C
A R E
& T
R O U B L E S H O O T I N G
Chances are, you bought your RIVERA amp to make your guitar sound great, not to improve your skills with
electronics. What we’re saying is, “If something ever goes wrong with your amp, don’t try to fix it yourself.”
There are some potentially lethal high voltages inside the amp, plus if you do something that causes even
more damage than when you started out, the person who does the real repair will probably tell you, “Hey, I
know what’s wrong. Somebody’s been monkeying around in here.” And, of course, your warranty will be void.
There are some things you can do to keep your amp running and to determine (and hopefully remedy) com-
mon difficulties.
Keep the amp out of the elements.
A lot of this is common sense. Don’t use your amp in a sauna
or in the bathtub. Don’t leave it out in the rain or in a damp basement. If you take it to a gig or to practice
and it’s cold out, give it 15 minutes or a half-hour to stand in the room where you’ll be playing. That way, it
can get acclimated and sound its best when you’re ready to play.
Be nice to it.
The jury is still out on whether talking to plants makes them happy, or whether Elvis lives
on the moon, but the verdict on pampering amps is well-known. Don’t drop, knock over, kick, or otherwise
mistreat your amp. If you don’t have a flight case for travel, use the box it came in, or wrap it in something
thick, soft, and protective. RIVERA amps are built to take a lot, but why push it? If you treat your amp well,
it will treat you (and your guitar’s tone) well.
Check for loose tubes.
Here’s as close as you should get to being inside your amp. With the amp
unplugged and cooled off, examine the tubes to make sure they’re in tight and straight. Note: Unlike light
bulbs, tubes push straight into their sockets. Never try to twist them! Also note that some of the tubes are
inside of metal sleeves. These are easy to remove for checking the tubes. Grasp the sleeve with your fingers
and depress it (it’s spring-loaded) and turn to the left (counterclockwise). Now pull it off; this may require a
little wiggling action. Remember to put the sleeve back on after you check the tube.
Make sure the power cord is tightly plugged in.
This is critical at both ends of the cord. And
don’t use one of those 3-pin-to-2-pin adapters unless you connect the ground lug to the outlet. Leaving the ground
disconnected isn’t just cheating—it’s dangerous to unground any electrical device that’s supposed to be grounded.
Let it idle before you play.
If you have a few minutes to spare before you play, turn the amp on and
set it to standby so that all the parts can get warmed up and stable. Once the amp’s nice and warm (5 or 10
minutes), flip the Standby switch and get busy on your guitar.
Don’t use the back of the cabinet as a storage locker.
Remember, there’s a speaker and glass
tubes in there. Both cost money to replace (money that’s better spent on strings, picks, etc., right?). Stash your
footswitch and any other heavy and/or hard-edged stuff in a bag or a case for travel.
Clean your amp once in a while.
You can use a damp cloth or one dipped in a weak solution of
dishwashing detergent and water (lots of water!) to wipe off grime, dried Pepsi, and whatever else accumulates
on the vinyl covering. Make sure the amp is unplugged first. Everything else can be vacuumed, as long as
you’re gentle and use a soft-bristled brush attachment on the vacuum hose.
Channel 2
Channel 1
Hundred
Duo Twelve
PULL
SELECT
PULL
BOOST
STANDBY
POWER
LOW
GAIN
HIGH
GAIN
VOLUME
BASS
MIDDLE
TREBLE
MASTER
VOLUME
TREBLE
MIDDLE
BASS
MASTER
REVERB
PRESENCE
HANDCRAFTED BY RIVERA RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
SUN VALLEY, CA USA
INPUTS
PULL
BRIGHT
PULL
NOTCH
PULL
NINJA
10
9
8
76
5
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2 1
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