Are Reverend guitars any good?

[JC777]

I dig em. They are worth a spin.

[BootRoots]

There are lots of reasons to love Reverends. I kick myself all the time for not picking up a USA model back when I first heard of them. Naylor seems to have consistantly delivered great sounding, guitars at a VERY affordable price point.

 

With the exception of a few of the newer designs I really like the fact that Reverend's designs aren't just "knock-offs" of classic guitars but have their own personality while paying respect to the designs of yore at the same time.

 

I don't think I have ever heard a bad word said about Joe Naylor himself or their customer service, and Reverend has a pretty loyal following of players. Their best testimony is probably that most 1st time Reverend buyers always want another Rev shortly there after.

 

BTW: I am a very happy Flatroc owner!

[Uncle Bastard]

I was considering buying a Flatroc, how does yours suit you? Any downsides?

[BootRoots]

 

I was considering buying a Flatroc, how does yours suit you? Any downsides?

 

 

No downsides that I can see. I love the pickups. its got a real nice mid-rangy growl to it. I have one of the prototypes so its a bit different than what is currently offered. Its got the bigsby, F-hole and locking tuners that I don't believe are offered on the newer models. All in all a fantastic guitar.

[placeboemotion]

 

 

 

I had been waiting for BHH to show some nice Reverends- but of all of these nice ones the green Jr one to me is teh sex ... beats even the Vito for me ...

[Loxley]

BTW: I am a very happy Flatroc owner!

 

Damn.. I didn't even know they used to put Bigsbys on their guitars. That is an absolutely gorgeous guitar.

[goodhonk]

i don't know if they are any good, but i want one.

[blimpo]

I've got a Jetstream with P90s and it absolutely screams. I don't know why I stomped through the mud with humbuckers all these years.

 

I replaced the bridge pickup with a 70s Bill Lawrence (mini humbucker) and man look out.

[KerryK]

I find the Reverend guitars extremely overpriced for a Korean made product . They are average sounding and playing at best, and mass produced in the same factory in Korea that makes most everything over there. The finish and neck is sticky poly and feels the same as an epiphone to me. Seems like a bunch of hype. They are definitely not vintage feeling or sounding in my opinion. I guess if you have never played a vintage guitar you wouldn't notice any difference, but for a few bucks more I would buy something better. With their mass production it seems used values will continue to plummet. A guitar like a Nashguitar holds its value because of limited production, and totally smokes any Reverend.

[Emory]

Reverends are simply great in every department: design, build quality, playability... you name it. I got mine a few years back second hand. After just a few notes I said "Oh yeah baby". Mine is older style 6gun, sort of strat tele hybrid I added a LesTrem to.

[badpenguin]

guitar like a Nashguitar holds its value because of limited production' date=' and totally smokes any Reverend.[/quote']

 

And it's near 7 times the price. I't like comparing a Epi Paul Jr to a Gibson Custom. Yes, Nash's are nice guitars, and I owned one before he only did the relic thing. But your comparison is ridiculous.

[KerryK]

7 times the price ??? I see Reverends listed on Wildwood site for 1200 USD .... Nashguitars 1800.00 USD . I will pay a few bucks more and have a US made guitar with resale value any day of the week. Lollar pickups are the real deal, and nitro finish are worth the extra coin ! NO Korean guitar is worth 1200.00 USD IMO. I stand by my statement. No offense to anyone owns a Reverend , but they should be priced wayyyy lower .

[BAZ_BO]

I just bought a Reverend OG from Merchant City Music in Scotland through Reverb. I couldn't find one here in Canada and didn't want to wait until May. 100% shout out to them. Great seller. I had been really drawn to Reverend over the years, but they didn't do much in LH so when I saw the Double Agent OG I jumped on it. When it arrived I was super impressed with most everything on it. The finish is smooth as silk, as is the roasted maple neck. The binding, while subtle, is very nice and the fret dressing is also pretty good. A couple of minor barbs on the bottom side but nothing bad. Just thought a couple of frets didn't get the same attention. I like that after the guitar arrives from Korea, it's thoroughly inspected and setup in the US before heading to the dealer. The guitar actually arrived in tune, and the intonation was spot on as well!

Now, thing is I have been on quite a music hiatus of about 2 yrs so I am indeed very rusty but think my ears are still pretty decent (I am an active AE as well).. One thing that concerned me when buying it was the pickups. I hadn't really heard them, they aren't the highly touted Rail Hammers and it has the HA5 and PA5 p/ups. Being LH, I've bought quite a few offshore guitars over the years out of necessity and the first thing to go was always the pickups and the result was always huge and worth the money.

I plugged it into my Mark 5:25 with a single 1x12 30W and it's taking me awhile to get a feel for it, as is. I've only had the amp for a short time as well and typical to Boogies, you usually have to really tweak around to find your tone but honestly, not going to lie, I was a little underwhelmed.. The P90 has a great clean sound, but not the bark I was expecting but have to add that I've never owned a guitar with a P90 before. It's very clean and a little warmer than say the Barden in the neck of one of my Strats and doesn't get woofy or collapse, which I really like, but it feels like I'm missing something...It did come strung up with 10's as well and I've been a 9's guy for over 20 yrs so I'll restring it this week.

The contour control is quite new to me and something I'll use for sure. Not too crazy about the taper on the vol pot though. It doesn't act like the pots on my strats and it's very hard to clean up a high gain amp setting by backing off the volume like I need and use all the time and has this immediate drop off, when fully off. Really weird I found but ya, the taper doesn't feel smooth to me and it's like it's not doing much until its fully off.

Maybe my expectations for the HA5 were based on my other guitars bridge p/ups being, Duncan 59's and JB's but it really isn't knocking my socks off. Not that I expected the guitar to be really "heavy" when I bought it but I did expect more chunk TBH. I can try a low E muted chunk chug and there is zero oomph..Like non-existent and even when I add a classic V on the graphic, it's just barely there. Doesn't have nearly the 'harmonic pop' of the JB in my crappy Pacifica either and the Pacifica is a literal plank comparatively but screams through a lead setting compared to this guitar, as is..

So I dunno yet, I'm not like "F' this thing, I'm returning it!" or have plans of selling it and need to give it more time I'm sure but having to pony up for a couple of p/ups for a guitar that has a price tag where I shouldn't have to is a bit of a drag if I end up having to do this. A real drag...

Anyways, not going to give up on it so fast and will keep playing it but I didn't get any wow factor the first time I plugged it in compared to past guitars;  this is also the first guitar I've ever bought without playing it first, so there's that too...Welcome to the COVID era of buying guitars online I guess.

If I find I'm digging it in the up coming weeks, I'll definitely report back out of respect for Reverend because they really seem like a company I want to support.

[GearIsGood]

Decent guitars for the money, although I'm basing an opinion on owning only one at one point (the Unknown Hinson artist model). It was a bit on the 'dark' side, but relative to the gear and sound by the artist, it was good. I tend to do higher gain stuff, and so that model didn't make sense. Very low action, played well, etc. I've had other guitars in the same price point that I did not find as polished or played as well.