Raven RM-2000

Original Ravem RM2000. Made around 2000 I think. Double cut, solid mahogany, set neck, thick slab of beautiful flamed maple.
For the money hell, this is one of if not the best quality guitar BODY I have played in my 20 year of serious playing. The neck was OK, the rosewood was of lesser quality.
The stock nut, hardware & pickups were generic and what you would expect for $300. They were OK but nothing special. When I upgraded them to Dimarzio PAF,Tonepro & Tusq, the difference was amazing. Original Raven's are one of the best kept secrets in the business. It gets an 9 because of the neck.

I play lead gtr for classic rock, progressive rock, contemporary Christian, and blues. In an old-man working band and play in a church. I have used the modded Raven RM2000 into an AC15 and a no-brand class A tube amp. The sound is very rich and full.
I added a 2nd volume - it only had 1 for both pickups, and the tone possiblities are very satisfactory.

The set-up was flawless out of the box. The nut was a piece of junk so I swapped that for a tusq. Get a 9 due to the cheapo nut.

The hardware was cheap, so I'd question that. But the guitar itself is a work of art and will last forever.

Never had to deal with them.

Over all it's a solid 10. Only think I wish it had different was a bolt on neck rather than a set neck. The neck is a soft C shape. I have large hads and had to have a luthier put on a deeper neck.

This is a korean made guitar w/ 22 frets, has a purple-ish quilted finish which is absolutely beautiful. Double cutaway body very similiar to Gibson LP DC (which I also own. One volume and on tone knob, also has the block inlay versus the dots htat I've seen on other RM-2000 models

I play in an original band whose style is a mixture of Smashing Pumpkins, Matchbox 20, Chili Peppers and this guitars sound fits right in. I play through a Boss volume pedal to a Dunlop Cry Baby wah, then I have an eq, a Boss D-5 delay, and Ibanez Phaser through the effect loop of a Peavey 30 and 2x12 cabinet. I've done numerous A/B tests between the Raven and my Les Paul DC and the differnces are minimal. The neck and center tones are almost identical, the bridge pickup on the Raven is a bit brighter than the LP. But still sounds great. I was originally going to replace the pickups, but after noodling aroung with the guitar for the last 3 weeks I've decided against it. I don't know if it's the fact the guitar is new to me (still had the plastic on the pickups when I received it from EBAY) but I love playing this thing. The neck feels a little wider than the LP, but that can come in handy when playing jazzier type chords.

I did set the guitar up for 11's which is what I normally play and it sounds great. No flaws that I can find

This guitar will definitely withstand playing live, it has gold hardware which will fade eventually but I'll deal with that when the time comes. Strap buttons are actually a little bigger than the Gibson which is a definte plus. I never gig without a backup mostly because on string breakage so that wouldn't change with this guitar either.

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I've been playing for almost 18 years and I currently own a Les Paul DC, Epiphone Chet Atkins nylon and SST, old Fender acoustic and a Peavey Classic 30 and Vox Valvetronix AD120. In the past I've alson had various Les Pauls and Strats. If this guitar was lost or stolen I'd definitely but it again, I'm in fact looking for another one. For the price that I paid for this Raven, it has to be one of the best guitars around. Like I said before in doing A/B tests with the Les Paul DC there is almost no difference in sound, not bad for a guitar company that has gone out of business and made a quality product for a fraction of the cost. I ended up buying this guitar because of the reviews that I read on this site and I can say that it is definitely not a let down. Thanks.

This is a Raven RM-2000 made in Korea. It's a double cutaway, carved bound top solid body guitar, similar in shape to the Gibson Les Paul DC Standard or the PRS Santana model. It has gold hardware, 22 frets, Schaller style tuning keys with Grover style buttons, 2 humbucking pickups, 1 volume control, 1 tone control, a 3 position pickup selector, tune-o-matic style bridge & stop tailpiece. I bought it new about six months ago. I had just sold a '98 Gibson Les Paul DC Standard with a beautiful amber triple A flame maple top. It was a great guitar, but there were a couple things I couldn't get used to. It had sound chambers in the body which made it neck heavy, it never felt right with a strap. It had a 24 fret neck which placed the neck pickup closer to the bridge & I kept hitting the pickup with my pick. I liked the double cutaway style body, so I thought I'd pick up a cheap solid body 22 fret neck knock around guitar that I wouldn't have to worry about dinging or scratching. I saw the RM-2000 on ebay, the pictures were not that great, but it looked OK. After checking out the reviews on H.C., I decided to hit the Buy It Now button. The guitar arrived a week later, double boxed & in a white Styrofoam bag. I took the guitar out of the bag & heard myself say outloud, "HOLY S**T!!!" This guitar has one of the best tops I have ever seen on a guitar. It is quilted maple with a brown to amber sunburst finish. Raven calls it Vintage Brown Yellow, but it's closer to amber than yellow. I know the quilted maple is just a thin veneer, but you can't tell that just from looking at it. It has the same 3D effect as a 5/8" top has. The body & neck are mahogany stained brown with very nice grain. The body is made with 3 pieces of wood that are so perfectly matched it looks like a single piece. The neck has a scarf joint where the head is attached, but is nearly invisible. The head shape is almost identical the Ibanez Musician Series of the late '70s. Fingerboard is rosewood, position markers are trapezoid shaped. If you want to see it, I'll be glad to email you pictures.

I play Allman Brothers (with Duane), Santana, etc. & have no problem getting those types of guitar sounds with the pickups that came with the guitar. I have a pair of Gibson '57 Classics in another guitar that I was going to put in the RM2000, but they don't sound that different, so I'll keep it the way it is. I run the guitar through a Fender Blues Deluxe amp & use a Rat pedal if I want more distortion than the amp will put out.

The guitar was set up pretty good right out of the box. I put on a new set of strings & adjusted the intonation a little. The neck needed no adjustment. The fit & finish is outstanding, better than some of the high end guitars I have owned. I know that sounds ridiculous, but that's the way it is. The quality of wood is probably not as good as higher priced guitars, but I can't tell the difference by looking at it or listening to it, so it doesn't matter to me. The only thing that could have been done better are the position markers. They are almost just solid white, no pearl look like on a Gibson.

I don't play out as much as I used to, but I have used the guitar live a few times & have had no problems. It is a well built guitar & should last as long as the big name guitars. I always have a backup guitar, mainly just in case a string breaks.

I haven't had & don't expect to have any problems with the guitar. It came with a lifetime warranty, but since the company folded, I doubt that it's any good. Musicland Central is a very good company to deal with.

I have been playing guitar for about 35 years & have owned many high quality guitars made by Gibson, Fender, Rickenbacker, Gretsch, Ibanez, etc. I have read H.C. reviews for years, but this is the only review I have ever taken the time to list, the guitar impressed me that much. I would rate this guitar as one of the best I have ever owned, factor in price, it is the best. If it were lost or stolen, I would definitely buy another one, if I could find one. Since the company went out of business that may be difficult. I am still looking for a Raven RP-350 with the same finish as my RM-2000, but I haven't seen one yet. If you have one & want to sell it, please email me.

MANUFACTURED IN KOREA IN 2001. SOLID DOUBLE CUTAWAY MAHOGANY BODY WITH PURPLE/BLUE SUNBURST QUILTED MAPLE TOP; CREAM BINDING. SET MAHOGANY NECK, ROSEWOOD FINGERBOARD W/22 FRETS. GOLD FINISHED HARDWARE (GROVER-STYLE TUNERS, TUN-O-MATIC BRIDGE, STOP TAILPIECE, 1-VOLUME AND 1-TONE CONTROL), 1- 3 WAY PICKUP SWITCH. PREVIOUS OWNER INSTALLED A SET OF LACE HUMBUCKERS(W/BLACK OPEN COILS) AND INCLUDED THE ORIGINAL PICKUPS AND ALL THE RELATED HARDHARE WITH THE PURCHASE.

"POWERED BY LACE" HUMBUCKERS SOUND.....GREAT, RICH, FULL, WELL-ROUNDED SOUND. HAVN'T HEARD ORIGINAL PICKUPS.

REMARKABLE FIT AND FINISH, ESPECIALLY FOR AN "INEXPENSIVE" GUITAR. ACTION IS JUST RIGHT FOR MY LIKING. DID SOME BRIDGE AND TRUSS ROD ADJUSTMENTS, ALONG WITH A THOROUGH FRET DRESSING......NICE, EASY, SMOOTH! ALL HARDWARE IS TIGHT W/GOOD QUALITY FEEL THROUGHOUT.

SOLIDLY BUILT AND WELL CRAFTED. DURABLE,HIGH-GLOSS FINISH. GOLD PLATING WILL NEED TO BE CARED FOR AND MAINTAINED, BUT DEFINITELY "ROAD WORTHY". NO BACKUP NEEDED HERE.

UNABLE TO GET RAVEN GUITAR CO. WEBSITE ON THE NET. HOWEVER, RAVENS HAVE A LIFETIME WARRANTY TO THE ORIGINAL OWNER, ACCORDING TO SOME OF THEIR DEALERS.

BEEN PLAYING GUITAR FOR NEALY 40 YEARS. CURRENT COLLECTION INCLUDES: 1987 PRS CUSTOM 24 (W/BIRD INLAYS..SERIAL# 2051), 1967 GIBSON ES335TD (W/BIGSBY TAILPIECE), 1975 GIBSON LES PAUL STANDARD (W/FACTORY HUMBUCKERS AND "CUSTOM" SERIL# DECAL), 1966 HOFNER VIOLIN GUITAR (MODEL 459TZ), 1939 EPIPHONE TRIUMPH, 1971 MARTIN D18, AND AN EVER-INCREASING ARRAY OF HIGH QUALITY, ASIAN-BUILT INSTRUMENTS (YAMAHA, IBANEZ, EPIPHONE, SAMICK, CHARVEL, JAY TURSER, CARLO ROBELLI, ETC.)
THIS RAVEN IS THE NEWEST "BIRD" TO BE ADDED TO MY NEST, AND I'M SURE IT WILL BE WELL APPRECIATED FOR MANY FLIGHTS TO COME!

double-cut les paul type,flamedmaple top(well address this later)2 humbuckers,abr-1 bridge & tailpiece one vol one tone 3-way switch which is just what i wanted(i already had a quilt version of this guitar so this is review #2) i give a 10 here cause it had EXACTLY what i wanted

suonds great!!!!!!! however,,i changed the pickups ONLY because i corrode gold hardware bad & im gettin too lazy to recover & pot the stock ones,,,got a pair from customshopparts.com CHEAP!!!!!!! SOUND KILLER!!!!!!!! I USE THIS GUITAR WITH A PIGNOSE G40V W A 12INCH ALNICO THRU A ZOOM,,, SOUNDS MORE THAN ELEGANT TIME AFTER TIME!!!!!!VERY WIDE VARIETY OF TONES,,,I PLAY FROM JOHNNY CASH 2 RAGE & I COVERS ALL WITH COMMAND!!!!!!!!

I AM AS ANAL ABOUT SET UPS & SINCE NO HUMAN DOES THAT BETTER THAN ME WELL DISREGARD THE "MERE MORTAL" YET ADEQUATE SET UP IT CAME WITH(NOTE TO THE COMPLETE IDIOTS COMPLAININ BOUT STOCK STRINGS ON THESE & ANY OTHER GTR ,,,GET A FN CLUE!!!!!!) THE TOP,,,,THE TOP! THE TOP!!!!!!!!!!UNLIKE OTHER KOREAN IMPORTS THAT HIDE IF THEIR TOPS ARE REAL OR VENEERED,,,RAVEN KEEPS THE CREAM BINDING TO A PIN-STRIPE AT THE NECK JOINT SO YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE TOP!!!!!!!!EAT THAT HAMER EPI,,,,& SO ON!!!!!!! NECK PITCH WAS NEAR PERFECTION WEIGHT WAS WELL BALANCED ,,,NOT TOO LIGHT, NOT TOO HEAVY,,,NOW THE TOP,,, AGAIN ITS REALLY TOO BA THE RM2000 ONLY COMES IN QUILTS (AT LEAST ERIC @ RAVENWEST SAYS SO & GOOD LUCK GETTIN A RESPONSE FROM DRK!!!)BECAUSE THIS FLAMETOP LOOKS AS GOOD IF NOT BETTER THAN LOTS OF PRS,GIBSON,& HAMER USAS!!!!!!!!! SO0 HEEERES ANOTHER 10!!!!!!

BEEN BEATIN THE LIVIN HELL OUTTA MY QUILTED ONE FOR OVER A YEAR,,,,MOST OF THE TIME WITH NO BACKUP SO,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,NO PROBLEMO CHIEF!!!!!!!

STEVE AT STEVESMUSICCENTER.COM IS AWESOME!!!!!!! HE LET ME LAY THIS BABY AWAY!!!IT WAS HIS LAST ONE& LET ME GO 50 DAYS OR SO THE DUDE IS SUPERHUMANLY KIND!!!!!!!!

IF IT WERE STOLEN ID HUNT THE SONOFABITCH THAT HAD THOUGHT HED GET AWAY WITH IT (IM SPIRITUALLY BONDED TO MY RAVENS) AND FEED HIS BALLS TO THE NEAREST PACK OF WILD DOGS I COULD FIND!!!!!!!LETS JUST SAY THAT IF MY LOVELY WIFE EVER LOST HER MIND AND GAVE ME ,,,LETS SAY 1500 BUCKS FOR A GUITAR ID BUY 5 OF THESE!!!!!!!!!

Let me preface my comments by saying that these judgments are all made independent of price, and are a result of comparisons with even insanely expensive guitars.

This is a brand new guitar, so I'd say 2002. Korean made (the same factory as the Epiphones, etc. I've been told). 22 frets. REAL quilted maple top, mine is blue finish, double cutaway arch-top. Beautiful guitar! 1 volume, 1 tone gold knobs. Two humbuckers, gold covers, passive. Solid Mahagony body, with a PRS/Gibson style double cutaway.. Gold tune-o-matic bridge and tailpiece. Non-locking Gold tuners. SET Mahagony neck and rosewood fretboard. No accessories included but a cable (that I would never use for my guitar signal, but am using for an expression pedal). I give it an 8 on features, just becuase it's a basic, stripped down guitar, which is what I wanted. Those of you looking for floyd rose trems, coil taps, blah blah don't want it, unless you want to add them yourself. If anybody tried to cut into this guitar for a floyd rose I'd probably have to beat them up though. Trapezoid inlays (not all RM-2000's have them).

I play a wide range of music. My main band "American Dream" is primarily folk/rock/alternative and it suits that perfectly. I also do a progressive metal side project and it works equally well for that. I use the guitar, along with a Fernandes Strat into my rack setup which consists of a Sansamp PSA-1 (tube emulation) preamp, Digitech 2120 effects, and TubeWorks Mosvavle power amp, into Peavey M412 and 212 cabs.

As you can see, I have not bought into the Gibson/Marshall/Fender hype. As a result I found a great sounding amp setup, a Fernandes strat that sounds better than ANY fender, and now this Raven. I bought this guitar to get that classic dual-mubmucker, mahagony guitar sound to complement my strat. It gives me that great, rich Les Paul tone and it is really warm. I had already ordered two Dimarzio PAF pro's to replace the pickups, because I assumed I'd need to, but I don't. I might still put the PAF in the bridge, for kicks to see if it sounds any better (it might not) but I will NOT TOUCH the neck pickup to save my life, I love the fluid tone on the neck pickup, and the guitar has great sustain on both pickups. On the bridge it is very easy to vibrato until your tone rolls of into harmonics (if you know what I'm talking about), which is one of my favorite techniques. I have been using my bassist's Gibson LP standard for a few songs until I got the Raven, and we both agree it sounds every bit as good!

The gutiar gives as much variety in tone as that kind of guitar does, which is not a whole lot, but that really wasn't what I was looking for. I was looking for one specific kind of tone. I have no dislikes about the guitar. I even prefer its neck, which is a bit smaller and more playable than the baseball-bat gibsons. I have put this guitar now through 3 2-hour long gigs, and several 2-hour rehearsals and I absolutely love it

The set up from the dealer was great (raymar96@earthlink.net), I didn't have to adjust the action at all. It was fairly low like I like it, but didn't have any buzzing on the frets. The strings on the thing looked like crap, with black stretch marks, etc. on them. I changed those things and polished up the guitar before even playing it, with D'addario 10 1/2's, my favorite strings. The only other problem I saw was the rosewood fretboard seemed a little dry, which really is to be expected on a NEW guitar which is shipped to Utah (the middle of the freaking desert!) so I put some lem-oil on it and its fine now. I give it a 9 though just for that and the strings, otherwise excellent right out of the box.

It seems very durable, but I don't intend to test its durability at all! This is my baby now, and I will probably cry if it even gets a scratch! The finish seems very solid though, as well as the guitar, neck joint etc. The strat buttons are solid, but a little small for my liking (I am used to Ibanez) so I'll probably put strap locks on it. Right now I'm using a leather strap that allows me do double the strap connection on the bottom. I would play a gig with it without a backup. I always have my Fernandes strat too, but because I use it for different songs/tones not really as a back up. For what these babies cost it wouldn't be hard to have a backup, but I couldn't see needing it.

I haven't dealt with Raven, but I can give a rating for the tremendous service of the dealer I got it from, RayMar96@earthlink.net .. he is great and I highly recommend buying through him if you are getting a Raven. he even shipped it priority mail so it got here before my weekend shows. It has a 1-year warranty I believe.

I have been playing over 10 years. Here is a partial list of the guitars I have owned: Epi SG, Epi LP standard, Fender Standard Tele, Fender Tex-mex Strat, Gibson Les Paul Studio, Ibanez Frand Gambale model, Ibanez S540FM, Ibanez S470, ESP EX 350, Jackson PS-2. I would take the Raven over any of those, regardless of price. The only feature I may add is to wire the bridge humbucker so it can switch between parallel and series (to get that strat 2-position sound for cleans) but that's not a feature that you can expect stock from any guitar that I know of. If it were stolen, the poor sucker would probably be severely disappointed when he tried to hock it and found out it only costs 269 new! He would probably have been thinking it was worth thousands with how great it looks and sounds. I would buy a new one, the same model and color, immediately.

I bought my Raven RM 2000 from ebay for $200. I belive it is a year or two old.It has this very unique cool finish to it. Black on the outside, kinda pink/purple on the inside. 1 volume, 1 tone control, 3 way switch (like Gibson's or PRS's). 22 frets I think. 2 Humbucking pickups. OH! A GREAT FEATURE...I ask you...WHERE CAN YOU FIND A GUITAR WITH A SET NECK FOR $200????? No where but Raven. I found that awesome.
I know that the neck is mahagony. Stop bar tail piece. Many people say this guitar is a "Les Paul Copy" but I tend to think of it more as a Paul Reed Smith copy...the feel of the neck heavily reminded me off a PRS.

I play everyting from hard rock, some modern metal, jazz, ragaee, blues, and some ska. I have 2 other guitars a Fender Standard Stratocaster, and a DeArmond S-65 (Gibson SG copy). For the amps, I use a Fender Frontman practice amp hooked up to a Fender Roc Pro Speaker Cabinet. I have 10 effects that I use for various musical styles. I use the Raven for dropped D tunning stuff. It suites it well.
I think it's just fine, I like the clean tone and the distortion as well. Actually... the distortion is a little fuzzy, but I believe it's cause I have a shitty amp and not the guitar.

The action is moderate. Pickup's are fine. The guitar has no flaws. But the only complaint that I have that the guitar is a little heavy compared to a PRS or a Gibson. But I don't mind.

It's pretty reliable. The Strap buttons are rock solid. Unlike my Fender Strat. I would definently gig with this. I'am planning on it.

Never dealt with Raven. But they have a really cool website that you can order there guitar direct. www.ravenwestguitar.com

I have been playing for 3 years. I hate Fender guitars...after having a bad relationship with my strat. I would never buy another one again. I hate a lot of big corporations that base there corporations on getting the sale done and mass market productions. Instead of paying attention to detail and carring about the customer.
I believe it shows in my Raven V.S. the Fender Stratocaster....the strat sucks...in 3 years it has had one tone knob fall off, guitar input jack highly loose, and always out of tune. My Raven is rock solid. Has never had any problems and always stays in it's original tunning. I think Raven guitars are fucking awesome, I want to buy more when I get the money. Highly recommend Raven guitars for everyone. They are awesome guitars.

Neck through Mahogany
22 Frets Rosewood Fingerboard
2 Passive humbuckers
Green and Black Quilted Finish
Tune-a-matic Bridge
Gold Hardware
Low low price!!

A great looking guitar. I was amazed how good it looked when I got it, and for it's price, it's absolutely amazing.

I play all sorts of music (jazz, classical, metal, rock, whatever) and this guitar has a huge range in style. With it's mahogany body, you can deal out some thick metal, as well as get that full, rich sound for a clean approach. I feel this guitar to be more of a rhythm guitar but it can easily work as somewhat of a solo guitar, although it lacks a floyd rose, and does not have as many frets as one could need. But overall, it can be used for many, many applications.

I got this guitar off of ebay, and the action was a bit too low, to which strings were buzzing. I had to adjust it a bit, but that took all but a couple minutes. The pickups were fine after I adjusted everything else. The only flaw I had on mine was a scratch on the back of the guitar (and who the hell cares if it's on the back), but other than that, the guitar was as well built as you can get. You couldn't ask for a better guitar for such a low price.

With a mahogany body, this guitar can withstand a beating. Everything about the guitar is in good quality and is sure to last for many, many years. I couldn't find any possible complications that could arise from this guitar. It's defintely quality, and like I said before, for that price, you'd be amazed to see how good of a guitar this is.

Never dealt with the company, and most likely will never have to deal with the company. It's the perfect relationship between the customer and the dealer.

I've been playing for about 8 years now, and own 4 other guitars, and this one is defintely one of the highlights of my growing (slowly growing) collection. This is guitar came out better than I expected. It was advertised as a Les Paul copy, and for such a low price, I wasn't expecting this guitar to be a fantastic guitar. But luckily for me, this guitar went beyond my expectations. If this guitar was stolen, no doubt I'd be pissed, but I wouldn't kill myself over it, because I could just easily go out and buy another one. It's that inexpensive. This guitar looks and sounds great. And for this price, it's defintely a deal. You can find tons of other guitars this price, but let me say, most likely, those guitars will suck. I just wish I could get this same guitar with a Floyd Rose and more frets for this price. But this guitar is fantastic. And for those beginners who are thinking about getting a new guitar, forget about those strats and go for this one. You won't grow out of this guitar like you would a cheap strat. A strat of equal price, is nowhere close to the quality, and look of this Raven guitar. It's a fantastic guitar.

2001 Raven West RM2000 model in BEAUTIFUL Green/Black Quilt (REAL QUILT) on an archtop Mahogany body. Similar to a Hamer Archtop or Les Paul Junior. 22 medium frets w/ dot inlays on a rosewood fingerboard w/ maple neck.

Gold hardware on tuners and tune-o-matic bridge and stop-tailpiece. Master vol., master tone bell knobs. 3-way pickup selector. I like the headstock too, they payed attention to it and didnt' just put an ugly headstock on it. Neck profile felt similar to an EPI LP Classic Birdseye. 24 3/4" scale length, very fast and easy to play.

My style recently leans toward "neo-classical" fusion, but I also like Neal Schon, Randy Rhoads, Gary Moore, and Satriani. The RM2000 can handle all my needs.

Unplugged is has an "acoustic/midrangey" type of tone. I had a Dimarzio FRED and PAF PRO installed in the guitar before I got it. This is not knock on the Raven pickups, I wanted to try the FRED/PAF PRO combo.

When I received the guitar I plugged it into my TECH 21 TRI O.D. pedal into my computer's soundcard. Playing through both the "Cali" and "Brit" settings.

I've never come this close to Randy Rhoads' "Blizzard of Ozz" tone as I did with this guitar. Just the combo of the Dimarzio's w/ the RM2000 and the TRI O.D..

The guitar was set-up by Justin Coffman over at www.jcguitars.com. It was actually "too low". It wasn't buzzing or anything, inasmuch as it was "too easy" to play. So as usual I raised the action a full turn. Now I get the tone I like, and it feels better for bending.

The pickups were adjusted well. Since raising the action I didn't have to readjust the pickups. The controls are solid, and the pickup selector is good.

As I told a couple of my friends the finish on the Raven guitars, especiallly the Quilt Tops, are just beautiful.

There was some oxidation on the tuners, but I can live with that.

I believe the guitar will withstand live playing. The oxidation on the tuners might just be a cause of where the guitar was stored, but it will hold up now that it's with me.

The finish seems like it will hold up. Again, the pics over at www.ravenwestguitars.com don't do these guitars justice, and they are good pics too.

I would use this without backup mainly because there is no trem to worry about.

I haven't dealt directly with Raven West. Not yet any way. There is alot of positive feedback and now that I actually have one you can add my name to that ever growing list.

I've been playing on and off for 17 years. My main axes are the new Kramers. 2 Striker FR422's, Striker FR2027S, Baretta ST404S, Charvel "FrankenStrat" and an Ibanez AH-10 w/ Dimarzio Super Distortion and PAF PRO.

I'd researched the RM2000 alot before working on the trade. I really like the whole guitar, it looks great, more importantly it plays and sounds great. The Dimarzio's that were added finished off the package. I chose it because I wanted a set-neck, quilt top and double humbucker guitar.

Basically, from the reviews that I read the only thing that the Raven guitars are missing are better pickups. That's one of the reasons that I like the new Kramers, because of the Quad Rail pickups they have you don't really have to change the pickups out. Otherwise the Raven is a great guitar.

I'm glad that companies like Raven West, Route 101, and Music Yo are around because not everyone has the luxury of spending $1,000 on a guitar, but we still want to play quality guitars.

Two weeks ago, my RM-2000 cherry sunburst flametop arrived. I've played it a lot in that time, and it is excellent. It was a special from what Ravenwest calls "Flawland". It has a ding near the tone knob, but the finish was put on over the dent, and it doesn't affect the guitar at all. I had wanted the same guitar with the quilted top, but they were out of them and weren't expecting any anytime soon, so I went with this one, after Eric made me a great deal. There is no way I could get a guitar that looks half this good for twice the money. The one I got is not exactly a LP copy; it's a double cutaway.

I got this model, with the two humbuckers, because I wanted a more mellow tone than I was getting from my old Strat. The pickups are really good. I may replace them later, but it will be because I want to, not have to. I only have practice amps - no band, so no need for a stage amp. But it sounds great through my little Randall and even my Smokey.

It did need a little setup - because it was a factory second, it may have been sitting around awhile. I replaced the strings with Super Slinkys right away, and did some bridge adjustments, but that was it. The finish was beautiful; all the staining was excellent; much better than Epiphone LP's that cost twice as much. The gold hardware was in great shape, too.

After two weeks, it's hard to predict the long term, but I don't expect any problems.

There's a one year warranty - less than usual, because it's a second, I guess. But I recycled the warranty card - I won't use it. And though I don't know about service on the guitar, the sales service was INCREDIBLE! I first saw the website - ravenwestguitar.com - on the Friday before Christmas. After visiting every day for over a week, I e-mailed with an inquiry about the guitar. Eric got back to me right away by e-mail. I called and got his machine, but he called me back at 10 the next morning and I ordered the guitar. That was Thursday, and I got it Monday. No hassles; no problems.

I have been a very mediocre player for a very long time, but I love playing my guitars. I would buy another Raven without question. The looks and quality are unbelievable for the price. I can't justify buying a PRS when I'm only playing for my own pleasure. But I hope that I'll get to a point where I can think about buying another Raven. Soon.