The Most Famous Amp You've Never Heard Of

Paul Rivera is undoubtedly one of the most influential amp builders of all time and one of the Godfathers of the boutique amplifier category in the music industry. Paul’s modifications to Fender amps in the 1970’s and 1980’s became the standards by which many big-name brands were influenced by and borrowed from. Namely, tube buffered effects loops, push/pull pots for bright, bass boost/cut, mid-range voicings, and channel switching in small/compact amplifiers. Paul’s amps are some of the most recorded amps ever made, and defined nearly two decades of Pop and Rock music from the 1970’s through the 80’s and into the 1990’s. These amps were “go-to’s” for session legends like Paul Jackson Jr., Steve Lukather, Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, Jay Graydon, Dean Parks, and Tommy Tedesco - who collectively made up an overwhelming majority of recorded guitar found on television shows, jingles, and hit records from the 1970’s through the 1990’s. Whether you know it or not, you’ve heard countless songs with a Paul Rivera modded Fender amplifier whether it’s a Toto classic like “Hold the Line,” or a Michael Jackson hit like “Beat It” or “PYT”. Needless to say, these are some of the best sounding and most versatile amplifiers that many guitarists have heard, but never heard of. The pedigree of players and recordings that used Rivera amps is unmatched. Luckily, Rivera has released a replica of their most popular modifications done to classic Fender-style amplifiers in their new Stage IV model. Stage IV is the culmination of all of Paul’s most popular mods integrated into one amp, giving you all the options for channel switching, buffered effects loops, line outs, integrated reverb and tremolo, countless EQ options with a 5-position fat knob, treble and bass boost/cut via push/pull pot, a gain boost (that can act as third channel), and equipped with a EVM12L replica speaker made by Eminence. Watch us take the Stage IV through the paces, using some of the most iconic recordings that it was used on, and re-create the guitar parts from scratch.
SKIP TO 05:39 FOR PLAYING EXAMPLES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
00:00 Intro Jam
00:15 What Makes the Stage IV Great?
01:51 Origins of the Rivera Stage IV
04:27 Our Objective
05:05 Recreating "Peg" Solo Tone
06:35 Recreating "Hold The Line" Guitar Tone
07:51 Recreating "PYT" Guitar Tone
09:26 Recreating "Beat It" Guitar Tones
10:43 Recreating "Running with the Night"
11:54 Final Thoughts on the Stage IV
Rivera Stage IV Amplifier:
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CREDITS:
Host/Co-Production: Mason Marangella
Video: Nico Sotomayor
Video Editing: Mason Mejia
Co-Production/Design: Mason Mejia
Audio Engineering: Hunter Harrison
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