Rivera Preamp scheme???

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sonofmickel
Posts: 162
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2008 4:56 pm

Rivera Preamp scheme???

Post by sonofmickel »

My eyes just bugged out from trying to read the Rivera schemes I found online. I used to have a Knucklehead and the cleans had something going on. I would like to know "why" it was a cool setup. It could get some chimey tones and then could be "gritted" up quite a bit. Lots of flava.

Not really interested in the gain channel, sort of meh...at least for me. I have heard some clips of the Rake that were more to my gain liking though.

Or maybe there is already a clean channel schematic that resembles the Rivera Quiana, Knucklehead etc...?
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jaysg
Posts: 1211
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2006 11:16 pm
Location: San Diego

Re: Rivera Preamp scheme???

Post by jaysg »

I sketched the preamp circuits out once, but they're in storage and I can't get at them. If you get the standard knucklehead schematic, print it 11" x 17", you can trace it using highlighters to mark where you've been. The thing is a mess and it's worse to read because he used the +/- 18Vdc heaters...all that daisy chaining.

Each section is relatively straight forward. I believe some of the secret lies in component selection. For example, if you have a mid-60's Fender amp, each tone knob really only has three functional position areas. Riveras have a useful sweep. 2 is different than 3, which is different than 4, and so on.

I believe the reason you can get convincing BF/SF Fender tones from EL-34 output tubes, lies in the subtleties of the output transformer design. He figured out some compromises so he could get a Marshall thump and grit from the other channel.
frankdrebin
Posts: 131
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 11:40 am

Re: Rivera Preamp scheme???

Post by frankdrebin »

sonofmickel wrote:My eyes just bugged out from trying to read the Rivera schemes I found online. I used to have a Knucklehead and the cleans had something going on. I would like to know "why" it was a cool setup. It could get some chimey tones and then could be "gritted" up quite a bit. Lots of flava.

Not really interested in the gain channel, sort of meh...at least for me. I have heard some clips of the Rake that were more to my gain liking though.

Or maybe there is already a clean channel schematic that resembles the Rivera Quiana, Knucklehead etc...?
this is a Rivera schematic for the R series,it has pretty much all of the classic features of the brand,then tweak to taste.
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