Blues
guitar players, are you satisfied with your electric?
When you spank your plank, do you sometimes lust
for the tonality of a hollow-body? When you snap
your strings, do you sometimes wish they would attack
more dynamically? Is one of your shoulders lower
than the other from bearing the weight of your heavy
axe? How many guitars do you have to bring to a
gig to cover all the styles you want to play? The
Reverend has good news.
The
Reverend Avenger does many things well and its unique
features combine to make a versatile, sharp-looking
instrument that's trouble-free and easy-to-play.
It's retro-styled, but it's not a wanna-be. It appears
to be a solid-body, but it's semi- hollow with a
wood-based phenolic top and back (similar to formica),
which are laminated to a six-inch wide mahogany
center block on which a steel sustain bar is embedded.
The extra resonance is subtly noticeable and attractive.
There's
a nickel-plated steel arm-rest at the upper edge
of the body. The neck feels gloriously familiar,
similar to those on my '5Os guitars. The 3 single-coil
pickups are intuitively controlled with one volume
knob, one tone knob, and a 5-way selector switch.
Other models offer various configurations of tapped
humbucker, single-coil, and lipstick-tube pickups,
a variety of retro colors and pick-guard materials,
and a choice of rosewood or maple fingerboard. The
hardshell teardrop-shaped case sets a new standard
of cool styling: It's black with white sidewalls,
like Jimmy Reed's shoes.
Physically,
it's refreshingly light -- about 6› lbs. -- compared
to the Gibsons and Fenders that I'm used to. You
won't know what a relief this is until you try it.
Even so, it's balanced, not neck-heavy. I get chiming
overtones, but with added funky snap from the phenolic
body, which seems to convey the attack of a note
more quickly than the body of a standard guitar
does. Yet the Reverend also offers singing sustain
from the steel bar in the body. These attributes
usually come only at the expense of each other,
but this guitar is fast and fat. It stays in tune
through a hot, hard show and I haven't broken a
string yet. The volume control is placed where I
can hook it easily with my little finger, and I
don't have to stop playing to adjust it.
The
Reverend Avenger plays smoothly -- it facilitates
rather than impedes and it proved itself on the
bandstand -- the ultimate arena. Even using a heavily
distorted amplifier setting, I could play old-style
Chicago Blues where I thump on the bass strings
with my thumb and pick the high strings with my
finger, and still sound distinct. It's particularly
good at cutting through the sound of a band with
more than one guitar. During my band's set at the
Black Diamond on Beale Street during the Handy Awards
weekend, I called up some of today's hottest blues
guitarists to jam. The Reverend gave them the singing
tone they love, but with unusual clarity. On the
encore, three electric guitartists were trading
solos at full volume and you could even hear who
was playing what. I think that the Reverend contributed
to that. Snap and Sing. Chime and Ring.