Rivera Knucklehead Tre Questions

[Mailman1971]

Nice!!

I had the KR7 amp in the past. That thing was a sledge hammer. Tone reminded me a lot of the VHT Ultra Lead.

 

[CEG85]

Awesome!
You really gonna enjoy that amp.

Here is a short little 30 second clip I made of the Knucklehead Tre reverb in action.
speakers are G12T-75's.
Not the greatest recording but gives you an idea how well these amps track.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5bp6m1tnb2x6u ... n.wav?dl=0

 

[ZEEGLER]

I've got a Knucklehead II which is apparently not much different to the Tre. I hear the Tre has a little more gain, a little more low end (which seems pointless to me because the KII has ludicrous low end), but also has many of the pull/boost/scoop functions eliminated.

Yes, the volume comes on strong, which is good because these amps don't sound great at low volumes anyway (mine reminds me of a kazoo). Once opened up however, they kick some serious ass. They are also built to withstand a nuclear war/zombie apocalypse, etc...

For power tubes I'm currently using Mullard EL34 RIs, and couldn't be happier with them.

 

[CEG85]

I've got a Knucklehead II which is apparently not much different to the Tre. I hear the Tre has a little more gain, a little more low end (which seems pointless to me because the KII has ludicrous low end), but also has many of the pull/boost/scoop functions eliminated.

Yes, the volume comes on strong, which is good because these amps don't sound great at low volumes anyway (mine reminds me of a kazoo). Once opened up however, they kick some serious ass. They are also built to withstand a nuclear war/zombie apocalypse, etc...

For power tubes I'm currently using Mullard EL34 RIs, and couldn't be happier with them.

The Tre is seriously overbuilt.
Its heavy as hell being the size that it is.
Also, noticed how huge the output and power transformers are when I received it.

 

[errrrrl]

Awesome!
You really gonna enjoy that amp.

Here is a short little 30 second clip I made of the Knucklehead Tre reverb in action.
speakers are G12T-75's.
Not the greatest recording but gives you an idea how well these amps track.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5bp6m1tnb2x6u ... n.wav?dl=0

I'm pretty damn happy with the Tre so far... its a great amp for me... I was messing around with tones this morning and was dialing in tones similar to Sepultura/Chaos AD and Slayer/South of Heaven... loving the gain. I'm debating on retubing it or not.. I have no idea how old or new the tubes are. Nice track & tones btw

 

[CEG85]

Awesome!
You really gonna enjoy that amp.

Here is a short little 30 second clip I made of the Knucklehead Tre reverb in action.
speakers are G12T-75's.
Not the greatest recording but gives you an idea how well these amps track.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5bp6m1tnb2x6u ... n.wav?dl=0

I'm pretty damn happy with the Tre so far... its a great amp for me... I was messing around with tones this morning and was dialing in tones similar to Sepultura/Chaos AD and Slayer/South of Heaven... loving the gain. I'm debating on retubing it or not.. I have no idea how old or new the tubes are. Nice track & tones btw

Thanks man!

Really glad your enjoying the knucklehead so far.
Rivera amps don't get much talk around here. Lol
Happy to see another tre owner onboard.

I've retubed it twice Just to see the difference in sound.
Out of the Riveras headquarters, the stock tubes were biased around 44ma which is pretty hot for me.
I've tried JJ EL34L which sound great but finally settled on Tung Sol EL34B, biased around 35ma.
The plate voltage was around 465 I believe.

You can always replace them if you feel like experimenting with different tubes..
If not, I'd leave it alone till its time to replace your stock ones.

 

[kylendm]

I have a few quads of EL34s I can try out in mine tomorrow. I'll also try and get some clips up with both my V30 cabs and my K100 cab. Sounds like the TRE is a pretty bright amp so it might actually sound pretty good with the K100s.
Nice clip btw.

 

[CEG85]

I have a few quads of EL34s I can try out in mine tomorrow. I'll also try and get some clips up with both my V30 cabs and my K100 cab. Sounds like the TRE is a pretty bright amp so it might actually sound pretty good with the K100s.
Nice clip btw.

Thanks!
Would love to hear what they sound like with the K100's.
I'm actually diggin this amp with the G12T-75's.

 

[ZEEGLER]

Awesome!
You really gonna enjoy that amp.

Here is a short little 30 second clip I made of the Knucklehead Tre reverb in action.
speakers are G12T-75's.
Not the greatest recording but gives you an idea how well these amps track.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5bp6m1tnb2x6u ... n.wav?dl=0

I'm pretty damn happy with the Tre so far... its a great amp for me... I was messing around with tones this morning and was dialing in tones similar to Sepultura/Chaos AD and Slayer/South of Heaven... loving the gain. I'm debating on retubing it or not.. I have no idea how old or new the tubes are. Nice track & tones btw

Thanks man!

Really glad your enjoying the knucklehead so far.
Rivera amps don't get much talk around here. Lol
Happy to see another tre owner onboard.

I've retubed it twice Just to see the difference in sound.
Out of the Riveras headquarters, the stock tubes were biased around 44ma which is pretty hot for me.
I've tried JJ EL34L which sound great but finally settled on Tung Sol EL34B, biased around 35ma.
The plate voltage was around 465 I believe.

You can always replace them if you feel like experimenting with different tubes..
If not, I'd leave it alone till its time to replace your stock ones.

I was enjoying mine for getting on 4-5 years before I decided to re-tube. I was getting some intermittent crackling sounds, so figured the JJ E34Ls that it had in it were on the way out. I was very happy with how it sounded with those tubes in it, so I was a little apprehensive to try something different, but I went with the Mullards because they sounded great in my Marshall. I decided to check the bias before swapping tubes, just to see where it was at. The damn thing was biased around 57ma!!! I'm surprised those tubes lasted as long as they did with it biased that hot. Then of course I'm worried that it's not going to sound as good with it biased to a reasonable level. Fortunately, with the new tubes biased around 35ma, the amp sounds pretty much identical. Go figure.

 

[ZEEGLER]

I have a few quads of EL34s I can try out in mine tomorrow. I'll also try and get some clips up with both my V30 cabs and my K100 cab. Sounds like the TRE is a pretty bright amp so it might actually sound pretty good with the K100s.
Nice clip btw.

Thanks!
Would love to hear what they sound like with the K100's.
I'm actually diggin this amp with the G12T-75's.

I run mine through a Peavey Butcher cab loaded with the G12K85s (same speaker as the K100). Sounds fantastic. The K85s have a nice tight bottom end which works well with the Rivera's huge bottom end. I tried the amp through my Marshall 1960 with the GT75s, and didn't like it as much.

 

[errrrrl]

So today I was messing with the clean channel and decided to see how well it took pedals (with bright & notch switch pulled)... hooked up my BE-OD and holy shit...2 hours later I was A/B'ing it vs channel 1 with gain cranked. I'm really like this amp... I'm getting a bit of crackling, I think I may have to contact Valve Queen soon.

 

[kylendm]

Just wanted to chime in. I finally got to play mine today. I can see why people are saying it is pretty loose and flubby but if you just throw a boost in the front it's god damn amazing. This amp sounds HUGE!

It's also insanely loud!! I don't remember if this has been posted but if you engage the effects loop in the back and you turn the send and return lower than 5 it acts as an attenuator which makes it the master much more usable. Really cool feature. I'll try and get some clips up in a bit. Gonna give the K100 cab a go and see what happens.

 

[CEG85]

Just wanted to chime in. I finally got to play mine today. I can see why people are saying it is pretty loose and flubby but if you just throw a boost in the front it's god damn amazing. This amp sounds HUGE!

It's also insanely loud!! I don't remember if this has been posted but if you engage the effects loop in the back and you turn the send and return lower than 5 it acts as an attenuator which makes it the master much more usable. Really cool feature. I'll try and get some clips up in a bit. Gonna give the K100 cab a go and see what happens.

I've noticed this as well with mine.
they can get flubby but a Maxon 808 or Tube screamer with the OD set to 0 and balance set at 11 o' clock makes it sound soo much tighter.
A BB preamp pedal would be even better IMO since you can boost the low end.
Really wanna try out the k100 speakers with the tre.

 

[errrrrl]

Just wanted to chime in. I finally got to play mine today. I can see why people are saying it is pretty loose and flubby but if you just throw a boost in the front it's god damn amazing. This amp sounds HUGE!

It's also insanely loud!! I don't remember if this has been posted but if you engage the effects loop in the back and you turn the send and return lower than 5 it acts as an attenuator which makes it the master much more usable. Really cool feature. I'll try and get some clips up in a bit. Gonna give the K100 cab a go and see what happens.

I've noticed this as well with mine.
they can get flubby but a Maxon 808 or Tube screamer with the OD set to 0 and balance set at 11 o' clock makes it sound soo much tighter.
A BB preamp pedal would be even better IMO since you can boost the low end.
Really wanna try out the k100 speakers with the tre.

Hmm... I may pick up a boost and experiment. I didn't feel the flubbyness so much jamming thru my cab but when I tried recording with a Suhr reactive load... I can hear it a bit more now so I was trying to compensate with a highpass filter turned up just a little. Also I noticed my guitar with BK' Warpig pickups seem to bring the flubbyness out more than say a stock gibson pickup. I wish I could take a week off just to test all this shit out lol.

Btw Kylendm what boost are you using?

 

[Loudness250]

Just wanted to chime in. I finally got to play mine today. I can see why people are saying it is pretty loose and flubby but if you just throw a boost in the front it's god damn amazing. This amp sounds HUGE!

It's also insanely loud!! I don't remember if this has been posted but if you engage the effects loop in the back and you turn the send and return lower than 5 it acts as an attenuator which makes it the master much more usable. Really cool feature. I'll try and get some clips up in a bit. Gonna give the K100 cab a go and see what happens.

I've noticed this as well with mine.
they can get flubby but a Maxon 808 or Tube screamer with the OD set to 0 and balance set at 11 o' clock makes it sound soo much tighter.
A BB preamp pedal would be even better IMO since you can boost the low end.
Really wanna try out the k100 speakers with the tre.

Hmm... I may pick up a boost and experiment. I didn't feel the flubbyness so much jamming thru my cab but when I tried recording with a Suhr reactive load... I can hear it a bit more now so I was trying to compensate with a highpass filter turned up just a little. Also I noticed my guitar with BK' Warpig pickups seem to bring the flubbyness out more than say a stock gibson pickup. I wish I could take a week off just to test all this shit out lol.

Btw Kylendm what boost are you using?

Maybe you could check the bias, it might be too hot and causing the flub as well as overworking the tubes? idk, maybe.

 

[CEG85]

Just wanted to chime in. I finally got to play mine today. I can see why people are saying it is pretty loose and flubby but if you just throw a boost in the front it's god damn amazing. This amp sounds HUGE!

It's also insanely loud!! I don't remember if this has been posted but if you engage the effects loop in the back and you turn the send and return lower than 5 it acts as an attenuator which makes it the master much more usable. Really cool feature. I'll try and get some clips up in a bit. Gonna give the K100 cab a go and see what happens.

I've noticed this as well with mine.
they can get flubby but a Maxon 808 or Tube screamer with the OD set to 0 and balance set at 11 o' clock makes it sound soo much tighter.
A BB preamp pedal would be even better IMO since you can boost the low end.
Really wanna try out the k100 speakers with the tre.

Hmm... I may pick up a boost and experiment. I didn't feel the flubbyness so much jamming thru my cab but when I tried recording with a Suhr reactive load... I can hear it a bit more now so I was trying to compensate with a highpass filter turned up just a little. Also I noticed my guitar with BK' Warpig pickups seem to bring the flubbyness out more than say a stock gibson pickup. I wish I could take a week off just to test all this shit out lol.

Btw Kylendm what boost are you using?

It happens when I play with the EQ alot, I could dial in a tight sound but its tighter with the boost.

These are my current settings for the lead channel (Ch 1).

Treble 7.5
Mids 6
Bass varies if I need to compensate for the low end loose with the Maxon OD.
Without the OD I have it set at 3 or 4
With the OD I have it set anywhere between 5 and 8

Presence is at 5
Foundation at 2
Master volume between 2.5 and 4 depending on how much mids I'm cutting or boosting.
The tre really shines past 4 imo.

Most high gain amps ive played require a slight boost of some kind just to tighten everything up.

 

[kylendm]

I'm using a custom od pedal. It mimics the Misha overdrive with the tightness knob and all that. It can make the amp super tight and grindy or just tighten the bottom end up a tad.
I ended up being pretty busy last night but I'll try and do clips again today.

 

[kylendm]

Here's a quick clip of the Tre in a mix. Finally got a chance to sit down with it.
https://soundcloud.com/kylendm/rivera-knucklehead-tre

Ibanez RGD2127 (Seymour Duncan Distortion in the bridge) -> OD -> ISP Decimator -> Rivera KTRE -> Mesa Traditional 4x12 -> SM57

Here's my settings too:

• Presence - 7.5
• Foundation - 2
• Master - 4.5
• Treble - 7
• Middle - 4.5
• Bass - 4
• Gain - 5
• Boost not engaged.

Just in case that sounded a little thin I turned the Foundation to 6 and bass to 6 on the amp and turned down the "tightness" knob on my pedal to let it breath a little. Here's that clip. They sound pretty similar.
https://soundcloud.com/kylendm/rivera-k ... re-thicker

Now I'm gonna have a go with those K85s finally.

 

[kylendm]

Here's the clip with the K85s. I think I actually prefer it to the V30s! It's a very thick sounding speaker and much more neutral than the V30.
https://soundcloud.com/kylendm/rivera-k ... stion-k85s
Here's the settings for this one

• Presence - 8
• Foundation - 2
• Master - 4.5
• Treble - 7.5
• Middle - 4
• Bass - 4
• Gain - 5
• Boost not engaged.

 

[errrrrl]

Just wanted to chime in. I finally got to play mine today. I can see why people are saying it is pretty loose and flubby but if you just throw a boost in the front it's god damn amazing. This amp sounds HUGE!

It's also insanely loud!! I don't remember if this has been posted but if you engage the effects loop in the back and you turn the send and return lower than 5 it acts as an attenuator which makes it the master much more usable. Really cool feature. I'll try and get some clips up in a bit. Gonna give the K100 cab a go and see what happens.

I've noticed this as well with mine.
they can get flubby but a Maxon 808 or Tube screamer with the OD set to 0 and balance set at 11 o' clock makes it sound soo much tighter.
A BB preamp pedal would be even better IMO since you can boost the low end.
Really wanna try out the k100 speakers with the tre.

Hmm... I may pick up a boost and experiment. I didn't feel the flubbyness so much jamming thru my cab but when I tried recording with a Suhr reactive load... I can hear it a bit more now so I was trying to compensate with a highpass filter turned up just a little. Also I noticed my guitar with BK' Warpig pickups seem to bring the flubbyness out more than say a stock gibson pickup. I wish I could take a week off just to test all this shit out lol.

Btw Kylendm what boost are you using?

It happens when I play with the EQ alot, I could dial in a tight sound but its tighter with the boost.

These are my current settings for the lead channel (Ch 1).

Treble 7.5
Mids 6
Bass varies if I need to compensate for the low end loose with the Maxon OD.
Without the OD I have it set at 3 or 4
With the OD I have it set anywhere between 5 and 8

Presence is at 5
Foundation at 2
Master volume between 2.5 and 4 depending on how much mids I'm cutting or boosting.
The tre really shines past 4 imo.

Most high gain amps ive played require a slight boost of some kind just to tighten everything up.

So I got a chance to try your settings this morning before I had to go to work and made a quick direct recording with my suhr reactive load... I still need time to test different IR's still. I was lucky to get time for a quick recording with the wife and kids home today

Here is my test https://soundcloud.com/faka-894685110/r ... d-tre-test

Kylendm I'll give your settings a shot soon too, nice recording btw.