Care And Troubleshooting - Rivera KNUCKLE HEAD 2 Owner's Manual

POWER STANDBY
®
HANDCRAFTED BY
RIVERA RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT SYLMAR, CA USA
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)
common 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 sup-
posed 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 are glass tubes in there. They
cost money to replace (money that's better spent on strings, picks, etc., right?). Stash your other gear 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 dish-
washing detergent and water (lots of water!) to wipe off grime, dried Pepsi, and whatever else accumu-
lates 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.
PRESENCE FOCUS MASTER 2
PULL
NINJA
C & T
A R E R O U B L E S H O O T I N G
CLEAN/RHYTHM
BASS MIDDLE TREBLE GAIN 2 MASTER 1
PULL PULL PULL
NOTCH BRIGHT BOOST
LEAD/CRUNCH
TREBLE MIDDLE BASS GAIN 1
LOW
PULL PULL PULL PULL
SWEET SCOOP BOOST SELECT
GAIN
INPUTS
HIGH
GAIN