with the whole shpeal about what a seasoned musician I am. I'll just say that I've played my whole life & I've been through some gear. If you had to pay full retail for this amp, you'd still be getting a good deal.