Anyone near Sweetwater: Fort Wayne, Indiana?

[Herbie]

People want to play guitars before buying them too. Problem is that one limits themselves to only guitars in their local environment.

I’m different. I don’t need to play something before it arrives. I’ll play it when it arrives. I’ve purchased over 100 archtop’s that way. And how is anyone playing anything available for sale on this forum unless they bring it in. Well, different strokes for different folks.

I agree. I know if an amp or a guitar is a keeper after playing it about 3-6 months in different situations, in home and on a gig and rehearsals. There is no store that can provide this kind of trial conditions! Unfortunately!

[Herbie]

Unfortunately I have not had a chance to try one.. they simply don't exist here.

But this is certainly closer to the tone I want on my L5 than I am getting on my Fender Twin and Fender Deluxe Reverb Hand Wired and my Princeton Reverb Hand Wired.
They all sound ok-ish with my Telecaster.. but with the L5 the sound is very scooped, too glassy and the beautiful mids and thick, dark woodiness is completely stripped away from this beautiful archtop on all 3 of the Fender amps.
Even my Roland JC-40 sounds better with the L5 than any of my Fender amps.

Cheaper and maybe even easier way to make those Your amps sound better, or more Rivera-like, might be to change the speakers.

In their web site Rivera tells that they use Celestion T75 speakers in their 1x12 versions. (Yngwie Malmsten uses them too!)

You can get one for about 100 GBPs from Britain.

https://www.rivera.com/product/combo...ingle-channel/

https://www.lean-business.co.uk/esho...ohm-p-207.html

[Maxxx]

I hear it on all three of those videos. For the sound I am looking for, that amp would be on its way back to Sweetwater within about 20 minutes. But the great thing about music is everybody hears things differently and is looking for different things, so the same amp and guitar might work wonderfully for you and terribly for me.

I'm a little puzzled, though; you already have classic jazz guitar amps that you're not happy with. Many, many jazz guitarist have gotten wonderful tones out of exactly those amps. I wonder if you would be able to address that with EQ. You may already know this and maybe have tried it without success. Fender blackface/silverface amps have scooped midrange and usually no mids control. "Flat" response on those amps isn't with the tone knobs at 5; flat requires putting the bass and treble controls both at 0 and then bumping the volume up to compensate. If there is a mid control, set that at 10. I usually find I like the bass up a little higher than 0 but the treble down to 0 or maybe 0.5.

And pardon me if you already know this, but I find rolling the volume down to 7-8 on most guitars knocks off a little bit of the hard-sounding high end frequencies and warm things up a bit. On all of my guitars, the tone control seems to have a "shoulder" at which point it goes quickly from warm to muffled with just a couple of degrees of rotation; I find I like the tone control just barely on the bright side of that point. My only guitar that differs from that pattern is my ES-175, which has a much wider range of tone knob settings that I like. I don't know if that's the taper of the tone pot or something about the tonal response of the guitar itself.

It's a bit ironic. Jazz guitarists tend to think they should use archtop guitars and that they should have a dark, warm, fat tone; this is exactly the tone that the archtop guitar is not designed for: it's designed to be bright and cutting to be heard through a big band. I actually find it easier to get the dark, warm, fat tone on a solidbody guitar. However, to me at least, there is an undeniable romance to the archtop guitar shape and all those complex, sinuous curves. A lot of the great jazz guitarists had or have a bright tone: Charlie Christian, Tal Farlow, Jimmy Raney, Barney Kessel, Johnny Smith, Peter Bernstein, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, Jonathan Kreisberg, etc.

Thanks for the comments, yeah I found the Princeton was really nice.. but I want a slightly broader and bigger sound that a 12 inch speaker or bigger might give.
The Deluxe reverb was so insanely mid-scooped, I just didn't like it at all. Even if I turned the treble and bass down to zero it still sounded hollow and somewhat anaemic. I played with the guitar volume and tone levels but I just could not warm it up.

The Fender Twin when I made my comment was actually brand new and only arrived that same day and to be honest I had not had time to play with it. But I'd already set my sights on the Rivera.

Who says you can only have one amp. ? I've met people on here that have more than 10.

However since that comment I've been playing with it and I'm getting some very nice sounds out of it indeed .
Contrary to everything I've read about the Fender Twin it is absolutely usable at bedroom volumes, I'm sitting in my living room right now playing it at volume three and it's just beautiful and not too loud at all with the arch top.
Regarding the weight everybody complains about, I'm pretty fit and work out regularly and I can lift this in with one hand and drag it from room to room and up and down the stairs without any issues.

Yes there are tons of famous jazz musicians using this amp but you know a lot of them have done extensive modifications and changes the sculpt the sounds they finally ended up with.
I know for a fact George Benson's Fender twins are all modified.. And Mike Sterns are as well because I met him in New York and had a chance to have a nice chat with him.
Very little if anything at all of what these big artists are using is 'off the shelf' despite what any marketing claims and even they themselves may say. Nobody wants to let out the secret recipes to their signature tones and why should they.
Even Mike Sterns 'off the shelf stock' Boss foot pedals are modified.

I kind of wanted an app that gave me beautiful and suitable tone straight out of the box rather than having to then change speakers, change valves, change caps and all that other good stuff people are doing to these amps to get them to where they want them.
The two 12" speakers give me that beautiful wide room filling sound and the tube reverb is just delicious.
The presence of the mid range control is fantastic and with the treble, middle, and bass control I can really tweak the sound to my heart's content on any guitar especially the archtop.
Who knows maybe I'll experiment with modding in the future but for now it's good as is.
So the Twin will be a definite keeper!

I agree that a lot of these jazz guitarists you listed using arch tops do have a bright element to their tone but there's also a thickness in the mid-range and weighty bottom end that I like and I'm seriously drawn to.
In fact I'm already getting it with the L5 on the Twin Reverb. But the beautiful thing is that upper brightness can be shaped and either sharpened or blunted to your personal preferences. With the other frequencies present it's actually very nice to have on top.

I called Rivera amps in California and had a nice long chat with 'Rich' who builds them.
We had a good long chat about the exact model and amp that I'm interested in discussed that 'bright/harshness' comment.

He said there a must have been something wrong with that person's amp because they are not harsh or overly bright at all.
I believe him and my ears have not lied to me yet.. Not sure what audio set up you are using to listen to the videos but on my system it sounds really quite lovely.
I'm using 2 x 150 watt professional studio monitors and 200 watt sub bass unit.

But we know we can't trust everything we hear on YouTube.
Take the Deluxe Reverb Hand Wired for example, all the comments even on this forum say it's an absolutely beautiful amp, and the YouTube videos I saw completely seduced me, but when I got that thing into my home it was pretty much an an instant dislike. That one's going back.
But as, you know, we all have different ears and perceive music and sound quite differently, so nothing ventured nothing gained. The only way to know if you like doughnuts is to get one and taste one.

Something that also really appeals to me about the Rivera are the options on the back panel the none of my fenders have. Headphone socket and the XLR out to go straight to my mixing desk or audio interface into Logic Pro X for silent recording is priceless.

[Maxxx]

I agree. I know if an amp or a guitar is a keeper after playing it about 3-6 months in different situations, in home and on a gig and rehearsals. There is no store that can provide this kind of trial conditions! Unfortunately!

That comment is so true, I'm sure the situation is better in the States but here in the UK practically all the big guitar shops and famous shops are all shutting down and being put out of business due to the online situation so there is no way you can go to try anything, especially a high end stuff.
You have absolutely no choice practically these days to the only way to hear or try something is to buy it because they all now provide a 30-day return option.

I must have purchased over 30 guitars from all different manufacturers this way and sent all 30 back before finally landing on a right Telecaster and a right archtop that I liked.
Exact same story with amplifiers.
I've been to practically every single guitar shop in the whole of London and couldn't find a single Fender Twin or a Princeton Reverb or a Deluxe reverb for that matter.
Had to buy them all to try them all.

[Mick-7]

I called Rivera amps in California and had a nice long chat with 'Rich' who builds them.

Did he answer your Rivera amp delivery to the UK question?

[Bluedawg]

I lived in Germany for a few years and was able to use my 110 V US amps by using a small transformer/converter.

Just make sure you get one that will handle the wattage and amp draw. That's the power drawn from your mains outlet, not the 25 watts that it delivers to the speaker.


Of course, best case would be to get one set up for UK voltage.


The Rivieras sound nice. They don't show any dealers on their website that I can find.


As for archtop tone, I find myself looking for the 60s jazz guitar tones along the lines of Wes. I have some sold bodies that do well with that, but Archtops do it best for me.

I don't really like the sound of a solid body with the tone controls turned down. With a good archtop I don't have to turn down the tone controls.

This amp is tempting for me, but I just picked up a Fender Tone Master Pro in the hopes that I can avoid buying more amps. LOL

Good Luck

[Jabberwocky]

Maxx, you could have Sweetwater ship it to one of these parcel forwarding services like Shipito | Shop In The US & Ship Anywhere | Free US Address . Note that you use these services at your own risk. Due diligence and all.

Peach Guitars in the UK is a Rivera stockist so I would look there first Edit: Sorry, I thought Peach was a Rivera stockist but it is not; I am quite sure Peach could take care of import for you. The trouble with a stepdown transformer is the line frequency mismatch: a 60Hz transformer overheats on a 50Hz line frequency. Oh well, you could always get one of these: 50 60 Hz Guide .

Tone-chasing does your head and wallet in. You could try playing jazz: just plug into whatever amp you find and just go.

[Maxxx]

Maxx, you could have Sweetwater ship it to one of these parcel forwarding services like Shipito | Shop In The US & Ship Anywhere | Free US Address . Note that you use these services at your own risk. Due diligence and all.

Peach Guitars in the UK is a Rivera stockist so I would look there first Edit: Sorry, I thought Peach was a Rivera stockist but it is not; I am quite sure Peach could take care of import for you. The trouble with a stepdown transformer is the line frequency mismatch: a 60Hz transformer overheats on a 50Hz line frequency. Oh well, you could always get one of these: 50 60 Hz Guide .

Tone-chasing does your head and wallet in. You could try playing jazz: just plug into whatever amp you find and just go.

'Tone chasing does your head in until you get there.'
I'm afraid I'm forced to be very particular about to sound.. I have extreme hyperacusis.. so I'm highly sensitive to overly bright, sharp, piercing or high frequency sounds which actually cause me physical pain.
But because I always buy brand new I have 30 days to send everything back so my tone chasing doesn't cost me anything. I can go through 50 amps and in the end I've still only paid for one. That last one I keep.
I have actually emailed Sweetwater at least five times, they're not bothered to respond to any emails.
We decided on the 25 watt model, 12 inch speaker, with UK 240 volt transformer built-in.
Meanwhile I found a way to get the amp all the way to me with zero shipping fees or that other stuff they try to slap on.

[Maxxx]

You are going about it the hard way. Look here first: https://www.glbsound.com/ . Then here: Home | Brunetti Tube Amplification .

GBL are another company I emailed a bunch of times and never got any response.Would not surprise me if they too, this one in Italy that doesn't want to ship to the UK anymore. A company doesn't respond to emails sent several times.. I'd hate to think what would happen after I purchased an amp from them.

But when I call Rivera they pick up the phone straight away and they they promised good support and any spares just in case I may need them.

[Jabberwocky]

Great that Rivera responded to you, Maxx. I emailed Rivera a few times with no reply. I am no good over the phone; perhaps I ought to try that. Sweetwater could not help with procuring a CE volrage and 50Hz mains frequency Rivera amp so I dropped the idea. So, you buy directly from Rivera and they ship to you in the UK the amp at no extra cost over the Minimum Advertised Price? You pay Rivera exactly the price as displayed by Sweetwater? If you do not like it can you return it to Rivera with no restocking fee? Do you pay return shipping? Can you reclaim UK VAT and import duty?

Keep us posted.

[Bluedawg]

Here's a short discussion on 50 Hz vs 60 Hz FWIW.

I never had any problems with my 60 Hz guitar or audio amps on Germany's 50 Hz systems with a transformer/converter. Probably because they were designed to handle 50 HZ power.

And as the guy says, if you design for 50 Hz you don't need to change your transformer for a 60 Hz system.

Some of this information will be on the back of the electrical equipment or in the manual.


I did manage to break a few 110 V items plugging them directly into German power. Many smaller items were auto switching between 110 and 220 and sometimes I would forget to check before I plugged in.

But the only 110 V 60 Hz thing that quit working on me after plugging into a transformer in Germany was a typewriter. It was the 90s so that wasn't as big of a lose as it would have been in the 80s or earlier. LOL

That said, it's best to get an amp that's set up for your local power without having to worry about converting voltages and Hz.

[Maxxx]

I understand but would you buy an expensive guitar or amp you cannot return? This is the problem the OP is likely to have if he does not order it directly from a dealer.

People get married and start families with complete strangers with far less assurances.

[Maxxx]

Great that Rivera responded to you, Maxx. I emailed Rivera a few times with no reply. I am no good over the phone; perhaps I ought to try that. Sweetwater could not help with procuring a CE volrage and 50Hz mains frequency Rivera amp so I dropped the idea. So, you buy directly from Rivera and they ship to you in the UK the amp at no extra cost over the Minimum Advertised Price? You pay Rivera exactly the price as displayed by Sweetwater? If you do not like it can you return it to Rivera with no restocking fee? Do you pay return shipping? Can you reclaim UK VAT and import duty?

Keep us posted.

Yes I think my emails went to a spam folder initially as well. They must get a lot of emails.
But then I called them and had a a very long and detailed dialogue. The guy I spoke to, Richard, was very
friendly and helpful and keen to discuss the fine differences between the 55 watt vs 25 watt, and the different speaker sizes and the advantages and disadvantages of each
to help me choose the right one.
Maybe giving them a call might be better?

I'm paying the listed price.. no shipping and no import duty.

[Maxxx]

You are going about it the hard way. Look here first: https://www.glbsound.com/ . Then here: Home | Brunetti Tube Amplification .

I did take a look at the GLB amps but apart from never getting any response from them as already mentioned I found their sound muddy,
muffled and nasally.

In fact they remind me of the DV Jazz 12 amp I also bought once and send back after 2 minutes. Also made in Italy. Boxy, small and nasally.. and somewhat flat and lifeless. Perhaps that's just the way Italian amp makers hear sound.

[dixiehwy25]

So far, I bought my three guitars on reputation, reviews, and spec.

15 years ago or so I bought my Aria FA 77 pretty much by reading the specs. There were a couple of reviews on it afterwards that were pretty positive but that was about it- in fact on that guitar they've only added a couple more items over that time. So it's kind of an Asian mystery guitar still.

A few months later I bought a Korean Aria FA 70 pretty much by reputation, although I did meet up with the guy and I tried it out a little at that point. What led me to it was just reading up what people had to say about it and there was a lot more on the FA 70 than there was on the FA 77.

A few weeks ago I bought the 2023 Epiphone Sheraton and the only thing I did remotely close to trying it out was going to the local GC and seeing how well one of their 335's would fit and feel. The Sheraton was at a GC in Round Rock. Texas so there was no way I could drive down there just to try it out, So I bought it at the local Lexington store and had them ship it to me. At least with GC you've got 45 days to take it back. I don't think this one will be going back...

Anyway, I'm just now getting back into playing and I'm not all that accomplished at this point- pretty rusty to be honest. I like them and I'm keeping them all. I have friends who are quite accomplished and they've played all these guitars and they're very impressed with them (I hope they're not humoring me?). I read up on these three guitars, and followed my hunch. Maybe I've been lucky?

As you may have seen from a post I did, I'm now looking into an old acoustic archtop. By reading, I'm going to old Epiphones- but this time I'm giving them a trial in person. This seems the best way to go with something vintage.

I still think it's okay to research, read specs, and go with a hunch. One thing I've learned about reviews with anything there is always an outlier who is manifestly unhappy with whatever the subject of the review is. I tune those out and observe the consensus.

In the end though with the stuff on here... it is ultimately and entirely subjective.

[Jabberwocky]

Yes....Snip......

I'm paying the listed price.. no shipping and no import duty.

That makes it a sweet deal, much better than buying it from Sweetwater and having it shipped over at extra cost to you.

[Maxxx]

That makes it a sweet deal, much better than buying it from Sweetwater and having it shipped over at extra cost to you.

There's so many ways to skin a cat if you have a good toolbox...