Why is nobody talking about this $600 amp? | Friday Fretworks 

Well, there are $600 amps and then there are $600 amps that Chris Buck is playing and making sound incredible.

Our boy has been a wonderful musician for years already but since the latest Cardinal Black era he’s really found his own grove and tone and now There’s no mistaking him for someone else he has really carved out his own piece of the tonal landscape and continues to shred with that glorious Rev Star

The workout you put on that Revstar was brutal. The sounds that came out of the amp from that workout are heavenly. Thank you Chris.

Man, that solo at the beginning of the video should put right up in the Mayer/Trucks/Bonamassa category. You deserve be as widely recognized as these guys. And you'll get there for sure.

One of the finest guitar players of our time!! take note.👌👌

I have a Concert 2, single 12” combo. They listed at $700 in 1982. I paid $500 cash for mine and it’s probably still the best amp I own, even though I don’t use it much anymore-too heavy. A Rivera-built combo like this today would be boutique priced-over $2K and close to, if not over, $3K. $700 was a lot of money for 1x12,” channel switching combo in 1982. I switched out the original Jensen spkr for a 100 watt Celestion, which gave it more crunch in the drive channel. People (like me) hoard them. It’s not a secret anymore, though. If you can find a Concert 2 for under $1,000 in today’s market, buy it. You won’t be sorry. Love you, Chris, but Concerts aren’t a secret anymore!

I've owned 500 guitars, and well over 100 amps, and I'm of the opinion that there's a good tone in practically every one

That pickup change at 52 secs! Not only is one the best out there but his tone knowledge is top 👌

Thing is some players can plug a frying pan into a toaster and make it sing and some people can spend thousands on custom shop 'X' and plug into thousands worth of boutique 'Y' with hundreds worth of obscure pedals in between, oh and the klon and still chase a sound they'll never get. Love the channel keep rocking Chris.

I am the original owner of a 1984 Fender Concert.....never gigged and in pristine condition. I agree 100% that the clean channel with pedals is the best way to go. Thanks for a great review Chris.

They're not going to be £600 for much longer now.

Like always amazed by your playing Chris. I have found so much inspiration in your style of playing.

I've had my Rivera Concert for 30 years and it's the best amp I've ever played through. It has a huge amount of head room and is, to my ear, fatter overall than other Fender amps I've played. I've almost always stuck to the simple clean channel with the bright off and the presence all the way up, but there's a ton of range in the tone. I use pedals mostly, but playing open mics where it was too cumbersome to set up a bunch of pedals, I stuck to the overdrive channel and a wah, and it worked pretty well. Replaced tubes a couple years ago and put a Celestion Vintage 30 in it. Still the best amp I've ever played.

Your phrases are outstanding... absolutely from another planet... A total inspiration.

Good to see footage of the Glasgow gig. Hope you guys come back next year!

That beginning jam was freakin amazing! And that quick sliding lick you did after the big bunch of hammer on and pull offs was so Jeff Beck sounding I had to rewind the video to see if it was a tremolo bar!

Every Friday I come back to listen to your informed opinion, hear your amazing tasteful playing, and watch your wobbly watch.

I just picked up a Peavey Classic 50 from the '90s for $400ish. 2x12 spring reverb, all tube. Headroom for days. Amazing amp and so undervalued!

Outstanding man!

that intro jam was just gorgeous, well done that was beautiful

Dame Chris in that second clip you were given er. I love it and the amps sounds amazing !

I’m glad I snagged mine before this video came out 😂, I love my concert Chris, great hidden gem…

Chris, you are INCREDIBLE guitarist ! That intro solo......WOW !

Yep, I have one of the single 12 inch Concert models, great sounding, point to point wiring. I have worked on the distortion channel trying to get it usable but ended up restoring it to stock specs. Lordy, it weighs a ton though. Thanks, for an honest review. One thing you can do is take the effects loop out in the back and run it into the effects loop in, it adds another preamp tube to the mix and really warms and fattens the sound.

Good seeing the back of my head right up the front in that first clip, Glasgow was amazing!

Incredible as always! Can’t get over your playing style bro keep it up!!!

Fender 75, hey that's my amp! had no idea it was essentially a Mesa Boogie. wild... i got it b/c it was a "Fender" and it had tubes and it was cheap. it's a good amp.

Damn, Chris. Just stunning.

Great guitar playing like always brother 🤘

Thank Chris. Let's see how quickly this amp starts selling at $1500 : )

I used to own a Fender 75 back in the day, with a 15" speaker. It was an absolutely awesome amplifier, I really liked it but sold it when I moved overseas. Can't really complain too much about any of the old Fender amps - they offer amazing clean sounds and beautiful reverb.

Yeah. Apart from it’s weight, it’s perfect amp. Best sounding reverb circuit as well!

Geiles Solo Chris!

That MIM Tele and that amp were made for each other! Sounded fantastic!

Love the solo and the speed up and rall... of the band!

⚓️ Thanks Chris 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Omg the solo in the intro 🔥

That intro solo was FIRE!!!

Chris never misses a chance to sell me on a guitar or amp. I've wanted a concert for a while now, just never pulled the trigger.

I just can't get over Chris, how can every solo be so damn perfect...

Chris - you could make an elastic band on a broomstick sound magnificent. Most of us mere mortals would still make a Fender Concert sound 💩 come to think of it, I’d probably get similar sounds from a Two Rock or Dumble!😂

Every time I see footage of you playing live I sense that I'm listening to direct channeling from your soul. Please try to come to SoCal in the near future. Doing so will help in fulfilling this old man bucket list. 😊

Great amps I’ve had three,the one I’ve got now is the best.It’s had the dumble mod done to the drive channel which improves it 100% plus it’s got the mid boost that is footswitchable now rather than the push/pull control.

I had a Rivera-era Concert II (1x12) and currently have a Princeton Reverb II - both amazing amps. The clean sound is perfect, and personally I like the dirty channel. It's great at low-end grind.

damn man...tone...respect...

love the 2 i own...absolutely full of options for creating tone, and perfect as a pedal platform...hard to believe these are 40 years old...

Wow, that’s off the charts

Insane opening solo

OMG that Solo! Extraterrestial

I have a Twin II I purchased in 1982, it has the EV speakers. It loves boost pedals in both channels. It never leaves my studio.

I always look forward to your videos. You are very insightful and always come up with very interesting and informative material. Not to mention that you play like nobody else, just amazing.

What an impassioned opening! 👏👏👏

Fender also later made Concert amps (Pro Tube series) 1993-1995. These are unbelievably great amps with the sweetest cleans, huge headroom, + 2 levels of an additional gain channel. The extra 2 gain channels are surprisingly good.

I have the Deluxe ll. I’ve had an EV in it, a Celestion 100 in it but both don’t hold up to the Alexandro ‘64 speaker I just bought! Chris I love your playing in your videos but this live performance was just spectacular!! Much luck in your career!!! Cheers!!!

I love my 1982 Super Champ! I put a Celestion Alnico Gold in it. I bought it new back then. I traded a Rickenbacker 620 straight across for the amp!

Some people say the amp sounds dull. True when the effects loop is not used. However, some extra tube is supposed to engaged when using it. Whatever happens, the amp starts to shine once you engage it by simply using a patch cable or some pedals in the loop for that matter.

yup! i played a Concert + a 1x12 (mdded) SuperChamp on many, many records, when my special Rivera amps set-up needed to stay in the States.

I had a Fender Concert around 1987, but when the other guitarist in the band got a Marshall Jubilee half stack the concert couldn't keep up so I traded it for a Fender 'The Twin'. Still miss the warm, scooped sound of the Concert. I'm sure it would sound fab with the arsenal of drive pedals I have now. Tend to use Vox/ Marshalls now but miss those Fender cleans.

Incredible playing as always. Streets ahead? Community reference? Ha!

Dude, I love that TUIB solo Jesus 🙏

I don’t know if I trust Chris’ reviews… this man could make a rake with some fishing line sing 😂

GOOD LORD THAT SOLO!

Dude creates a video about an amp just so he can show off … Need more vids like this 👍🏻

Chris! I’m pretty confident in saying that you’re one of the finest guitar players on this planet! And, I’m pretty sure (there will be those who may dispute this statement). However, those better can share the light that shines down on this prestigious stage! 👍🇦🇺

Hi Chris, You are an incredible guitar player!! Thank you for the inspiration and passion on all things guitar, gear, etc... Tell us more about your tele with the vibrato set up.. I've been wanting an alternative to a bigsby???

Picked a concert up last month for £725 in really good nick after the studio rats video, fantastic amp, I think they will go up even more after your vid.

I remember when I first brought my first Stratocaster it was a 2017 fender Stratocaster Roadhouse deluxe, by the way, probably one of my favorites made in Mexico guitars from fender. Well proceed to the story. I was looking at that guitar and I plugged it in into a used fender concert with evm evl12l I remember plugging it into my strat and I started playing and it literally reminded me of a John Mayer sound and I couldn't stop playing John Mayer on that amp and I noticed that people around me and Guitar center were just looking at me like when you going to stop playing but the amp was absolutely sounded so amazing with so much. Headroom and clean. As much as I wanted to keep going on the drive it was not breaking up on me and this is 2018 fast paced. Later I learned about Stevie Ray Vaughan using these types of speakers and about the amp and how it's built and the Rivera era. And it's funny that you have posted this video cuz it literally reminded me of that year. It was literally New Year's of 2000 of 2018 and I remember just playing that amp and I thought it was my Stratocaster sounding like that. But meanwhile the whole time I'm saying it was that amp and that was probably one of my favorite amps I've ever played through I wish I would have brought it because it was actually going for $800 I brought my fender stratocaster Roadhouse deluxe for $500 😅

your a great player man

Fab playing as always. I owned two Concert heads back when they were more like $300 a piece. I think I ultimately decided that since, like you, I never used any of the features, just the clean channel alone, I was better off selling them and getting a Bandmaster Reverb head. Those could be had for about the same price back then, provided plenty of clean headroom, and the more direct signal path improved the sound considerably.

Vertex FX brought these to my attention a year ago, but respected Amp Tech ‘Psionic Audio’ did a deep dive on one, on his channel, and it’s worth a watch before anyone loses it on the hype train. That clean does sound lush though.

Nice video and playing! (love the rh “fingerpicking” style) Regarding the second channel, I don’t have a problem with needing a dirt pedal to get my preferred tone. Seems like a minor issue with an otherwise satisfying amp…

Great to see the new Vega Trem VT2 ND on Chris's Tele too !

That boy damn near ripped the fret board of that Yamaha! I got a felling he'd make a shoebox sound good!

I never hear about Rivera's solid state amps from that era. Paul gave me a London Reverb which I recently rebuilt with upgraded op amps and it is fantastic !

Aloha and Mahalo Chris!

Fabulous playing. Always. Anyone know what pedals Chris is using into the clean channel for those lovely driven tones!

fantastic solo at the beginning...

this is how I feel about my 4x10 Jensen 90's Fender "Super" amp. It is tube and solid state. Great sounding reverb. But also weights more than an elephant baby.

I've got a 2x10 Fender Concert and can echo what Chis says in the video: normal channel is standard Fender cleaness, dirty channel pretty unusable. For me, the advantage of a "hand wired" amp is that it is serviceable (by a professional) - I think a lot of PCB-made amps are difficult or impossible to repair. Also price: a hand-wired fender princeton is £2200 and a Deluxe £2800!

Thank you for the video Chris! Have you ever come across with a red knob twin from the 90's? These were amazing amps! I heard Mick Taylor play with one, still the best tone I ne heard in my life! Not sure if it Mick or the amp though....🙂

Im picking one up tomorrow for $800. I will make a video for some tone reviews on my channel. Thanks Chris for the cool video!

I was lucky enough to have as my first amp a super champ still have it still like it

Chris, if you haven’t tried the overdrive channel on a Supersonic 22, give it a go! One of the few Fender amps that truly matches the clean channel with a ‘burn’ channel.

Hey man, first time viewer here. I just wanted to drop you a comment to let you know that i thoroughly enjoyed this piece, the video. i enjoy your production, your cadence of speech, your playing and the way you communicated your thoughts on things was genuine sounding, to me (which os something that makes me feel weird to say, but its something that makes a difference for better ot worse .. because some super big and popular creators in our guitar space have a tendency to sound so fucking shilly and uninformed). Also homie, those Yamahas like youre rocking in the intro is the only guitar that ive ever lusted after that isnt a Fender produced instrument haha. Ive always been 100% Fender and ive always got at least one strat and one tele in my possession. But the moment i saw the release material for thode Yamahas and studied it over, i was really interested. It was a funny coincidence, because like a day or two prior to the release announcement, i had been talking to one of the kids i teach and his dad about hoe much ive been craving P90s in a solid body but man i do not ever ever never want to be an owner of any kond of Gibson. Or even one of their products. Fenders P90ish pu's sre iight but theres a difference. I have bren waiting for one of the Revs (my #1 is the exact ine you have here haha, for real no bs). To be able to jave a solid body guitar eitb p90s AND its also the only thing about Gibson that i think is cool and done well..... That thing being GoldTop color haha. Gold Top Les Paul's would be cool to me if they weren't like ...hmm...theres mo way for me to articulate how i feel about them without coming off dickish and lame. Which i promise im not haha, i just dont think its attractive to oay out the nose for a guitar thag weighs rhat much and provides like no super obvious advantage or reason for it

Signal chain? lol Great tone and playing 🔥

I see a new Friday Fretworks video and I think to myself is "Ahhh another epic guitar solo awaits my ears"

Nice bar gain

I picked mine up 2 months ago and man it’s awesome! The drive channel is great, you just need to know how to dial it in. The master needs to be turned up before the channel volume.

The studio rats channel has always been a go-to. Im still searching for that Cornell Plexi they demo'd a ways back. For the size and sound, coupled with the pricing...ive been amuck looking for one.

I have a 63 Brownface Concert. I’m its second owner. Its a great amp. Not the usual scalloped Fender tone. A great amp.

Great, thanks, man! What do we call that guitar mic solution you're using, Chris?

That little run at 1.56. Ttat might the best solo I've ever heard from you man. Geez

As an American who was literally playing in a band when the Concert was released… I had never heard of it. First one I ever saw was on Denmark Street in London. I have since seen one in Berlin and then again in a few in the US. They just were not popular here.

Just Amazing playing - never mind the amp!

Check out the Fender Sidekick Reverb 65, it’s another hidden solid state gem and it’s from the Rivera Era…it was made in Japan

I own two of these babies. Great amps.

0:13 Real nice solo!

Mr. Buck, your playing is emotive and your technique is incredible. If you get your hands on a Marshall Astoria Dual, please try it and review it. I have never played any amp that compares to it. I have owned mine since they first introduced it. I have never found an amp that comes close to it for range and dynamics. I have the 30 watt combo.

I had one and put a swamp Thang in it. Mine didn’t have the EV speaker originally. It sounded really good but was big and heavy and felt like overkill every time I used it. I didn’t need the headroom. I play an old deluxe reverb now and it’s more my speed.

Incredible playing as always! Lovely stuff... however, the watch lover in me also wonders why you don't take a few links out to save the watch slapping and swaying 😅😅😅