'Modern Retro' Approach...
gig-ready guitars at an accessible price point

By Kevin M. Mitchell

A professional guitar, all set up, no need for changing pickups or anything, in the $400 to $600 range? It's an ambitious goal for such a modest price level, but Joe Naylor is laboring to prove it can happen, and prove it can work. The sorta-old, sorta-new looking Reverend guitars are being made by Reverend Musical Instruments in Warren, Michigan, just north of Detroit, and are inspired by owner Naylor's passion for vintage Fender, Rickenbacker, and Silvertone guitars.

Naylor knows about music. He grew up around it—Mom taught piano, Dad played bassoon in the Ann Arbor Symphony. Two guitar-playing older brothers were making music in the house as well, including one who was to prone to locking Joe and his two younger brothers in a room and subjecting them to his renditions of Hendrix, Cream, and the Who.

Growing up in an area that produced the likes of Ted Nugent, Iggy Pop, MC5, and Bob Seger also influenced his musical inclinations. Mostly though, he was fueled by an early desire to design. Naylor would go on to earn a bachelor's degree in industrial design and graduate from the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix. In 1992 he opened Joe's Guitar Exchange & Repair, which, in addition to giving him perspective on what it's like to be an MI dealer, also became the launching pad for another career: it evolved into J. F. Naylor Engineering, creating boutique amps and vintage-style speakers.

In 1996 he sold Naylor and launched Reverend Musical Instruments. The name, he says, was inspired by an article about blues guitar legend Reverend Gary Davis. Today he has five people working for the organization, including his wife, Kristen, who handles the books.

Reverend features the Stage King series, which includes nine models, all manufactured in Korea, two of which come standard with a Wilkinson tremolo. The other models are available with the ABM Les Trem option for an additional fee. Naylor reports he currently has 20 dealers in the U.S. and eight internationally, with that number growing.

MMR How do you describe the design of your guitars?
Joe Naylor: I've heard we're "modern-retro," and I'm okay with that. I borrow heavily from the classic designs and try to add our own spin to it. The goal is to create something that projects a unique identity without being weird, but at the same time maintains an element of familiarity.

Describe the process of creating a new guitar ...
JN: I felt there was room in the $400 to $600 range for properly designed, pro-level guitar. It's common to buy a guitar in this price range and then spend more cash on pickups, tuners, electronics, set-up, and so on. We're shooting for gig-ready right out of the box.

More specifically, each model is designed to appeal to a certain type of player. So before I hit the drawing board, I try to visualize what this player wants to see, hear, and feel. I'm not a fan of designs that try to do it all, because you end up compromising. I think it's smarter to own several guitars that only do a few things, but do them very well.

How much time is spent on R&D?
JN: I'd guess half of my time revolves around that. I do have formal training and experience in product and graphic design, and I enjoy it, so it's not too daunting.

Do you see a trend in electrics? What do people want in a guitar these days?
JN: Basically they want: A) a Gibson or a Fender, B) a cheap copy of one, or C) something that's different, with its own identity. We only have respect for the first and last group [laughs].

There is a lot of competition out there -- what makes your guitars different?
JN: We joke around here that our Stage King series are "Gibsons for Fender guys." That's because we're using Humbuckers and P-9Os, but with bolt-on 25.5 inch scale necks ... we offer a unique hybrid in that respect.

Also, the level of R&D is extremely high for this price range. I designed the pickups and selected all the hardware, right down to the last screw. The bodies include solid, chambered, and semi-hollow designs. Every guitar has upscale features such as a dual-action truss rod, staggered Wilkinson EZ-Lock tuners, SIT strings, graphite nut, and our Bass Contour control.

Yours' like so many others, are built in Korea. How do you maintain the quality consistently?
JN: First off, you have to select a builder who is capable and willing to attain your quality goals.
There's a very wide range of price and quality levels available from Korea, and you pretty much get what you pay for. Then every guitar is inspected, strung, and set up here in Detroit by pro luthiers, with decades of repair and building experience.

So who is buying these guitars?
JN: Most Reverend players have an appreciation of vintage or classic guitars, the aesthetic and tonal qualities. As far as age and music style, we appeal to everyone from young rockers to older blues guys, with the exception of maybe hardcore metal. We do well with intermediate players who are ready for their first pro-level guitar, right on up to touring pros.

What are you doing to get your guitars into more dealers?
JN: We're at NAMM and we're advertising in trade magazines. The challenge is getting dealers to buy into the territory and pricing policies, which are a bit different than most. But once it sinks in, they realize the benefits.

You sell direct online, but have a policy about not selling to people within an hour's drive of one of your dealers. Is that working?
JN: It works because we're very strict about not selling into a dealer's territory, and our dealers don't sell out of their territory. Our dealers feel they have a strong enough local clientele to do well with Reverend. And they enjoy the exclusivity and controlled pricing that protects their margin.

Do you attend a lot of guitar shows? Do you enjoy it' or is it a hassle?
JN: We hit the biggies: Dallas, Arlington (Texas), and the two Philly shows. I consider guitars to be my artwork, these shows are the big galleries, and the players are the critics. So it's still exciting for me.
It's also great low-cost exposure to a very focused market segment. I saw a lot more big-name manufacturers at Dallas this year, including Peavey and PRS. I think that trend will continue.

You have a long list of artists using your guitars listed on your site. Are those endorsement deals?
JN: Most of our artists pay for their guitars and are non-exclusive endorsers. We're too small to pay out the big bucks for exclusive deals, but we've still managed to attract a respectable roster.

What guitars are in your home?
JN: Mostly rare and unusual Reverends, such as prototypes and one-offs. I'll use them to assemble a Reverend museum ... or maybe to pay my kids' college tuition [laughs].

What does the future hold for Reverend Guitars?
JN: I have a new guitar series and several signature models on the drawing board at this moment. But that's all I can say right now! We'll unveil some cool stuff at the 2007 Anaheim NAMM, which is also Reverend's 10th anniversary.

Will you get back into making amps someday?
JN: Hopefully, no! [Laughs] After I left Naylor Amplifiers, I vowed I'd never build amps again. Amps are a pain to manufacture and distribute on so many levels, especially tube amps. We're going to stick to what we do best, and that's making guitars.

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