Reverend Guitars - The Contender models

[VPO]

Slightly offset and a bit like some old Framus but I like what I see here.

- Korina body and korina neck. Fretboard is pau ferro.
- Set neck
- Scalelegnth is 24 3/4''

[VPO]

No love or hate for the Reverend Guitars?

[Amon 7.L]

No love or hate for the Reverend Guitars?

Surely no love.
I can't say they make my emotions shake.
Can I be brutally honest and say: "yawn"?

[Larry Mal]

I know a lot of people like them, I have a good friend who swears by his. They are held in high regard, no doubt.

Although really, this is just another Les Paul variant in a world drowning in them. Is this really any different than what ESP or almost any other guitar company makes?

I guess there are some differences of course, but ultimately, it's just Reverend offering a guitar in a marketing slot that they probably have to.

I like their original designs more.

I'm sure these are very good guitars, though. It seems that they don't really do anything wrong and stand out in terms of quality.

[VPO]

I like their original designs more.

Same here.

My buddy got Slingshot Junior and that was truly great guitar. Wish they would bring back some of those old USA models or at least those pickguard styles.

[audiopablo]

Reverends are excellent guitars. I have an Eastsider S that I grab the most for playing these days. The quality is on par with my best fenders and better than most of my Fenders and Gibsons I've ever had. The finish is great, locking tuners, compound radius & roasted maple neck are standard. I feel like they should be bigger because at least on mine, the quality and sound is there.

[dc]

never particularly cared for any design with a 175-style pointy horn, they always look like cartoon can-openers to me.

i really like the looks of their Airsonic and Jetstream models though, and would love to pick one up. Reverend quality seems to be highly regarded -

[Embenny]

Reverend guitars always play great, sound great, and look completely unappealing to me.

We live in a time when we are fortunate that lots and lots of guitars all up and down the price spectrum play and sound great, so I see no reason to bother with guitars that don't look interesting to me.

[Johnny Alien]

I like Reverends guitars. That said every one of their guitars uses the same body wood, neck profile and 4-5 different pickups. So basically they have a handful of guitars that they sell in 6 different shapes each. At least that's what it seems like.

[OV7]

I've had a Tricky Gomez, a Double Agent W, and a Billy Corgan. They were all amazing guitars with particularly good pickups and electronics. I'm always on the lookout for cheap used ones on Reverb as they are overpriced(to me) and the resale value is low compared to the big brands. I love the six on a side tuners on the Tricky Gomez. The Double Agent had a great overall feel and sound(1-guitar that could do it all). The Billy Corgan was the single best playing and sounding of all of them and far better than anything I've ever bought by Fender, but it looks like a cheap First Act from Toys-R-Us(worst pickguard style in history, possibly?). Give them a chance. If you get a Tricky Gomez, you can sell it quick for about $600 if you're lucky.

[Danley]

They might be fine. They don’t interest me much, as they sit there. Reverend doesn’t seem like a company that wants or knows how to pull at my own heartstrings (about on par with Godin re: ‘acknowledged respectable makers I still feel no discomfort missing out.’)

[Larsongs]

I've never played one. I'd like to see Bigsby's on the ones with P90's. I would try one of those...

[OV7]

I've never played one. I'd like to see Bigsby's on the ones with P90's. I would try one of those...

The Tricky Gomez had a great Bigsby. It stayed in tune well and wasn't that squeaky. It didn't have P90s, though. The neck P90 in my Double Agent sounded pretty good.

[Surfysonic]

Back in 2009, I had a Reverend Club King 290 and a Reverend Jetstream 390. Both great guitars. Here's one of my earliest YouTube vids of a play-along with the Club King. The trem is a Les Trem. I ended up selling both guitars due to financial needs at the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udC-3Pw ... dex=8&t=0s

In 2017, I bought a Reverend Charger 290 LE. It was nice guitar, but seemed rather small (OK, yeah, I'm a big guy) so I moved it on eventually.

My two main guitar brands that work for me are Fender (and Squier) and Gretsch. Everything else in my guitar education journey take a back seat to them. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to get another Reverend in the future if it worked for me.

The new Jetstream 390s look pretty sweet with the various color options and I dig the roasted maple necks.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but are all the neck sizes standard modern C or can they variate with chunkier or slimmer necks? That's another reason I stick with Fenders - I love the mid-60 C necks, U-shaped necks, and I can live with soft-V necks. Gots to be heftier than the modern C necks for me.

[OV7]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but are all the neck sizes standard modern C or can they variate with chunkier or slimmer necks? That's another reason I stick with Fenders - I love the mid-60 C necks, U-shaped necks, and I can live with soft-V necks. Gots to be heftier than the modern C necks for me.

I think all the models have the same Medium Oval profile with a 12" radius and 43mm nut width. I find it very playable but not what I would choose if I could get a little thicker profile and 1-5/8" nut. I love the 12" radius, though.