Rivera Suprema "Jazz" 55

This amp is 2005 or so..im guessing.
I play many styles..hear me at charliex.com I needed an amp mainly for jazz archtop playing. It has 2 channels, switching, loop no headphone jack. I never use Channel 1 (distortion)..has a very fizzy forced sound. Not smooth at all. I have Marshalls to cover that, but even a cheap fender HRD covers rock better than this amp. Lots of power for jazz, crappy rock amp but you can get by if u only need distortion for a few songs. The clean channel is not like a fender and nowhere near a boutique amp like Bad cat or one of those. But...i bought it because it really does get a better jazz tone than anything else i knew about.

I played (if not owned!) most of the solid state jazz combos. THis is a tube amp, and I must say, after years of playing polytone, roland and some time with jazzkat and others, tube are better for me. There is a 'tactile' feeling when u play. The tube responds to your touch. A solid state amp, even though some have some fabulous warm tones, do not really respond to my touch like tubes do. Its a pleasure to play jazz on this amp and i play a lot more because of that feeling i get with it. The tone is great, the feeling is nice. I use a a Gibson Johnny Smith, ES 175, DA Excel (new one), but mainly gig with a Schecter jazz 7 which gets a more solid jazz tone that the others listed if u can believe that. Being tubes, this amp makes a lot of noise even when nothing is plugged into it. Its hard to record with. Lots of hum to deal with. Not so audible when your playing with a band, but at home on the couch, there is an underlying hum all the time. FOr jazz tone, i have to give it a 10.

No problems yet

I called rivera..he is available to talk to. I also talked to Lou at guitars and jazz...he is cool too, but since i didnt have a problem, they were both nice. I dont know how they would be if i needed a repair.

I am 51 and started practicing when i was 13. I learned the basics when i was 10 or 11. I have every type of guitar and most amps from champs to stacks. This is my first 'boutique' amp..but i would not really consider it in the league as a Bad cat, Fuchs or the rest of them.
I love that this amp is very light. I wish it was versitile, but have decided that there is no amp that can rock AND get such a good jazz tone. THis NAILS some of the tones i love. Even players who dont have a jazz feel sound like jazzers with this. Ill just use a pedel if i have to with this. I bought it OnlY for the clean channel. Other amps have great clean sounds too, but i find most are very sterile clean. This is clean, but sounds 'programmed' to sound like jazz, not just a sloppy, undefined, generic or sterile clean, which is what i have been getting for years. I compared it to bad cat, which blows it away for rock tone. BC also had a great clean tone and could be used for jazz, but not in the ballpark with this. This amp is also 20 lbs lighter than the lightest bad cat (15w cubIIr). Just a note, I talked to Lou at G&J and he noted that the speaker in here is a Jensen. Im not a fan of Jensen, but he noted this is the 'tightest' cone available which gives it a good jazz tone. Since the cone does not flex much, it holds back the rock tones. It may actually be more versitle with a differnt speaker. Every amp I ever had with a Jensen was GREATLY improved when i got rid of the Jensen. However, if i had to sacrifice any of the jazz tone, i would NOT mod this amp. It is what it is. Overall, this may be the only tube amp out there that can get a SOLID uncompromising jazz tone out of your archtop. You can find good tones fairly easily on the clean channel. I wish they made this amp without all the addtional circuitry which is wasted on jazzers. It is not a versitle amp but i didnt buy it for that. I give it a 10 cause it does what i bought it to do. I doubt very much that i will ever buy another solid state amp no matter how good the tone is, because they just dont have the 'touch' i mentioned above.

I purchased my amplifier used for $900.00 (But in like new condition), so I don't know when it was made. It is a green tolex version. I play mostly jazz with friends, occasionally playing blues. The amp is versatile for my style of playing. I am not a professional in that I don't play for money, but I have been playing many years and am reasonabily skilled-I mention this only to address the point that I have gone through many amps and guitars and have become, over the years, selective about sound quality-and this is a nice sounding amp! I would sell my Carr Rambler before I would sell this one (although I have no desire to let go of the Rambler-it too is a fine amp-although less versatile). The Jazz Suprema is a EL-34 based R-55 amp section housed in a open-back cabinet which accepts a 15" speaker. It has both a "British" and an "American" voiced channel which can be switched between. For clean to somewhat crunchy tones, it suites me nicely!

I love the sound of this amp! It came with Italian AlNiCo 15" Jensen speaker, which to my ears was OK. But since I have a Weber VST AlNiCo "Blue Dog" in my Rambler-a speaker I incidentally came to be very fond of, I put a Weber VST AlNiCo Classic 15" (slightly doped,8 Ohm, 50 watt, and with a "Blue Dog" cone) in my Suprema. It is my perfect amplifier now! The Weber basically lacks the subtle harsh sounding tones I found at times in the Italian Jensen . Let me say that Weber VST can make a nicer sounding Classic Jensen than the Italian company who currently makes the Jensen re-issues-this will be of no suprise to tone geeks!! My main guitar is a Carvin Holdsworth HF2. It is a beautiful instrument for my style of jazz (with the exception that I am not entirely in love with the Carvin Holdsworth pickups-I would prefer some Fralin's or Lollar's or something but this is a separate topic). I also put in Groove Tube GTEL34M's which I like-but don't go pulling out the Sletvana's (they are fine tubes as well). I might also add that this amp is pretty easy to bias, a task which I perform using a Allesandro biasing meter (A meter worth having if you're a tone geek like me!). Bottom line: Nice Jazz amp! If you have the $$, put in a Weber VST AlNiCo 50 watt 15" and rid yourself of the stock Jensen re-issue. Even retaining the stock Jensen, this would still be my fave!

You can see with pretty much all of the Rivera product reviews that reliability is not much of a concern. I have only had this amp a couple of months at any rate so I direct you to the experiences of others.

Have had no reason to contact Rivera

I was drawn to the Rivera Jazz Suprema, because years ago I had an Ampeg Gemini II and I was impressed with it's clean jazz tones. I felt that this may have had something to do with the 15" speaker it sported. Well, the Rivera Suprema with the open back design, the 15" AlNiCo, and the EL34 sound-is perfect for my needs. Some other designs I might consider (although I consider the Suprema a "best buy" among these): VVT amplification Lindy Fralin model, Victoria Amplification Regal, Carr Rambler 15" speaker option.
This amp is sensitive to small EQ changes-so you may want to write down your preferred settings in case you accidentlly bonk the knobs.

It is brand new, made in 2006. I play in an organ trio (guitar, organ, drums) and also do blues and classic rock gigs, as well as weddings and shows. It has 2 channels, but each channel has a feature that is foot switchable for actually 4 different sounds. There is an effects loop with controllabe send and receive. It also has a line out, and 2 speaker outputs. It has plenty of power for pretty much anything. If it is not loud enough, the rest of your band is too loud and you need to go through the mains anyway. It cranks (though do not crank the 15).This is basically a Suprema 55, but with a 35 watt 15" Jensen alnico magnet speaker, and a poplar cabinet. It is only available from Guitars-n-Jazz in New Jersey. They were great when buying the amp. It has a beefier something - I think the transformer - than the regular Suprema. It is also much lighter at about 41 pounds. It can still drive a cabinet if you want. The alnico is only 35 watts, so it is in there for clean jazz playing.

I play a Schechter Jazz 7 through it (Duncan designed humbuckers with coil taps). It sounds amazing. The low "A" is so full, yet clear. The higher strings sound absolutely beautiful. If you play a lot of counterpoint, even on a 6 string, it really makes you sound like you have a bass player - it is that good. The drive settings are strange through the 15, but they told me that up front. They also said that if I was going to be playing it hard and loud with overdrive, I should use a cabinet. I plugged my Strat (Ultra) into it and hooked up a single Mojotone black beauty 10. It sounded great - good crunch, yet clear. Excellent blues tone. Channel one gave me great distortion, real saturated and thick.
It is made for clean jazz playing, but since it is a Suprema, hook up a different cab and you can do anything.

I have had it few weeks, so I do not know the reliabilty. However, from reading other reviews, it appears they are quite good. I am not worried.

I called Rivera before I bought it, and Brian (I think that was his name) at Rivera spent a lot of time with me on the phone. He never sounded like he needed to go. I like that. He explained the make-up of the amp and how and why it was different from a regular Suprema. The warranty is good, standard for the industry. I do have an authorized dealer near me, so I am not worried about service. My local guy is a tube amp god.

I have been playing for 35 years, and for 30 professionally. I mainly use my Schecter Jazz 7 and my Strat Ultra (for club dates). I did plug in my cheap electric resonator and it sung through this amp. I have had many amps - Randall, Polytone, Fender, Roland, etc. This amp is by far the best so far. I love the weight - 41 pounds for a 55 watt all tube amp is incredible. The tone is amazing. I looked at a Rivera Chubster 45, a Fender Deville, Badcat 30, and some other stuff. This amp has the features and tone I have been wanting forever, and for that the price was reasonable.