THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY

RIVERA HUNDRED DUO TWELVE AMP

If you read regularly you know that I just recently got this amp...and now it's gone. I really liked this Rivera Hundred Duo Twelve a lot, but getting divorced sucks and I've been having to sell a few things to get moved into a new place. It's not the end of the world, but when you have worked hard to get a few nice instruments and some cool gear, it's not fun losing it for the wrong reasons. But, as Mike Franks of M. J. Franks guitars reminded me, "they're just things and things are not that important." Thanks for putting it in perspective.

So, the short story behind this amp is that many years ago I was in a band called the Deadlites. We recorded an album at a studio in San Diego called Double Time, a place where Blink 182 and Rocket From the Crypt and a ton of other well known San Diego bands have recorded. They actually had the 24-track tape deck that Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins and a lot of other bands that Butch Vig recorded used on some of the most famous records of all time. I guess none of that really made our album sound better, but it's a good story. In that studio they also had a Rivera Hundred Duo Twelve amp that we ended up using on a lot of the guitar parts, and I think I tracked my MandoGuitar through it as well. From that session on I wanted one of those amps.

A couple of years ago I wandered into a pawn shop and saw one sitting there, where it sat for over two years with no buyers. If you go back through this blog you can read the story of how I ended up with the amp right before Christmas for a ridiculous deal. So, I've had it sitting in my house, playing it now and then and thinking it's got to be one of the best, most versatile sounding amps I've ever played through. But I'm not in a gigging electric band and don't have an actual NEED for it. So, when the time came to come up with some cashola to move to a new place, the Rivera was on the chopping block. I see these sell for anywhere between $800-1100. So, I started my price out on the low end and put it on Craig's List (you know how I LOVE Craig's List) at $800. No takers. I needed to sell it quickly, so I dropped it to $750 in a couple of days, then down to $700. No interest whatsoever. I was kind of shocked actually that no one even seemed interested in giving me a lowball offer.

Actually, one clown did offer me $500 and he kept sending me the strangest emails. Some guy named Tonedowser. Very full of himself. Gotta love Craig's List. Anyway, I got an offer from a guy in Florida who really wanted the amp, but that would require shipping and payment through Paypal (there goes another few percentages of profit). He couldn't believe no one wanted it locally. Neither could I. Just as I got it all packed and ready to ship across country, I got an email from a local who was willing to pay the same $650, but pay cash and pick it up that day. He came and checked it out and was super excited to be getting the amp. It all worked out.

Although I came down on the price quite a bit, I still made out like a bandit based on how much I paid for the amp in the first place.

I suppose I will end up with something else sometime this year. Need to get a few extra bucks together. I still love the Fender Blues Juniors for what they are and someone else recommended a little Vox tube amp that is great for recording. Anyone else want to throw their two cents in? Cheap, smallish and good. That's the only criteria.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 2009