LANAD
- Thread starter smitty_p
- Start date
Amp Mad Scientist
Ambassador of Heresy
drools
OP
Update…
Sweetwater is going to have Rivera send me the footswitch directly, which is cool.
Also, it turns out Rivera doesn‘t really send any documentation. I don’t need to register anything to activate the warranty. I just need proof of purchase, which I have via Sweetwater. They don’t send any manuals, either. All instructions are online. I’m fine with that; I just wanted to be sure I wasn’t missing anything.
Sweetwater is going to have Rivera send me the footswitch directly, which is cool.
Also, it turns out Rivera doesn‘t really send any documentation. I don’t need to register anything to activate the warranty. I just need proof of purchase, which I have via Sweetwater. They don’t send any manuals, either. All instructions are online. I’m fine with that; I just wanted to be sure I wasn’t missing anything.
OP
Okay, conspicuously (or, maybe not so conspicuously!), until now I have intentionally avoided doing any sort of a review on this amp. Just today I finished my speaker enclosure with the Eminence CV-75 Redcoat speaker. I didn't want to attempt a review until I could test the amp with its final speaker match-up.
I can provide a review with one word...
WOW!!!
Okay..I suppose I should go into a little more detail. But, before I do, I need to extend special gratitude to @syscokid and @gball . Their insight guided me toward this amp and I am really grateful for their help and experience. Thanks, guys!
Where do I start?
The cleans. The cleans are great. This 25 watt amp can get REALLY loud - I mean sound-waves-smacking-your-chest loud and the cleans keep right up. They aren't a sterile type of clean, but a bloomy, rich clean. The clean channel takes overdrive pedals well, so if you want to add some hair onto the clean channel, it works great for that. The clean channel has it's own volume control and a two-band EQ - treble and bass.
The overdrive. This is not a heavy metal amp. It's not gonna do death metal, but the rock to hard rock tones are great, which is what I wanted; I wasn’t looking for a hardcore, heavy metal amp. I’m not trying to djent! But, with an overdrive pedal, you can saturate things a bit more. The overdrive channel has a volume (gain) control, a three band EQ and a master. Most enjoyably, the overdrive provides good articulation and just a great, meaty, grind.
There is a real spring reverb (but I use a reverb pedal in the effects loop) and a global presence control.
There is a ton of features on the back. One interesting thing is that you can either use a direct out, with up to six speaker simulations, or you can use a "No EQ" out, which bypasses the speaker emulation and allows you to use your own IR box, loaded with your own impulse responses. I tried the direct out through my mixer and listened on headphones. It is very usable and I wouldn't hesitate to use it in a pinch. But, I do think an actual speaker sounds better. Incidentally, using the direct out and listening on headphones through a mixer does sound better than using the headphone jack on the amp, itself.
One very convenient feature is that the amp can be used with 4, 8, or 16 ohm speakers. I'm using an 8 ohm speaker. If you want to use the direct or No EQ out, you can set the amp for Internal Load, and no speaker is necessary. But, I think this Eminence speaker is a great match up. It is more sensitive than many Celestions, which means it will be louder for any given amp setting.
But, getting back to the sound ... my guitars have never sounded so good. My Stratocaster, especially, sounds so much better. I don't have that harsh, spiky frequency anymore. I used to struggle with keeping my Strat from sounding ice-picky. My only other amp that sounded good with it was my little 1973 Fender Champ. The Strat sounds great on either channel on this amp, as well.
Anyway, I could go on and on, but I'll leave it at that, for now.
I can provide a review with one word...
WOW!!!
Okay..I suppose I should go into a little more detail. But, before I do, I need to extend special gratitude to @syscokid and @gball . Their insight guided me toward this amp and I am really grateful for their help and experience. Thanks, guys!
Where do I start?
The cleans. The cleans are great. This 25 watt amp can get REALLY loud - I mean sound-waves-smacking-your-chest loud and the cleans keep right up. They aren't a sterile type of clean, but a bloomy, rich clean. The clean channel takes overdrive pedals well, so if you want to add some hair onto the clean channel, it works great for that. The clean channel has it's own volume control and a two-band EQ - treble and bass.
The overdrive. This is not a heavy metal amp. It's not gonna do death metal, but the rock to hard rock tones are great, which is what I wanted; I wasn’t looking for a hardcore, heavy metal amp. I’m not trying to djent! But, with an overdrive pedal, you can saturate things a bit more. The overdrive channel has a volume (gain) control, a three band EQ and a master. Most enjoyably, the overdrive provides good articulation and just a great, meaty, grind.
There is a real spring reverb (but I use a reverb pedal in the effects loop) and a global presence control.
There is a ton of features on the back. One interesting thing is that you can either use a direct out, with up to six speaker simulations, or you can use a "No EQ" out, which bypasses the speaker emulation and allows you to use your own IR box, loaded with your own impulse responses. I tried the direct out through my mixer and listened on headphones. It is very usable and I wouldn't hesitate to use it in a pinch. But, I do think an actual speaker sounds better. Incidentally, using the direct out and listening on headphones through a mixer does sound better than using the headphone jack on the amp, itself.
One very convenient feature is that the amp can be used with 4, 8, or 16 ohm speakers. I'm using an 8 ohm speaker. If you want to use the direct or No EQ out, you can set the amp for Internal Load, and no speaker is necessary. But, I think this Eminence speaker is a great match up. It is more sensitive than many Celestions, which means it will be louder for any given amp setting.
But, getting back to the sound ... my guitars have never sounded so good. My Stratocaster, especially, sounds so much better. I don't have that harsh, spiky frequency anymore. I used to struggle with keeping my Strat from sounding ice-picky. My only other amp that sounded good with it was my little 1973 Fender Champ. The Strat sounds great on either channel on this amp, as well.
Anyway, I could go on and on, but I'll leave it at that, for now.
Awesome!
OP
Yeah, now that I’ve had a chance to really listen to it with its speaker, I’m really happy with it.
Based on the difference I hear with my guitars, I’ll go out on a limb and say that the single most significant thing affecting a person‘s guitar tone is the amplifier. I suppose drastic pickup changes, like going between Strat-type single coils to humbuckers, offer as significant a change. I mean, I’m not saying other changes aren’t important or have no effect, but there’s only so much you can change with your sound within the capabilities of the amplifier.
Funny....
I work at a music academy and not only do we have house amps, but many different amps are brought in by students.
I can get a great sound out of any of them by just adjusting the EQ's.
I think that some amplifiers do sound different/better than others...for example...I really like the clean channel on a DSL40C...and I prefer the tone of the Jose Zener Diode modification, but I've played through Dumbles, McIntosh, Two-Rock, Friedmann, Engl, Wizard, Peavey Butchers, Marshalls, Fender, Vox and even entry level Crate and Monoprice amps, and I could get a really full, broad spectrum tone out of them all.
However, I'm super stoked that you are so pleased with this new purchase!@@! It sounds like a keeper.
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OP
I don’t disagree. My point wasn’t that it is not possible to get good sound from a variety of amps. I believe it is very possible.
I'm yet to find the "Swiss Army Knife" amp, but it would be great to have one amp that did great cleans and good overdriven tones.
It would beat running two amps!!!
OP
Eric Johnson has made a similar comment, except he uses four! He uses one amp to get a dirty rhythm (currently a Two Rock), two amps in stereo to get a clean rhythm (his Fenders), and a fourth amp to get his lead (a Marshall).
I have watched an interview where he has said he’d love to use just one amp if he could find the one to do everything he wanted.
Prior to getting this amp, I was developing a two amp rig. That’s taken a back seat, obviously. But, since I hate unfinished projects, I may jump back into it just to get it done.
Interesting....voicing and level knobs, ground lift and XLR line out. Super versatile!!!!
gball
Ambassador of Boogie
Rivera, Mesa Boogie, Marshall JVMs. Quite a few others will give you incredible clean, crunch and overdriven tones with one box, and let you switch between them with a footswitch. Won't let you blend them the way a multi-amp setup will, but for gigging there is nothing better than a good channel-switching amp.
I've seen that Eric J interview!!!
Well, I said I've never drop $3k on a Les Paul and I went and did that....so, you never know!!!
I'm converting a DSL40C to a head (for a client) with a Mission Engineering Cabinet. They are great channel switchers and I've been playing around with it here at home. The cleans are great, and with ECC823/B759/ECC82/ECC83S x 6CA7 tube combo, it really mellows the gain structure on the ultra gain channel.
It might not be a bad move to get back to a single amp....
OP
Yeah, it’s a cool interview. The oddity is that the amp he uses for his dirty rhythm (the Two Rock, though he has used others) is actually running clean! He uses a vintage BK Butler Tube Driver running into the amp to dirty it up.
Here’s his rig from a picture I took at a concert a couple of years ago:
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