Reverend Guitars?

visible cow · Post by **visible cow** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:28 pm

Does anyone have experience w/ Reverend guitars? They look like a good deal but not much showed up on a search.

Artifex · Post by **Artifex** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:09 pm

The other guitarist in my band owns a Jetstream 390. GREAT guitar. I actually just recorded a small EP and 90 percent of the guitar tracks are that one guitar. The owner of the local shop here is a big Reverend fan so there is an entire wall there full of them. I haven't played a single bad one, and almost all of them are some of the best playing guitars I've ever touched. The sound is really good too. Theres a good amount of info on the Reverend forum. If you have any more specific questions let me know.

flapmaggot · Post by **flapmaggot** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:57 pm

Just bought a Flatroc for the studio in September. Plays and sounds great -
no hum and stays in tune. Chicks dig it.

Checking out the strats was too confusing and too many options (I am not a guitar player per se) - so a guitar friend referred me to DiPinto and Reverend. I talked with the owner who hooked me up with trutone guitars in Santa Monica. I chose the one that I wanted and it took 2 months. Though they are mfg in Korea, the QC is in the US and they're supposedly very maticulous. If you're patient, it is worth the wait!

Chuck

visible cow · Post by **visible cow** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:37 pm

Glad to hear that Reverend is cool. I've been looking at the "Gil Parris" model. It has two humbuckers and a lace sensor in the middle. (I have no idea who Gil Parris is btw) Seems like a good compliment to my ES-330 which is two P-90's. But that Jetstream 390 seems awesome too.......hmmmmm.

I'm excited by the bass contour option. It seems very useful.

We've got a store in San Francisco -SFGuitar Works- that carries Reverend and Eastwood guitars- hopefully they'll have a good selection.

mikeyc · Post by **mikeyc** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:14 am

Reverend is a cool company for sure. They used to make some fine basses, but they've since stopped. I've been kicking myself for the past 8 years for passing up a prototype Rumblefish for $300 at a guitar show.

I haven't experienced many of the newer models, but the old Spy and Slingshot models were lovely. Not that it means anything, but I think Billy Corgan used a Slingshot for a while a few years back.

I'd be inclined to believe the new Korean models are every bit as good-- Lakland does a similar thing with their Skyline series. Overseas production with local QC. The result is a really nice instrument for not a lot of money.

I'm not sure if they're still in production, but I know a couple alt country guys who swear by their Hell Hound combo. Sweet sounding little amps.

Those Eastwoods look pretty cool too. I was checking out a LP Jr. clone a couple weeks ago and it played really well.

Either way, you'll have fun shopping.

Jeff White · Post by **Jeff White** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:29 am

My friend Jeremy has a very low serial number American-made Reverend, I think that the number is 00056 or 00096 or something ridiculous like that. Amazing guitar, not sure of the model. A lot of the electric guitars on the Swivel Chairs "The Slow Transmission" were recorded with that Reverend or a Japanese Jazzmaster, I believe. I had it at my old apartment for a while in the middle of recording overdubs and played it every day. I would definitely consider a Reverend of this caliber over a strat any day.

Jeff

curtiswyant · Post by **curtiswyant** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:08 am

They sound and play great, but I always thought Reverends felt "weird" like the body was too light and plastic-y ?

Gorilla · Post by **Gorilla** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:39 am

I like reverend guitars and they're based in the suburbs of Detroit Michigan and run by Joe Naylor, who once upon a time started Naylor amps.

One of my favorite Detroit Guitar Stores, Joe's Music in Eastpointe, MI sells a lot of reverends including some on eBay.

Like any guitar I recommend playing them first to see if you like them -- they tend to be more of the gibson style than the fender style (neck scale, humbuckers or p90s, etc).

All their guitars are currently made in Korea, but I think the build quality is very good on all the models I've tried.

That said, Reverend does seem to be a bit spastic -- they don't always stick with a model or approach very long.

When they started they made guitars in Michigan out of a composite, they were very light weight, very unique (similar to old mosrite but much cooler in my opinion). They also made amps for a while, basses, used some metallic finishes and then usa made wood guitars similar to the ones they make today. THEN they switched to the Korean made wood guitars. If you see a guitar on eBay and are unsure what exactly you are looking at, you might contact Reverend and ask for their opinion -- they certainly know.

They still run the business, marketing and do set ups on the guitars out of the Warren, MI office.

Again, I think the value of these guitars is fantastic, I'd definitely consider it over a contemporary Les Paul or Flying V -- but they aren't for everyone.

Catoogie · Post by **Catoogie** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:55 am

They're coming out with a Pete Anderson (Dwight Yoakam) model that looks absolutely BAD ASS!!! Single cutaway, semi-hollowbody, F-holes, tremolo and 2 P-90's. I saw it at NAMM and I can't wait!

Catoogie · Post by **Catoogie** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:10 am

Hush · Post by **Hush** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:08 pm

I have a GP. It's a great guitar. I tried one out at a local store and just loved the way it felt. I sold two cheap guitars and a vintage Rat so I could afford my GP.

You can get A lot of great sounds from this guitar. The stock pick-ups pruduce a full and vintage type sound. With the contour knob you can knock off some of the low end and get very nice clean single coil sound.

They recently changed from chambered mahagony body with spruce top to a solid korina body. I liked the idea of the chambered body so hunted around the dealers until I found a NOS. According to Joe Naylor (the owner) there is very little difference between the two.

I'm giving it a little more time, but I will probably add two push-pull knobs to split the coils on the humbuckers and to be able to get a both HBs on at the same time. This way I'll be able to get a tele two pick-up type sound.

Artifex · Post by **Artifex** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:54 pm

I'm excited by the bass contour option. It seems very useful.

In the interests of objectivity, I would say that in my experience this is probably the most " hyped" aspect of the Reverend guitars, and I don't find it particularly useful. I've run into only a few situations where I've preferred the bass rolled off...though sometimes I do roll it off just a tad. But it won't make a P-90 or humbucker "sound" like a single coil, as some people claim.

visible cow · Post by **visible cow** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:03 pm

Well I picked up a Gil Parris model today. Like the one above but all black. Wow, this thing feels so solid.....oh, and it sounds sweet too. All of the Reverends I played were unique and sounded great. The Flatroc was especially awesome. I'll have to get one of those someday.

I HIGHLY recommend SF Guitar Works to anyone in the Bay Area. These guys were so helpful. They left me alone in a room of Reverends with an AC15 and seemed genuinely interested in my guitar search. Good vibes.

Hush · Post by **Hush** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:24 am

Happy New Guitar Day!!

Welcome to the GP club.

You can determine if yours is solid korina or chambered by the serial number. Most everything serial number 7468 and higher is korina.

Enjoy

wardshorsehead · Post by **wardshorsehead** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:53 pm

Joe used to fix my guitars in the pre-Reverend days when he had a little shop in what used to be called East Detroit (now Eastpointe, a nod to the city's more affluent neighbors, the various Grosse Pointes, and a marketing step to distance themselves from Detroit proper...but I digress.)

Joe is a much better guitar builder and amp designer than a businessman I think. They have changed their product line and business model more times than any other business that is still around, as far as I can tell.

He makes unique stuff and knows guitars. He went to Roberto Venn, and built some neat acoustic guitars early on as well. His early Naylor amps hit the streets before the boutique amp boom, and had he waited a few years, he would have had that market nailed. His early USA guitars were incredible, then ok, then they kind of sucked, then they were great again...now they are imported, and I haven't played any of those yet. His early speakers were incredible, again before the custom speaker boom a la Weber, when people were looking high and low for viable options to replace blown Jensens and Celestions.

Early on he lost a ton of support from his dealers by selling direct to customers for for just a hair above wholesale. Great way to support the players, not a great way to keep dealers happy. Many shops dumped him, and it took years to rebuild any sort of solid dealer network.

In the end, Joe is a great guy, and I wish him the best of luck. He's been a huge supporter of the local Detroit scene, and has made some really innovative, yet strangely classic, guitars in a market full of faux Fenders and Gibsons.

If he is setting up the guitars in the states, I'd have to guess that his new guitars are among some of the best things coming out of Asia.

I should check them out sometime.

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