52 Amplifier Heads, week 51—Rivera Pubster 25

This week’s amplifier head is a beauty. It’s 25 watts (so not the smallest amplifier I’ve looked at) and it is apparently perfect for practice, recording and gigging. This could be the right size (physically and volume related) and the right budget (coming in around $1000 USD). Maybe my first all tube amplifier head could be the only one I need! With the Rivera Pubster 25 it seems like a possibility.

Good thing my wife never reads this blog. Who’d seriously suggest stopping any kind of gear acquisition no matter how many pieces of gear you already had?! Not I.

Before I get too far into my article this wekk, I’ll start with a video Sweetwater produced featuring the Rivera Pubster 25. The video is part of the Sweetwater Minute series and strangely goes for 9 minutes. It must be 9x the normal level of awesome the series is used to.

Personally I love the different gain tones you can get through this amplifier head. Even without the engaged Gain the amp sounds beefy. Beefy is something I like because it reminds me that I’m not a vegetarian. So, what technically makes this single channel amplifier head sound as meaty as it does (meaty is also a great descriptor)? Only a list can inform you.

  • 25 watts
  • 2 x 6V6 power tubes
  • 2 x 12AX7 preamp tubes
  • Bass, Middle and Treble controls
  • Boost control
  • Master volume
  • Boost master
  • 3 spring Reverb pan (foot switchable)
  • Presence control
  • Effect loop
  • Line output

Huge list! This seems to be a huge amplifier. Not physically of course because I’m intentionally looking at what many folks call the lunchbox amplifier. Seems like a good label for a meaty and/or beefy amplifier right? Although it doesn’t look like a lunchbox. It almost looks like a small combo amp with it’s cloth front panels. Cool looking. But I wonder how many people are going to mic up the head.

In my honest opinion, there’s not a lot more to say about this amplifier. The quality of the apparent build and the tone you can hear in the promotional video says it all. so I’ll say just one more thing. #want

Disclaimer: I’ve not played through this head. I have not experienced the sound or tone of this head other than through video. That doesn’t matter. It looks awesome, it’s obviously played by winners and I want one.

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