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| Equipment : Rivers Equipment : Rivers Amps | |||
| Mega Updated!!! As you can tell, now have all of Rivers amps! Anything that I said i wasn't 100% on, I'm going to ask Karl to clarify. Thats all for today! | |||
| Randall 120 watt | |||
 Randall Amp - (weezer.com) |
"For an amplifier, Rivers was using his other "hold-over" from his metal years, a Randall 120 watt non-tube head powering a Randall 4x12 cabinet that looked exactly like a Marshall when the "Randall" tag was removed. This setup was to remain for several months. The Randall is still in use today, by Patrick Finn of Organic Mechanic (I will try to get a photo of it here ASAP). The speaker cabinet (pictured on the left side of the blue album garage picture) continues to be sold and resold, and has been spotted as recently as late 2000 in LA's "Recycler" Mag. " (weezer.com)
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Specs: Brand: Randall Model: 120 watt Year: n/a Tube or Solid: Solid Cabinet: Randall 4x12 |
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| Mesa Boogie Mark 1 | |||
  Mesa Boogie Mark 1 Head - (weezer.com) |
"While on weezers northern California "tour" in August '92, Rivers bought a curious Mesa Boogie amplifier (pictured inside the 'blue' album cover on the left side) at the Berkely Guitar Center. I have never ever seen an amp exactly like this one since. It was a very early issue Mesa Boogie, from approximately 1977 or 1978, and its face plate said "Mesa Engineering", which predates the addition of "Boogie" to Mesa-Boogies name. It was a 60-watt head which apparently didnt even have a model number (I remember looking for one several times). | ||
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It sounded incredible, and its real bonus was still sounding rich and thick even at low volume, making it ideal for recording demos late at night in the Garage. Sadly, while on tour in '96 (by this time as a back up amp), the Boogie suffered a near fatal blow from an unknown source during shipping. At some point during the tour, the amp was fired up to check it, and it sounded terrible. It was supposed to have been taken in for repairs, but apparently was lost somewhere, either at weezers storage facility in LA or later, when Rivers was living in Boston. No one seems to remember where they saw it last, and it is gone. Several fans have written in with info on this amp, but most identify it from the reissues. I have checked the reissues but none are exactly the same. However, several people wrote in with the explanation that this was the 60 watt version of the Mark 1 head. The reason that the amp had no name on it is that it was not named until mesa boogie issued their next amp, the mark 2. A reissue version of the Mark 1 is available right now from Mesa Boogie in a 100 watt head or combo form with a switch to reduce the power to 60 watts, and it is that edition that some people were confusing the "vintage" amp with. Patrick Wilson today owns a Mark 1 reissue in fact, and can confirm that the old one had some pull out knobs that produced amazing sounds that the current reissues do not produce. Its entirely possible that the pull out knobs were a custom job..." (weezer.com)
I have done some research on this amp, and I think the push pull pots were stock. The new reissues do not have this option. But also I couldn't get a very good overdriven tone out of the reissue, so I'm not sure, it may have been a defective amp, not sure. Specs: Brand: Mesa Boogie Model: Mark 1 Year: 1977-78 Tube or Solid: Tube Cabinet: Marshall Large 4x12 |
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| Large Marshall 4x12 | |||
    Marshall Mock 8x10 - (weezer.com) |
"The one thing Rivers did manage to select before they left for New York was a new Marshall speaker cabinet. Well, it wasn't "new", it was a very unusual 1968 Marshall. This cabinet was from a now-rare series that mounted the usual 4 12" speakers into a special cabinet that was designed to fit 8 10" speakers. These are known as "mock 8x10's." This back view shows whats inside. They originally were sold in sets with plexi 50w Tremolo amps. They were manufactured from 1967 till the early 70's, but apparently the later years are distinguished by cheaper materials, particularly particle board backing panels. As can be seen above, Rivers's tall cabinet needs some help in the speaker department. The right speakers are (we think) original Celestion Sidewinders, whereas the left are replacement speakers (or its possible that the Celestions are the replacements). Also, the top left speaker has a big hole in it (caused by a particularly expressive moment on stage with Rivers in 1997) and does not work. Fortunately the guys arent using the tall cabinets these days... Apparently, the story goes that Pete Townsend of the Who liked the new 8X10" "big tall super rock n roll" style, but insisted on retaining the 4x12" speaker setup he loved inside. Based on his request, Marshall ended up doing this variation for the general public, too, but it only lasted from 1967-69. | ||
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Most of these cabinets you see today (when you in fact get a chance to see one) are the more common 8X10" inside. The amazing thing is that when we found this cabinet, it was part of a matched set of 4 of them!
They were only $400 a piece, but we didnt have the budget to get the whole set. These 4 were apparently once owned by "the Mercinaries", as they all had "MERCINARIES" spray painted across the back.
We selected one and sadly left the store. Unbeleivably, somehow our summer 2000 tour-mates Dynamite Hack ended up with one of the very same 3 cabinets we left behind that day. I nearly lost it when I saw the "MERCINARIES" across the back of their "Tall" Marshall, so I knew what lay inside...Who knows how it made its way to Texas in the intervening 7 years, but it did. The other two are still at large...(note Brians is also a "tall" 4x12", but was obtained later from a different source. More on that later)... " (weezer.com)
Specs: Brand: Marshall Model: Mock 8x10 Year: 1967-69 Tube or Solid: n/a Cabinet: Marshall Large 4x12 |
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| Marshall JCM 900 SL-X | |||
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"Additionally, Rivers now picked out a new 1993 Marshall 100 watt JCM-900 "SL-X" Model amplifier. This was chosen because it just went "over the top" compared to all the other amps we checked out... and we checked out a TON of Marshalls that summer! Today it is still in use as Rivers's "Back Up" head on tour, and still sounds mighty fine." (weezer.com) More to come soon!!! | ||
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Specs: Brand: Marshall Model: 900 SL-X Year: 1993 Tube or Solid: Tube Cabinet: Marshall Large 4x12 |
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| Marshall 30th Anniversary 6100LM | |||
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"Rivers next new amplifier was inspired by their 1995 appearence on the Dave Letterman Show. The SL-X picked up a horrible sounding hum once it was set up there, (probably due to the electrical configuration of the building), and it seemed hopeless, | ||
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as the song was "Say It Ain't So", which has quiet parts. In the corner was an unused still in the box 1992 Marshall 30th Anniversary 6100LM amp, which apparently had been shipped in by the Cranberries for their upcoming performance later in the week. We borrowed the amp (sorry Dolores), and lo and behold it sounded much better. So we immediately set out to get one, and it became Rivers's main amp since then. Its this amp that I modified the "Marshall" letters to spell out "weezer" in late 2000. (pictures coming). Rivers settled on the "yellow" sound, which is the center of the 3 channels you can pick from (red is ultra metal, and green is mellow)." (weezer.com) Specs: Brand: Marshall Model: 6100LM Year: 1992 Tube or Solid: Tube Cabinet: Marshall Large 4x12 |
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| Line 6 POD Pro (Rackmount) | |||
 Rivers POD's (the red ones) - (weezer.com) |
"The band made some significant changes to their touring gear at the start of the "Hooptie Tour", in order to adapt to extreme constraints of storage space and tour budget, as this tour was entirely a money-losing promotional thing. Some very compact gear was invested in, which would more than save money by eliminating the need for a huge truck. After much experimentation, the guitar techs recommended trying the Line 6 "POD" system, which is basically a very modern "virtual amplifier" which actually sounds really good, unlike the many rackmount | ||
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systems of thew past which always sounded like a bad computer trying to copy an ampo sound (which is really what they were) The Pod actually DOES sound like real amplifier, so despite the extreme reservations of the band, they were tried out in rehearsals, and were an instant hit!
So Rivers and Brian each got a guitar pod, and Mikey got a bass pod... The strange thing about the POD system is the POD's are kept offstage where the guitar tech's can service them if needed, so there is literally nothing on stage except the drum kit! The sound is sent directly from the POD's to the PA system, eliminating the need for speaker cabinets with microphones trained on them." (weezer.com)
POD's are really great! I've heard rumours that the band has been using them on the Enlightenment tour, but I am not 100% sure in either direction. But from the looks of the pictures of Rivers pedal board, I think he is still using the Marshalls. Also, the POD's were NOT used on Maladroit, because the engineer prefered real amps (Guitar World interview), so it was Marshalls on the record. Specs: Brand: Line 6 Model: POD Pro (Rackmounted) Year: 2001 Tube or Solid: Solid Cabinet: n/a (direct to PA) |
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| Marshall JCM 2000 | |||
 Rivers JCM 2000 - (weezer.com) |
"Also Rivers gets a new Marshall head, a JCM 2000. There was much debate as to whether to stick with the POD system or try amps again, and everyone was impressed with this amp so it was kept for future use and recording, despite the tour going on with PODs." (weezer.com)
It seems as thought the JCM 2000 is the benchmark amp right now. Every band seems to be using it! It is a very good amp. I believe that this amp was in use on the Enlightenment tour, but no definate answer at this point. |
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Specs: Brand: Marshall Model: JCM2000 Year: 2001 Tube or Solid: Tube Cabinet: Marshall Standard 4x12 |
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