Members Dave L Posted August 14, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2012 Welcome, the thread was jumping a few years ago but has quietened down a bit since then. Always pops up now and again, though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mtripper Posted August 14, 2012 Members Share Posted August 14, 2012 Figures - I'm always late to the party!! I guess better late then never though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kardula Posted August 14, 2012 Members Share Posted August 14, 2012 agreed, and welcome to the lounge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mtripper Posted August 16, 2012 Members Share Posted August 16, 2012 Here is a really bad picture of my main rig: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mtripper Posted August 16, 2012 Members Share Posted August 16, 2012 And the bigger boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members commanche1 Posted August 17, 2012 Members Share Posted August 17, 2012 Just won a Venus 6 combo on ebay. Looking forward to hearing what it sounds like. Not sure if I would have paid the price for a new one. I already have a Fandango for about a year now, and I like it. At first, I couldn't quite get the Marshall tones I was looking for, but it had enough going on with it's own signature tone that I've grown real fond of it. I also find that adding a tube screamer or other drive pedal really compliments the core tone well and crunches it up nicely. I'm really curious about the Knucklhead Tre. I'm not sure if it's aimed toward classic rockers/blues type players like myself. But I would like more gain than the Fandango offers. I know the Venus 5 is said to have the preamp gain of the Tre with a class A power stage. So many amps, so hard to explain to the wife! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members commanche1 Posted August 17, 2012 Members Share Posted August 17, 2012 Anyone ever try the TAC112 or the open back 112 from Rivera? I'd like to get one for each of my combos some day, but they are $600 a piece. The TAC is thiele ported and I assume it would really enhance the combo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TU BE Posted August 17, 2012 Members Share Posted August 17, 2012 holy old {censored}ing threads batman!!! She needs shoes, you need amps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mtripper Posted August 17, 2012 Members Share Posted August 17, 2012 Anyone ever try the TAC112 or the open back 112 from Rivera? I'd like to get one for each of my combos some day, but they are $600 a piece. The TAC is thiele ported and I assume it would really enhance the combo. I have a TAC and it's hands down the best cab I've ever heard. It's an older one with the ev speaker in it and I don't know which has more influence on the sound - the speaker or the cab. I keep meaning to swap the ev with a k100 from my 2x12 as an experiment but just never seen to get the time. I don't have the Rivera open back but do have a k212 that I've ran with and without the back panel plus numerous other open back 1x12 and 2x12 cabs over the years and I still think the TAC beats them all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mtripper Posted August 17, 2012 Members Share Posted August 17, 2012 I'm really curious about the Knucklhead Tre. I'm not sure if it's aimed toward classic rockers/blues type players like myself. But I would like more gain than the Fandango offers. I know the Venus 5 is said to have the preamp gain of the Tre with a class A power stage. So many amps, so hard to explain to the wife! If you like the fandango you will most likely also like the k-tre and it does have a ton more gain on tap. There are a couple important differences though that you may not like for low gain blues. It's basically a non-master volume amp and the clean channel doesn't have a ninja boost like a lot of the other models so instead of volume, master, and boost you get just gain. You can use the effects loop controls as a master. To get this channel to break up without help from a boost pedal you have to turn it up crazy loud. That's one thing that drew me to this amp is the gorgeous clean channel that has headroom from hell. The gain channel might have too much gain for some blues folks as with the gain just barely turned on it has the gain of the fandango up a few notches. I rarely run the gain past 5 and it's still more gain then most other amps can do all the way up plus it stays tight and articulate. For blues I either roll back my guitar volume, which has a treble bleed cap to keep it bright enough, or use a wampler plexi drive pedal as a low gain tone on the clean channel. It gives me 3 very different tones out of the amp and I use it for everything. When I was searching I got lucky and a shop with the k-tre, fandango, and quiana was close enough to drive to so I got to spend some time with all 3 right in front of me. I took a vacation day and spent the entire day in one of their lesson rooms trying them out and walked out with the k-tre. I like it so much that since then I've sold all my other amps except one so I could buy a second tre as a backup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members commanche1 Posted August 17, 2012 Members Share Posted August 17, 2012 If you like the fandango you will most likely also like the k-tre and it does have a ton more gain on tap. There are a couple important differences though that you may not like for low gain blues. It's basically a non-master volume amp and the clean channel doesn't have a ninja boost like a lot of the other models so instead of volume, master, and boost you get just gain. You can use the effects loop controls as a master. To get this channel to break up without help from a boost pedal you have to turn it up crazy loud. That's one thing that drew me to this amp is the gorgeous clean channel that has headroom from hell. The gain channel might have too much gain for some blues folks as with the gain just barely turned on it has the gain of the fandango up a few notches. I rarely run the gain past 5 and it's still more gain then most other amps can do all the way up plus it stays tight and articulate. For blues I either roll back my guitar volume, which has a treble bleed cap to keep it bright enough, or use a wampler plexi drive pedal as a low gain tone on the clean channel. It gives me 3 very different tones out of the amp and I use it for everything. When I was searching I got lucky and a shop with the k-tre, fandango, and quiana was close enough to drive to so I got to spend some time with all 3 right in front of me. I took a vacation day and spent the entire day in one of their lesson rooms trying them out and walked out with the k-tre. I like it so much that since then I've sold all my other amps except one so I could buy a second tre as a backup. Wow! Are there actually dealers in Michigan with Riveras in stock? Guitar Center is a dealer, but you won't see one there. Im in the Detroit area. I bought my Fandango on ebay, based on forum chatter and reviews. Same with the incoming Venus. The Tre appeals to me, I just worried that it was geared towards death metal and it might not do traditional crunchy tones. As for the clean, I like it on the Fandango, but find myself using the overdrive channel 99 percent of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mtripper Posted August 18, 2012 Members Share Posted August 18, 2012 Well, this was a while ago. I used to purchase most of my gear at Woodwind and Brasswind just over the line in South Bend, IN but a few years ago Guitar Center bought them and pulled all the good stuff out so it pretty much looked like one of their other stores. Within a year they just shut down the entire store. It's too bad since they had some really nice stuff there. Marshall Music used to be a dealer but I think they dropped the line. Now the only non-GC place I know of is Music Castle but they only ever have 1 or 2 models in stock. It's really hard right now to find anything to try out which I can only assume is the reason for the non-popularity of the brand. Guitar Center and Sweetwater carry the lines now but I haven't seen any in stock. The tre will most definitely do traditional crunch tones. I'm mainly a classic rock, hard rock, and 80's metal type of player and it does all those easily. It will do the super scooped modern chugga chugga with ease as well but I don't really go that way too much. I guess the default voicing would be considered a little mid scooped though because when I play a marshall jcm 800/900 I normally run the mid control at around 4 but on the k-tre I am usually closer to 7. I'm not sure how any of this will translate to the Venus 5 though as I haven't had a chance to check that one out but it looks like a cool amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Moot Posted March 14, 2013 Members Share Posted March 14, 2013 I'm going through a Rivera amp love phase! So I figured I'd dredge this thread back up. I've had a Fandango 55, 2x12, for the last three years and it was the best all 'rounder I've ever owned. My favourite EL34-based amp. But what I have always really wanted was a Venus 6. I came close with a Venus 3, but before I fully bonded with it I had to sell it. Sad. But I still had my Fandango! So just three weeks ago I was able to get a K-Tre (had to ship it across Canada!) since I was wanting to set up a pedal rig, and I'd heard it was very clean. I'd also heard it was high-gain, and they weren't kidding! Huge! As tight as you want or as bottomy as you can stand. Just amazing. I've only used it for soloing so far. The cleans were like if a Twin was powered by EL34's - huge, with massive headroom. I've read that the clean channel breaks up nicely, too, but I haven't had the opportunity to turn it up that loud! But for pedals it's just superb. I have an Effectrode Blackbird plugged in to the input, and they work brilliantly together - the Blackbird opens up the Tre's shimmer, and is killer for medium-gain tones. I swapped out the stock Swamp Thang for a Jensen Blackbird for a week, but the Swamp Thang is back in. It just works better in that amp. So imagine my surprise when I discover there's a Venus 6 for sale - here in Whitehorse, Yukon! So I contacted the seller, who turned out to very cool, and went over to try it out. This is the second amp I've ever actually tried before buying, the first was back in 1984. I've always had to buy through mail or over the Internet so trying was never an option (thank you, Harmony Central Reviews!) The Venus 6 just floored me with its clean tone! It reminded me of my Venus 3, but with more body and depth; it's like I could see/feel harmonics galore. The more I twiddled with it the better it got. The only comparable amp's tone, in my experience, is an old TopHat Ambassador 35, which also runs a quartet of 6V6's. Finally, after years, I no longer miss that amp. Mix in a Deluxe Reverb's propensity to respond to pick attack and there's the Venus 6. I've been playing this amp for a couple of days and haven't really left the clean channel other than to make sure the other channel works properly. Anyway, I sold the Fandano to get the Venus. I'm an amp tech so I opened up the chassis to take a look. Pristine. The most impressive aspect to me was that there is no sign of heat inside the chassis. Even with class A/B amps there's always some sign of heat (tube Amps get hot!) But with the filter caps mounted to an external heat sink there's no board or component sweating. The fellow I got the Venus from played this 3 nights a week for 5 years and it looks new. Now, the external heat sink is ridiculously over-sized. According to Paul Rivera Sr., the filter caps will put out 7 watts of heat each so at most you'll get 28 watts of heat, but the heat sink is rated at 250 watts, if used optimally, which to be honest wouldn't have worked in this design, but it still could have been a bit smaller. Sure looks cool, though, eh? So I traded some of the best "drive" tones I've ever had for the best "clean" tone I've ever had. I think it was a good trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wolfgang2 Posted June 17, 2013 Members Share Posted June 17, 2013 Hi everyone, I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stonedtone Posted June 19, 2013 Members Share Posted June 19, 2013 I've always loved my Chubster. I a/b'd it with my Dr Z Maz 18 and the Chuber just sounded better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DoNotRecessitate Posted April 25, 2014 Members Share Posted April 25, 2014 KR7 solved....... New on the site, just upgraded from an older KH2 to a KR7 off eBay. It showed up flawless with the acception of cheap pre and power tubes that were more than likely swapped in for the sale not the upgrade from the previous owner. Swapped power tubes with hot mullard el34s. FYI this amp needs hot tubes, when I swapped the valve arts out that it came with it With jj's rated 17/4.0 I couldn't get the bias high enough. The bias pot is definitely geared for big power high gain tubes. Most of the stock preamp tubes remained with the exception of a gt 12ax7-c in v-1. So my line up is now mullard 12ax7 lp in v-2 & v-5 tung sols in v-1,3,4. Amp still sounded almost choked off, lacked sustain and had bad feedback no matter the tweeking. Solution moved decimator out of tx loop....... Epic. Wondering if any fellow kr7 or ktre owner's have had the same issue. I talked with Paul Rivera Jr and they recommended the suppressor in the loop blend maxxed. I do not recommend the decimator in the loop IMHO...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members khfreak Posted December 17, 2014 Members Share Posted December 17, 2014 New member asking to come aboard. I just recently traded a mesa boogie road king for a kr100 and a los lobottom cab. I absolutely love the sound I'm getting, great clean's and awesome gain. Definitely the most killer sounding distortion from any amp head I've played. I'm hoping someone can help me with a problem, I'm using a boss gt-10 and I want to make it change channel's on the kr but I can't seem to figure it out. Could someone give me a step by step on how to do this or steer me in a direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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