RIVERA KNUCKLEHEAD Wattage Change Review & Clips

[TwilightOdyssey]

Neeradj had asked about the Rivera Knucklehead 100W head at low volumes, and once I found out that you could remove the two inner EL34s and make the 100W head a 50 watter, I volunteered to post my impressions as well as some clips.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS: The first thing that I noticed about the head was that it got much darker sounding. Not in a bad way, but I could tell immediately that there wasn't as much wattage driving the speakers. There was much less dynamic range. It did, however, give the head a more modern sound, which I found interesting. Those of you going after a more modern, recto'd tone might want to try doing this. This is true for the clean channel as well as the gain channel. The other thing I noticed was that, even at 50W, the K100 is LOUD!!!! Like, lease-breaking loud through a 4x12.

RECORDING CHAIN: Here's what I used to record the clips:
GUITAR = Jem 7D in Bridge Position with DiMarzio Breed humbucker
CABINET = Rivera 4x12 top
MIC = Audio Technica Digital Reference 3700 condenser mic
MIC PRE/HARD DRIVE = Yamaha AW16G

AMP SETTINGS: I arranged the clips from lowest to highest gain, which is why I am laying it out with Channel 2 first:

CHANNEL 2
Volume 5
Treble 6
Middle 5
Bass 4
Master 3

CHANNEL 1
Volume 5/10
Treble 5
Middle 1
Bass 3
Master 3

GLOBAL
Input High Gain
Focus 10
Presence 5

THE CLIPS: http://twilightsongs2.tripod.com
Clip 1: Channel 2
Clip 2: Channel 2 with Ninja Boost
Clip 3: Channel 1
Clip 4: Channel 1 with Boost
Clip 5: Channel 1 with Boost, and Gain on 10 (Instead of 5)
Clip 6: Channel 1 with Distortion Pedal*, Gain on 5

* DISTORTION PEDAL USED was a Brotech Fatpipe Pro, which runs about $180 US ... this handmade distortion pedal is AMAZING! You will notice how the tone gets a nice compression to it, and the midrange gets even more harmonically complex ...

NOTE: There was no post EQ of any sort done to these clips. You are hearing them exactly as the mic captured them.

Anyway, I hope other people besides Neearaj find this educational.
ENJOY!!

 

[Sly_D]

Re: RIVERA KNUCKLEHEAD Wattage Change Review & Clips

Very cool clips TO... The tone of the distrotion pedal is definitely my favorite. Very crunchy and clear mids. Yet another piece of gear I can't affort

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: RIVERA KNUCKLEHEAD Wattage Change Review & Clips

Very cool clips TO... The tone of the distortion pedal is definitely my favorite. Very crunchy and clear mids. Yet another piece of gear I can't affort

Hehe, thanx!! The strange thing, Sly, is that when I first brought the Brotech home I wasn't as happy with it as I was when I tried it at the guitar show I bought it from. I was playing the guitar they had on hand: a Tele with Hot Rails (I believe) through a little Groove Tubes combo, and this thing was BURNING!! By the time I was done auditioning, I had a small crowd of about 15 people gathered around me asking questions!! I was like, sorry, I don't work for this company! I only like the pedal!! As a result, they ended up selling several pedals right on the spot -- so they gave me a discount on mine, and I walked away with the pedal for $150.

After I got used to the Fulltone tho, I kinda put the Brotech on a shelf and haven't touched it for a couple of years. Since the George Lynch gig, tho, my Fulltone is still in a duffel bag at my singer's house, so I pulled out the Brotech more out of desperation than anything else ... and I was blown away at how tranparent that pedal is! It really only adds gain to the signal, and has virtually no tonal character of its own when you run the EQ flat. I boosted the mids (of course ) a bit for the clip presented here.

Okay -- end of long-winded rant!!

 

[nuntius]

Re: RIVERA KNUCKLEHEAD Wattage Change Review & Clips

I liked the pedal tone a lot also, I imagine it would make a sick lead tone for screaming up the fretboard :headbang:

Whats a ninja boost btw?

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: RIVERA KNUCKLEHEAD Wattage Change Review & Clips

I liked the pedal tone a lot also, I imagine it would make a sick lead tone for screaming up the fretboard :headbang:
Whats a ninja boost btw?

You gotta hear this thing in real life -- you are totally correct, btw: the Brotech is perfect for tracking solos. Screaming leads are much easier with this pedal.
The Ninja boost is the name of the Channel 1 boost on the Knucklehead. Of course, I LOVE the fact that it's soooo 80's!!

 

[Sly_D]

Re: RIVERA KNUCKLEHEAD Wattage Change Review & Clips

Yeah, it's surprisingly transparent for a distorton pedal. When you see "distortion" on a pedal, your normally expect the thing will color your amp natural tone a lot, if not make it completely disappear.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: RIVERA KNUCKLEHEAD Wattage Change Review & Clips

Yeah, it's surprisingly transparent for a distorton pedal. When you see "distortion" on a pedal, your normally expect the thing will color your amp natural tone a lot, if not make it completely disappear.

I totally agree ... generally, I prefer to use 50% amp distortion and 50% from an OD pedal ... I've yet to try the Fulltone distortion pedal, but I know that if I did I would probably be adding it to my collection.
I recently made some room in my collection by giving away my Morely Pro Volume/Wah, which was suffering from neglect.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: RIVERA KNUCKLEHEAD Wattage Change Review & Clips

Bump

 

[Neeradj]

Re: RIVERA KNUCKLEHEAD Wattage Change Review & Clips

Read your PM Ben, thank you so much for doing this! I really appreciate it

The clips are awesome, nice playing and you can clearly hear the differences.
I like the fact it moderns up the tone, I was looking for a modern high gain amp, and I've always liked your clips, so Rivera seemed like the obvious way to go. It also has a lot to with me not being able to afford a Bogner (yet) haha! The dynamics? Well that's a real downer, but I guess it can be overcome. I read about people complaining about the Knucklehead's brightness so it being darker, could only make it more cool right? The measurable difference between a 100W and 50W head is 3dB, at least that's what a friend of mine studying physics told me. It's just a fact the tubes heat up more at relatively lower volumes, with both a 50W amp and a 100W amp with two pulled tubes. So it should improve the sound

Thanks again Ben, I'm really siked about my K100 now, you were the one who convinced me to get one in the first place and now you again go out of your way to help me, you're all gold man!

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: RIVERA KNUCKLEHEAD Wattage Change Review & Clips

No problem, Neeradj; I try to help as much as I can!
I, for one, would characterize the Knucklehead as being immediate sounding, not bright ... to me, that implies a tinniness, that I associate with Peavey amps.

So glad you decided to go w/the Knucklehead ... and I'm floored I had some influence in your decision!

My comment about the lack of dynamics ... you have to understand that I'm intimately aware of this amp as a 100W head, so I'm being REALLY critical in my comments ... I doubt if anyone hearing the 50W head would notice what I'm talking about without a 100W head to compare it to over months of time ...

I personally think you're gonna be in heaven with this amp! Are you getting the Rivera 4x12, too?

 

[Neeradj]

Re: RIVERA KNUCKLEHEAD Wattage Change Review & Clips

Not sure about the cab yet. If I can get a deal on a solid cab (birchwood plywood/poplar) with good speakers, I'll take it. I am very critical about my sound though so my list is shortened out to the following speakers:
Vintage 30s (recommended by Rivera), G12-80 Leads, Eminence V12s, perhaps Greenbacks.

I was thinking about getting a cab and loading them with a mixed set something like G12-80s with V30s or V12s with V30s. I'm planning on buying a 2x12 closed back, and an open back after I've purchased my next guitar (Jackson KE2 for sure!!!). But for the mixing idea I'm defenitely getting a 4x12. I'm keeping a close eye on a Recto cabinet right now, any 2x12 recommendations, or any other cab recommendations for that matter? (here I asking you stuff again :blackeye: )

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: RIVERA KNUCKLEHEAD Wattage Change Review & Clips

LOL ... no worries, man. Didn't get that PM, btw, just for your info
Well, the Rivera cab is 5/8" solid birch and it's HEAVY!! What I like about the better cabs is, they don't flex at high volumes, which creates all sorts of sonic nasties that I don't care for.
My other 4x12 is a 1970's Hiwatt, and it's the same thing -- EXTREMELY heavy cab, and VERY VERY neutral sounding!!