Raven Violin Guitar

2002 manufacture. Made in Korea. This is a fairly new model based loosely on the Hofner violin shape bass. It's a solid body with a bolt on maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. The body is basswood with a ONE PIECE lightly arched quilted maple top. It is finished in a beautiful purple to blue burst color and has a creme plastic binding around the top. The neck features a Gibson scale and is satin finished with medium wide and tall frets. The headstock shape echos the Hofner with a cool graceful scooped profile. The PU's are chrome covered humbuckers and the tune-o-matic style bridge, trapese tailpiece and tuners are chrome too. It has one volume, one tone and a Gibson style three way switch. It came with Raven's limited lifetime warranty, a cord and adjustment wrench.

This is my fifth Raven review so I won't go over old ground. If you're interested in what type of music I play,what amps I use etc., see my review of the RM680,RM2000,RP350 or acoustic electric (I also own their great doubleneck but haven't written a review yet.) I will say that I use all my Raven guitars in the studio and they've all been great to record with. The sound is very solid and full. Raven PU's seem to be getting better and better, as I've said before,these pickups are the only import pickups I haven't instantly pulled! The ones on this guitar seem very well balanced. The basswood body is extremely light and resonant and you can hear the tone and sustain that a decent tonewood adds by placing your ear against the wood and playing the guitar acoustically. All of my Raven solidbodies have shared this trait and if you've ever had an acoustically dead solidbody (like those made of plywood)you'll appreciate the difference a good tonewood can make.

The guitar was set up very well right out of the box. I always adjust the PU's myself but the intonation, action and neck relief were adjusted perfectly. The finish was (as usual for Raven) gorgeous. The quilted top on this one is particularly impressive and the use of one solid piece of wood rather than bookmatching is a really nice (and different) touch. All the hardware was solid. The care a guitar maker takes (or doesn't) can often be seen (on bolt neck guitars at least) by the fit of the neck into the neck pocket. The neck to body fit on this guitar is one of the best and tightest I've ever seen. It makes my Fender strats look downright sloppy by comparison. In this category Raven always shines (especially for the $$$!)and this guitar is no exception. A solid 10 here.

My previous Raven's have shown themselves to be every bit as solid and reliable as any guitar I own. I think this one will be the same.

I bought this guitar from RavenWestGuitar.com and have had no trouble contacting or getting friendly and prompt e-mail responses to any questions etc.

This is another winner from Raven. I hope more musicians take the time to check them out because for the money these guitars can NOT be beat!