2000 Rivera Bonehead

Overview

This unique amp was originally designed as a Steve Lukather signature model, and he used them in his live rig in the late 90s. Apparently only around 200 were made, and they didn’t sell very well in stores, starting in 1997 and running for about 3 years.

At the time, the 3 channel Rivera Knucklehead Reverb models did not exist yet - the most comparable amp is the original standard Knucklehead K55 or K100 models, which were 2 channel amps made starting in 1994. The two channel Knucklehead amps had a very polished clean channel, and a crunchy overdrive channel which sounds like a slightly revoiced Marshall JCM800 type amp, with a hair more gain. That’s where this amp starts off, bringing a clean channel as well as two nearly identical overdrive channels, each with their own set of EQ controls which differentiates it from later 3-channel Rivera KR style amps which share EQ across both drive channels.

Starting with the clean channel, you have a very dark voiced smooth clean, capable of getting some nice grit with the preamp volume turned up. For most players, I would consider using the pull functions on the EQ as basically required - I find it a little too dark otherwise to cut through a mix, and it lacks the refined “pop” of a good jazz tone to me. However, pulling the bright, notch, or contour switches and in different combinations yields a huge variety of tones, really waking this channel up. I find myself using the bright switch on the vast majority of the time.

Both overdrive channels are either identical, or very very close to the same. The amount of gain on tap on both channels is similar, and so is the voicing at the same EQ setting - this is probably intentional. You can set either channel to different amounts of gain or EQ, and combined with the footswitchable gain boost, it gives a lot of options. Both of these channels are extremely dark as well - darker than the standard Knucklehead and way darker than other, newer Knucklehead series amps like the KR7 or K-Tre. Since we don’t have the pull bright siwtches on these amps, I find I have to run the treble very high - 8 or sometimes higher - to get a nice crunchy rhythm tone, and even then the low end is a little flubby at times - this is certainly not an amp designed for chugging heavy metal riffs, but that’s no surprise considering who the amp was designed for. It’s more of a vintage Marshall with the bright cap clipped kind of tone, but with a lot of gain on tap - very unique.

In terms of other features, it has an FX loop which can also be used as an overall master volume (“loop blend”) on the rear panel, various switching options for the power amp (vintage/modern and high/low modes), and the ability to use the “Los Lobottom” cabs, which is essentially a 4x12 sized cabinet but with 2x 12” speakers and 1 huge, powered subwoofer. Alternatively, a separate Lobottom cab which contains only the subwoofer component can be used. Both cab types contain a 12” JBL with its own 300w SS power amp. I’ve never seen this done before by any other amp maker, and even the modern KR and KR7 amps can use this output, although it is now called either “Sub Level” or “Sub Out.” I don’t own one of these cabs, but I’m not sure how useful this really is, or how you would record this to use on a song - I worry it might step on the bass player’s frequencies a bit too much, but it probably sounds killer in a one-guitar situation or a band without a bass, like CKY. If it were footswitchable, maybe it could be a cool way to add a crazy thickness to a guitar solo or lead part as well - cool idea either way.

It’s cool to see this amp which is kind of a strange in-between of the original Knucklehead and later Knucklehead Reverb designs. It shares some of the same ideas from both but with its own voicing, and if there really are only around 200 of them, I’m glad to have the chance to hear it in person.