Raven RSM-1000

Korean made around 2001, 24 frets, one volume, one tone, 5-way selector switch. It has G&B pickups (Korean made) in a H-S-H configuration. It has a basswood body with an absolutely gorgeous see-through red quilted top. The neck is a hard maple satin finished bolt-on. Gold Floyd Rose licensed tremolo. Lefty.

I play mostly metal, although with the 5-way selector you can get a lot of different sounds out of it. I'm playing through a Marshall MG100HDFX head running into a Randall R412 cab. It sounds wonderful. Of course, sound quality is always a subjective issue, so to each their own. It sounds much better than my Schecter which has Duncan Designed pickups in it (not to knock Schecter or anything). It is noisy when using just the single coil pickup... but it's a single coil. That's gonna happen. You can get a nice variety of sounds by just switching between the pickups. On position 5, you get a bright, crunchy sound, on position 3, you get the thin single coil Strat-type sound, and position 4 is a combination of the two, like a humbucker with some of the "stringy" characteristics of the single coil. Position 2 has a very smooth clean sound to it, sounds very jazzy. Position 1 is thick and bassy. All positions sound great clean, although positions 2 and 4 sound kind of nasty (not in a good way) when distorted. But like I said, quality is subjective. I'll give a 9 here for the wide variety the pickups give.

Everything was set up nice. The action is great, and that coupled with the nice neck makes for a very playable guitar. I've gotten my hands on a few $2000+ guitars, and this guitar plays just as well. No fret buzz anywhere, the finish is perfect, and the tremolo is very tight. I put it through the wringer, pulling it up and down and up and down, even holding it down and knocking the strings around, and when I let go, it is still PERFECTLY in tune. Very nice. Only thing that isn't perfect is the fact that the two humbucking pickups will rock if I push down on either side, although they won't move otherwise. This very minor flaw doesn't affect anything, but nonetheless it makes the setup not perfect so I can't give a 10.

This guitar will last me a very long time. Period. As per Murphy's law, it's not a good idea to gig without a backup, but if I had to, I wouldn't be worried.

Eric from Raven West Guitar is the nicest music equipment salesperson I have ever dealt with. Period.

I have been playing for seven years. I have all kinds of gear, too much to list here. Although it is worth noting that I got a Raven bass a couple of years ago, and that is one reason I came back to Raven when I decided to get a new guitar. I'm a lefty, so good guitars for me are hard to come by. They're either cheap (as in cheaply made, not cheaply priced), or if they're any good, they're expensive and usually get discontinued quickly because they don't sell. Raven is one of a small handful of manufacturers that actually offer a lot of their models left-handed, and they actually look nice, as opposed to the boring all-black lefty models of big-name companies. I actually had a choice of color when I bought this guitar. Lefties never have a choice of color. So many brownie points to Raven just for that. If it were stolen or lost, I would buy the exact same thing without thinking twice. Do not let the price fool you! Like I said in the action, fit, & finish category, I've played some very expensive guitars... my Raven is just as nice in every way. I'd rather be sandblasted in the face than play another guitar. And that, my friends, is the honest truth.

There is nothing bad I can say about this guitar. It has tons of nice features: 5 pickups(2 sets of 2 and a 1), a tone knob, a sound knob (of course), a 5 set tone switch, 24 FREET!!. All of this adds up to nice sound and awesome looks.

This is a great guitar for any style you want. It does good clean sound, and also great rock distortion. It easily make loud sound and the 5 humbuckers really help.

I have a beauitfull red and yellow. It came in top shape and I haven't found a problem yet.

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(the yellow is a little hard to see in this pic, but its awesome)

This guitar takes a beat and keeps on going. Nothing on it has seemed to be harmed or anything. It stands it's own. I carry it everywhere in a gigbag. Though, I might recomend a case due to it's head sticking out a little farther than most usualy guitars.

The company was great to work with.

LIFETIME WARRANTY!!!!!!! You can't beat that!

I read many review like this place, and I almost thought this guitar was too good to be true. But it was everything and more than these reviews have told me. I haven't been playing really this long, but I've compared this guitar to similar Fenders and LTDs... and it blows them out of the water with sound, looks, durability, and most of all price. I saved nearly $400 compared to other makers. I strongly recomend this guitar to any buyer. Also check out the other raven brands. The RX620 is also very nice.

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I believe it was made either 2000 or 2001 in Korea. It has 24 frets and a solid body top. Very nice looking in what Raven calls Ocean Blue. It is a black to aqua-blue finish and it is very striking! It has one volume and one tone knob with a five-way selector switch. It's pickup configuration is Humbucker, Single Coil, Humbucker. The make and model of the pickups are unkown and I was told "high-end Korean pickups". Interate that how you will. The electronics are passive. The body is made of Basswood and the neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard. The finish is maple(?) with a beautiful flame finish in what Raven calls "Ocean Blue". It goes from black to Aqua-Blue and is very striking! Beautiful finish! One of their best I think. The body style is "Strat-Like" but more similar to the Ibanez style guitars with the pointed wings. The bridge is a floating Liscensed Floyd Rose and all of the hardware is black. Tuners are Gotoh style and seem pretty good, standard Gotoh style... The neck scale is thin and very fast and the neck has jumbo frets with shark fin inlays.(Actually the guitar as purchased had a neck with dot inlays but I purchased a new and different neck from Raven themselves in order to get the shark fin. The RSM 1000 does not come with shark fin inlays and I changed the neck becasue I thought it would look better which it does! The shark fin inlays with the Ocean Blue flame look fantastic! The neck also has binding on the side which the original neck did not. The new neck from Raven cost me about $90 but it came with the Floyd Rose locking nuts attached and the machine heads and tuning keys, all I had to do was bolt on the new neck and then Bingo!) The accessories included with this guitar were a cheap chord, and allen wrenches....

The guitar suits my style of playing, I play mostly heavy metal/hard rock/classic rock. I am using a Marshall 900 JCM combo with a multitude of Boss effect pedals, Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb and a Guyatone Metal Monster, along with a Cry Baby Wah pedal. The stock pickups on this were better than on my other Raven which is the RX620 model. They actually were quite bright and their sound was good. Unfortunately I had already gotten new pickups for this guitar to swap up and upgrade. I put in a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge, a Seymour Duncan Cool Rails in the middle and a Dimarzio Air Norton in the neck. I never played the guitar enough with the original pickups to really give an honest an accurate assessment of their sound and capabilities. I think the thing I disliked about their stock pickups that Raven uses is that they are weak and only moderately adequete for really playing and sounding great. I know alot of people like the stock pickups but they just don't cut it with me...I guess it is all a matter of personal choice...

The factory setup on the guitar I thought was poor. The pickups were very loose and the bridge pickup was tilted horribly so that it hit the high E string with you plucked it. The pickups sounded ok but they definitely needed the heights adjusted properly. The finish was bookmatched perfectly however and I could not spot any flaws with it at all. All of the routed was done accurately and I did not notice any flaws at all on this guitar. The hardware was nice and the kobs and the selector switch worked perfectly together. Nothing was loose and I noticed no shoddy workmanship on the guitar as a whole

I think that this guitar now with my upgraded pickups will withstand live playing in a heartbeat. The hardware seems as if it will last but I am sure that there are people out their who would upgrade that as well....for me it is just fine. The finish seems if it will last forever and it is very nicely done! Their is enough clear coat on the body so that unless you drag it across cement the finish will last a long time. The strap buttons seem solid but I am sure that there are people who whould put on strap locks right away,...your call really they seem OK to me. I think this is a very solidly well built guitar, that is very dependable and very versitile for whatever style of music you play. Would I use it at a gig without a backup??? I guess you never use a guitar at a gig without a backup but I think this could handle the job if need to.

I have dealt with the company and Eric at Ravenwestguitar is GREAT! very friendly and fast with his replies and a straight shooter. I wanted the RSM 1000 with a neck with shark fin inlays and he told me that they did not have one like that but put me in touch with Raven Guitar themselves with a name and I could check with them. The story... I got the neck with the shark fin inlays a week later. Great customer service. Never tried to get it repaired by Raven I have a great Guitar Tech I go to here and I will only take my guitars to him no matter what. They do have a lifetime warrenty on all of the Raven guiatrs but it becomes null and void as soon as you modify the guitar yourself. Eric explained this to me very nicely over an e-mail and I understand completely...but I modified it anyway to my liking. These are perfect guitars for you to mod' up!

I have been playing seriously for 2 and a half years and on and off for 10. I have a ton of other gear, 10 guitars in all including this one. I have a Gibson Les Paul Ace Frehley model, a B.C. Rich customized Warlock, a Fender Standard Stratocaster, and ESP 7-String, A Raven RX 620, an OLP MM1, a Peavey Reactor, a Deluxe Super Strat, an Ovation Accoustic and this Raven RSM 1000. I play through a Marshall JCM 900 and have a ton of Boss effects and a few others....

I wish that I could have asked to have the neck type I wanted before I bought it but things worked out in the end anyway. If this were lost or stolen I would definitely buy it again but I would look around a bit and see what else was out there. This is a modified guitar and I bought it specifically for that... I might have looked into a Kramer or something else but I am extremely happy with this Raven and I think it is a fantastic guitar for the price! I would compare this to a Jackson soloist it has all of the features at a fraction of the price. I can't afford a nice Jackson so I got this instead. I think in the long run I made out like a bandit! Would not trade it now. I wish it had the coil tap that my other Raven had but with the Tone Zone it has a much fuller sound no and it can do a alot of nice things with the differnt pickup combos. I would like to share that Raven guitars are really a diamond in the rough, and the best kept secret out there of really nice, well constructed, quality import guitars.... before looking into the others companies cheap import guitars I think everyone should give Raven a try. You will not be disappointed! These are great guitars!!!

It's a beautiful guitar obviously the best feature is the paint job it is supurb. It is a 24-fret guitar, optional wammy bar, and sounds great.

It sounds great with my grunge distortion pedal.

It was set up great the pickups were adjusted properly and the strings were tuned when I got it in the mail.

I only had it for 8 months now and it has been holdong up very well.

They were great.

This guitar is as good as the best brands out there they would make a very good competetor, because of the quality of the guitar and the price they sell the at. (my guitar cost a little bit more because I'm left handed).

A 2000 Korean made model. That has a great Ibanez-like wizard neck and cool shark fin inlays, which is great for faster playing and comfortablity. It has a cool Blue flametop that fades in to black, it looks really sweet. It also has a Floyd rose floating tremolo, which seems to be very common now. It also has a basswood body and a h-s-h Pickup setup.

I love the way this thing sounds, it unbeatable for the great low price. It sounds better than all those crappy RX ibanez which cost about the same or more. This things awesome, the single pickup has a bit of a buzz to it when the volume is high, but otherwise is great. The hums are great too, very metal or thrash sounding, yet very clean. This thing can pull a nice classic rock sound if you just switch the single (I switched it with a Fender Noiseless) which is a great feature to have open to you. This thing is comparable with the lower end of Ibanez guitars (not RX's though, those things a crap) which is great for the price. I think my Ibanez RG 220 sounds a better but also cost me about $450, compared the 250 for this great piece of work.

This thing has cool options for paint jobs, all of them are a cool flametop, which is becoming one of my favorites. The action was also great, just like an Ibanez, great for thrashing or just being able to get around the fretboard faster.

I wouldn't know, I have only had it for 2 years, but this thing has held out great, I have had no problems. So I gave it a ten, but you guys shouldn't totally count on this due to the short time I have had it.

Don't know, never talked to them

This thing is the greatest guitar ever in this price range. I love it, I wouldn't trade it for my Ibanez, but this thing can really rock. This guitar is highly reccommended for everyone. Even for all those experts out there that just want to mess around with a great sounding, low priced guitar. If you have money to spare I would buy one of the Ibanez RGs (one of the higher ones, the ones that start at about $450). But if your on a short budget (or want 2 great sounding guitars for the price of one) this is the guitar for you.

2000 model,Korean made,24 frets,maple neck with rosewood fingerboard,nice flame top mine is blue with a black burst around it,Floyd Rose licensed bridge,h/s/h pickups,1 volume 1 tone knob and 5 way switch and basswood body. Neck is very thin with smaller frets

The bridge pickup is kind of weak in my opinion,but I like high out put pickups.Sounds good clean. I have an Ibanez 225C amp it sounds good on that ,but sound much better on my Laney Gh50L half stack(everything sounds good on it!).Single coil pickup is noisy other ones are quiet.Good guitar for heavy metal real trebly.

Guitar came shipped in perfect intonation and nice low action.Bridge pickup was a little low.No major flaws on mine just a loose tuner and a little finish build up on back of headstock nothing to fret especially in this price range.

This guitar is built good.The hardware is decent.Finish is nice. Strap buttons feel secure.I feel its dependable I wouldnt gig without a backup only because of broken strings,but thats not because of the guitar.

Havn't had to deal with them but when I bought it they were very nice and even followed up to see if I as satisfied.

Ive been playing for 16 years, I have 3 Les Pauls an Ibanez PS10,Washburn PS500,Washburn EC36 and this guitar honestly plays just about as good as any of them.If it was lost or stolen I would get another one you just cant beat the price.If you want an Ibanez RG you might want to check this out instead you can by 2 of these.

98/99, Korean Made, 24 Frets, Basswood with Flame Body (Mine is a VERY cool dark transparent purple-burst, with blackish runs through finish, Hard Maple Neck, Die Casting Machine Heads, 2-Humbucker Pickups, 1-Single Pickup, Rosewood Fingerboard, Floyd Rose -111/D Bridge and Black Hardware, 24 Frets, Metal Knobs, Bolt on very thin (but definately not flimsy) Neck with (25.5") scale. (courtesy of ravenguitar.com. check it out!)

I love this axe's look. Its thin, light weight, but not cheaply so. Its modeled after the ibanez rg series or various Jacksons, and well done under any standard. Only reason i'm not giving it a 10 was that the screws that hold the pickup plates in could be a little longer so as to support more messing with. That, and the Floyd Rose was a teeeeny bit wiggly.

It suits my sound taste well, i can get some good, bright clean from it, and it has a tone nob. Its not noisy, and i play it through a Crate GFX-15. The distortion sounds good through it, and the highs are really sharp. I love that cut. It doesn't have the most variety, but then again amps will usually supply most of it. Only dislike is that since it is a 24 fret neck, the rhythm humbucker isn't on the harmonic, so its not as "rhythm" as it could be. Ok trade off though, you do get 24 frets.

I like the action. I shred every now and again, and the action is just perfect for that. Only thing is i use a Xtra Light guage string set (9-46 i think) but replace the 9 with a 10 so as get rid of the tiny bit of buzzing on the low frets. The pickups are lined up corectly, and the pickup height is easily adjusted. There were no flaws on mine, except that since i had it shipped through mail, the wiring was knocked loose during shipping. Not a manufacuring flaw, but something. It was fixed in 1 minute; crack it open, uncross, seal it back up.

Very reliable, never had a problems with it. Hardware, with maintenance, is sturdy, and the finish is solid. Strap buttons look good, (i still may replace them with locking ones though.) I would gig with it, but with a backup because i am very cautious.

Never dealt with Raven. It does carry a Lifetime Warranty though, which is a lot to say.

I am very happy with this guitar. For the price i paid it is easily as good as those Ibanez guitars that go for 2x as much.