Mikenov Posted September 2, 2009 Posted September 2, 2009 I traded away one of my Heritage's yesterday. The almond burst one from the pilgrimage. It was expendable due to having the cherry burst which had the same pickups in it and was a gift from the wife. We have a new Heritage owner now and I now own a Rivera Chubster... Loved the fender tones, I need to figure out the Marshall channel still. In particular, the "Notch" pull I REALLY dug. It's supposed to make the amp sound like a black face.. It really had cut and bite and good tone. Anyone out there have experience with these or have setting I should try on the Marshall side? I just couldn't dial that side in but everything I have read is people dig the marshall side and it sounds like a JCM800. To me it was a bit fizzy.. but then again, I feel the same way about newer marshalls and maybe my expectations are wacked out.
Scooter Posted September 2, 2009 Posted September 2, 2009 Hey, congrats on the Chubster, Mikenov. Glad to hear you ended up with it. I had spent some good time on the Rivera site and really dug that amp, too.
CJTopes Posted September 2, 2009 Posted September 2, 2009 I briefly played the 150 through my other Chubster last night and I loved the tone out of channel one. Try the treb 7-8 mids 3-4 bass 4-5 pre 7-8 master vol about 3. The sound out of the neck PU was to die for. However that did give me a pretty heavy sound. (Kind of like Cream) Keep tinkering, you'll find it. I think you can download the owners manual and they have some suggested settings you can try. Cant wait to try the 150 at rehearsal!
Mikenov Posted September 2, 2009 Author Posted September 2, 2009 I briefly played the 150 through my other Chubster last night and I loved the tone out of channel one. Try the treb 7-8 mids 3-4 bass 4-5 pre 7-8 master vol about 3. The sound out of the neck PU was to die for. However that did give me a pretty heavy sound. (Kind of like Cream) Keep tinkering, you'll find it. I think you can download the owners manual and they have some suggested settings you can try. Cant wait to try the 150 at rehearsal! Enjoy it CJ. Its a good axe! I downloaded the manual today. It helped allot and they have sample settings I can try. Pretty neat amp. What really helps is the description of what each knob does . Lots of knobs and pulls and things to figure out.
brentrocks Posted September 2, 2009 Posted September 2, 2009 Pretty neat amp. What really helps is the description of what each knob does . Lots of knobs and pulls and things to figure out. i felt the same way when i first got the R 55...lots of push/pulls and settings...enjoy that Rivera Mike!
Mikenov Posted September 5, 2009 Author Posted September 5, 2009 OK so I have had some time to mess with this amp. It's a good amp. I think I like my Orange Rocker drive channel better than the Marshall channel on this one but they are different animal. The more I play with the controls the more I figure out the EQ. The secret to this amp is the EQ. I get the Master volume pre volume thing and it works the way it's supposed to. The EQ on the other hand is the most sensitive I have ever used. And it totally sculpts the tone of the amp. I like the bass on 4 or 5, the Mids on 6 or 7 and the treble on 8 maybe 9. I like the pre volume 7 or up, and the master volume anywhere from 2 or up. I LOVE the NOTCH pull no matter what. I also dig the boost pull for the Marshall channel. That is very usuable and has a great grind. The 535 really sings with the boost on. I love the controlled feedback. The tweed setting (ch2 no pulls) is deffinately a tweed sound. I like the the bright pulled on this channel . it can be dark. The BEST channel on this amp though is the Fender side with the Notch pulled. It cuts, drives, and just sounds great. Ninja pull, can't see too much use for that. I just makes the volume out of control and doesn't do much for the tone. However, given enough tweaking, who knows. I hated ch 1 on this amp when I first heard it. I played a chubster several times before trading for this one. Everytime I never got enough volume or time with it to get a tone I liked. I seriously suspect plenty of people try this amp and walk away wondering what the deal is with Riveras because they put the EQ flat and never get it loud enough for the harmonics and chime to come out. That's a shame because what I have here is a better marshall channel that most every modern marshall I have ever played. And a better fender blackface sound that any re-issue I have ever played. My Silverface super doesn't sound nearly this good. The tweed sounds like a tweed and I am sure there is more that I haven't figured out yet. The biggest thing is the EQ. It's different than most EQs I have used on amps and really needs to be used to get your frequency or the amp for real can sound bad. My Hughes and Kettner and my Orange you can pretty much run the EQ flat and get good tone.
111518 Posted September 6, 2009 Posted September 6, 2009 I played a chubster several times before trading for this one. Everytime I never got enough volume or time with it to get a tone I liked. I seriously suspect plenty of people try this amp and walk away wondering what the deal is with Riveras because they put the EQ flat and never get it loud enough for the harmonics and chime to come out. Mikenov's great review of the Rivera El34 design squares very well with my experience with the M-100, which also has a "fender" and a "marshall" channel. What I like about the amp is that it is versatile and can give you a range of different volume and distortion levels at the push of a floor switch, and, as Mikenov said, if the thing is EQ'ed right it can be very responsive and sound very good. I also agree that the amp really has to be let loose to sing. Mine has a half-power switch that cuts off two of the four power tubes, so from 100 to 50, and a pentode/triode switch (I think Rivera calls it "vintage/modern), which allows you to further cut the juice. However, in any mode, it has to be pushed to really get its voice. I think the whole rig is optimized for very high volume playing (maybe this is inherent in El34's?). For example the "ninja boosts" --again as Mikenov pegs-- offer such a jump from a low level that they are unusable, even though the idea of a clean boost seems great. I've had mine really cranked only a couple of times, and it sounded pretty phenomenal --I just couldn't hear for the next couple of days, and I kept looking over my shoulder lest the police were after me for assault with a deadly weapon. So, mine is sort of semi-retired. I usually play it when we have outdoor gigs, but at indoor gig levels it just sounds choked. I think the chubster was designed to be more responsive, and quieter, at lower levels, than the "m's," but it sounds like the dog still needs to bark. I also have a little Rivera Pubster, a 6v6 design, which sounds remarkably warm at low volume --its limitation is that it doesn't offer very much clean headroom --less than a DR. So, I would second what Mikenov says ...test drive a Rivera at the volume that you really play. It may be a great amp for you, but, despite the versatility of control, it may be too much or too little.
Mikenov Posted September 6, 2009 Author Posted September 6, 2009 Funny. I was out with the wife tonight for our 7th wedding anniversary so of course our conversation ended up on " what do you think of the new amp." The wife says ... I like the Hughes and Kettner... its....quieter. HA HA!
CJTopes Posted September 6, 2009 Posted September 6, 2009 Well I had a chance to play a gig and a rehearsal with the H-150 through the Chubster 40. (Its only 30 watts so why do they call it a 40?) I got the H-150 thinking that it would be a great back up guitar to my Gibby LP. But after just a short time I think it's won the #1 spot. My LP has an Alder body with a maple neck so it’s got some different tonal qualities to it. The 150 sounds more like a Les Paul than my Les Paul! As for the combination of the 150 & Chubster, Mikenov hit it on the head when he said Ch2 with the mid pull to 250k is the way to go with these guitars. Awesome tone! I personally like the boost on Ch2. Though the jump in volume is a bit much unless you’re at gig volume. There is a mod that allows you to set the volume of the boot channels. I haven’t done that. The EQ can be a bit tricky but I can always find a good sound out of it. And I’m not one to be able to analyze a tone stack and know what going on. I like the versatility of the amp. It can do rock, blues, jazz, fusion and probably country. I would have to disagree about having it cranked to get a good sound out of it. Even though I think all tube amps are that way to a point. The one thing I did notice about the chubster is that it really brings out the tonal characteristics of the guitar. On other amps I could always tell the difference between say an S-G and a 335. But with this amp it seems more pronounced. Well I’m off to my patio to play my new H-150 through my Chubster….. Life is good!
Mikenov Posted September 6, 2009 Author Posted September 6, 2009 This thing is like a rubics cube... I in no way think I have it figured out. The biggest difference is I can't just take all the stickers off and say I solved it. Heading down to my practice space late tonight to jame with the Chubster.. can't wait.
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