New Rivera K-Tre Day, FINALLY!

[ZEEGLER]

I've had my Knucklehead II for 11 years now (seems like I've had it forever though), and I always wanted to have a matching 4X12 cab, but rarely ever see them up for sale around here and when they do pop up, they're expensive. I've also wanted to find a K-Tre for a decent price too, but they're even harder to find and never for a good price. However, finally today everything lined up for me. I just sold a couple of things so I've got cash, and what pops up on Marketplace? A K-Tre 120 and matching 4X12 for a stupid cheap price, and supposedly in mint condition. MINE!!!

I have to do a five hour round trip to go get it, but I'm very stoked about finally getting one. The nice thing is, if I decide I don't like the amp, I can sell it for what I paid for the amp and the cab quite easily so it's basically a free cab.

I know, no one talks about Rivera's anymore. I doubt anyone on here still even owns one? If anyone does, Is like to hear your thoughts on the Tre.

EDIT: I got back home with this a couple hours ago. It's in great condition but definitely not what I would call mint. It was actually more dirty than anything. No scuffs in the tolex or tears in the cloth.

 

[Kagami]

Congrats on the new rig, I had a KR7 but it got stolen :/ I was curious about the Ktre but don't really see them up for sale much and I don't really play too loudly which the Riveras seem to love.

 

[BeZo]

I had an original Knucklehead and loved it. I kept the K-Cab. Those are good cabs. I always wanted the K-Tre, but I don't think I can get it to work with my rig. Great setup though.

 

[DanTravis62]

dude killer! I think the K-tre's are really underrated. Honestly all riveras are.

 

[ZEEGLER]

Congrats on the new rig, I had a KR7 but it got stolen :/ I was curious about the Ktre but don't really see them up for sale much and I don't really play too loudly which the Riveras seem to love.

The effects loop works great as on-board attenuation with both send and return level controls. Very useful for playing at lower volumes.

I think you'd find the KII and K-Tre to have a ton more bottom end than the KR7, assuming the KR7 is more like the KR100 (which it's based on). I had the KR55, and while still a great sounding, versatile amp, had significantly less low end than my KII. But honestly, the low end on these things is absurd.

 

[fek]

Nice score! I love Rivera's. Gigged R30's, M55's, and a Knucklehead back in the day. Best clean channels I have ever heard and super versatile. Now that I have a Powerstation, I would love to have one again. They want volume to deliver.

 

[RaceU4her]

nice dude, ive wanted a M100 forever but just never came across one. never understood why Riveras arent talked about more with band as big as Tool and Slipknot using them

 

[Findthetone1]

Congrats on the score. My advice is to grab some ear plugs somewhere along the trip to pick it up cause the fucker is looouuuudddd!

 

[Glencore]

I've had a K-Tre Reverb 120 w/ EL34s (I run it through a Rivera 412 straight) for about a decade or so and a lot of amps have come and gone in that time, not that one. I agree with the usefulness of the effects loop as attenuation, pretty handy for bedroom use. It's got a ton of gain with a lot of bottom end. Maybe a little too much bottom end for some but nothing a boost won't tighten up. The clean channel gets slept on a lot as I believe it is excellent.
Good get man, you can cover a lot of ground with this amp!

 

[Rayneman]

I had a Tre for good period of time. It was an absolute monster. It has SO much gain and then they have a gain boost...I always thought that was hilarious. I would strongly recommend some type of device in the loop, I think at the time I used a TC Electronics G Major, that allows you to control level, as the volume (at least for me) seemed to go from off to deafening with only the slightest adjustment.

Riveras are cool but a little odd. I did have a K7 for awhile, another monster amp. I can't recall much about it other than I had difficulty where I had one channel sounding great, the other did not, and vice versa.

 

[Trevor]

I picked up a K-Tre when they were released, it’s long gone now, I remember the drive tones being very buzz saw like until you got the master up and the clean tones were incredible. Some of the best I’ve ever heard on a channel switcher. The loop also acted like a built-in attenuator, super cool amp for sure.

 

[Music&Chaos]

I have a 25W Rivera Clubster Royale Recording Top. I primarily pair it with a Panama 2x12 cab that is loaded with Avatar AV75s after trying out quite a few different pairings. I run RCA 12AX7 long black plate tubes in the preamp along with RCA smoked 6v6s in the output section. This thing sounds MASSIVE. I have no idea how it sounds this huge at 25W - it quite literally shakes glass at not even half volume. Absolutely smokes my 40w amps in volume somehow (Must be the clean headroom, even with the blackplates). The NOS tubes definitely help with that but.... 100w of Rivera is going to be huge.

I hope you have a decent set of earplugs! I know my Rivera knobs are very dynamic - small tweaks can make perceptible changes.

My amp seems to love swapping in various tubes, and shift the overall feel/EQ of the amp is ways more vast than expected. If it comes stocked with JJs, swap em out, I much preferred other tubes over them in there, even modern production, don't need to be NOS. I had an old set of Shaguang lying around that actually sounded pretty decent, couldn't touch the RCAs Blackplates though for what I am seeking.

Be sure to give us a report after you get time to really put it through its paces.

 

[teestone]

dude killer! I think the K-tre's are really underrated. Honestly all riveras are.

Underrated amps for sure.

I’m the proud owner of a S-120 combo and TBR-1SL rack mount head.

Always wanted to try a KTre or K7.

 

[PhilC]

Congrats. Totally underrated amps. I have an S120 head and it’s great both clean and dirty.

 

[ZEEGLER]

Got it home, wiped off the dirt, and here she is.

I plugged it in and gave it a quick test drive to make sure there's no issues. First impressions, sounds very similar to the KII. Very clearly an evolution of the same amp. It's actually a simplified, stripped down version of the KII. There is no Ninja boost on the clean channel, and no master volume. In fact it's more of a true clean channel whereas the clean channel on the KII is more of a clean/crunch channel. Other than that, the clean channel has the same bright and mid notch functions. The gain channel doesn't have the bass boost, which is just fine because to be honest, it's pretty much useless. It's also missing the mid scoop function on the middle knob and the sweet function on the treble. That's a shame because they are both extremely useful. The KII has Presence and Focus controls whereas the Tre has Presence and Foundation. I'm not sure what the difference is between the Focus and Foundation controls. I'll have to spend some time with it.

So it sounds very similar to the KII, with more gain available, and perhaps a bit thicker in the low mids. It's a very thick sounding amp overall. Kyle Bull said he thought the K-Tre had the most low end of any amp he's played. That's because he hasn't played a KII. The KII definitely has more low end. The Tre does have two features that the KII doesn't. The effects loop is footswitchable, and there is a switch on the back to assign the loop to either or both channels. Definitely a useful feature.

Tomorrow I'll give it a good workout and compare the Rivera 4X12 with the Mesa OS.

Pretty damn pleased with it so far!

 

[ZEEGLER]

I rearranged the pile a little.

The rigs on each side both have a dedicated pedal board. The one on the shelf is for the Tre/Uber, and the one on the floor is for the KII/Roadster. With my Delisle ABY box, I can switch between each side or run them both in stereo.

I sold two amps this weekend. My Peavey Ultra Plus is gone, as is my Rhino Beast. I'm also going to be selling my Butcher 4X12, and the Bugera.

 

[Music&Chaos]

I rearranged the pile a little.

View attachment 433769

The rigs on each side both have a dedicated pedal board. The one on the shelf is for the Tre/Uber, and the one on the floor is for the KII/Roadster. With my Delisle ABY box, I can switch between each side or run them both in stereo.

I sold two amps this weekend. My Peavey Ultra Plus is gone, as is my Rhino Beast. I'm also going to be selling my Butcher 4X12, and the Bugera.

Sweet pic!

Riveras love RCA long blackplate 12AX7s - swap one in various positions and see how it goes.

Even just one in the PI on my Rivera makes it super thumpy.

 

[NorCal_Val]

I own two Rivera M100s.
They are fantastic amps!

 

[harddriver]

I had an M100 and a K-Tre, very cool amps! Congrats!

 

[ZEEGLER]

Sweet pic!

Riveras love RCA long blackplate 12AX7s - swap one in various positions and see how it goes.

Even just one in the PI on my Rivera makes it super thumpy.

I can't remember what pre-amp tubes I'm running in the KII. I tried a bunch of different stuff in there years ago and just left it alone when I thought it sounded best. I'll have to keep an eye out for some of those. I haven't even looked at whatever tubes are in the Tre yet. It already sounds damn good.