Boogie for Rivera?

[gwarner]

Hey guys, dont post here much but I got a quick question. I have a Mesa Mark III, and I have the opportunity to trade it for a Rivera R100 2x12 plus 200.

I love the boogie, but lately (like in the past year) I have been playing my egnater seminar head almost exclusively. Plus, I will be moving into an appartment at the end of the summer, so I would love to have a combo.

I know they are both 100 watts, but I figure any tube amp will be too loud to turn up, so I would just basically go for this because of the fact I wont need a cab. Im not too worried about weight, because Im not planning on gigging, so It will just be sitting in one spot.

Any opinions on this trade, what riveras sound like, whether I should do it or not would be much appreciated. Thanks again!

 

[gixxerrock]

I love Rivera and would take it over a Boogie in a heartbeat, but that is my personal preference only. Make sure you try it first, some are not a fan of the Rivera overdrive sound.

 

[Eric Dahlberg]

The Mark III is a classic by this point so I'm surprised you're not getting more than $200 extra out of the deal. That said, the Rivera is closer to the sound of the Egnater so you'll probably be happy with it.

 

[anoobis]

Riveras are nice amps but they're not great. Boogies are great amps. I don't really like the distortion of Rivera amps and the cleans are bland in my opinion.

Keep the Boogie dude.

Most overrated amp ever made- Mark series. It's hardly great in many peoples opinion. You could not give me a mark III. I would not take it.

 

[ultra]

Got shot of my Boogie Mklll and got myself a Rivera.

I never regretted it for a moment

 

[devilrob1979]

Most overrated amp ever made- Mark series. It's hardly great in many peoples opinion. You could not give me a mark III. I would not take it.

In the immortal words of the dude, "That's just like, your opinion man."

 

[dunara]

Ditched an original Mk1 Boogie for a Rivera R55 about 10 years ago. Never regretted it for one moment. Do it and spend the 200 on a flightcase. Sheesh - you should be giving the guy 200, What a deal!

 

[eyeball987]

I have owned 3 Rivera amps and have never heard a better, more versatile clean channel on any other amp. Pretty much any clean that you would want is there. I always had a love/hate relationship with the gain channel though. You can get what you want but it takes a good bit of tweaking to find it.

I have played but not owned a Mark III so my opinion is biased but I would take the Rivera in a second. The R100 is loud as all hell though, not that the Mark III isn't, so keep that in mind being an apartment rocker.

 

[fusionbear]

I'm of the opposite opinion. Keep the MKIII. I kept my MKIII. I have never been able to bond with any of the Rivera's

 

[wilerty]

I sold my Lonestar Classic head and 2X12 cabinet for a Clubster 25 Doce. I had them sitting next to each other in my basement for about two months. At low volume, the small Riveras are very nice. Just pick the Clubster, Chubster, etc with the tubes you like. Any of them will sound better than the R100 turned way down.

High powered amps have their place, but apartments aren't it.

 

[tweedcab]

Having owned both at the same time I can say that they really are different amps and only you can decide which is better for you at this time. I'm not completely sure I interpreted the transaction correctly. I think it should be the Boogie for the R100 + $200 making the Boogie valued at more than the R100. That sounds right. If you are giving up $200 + the Boogie then I would reconsider as R100's can be had easily in the $650-900 range. Anyway, the cleans on the Rivera are very chimey if you want and have nice bloom. I don't know why people pick on the Rivera cleans as they are very musical and NOT sterile. The Ch. 1 is not exactly Marshall like many claim. It has a little bit of top end buzz that is characteristic of Rivera and while it is nice, it is not as harmonically rich as a Marshall. I used to play my Ch. 1 with the boost engaged at all times. It had more depth that way. The one thing about the Boogie is that you give up that signature sound and you WON'T get it with the Rivera. I like the Boogie lead so again you need to play them both and bite the bullet on a decision. Sorry if I was little help. YMMV

 

[gwarner]

I sold my Lonestar Classic head and 2X12 cabinet for a Clubster 25 Doce. I had them sitting next to each other in my basement for about two months. At low volume, the small Riveras are very nice. Just pick the Clubster, Chubster, etc with the tubes you like. Any of them will sound better than the R100 turned way down.

High powered amps have their place, but apartments aren't it.

Yeah, I know they are both loud, its just convenient for me to pick this up as I will get 200 dollars out of it, and a combo that I have been looking for.

Listening to clips of riveras, I seem to really dig them as I like the hot rod marshall sound, and cleans Im not extremely worried about as Ive basically just been using the eggy with the volume on my guitar turned down.

 

[gwarner]

anyone else?

 

[pavlov]

Most overrated amp ever made- Mark series. It's hardly great in many peoples opinion. You could not give me a mark III. I would not take it.

You can find ANY amp and find many people who have negative opinions on it. Me, I'd take a loaded IIC+ over any Dumble any day of the week.

 

[Bruce]

I have owned many of both and come to the conclusion that they are totally different in sound and feel and are both great and versatile amps. The Rivera is like getting a Fender and a Marshall in one amp and a Boogie is…well a Boogie. Unless you are gigging with a really loud band or you need an extreme amount of headroom an R-100 is way overkill. Plus it weighs a ton. Heavier than a Fender Twin Reverb. About the only thing that Boogie and Rivera have in common is that they'll both give you a hernia.

 

[Gasp100]

I haven't owned and played the same exact models but Rivera and Boogie are different animals. The Rivera Fandango I had was great with really full and lush cleans. Close to fender-like, but something all it's own. Very punchy, very cool. No matter what I tried I could not jive with the channel 1 gain/overdrive. I hated it -- it had a very buzzy top end as one person mentioned, more like a champ with a ripped speaker about to explode than a Marshall imho. And a champ about to explode is not always a bad sound, but I just didn't dig it. Many people play that side with the boost engaged, but then you're dealing with volume compatibility, extraneous background noise, etc...
The Boogie lead sounds are great and totally unique to Boogie. Not sure how the cleans are on the Mark III.
Personally, I wouldn't do the deal. If I wanted to change and scale back that bad I would sell the Boogie rig outright and try something new, maybe even a smaller Rivera like their Venus series or something.

 

[Eric Dahlberg]

No matter what I tried I could not jive with the channel 1 gain/overdrive. I hated it -- it had a very buzzy top end as one person mentioned, more like a champ with a ripped speaker about to explode than a Marshall imho. And a champ about to explode is not always a bad sound, but I just didn't dig it. Many people play that side with the boost engaged, but then you're dealing with volume compatibility, extraneous background noise, etc...

My Fandango is modded with separate level controls for the boosts, allowing me to have the sound of the boosts without any of the issues you're referring to. Guess what, even with that mod, Ch.1 is still buzzy and harsh.

That said, Rivera's sound more similar to Egnater's than Boogie's do, so the OP should probably do the trade since he loves his Egnater.

 

[Eric Dahlberg]

I really like my Rivera Fandangos Channel 1...but, it's essential you use humbuckers.

Right, I always used my Melancon with it, which does have a bridge humbucker but is not nearly as thick or smooth sounding as a Les Paul. I'll try your effects loop trick with a Les Paul.

Here's a Quiana, is this not gorgeous guitar tone...recorded with a webcam mic?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFRlsoSBtYI

TBH, those tones are pretty harsh to me, though that could just be the webcam mic combined with my laptop speakers.

 

[Rumblefish]

I'll give you my opinion,but it will cost you.

 

[cottoneyedjoe]

I used a Rivera amp on every gig from 93-05. Great sounds. Got a Boogie. Okay sounds.

Went back to the Rivera. You can get sooo many tones from an M60 or M100. That thing has more pull knobs than the space shuttle. I was even pleased with the R series as well.

My Boogie sounds good, but it is just fussy... It is the only amp I have ever had that blows tubes or fuses. They are no where near as rugged as the M or R series amps. And you can get just about any distortion tone or clean tone you want. You just have to know how to work it.

There is a learning curve on Riveras very much like Boogies.