Reverend are back in the bass business.....!

[wateroftyne]

[url="http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/guitars/bass_series_bolt_on.html"]Yum![/url]

And...

[url="http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/guitars/bass_series_set_neck.html"]Meh. Not my thing.[/url]

[watchman]

Must admit I like the look of most of those. Always nice to see something different, and Reverend generally seem to manage that.

[Jigster]

omg

used to have a reverend six string - lots of quality for not a lot of money

[Chris2112]

People used to harp on about these on TB all time, I always thought they looked cack. Very Fisher Price.

[Jigster]

sitting on the fence there chris

[Grand Wazoo]

I'll say nought

[xgsjx]

Nope, don't do anything for me

[BigRedX]

As someone who owns an original Reverend Rumblefish (5L), I'll reserve judgement until I can find an opportunity to play one.

However my initial impressions are that I like the look of the Thundergun but I'm less impressed by the fact that the only apparent difference between design of the neck joint on the bolt-on and set neck models is that one uses screws and the other glue. For me the whole point of not having a bolt-on neck is that it allows more options for the position and shape of the heal, therefore better and more comfortable upper fret access.

[AndyTravis]

[url="http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/images/guitars/bass_series/hi_res/mercalli5_met_blue_lg.jpg"]http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/im...met_blue_lg.jpg[/url]

Four Strings? Yes, I'd like this in an IV.

The Justice and Decision...meh, like the dual bucker look.

[url="http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/images/guitars/bass_series/hi_res/decision_blk_lg.jpg"]http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/im...sion_blk_lg.jpg[/url]

I just don't like the polepiece/rails combo on the pickups, this is pretty hot though.

Edited April 12, 2011 by AndyTravis

[Sibob]

Meh, really not living up to the originals are they...they were super cool!

Si

[Owen]

No bug eye chrome? No good.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1197374' date='Apr 12 2011, 09:39 PM']As someone who owns an original Reverend Rumblefish (5L), I'll reserve judgement until I can find an opportunity to play one.

However my initial impressions are that I like the look of the Thundergun but I'm less impressed by the fact that the only apparent difference between design of the neck joint on the bolt-on and set neck models is that one uses screws and the other glue. For me the whole point of not having a bolt-on neck is that it allows more options for the position and shape of the heal, therefore better and more comfortable upper fret access.[/quote]

Isn't that exactly what a set neck is? Rickys and loads of Gibsons are like that rather than a thru neck design.


It also comes close to infringing on Ou7shined's PingRay design

[BigRedX]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1197661' date='Apr 12 2011, 11:52 PM']Isn't that exactly what a set neck is? Rickys and loads of Gibsons are like that rather than a thru neck design.[/quote]
It's possible to make a set-neck joint far less obtrusive than a bolt-on if you're clever about how it's constructed.

However, if you look at this photo of the Reverend bolt-on neck joint:


and compare it with this photo of the set neck joint:


you'll see that there is essentially no difference in the heel shape of either.

For me the whole point of having alternatives to the bolt-on neck joint is to allow better upper neck access. Yes I know it's supposed to make a difference to the sound, but IMO it's minimal and the pickups and electronics are far more important.

For me this is an opportunity missed on the part of the manufacturer because their design thinking was sloppy. The original Reverend basses had some unusual features that gave them a unique, sound as well as the look and feel. These: not so much.

Maybe it's time to start a thread about design dead-ends in bass guitars and why some manufacturers are still perpetuating them?

[Gust0o]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1197793' date='Apr 13 2011, 08:56 AM']Maybe it's time to start a thread about design dead-ends in bass guitars and why some manufacturers are still perpetuating them?[/quote]

Some element of kitsch, perhaps? It feels like a design statement, rather than a considered design option - one which would drive utility out of the design.

I do like the look of the Thundergun, however. That certainly is a design statement

[BigRedX]

I do too - especially if they made a 5-string version...

Which is why the poor neck joint on it bothers me. It would be possible to do some fantastic things with a well-designed set neck. The bass wouldn't look any different from the front, it would still look great from the back and it would be playable much further up the neck.

The current joint AFAIAC is just lazy design.

[Dave Vader]

I like the original reverends, these also look nice, might have to get me a thundergun....

[Ancient Mariner]

I too like the look of the thundergun. Also interesting to see they've borrowed their headstock design straight from Sue Ryder.

[Schnozzalee]

I like the look of the Red one

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='1198619' date='Apr 13 2011, 08:01 PM']I too like the look of the thundergun. Also interesting to see they've borrowed their headstock design straight from Sue Ryder.

[/quote]
The headstock design is identical to that of the original Rumblefish from 1998.

[Darkstrike]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1197793' date='Apr 13 2011, 08:56 AM']It's possible to make a set-neck joint far less obtrusive than a bolt-on if you're clever about how it's constructed.

However, if you look at this photo of the Reverend bolt-on neck joint:


and compare it with this photo of the set neck joint:


you'll see that there is essentially no difference in the heel shape of either.

For me the whole point of having alternatives to the bolt-on neck joint is to allow better upper neck access. Yes I know it's supposed to make a difference to the sound, but IMO it's minimal and the pickups and electronics are far more important.

For me this is an opportunity missed on the part of the manufacturer because their design thinking was sloppy. The original Reverend basses had some unusual features that gave them a unique, sound as well as the look and feel. These: not so much.

Maybe it's time to start a thread about design dead-ends in bass guitars and why some manufacturers are still perpetuating them?[/quote]
To be fair, a well designed bolt on can have super upper fret access too.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Darkstrike' post='1198936' date='Apr 14 2011, 12:09 AM']To be fair, a well designed bolt on can have super upper fret access too.[/quote]
Absolutely, but in order for that to be possible the neck needs either more frets or an extension after the last fret (or both). However it would have been possible to improve the upper fret access on the set neck Reverend without needing to make the neck longer to do it with a bit of clever thinking.

[BottomEndian]

They're nice-looking instruments, in a kind of retro-ish-Jetsons way... but IMO the tuner buttons look outlandish on such a small headstock, especially on the Mercalli 5ers.

[BigRedX]

Weird about the tuners on the new models. The Rumblefish has the more modern small tuners and looks much better for it.