RavenWestGuitar Co. RM999

The guitar was mfg in 2007 and I have owned it for about a year now. Not sure exactly where it was mfg but the consensus is that is was mfg overseas.
21 fret 25 1/2 scale maple neck, ebony fretboard with medium jumbo frets which I believe are stainless. A cool blue pearl abalone scorpion inlay at the twelfth fret, newer models have a raven.
Solid body Carolina Poplar wood with a dark stain natural oil finish. The finish is a little rough in spots but consistent in color. After a year of playing there are no issues with the finish whatsoever.
Typical Strat 1 vol 2 tone with the 5 way toggle. Traditional three single coil Wilkinson pups. The pick guard is made from a quilted wood with matching pup covers, very cool and really sets this guitar apart from the all too repetitive Strat color schemes.
The brige is a Wilkinson tremelo which works well, no string breakage to date and I do a lot of bending. Grover tuners up top do their job even with the tremelo I have had no issues with the tuning except when it was brand new and all the components had some settling in to do.
I give this category a 9 due to the quality of the components used and deduct from a perfect 10 because of the rough spots in the finish. This is something a little elbow grease will cure.

I play a lot of blues and greasy rockabilly so I like a smooth to crunchy blues and bit of twang, with the solid poplar body and maple neck you get plenty of bite and snap. Add some distortion and and heavy rock tunes are no problem either.
I play through a couple of different amps my main amp is a Kustom Wav210 with a digitech screamin blues pedal to drive the distortion. The other is my more portable practice amp which is a Raven RG20, same name but not an affiliated company. Weird but I just realized the name thing as I was writing this, maybe I havs a subconsious thing for ravens? Who knows. Anyhow....
Noise is a problem if you are sitting in front of a tube type computer monitor, I switched to a LCD screen and it almost went completely away, but when you switch on the distortion noise becomes a factor again. I haven't done it yet but I'm sure the cavity isn't shielded and plan on doing that next string change this should really cut down on the buzz.
Depending on where you have the 5 way set and size of strings the tone possibilities are wide. I use EB 9's on mine and prefer thinner strings because of my style of playing. The tone is bright to full, not necessarily rich, it is a Strat after all. If you want rich get a hollow body.
This category gets an 8 due to the hum problem, but again it is a single coil design and this is a problem inherent in most single coil designs.

The Factory set up was fine and was actually in tune when I pulled it out of the box. Action is low without string buzz and the only thing I have done is a slight adjustment in the pup height.
Overall fit and finish is par with much more expensive guitars, the wood is not book matched but this is a players guitar not a museum piece.
All my knobs are straight the plug nut was loose so were a couple of tuner nuts so I just tightned them up. No biggie there.

This gets a 9, hey nothing is perfect...

This guitar is a tank and extreemly reliable. I have yet to break a string or really pull it out of tune when using the trem. The only uprades I would suggest are strap lock and a roller string tee.
The Wilkinson pups are no slackers and I have no intentions of replacing or upgrading them anytime soon. The pots and 5 way are smooth with no buzz or fuzz while adjusting.
I don't really gig except to get together with friends and family I suppose if I did gig a lot that I would'nt need a back up as it hasn't left me hanging yet.

This gets a 9 as it is a mechanical item and prone to wear and tear and I am sure that eventually something will break, even Maytags break.

Haven't had to use customer support but I will say this, Eric runs a top notch customer oriented company and stands behind his product. The few e-mails I have sent him regarding the pup noise I was getting were responded to promptly, you will not be dissapointed if the need for service arises.

This gets a 10. In todays insulated corporate world where customers are numbers and seem to considered a nusance when a problem arises Eric's personal and friendly sevice is a refreshing change that a majority of large mfg's could learn a lesson from.

I have been playing for just over two years now and consider myself to be a novice player (definitely not a Guitar George) I own three other guitars, a Epiphone Dot Studio with upgraded Gretsch pups, an Ibanez Art100 (single cutaway), and my Ibanez acoustic.
If this guitar was lost or stolen I would hunt the person down that stole it, but if he was bigger and badder than me I would just replace it.... seems easier. Besides for the price I couldn't touch a brand name Strat with the same quality.
What I love about this guitar in the uniqness. I love different things, not cookie cutter clones. The use of wood really caught my eye when I was looking for a Strat and after reading all the feed back and the fact that all his guitars had bids on them I felt I couldn't go wrong and I was right. The only thing I hate is the humm when overdriven, again this is common with single coils and will be remedied with shielding and probably a hum eliminator pedal.
I couldn't compare this to other Strats before I bought it as there are no dealers to go to and play one but I love a good deal and couldn't pass it up. This guitar is on par with models costing twice as much (three times as much when I bought mine), I am very satisfied with the purchase, the only things I would change are strap locks and the roller string tee, that's it.

Overall it's a 10. This is a fatastic value and only minor issues that are either inherent to design or easily fixed. If the guitar cost more than 600.00 then the rating would go down.

The RM999 is basically a strat knockoff. The Ravenwest is solid wood and stained so the natural grain shows. The pickguard is a laminate wood matched with thin strips glued to the Wilkinson single coil pickups. The guitar is very attractive and gets lots of comments. The weight is just right and slightly lighter than a LesPaul. The neck has a wonderful slick feel. Mine came set up pretty near where I wanted it. I have never adjusted anything, no buzzing strings and fast action. The tuners are grovers and as good as you will find. For the money you wont beat this guitar for an S model.

The sound of this setup is slightly less bright than a Fender strat. Personally, I like it very much. It is a great blues guitar and solos on this thing are the best. I play in a band and the other two guitar players have Mexican Strats. This guitar is far beyond a Mexican strat. The Squires arent even in the same continent. There really is no comparison in my book. It is creamy and rich with the amount of sustain you would expect from single coil pickups.

My guitar came brand new as all get out. The frets still had that brand new roughness. I tuned her up and just started playing some blues and bending strings. Over a short time the frets were nice and slick. I aint sanding jack. The finish is perfect for a working guitar. This is my main gig every week guitar. I try to handle it with care but, it has to work for a livin. I have been playing it twice a week for a year and a half and it just gets better with age. When the time comes to replace it as my working axe, if the time comes, I will replace it with a G&L that cost six times what I paid for the Raven. Nothing cheaper comes close.

Look, seriously, this is my working guitar. It will do everything you ask it to do and it will love every minute of it. The hardware is what you find on much more expensive guitars. Believe me, I shopped around before I ordered this one. I never take a backup to gigs.

I have communicated with Raven West and found them to be courteous but, I have never needed warranty work or anything.

I have been playing gigs every week, at least once, for about ten years. I have been playing for about thirty years. I own a stack of guitars including a Martin, Seagull, Washburn, Ovation, and a Les Paul. If this guitar was stolen I would shop around but, I seriously doubt I could find anything in this price range that is this good. I don't really care about names as much as quality. I have seen Gibson's that were garbage and Squires that were awesome. If you find a great guitar that handles like a corvette and makes sounds that stir your soul, hang on to it. This particular guitar is, for the money, a great workhorse of an instrument.

Transparent Satin finish Strat style body. Made in China. Heavy and solid. Pretty finish can see the wood grain through stain however uneven with front being smooth and back a little rough in spots. Nice tuners, guitar stays in tune even with some heavy note bends. Strat style bridge, trem bar is stiffer than a fender and a bit difficult to get a smooth and subtle bend. However it works and will just take a bit of getting used to. Maple neck is smooth, somewhere between a thin and fat thickness with medium jumbo frets. Fretboard has 21 frets with some very nice abolone Scorpion inlays. The 12th fret has an oversize inlay which intrudes in to the 11th fret and is a bit disorienting. Would have been better to use a smaller inlay and keep it all in the 12th fret. Fretboard is rosewood of a decent quality. Controls and pikups are Strat style, don't know brand but are quiet and have very good tonal range.

This guitar has an extremely nice sound. I play it through a Crate GX80. No need to replace these pickups. Sound is reminiscent of Hendrixes "Wind Cries Mary". Some settings even get that Stevie Ray Vaughn growl. Not as bright as a Fender but that's Ok, the sound in my opinion is more versatile. You get some very clean highs with a good fat tone in the mids and lows. Great Pickups, very pleased with sound. Music style I play is Vaughn, Hendrix, Santana, Deep Purple influenced and the guitar is perfect for this type of sound.

Setup was Ok not great, a bit of buzz on quite a few frets. However one turn of the truss and the problem disappeared. Must mention that buzz only appeared when playing unamplified, through the amplifier it was fine and after adjustment the sustain improved as well. Pickups were adjusted perfectly. Carolina Wood "poplar" body has very nice look with great sustain. Very solid and heavy. Neck fits beautifully and all controls are quiet and responsive. Bridge is of very good quality with a so-so trem bar. Action is very good not as good as my Les Paul but very close. The frets are a bit rough but are Ok and with a little work will be just fine, I currently have no need to rush out and fix them as they are very playable, just have room for improvement when I get the time. The biggest flaw is a poorly cut horn, it is not a smooth interior arc and has a few flat areas where the cut was started and stopped. It requires close inspection to see it and is not noticeable from a few feet away. Finish is another lowpoint on the body. It is rather thin and will be easy to scratch, it's also rough in some areas of the back, A little inconsistent.

This guitar is a "Tank". It is made for gigging and will stand up to heavy use. It won't look pretty after a year or two but I don't really care about that. I like the look of a vintage body that shows character and this guitar will show it pretty soon. Strap buttons are solid and oversized. This is a guitar you could depend on and if I was crazy enough to play without a backup this guitar would fit the bill.

Limited Lifetime Warranty comes with the guitar and Eric is a top notch guy and willing to stand behind his product 100%. He has emailed me with several helpful tips and even offered a complete refund when I told him about the minor issues. I kindly refused the refund and am going to keep this baby.

I've been playing since I was 12 years old, I'm now 55. This is the only guitar I currently have but have owned around 20 guitars in the past. A few are 1970 Les Paul Deluxe, early 60's Paul Jr, Gibson BB King, Gibson Hummingbird, 70's Martin D35 and a few other very nice guitars that pains me to try to remember. I have never owned a Strat and never felt comfortable with the Fender, action felt stiff and the fretboard was a little too greasy smooth if you know what I mean, but loved the sound. This guitar has the feel I like and the sound is awesome. The Mexican Fender Strat's don't even come close to this guitar in sound and playability. Even though I mentioned a few flaws this gutar is an incredibly good value, easily worth 2 times the amount I paid for it. With the great customer service and the Bang for the Buck I am planning on buying a couple more guitar models from this company in the near future to get my collection going again. Kudos to Raven West, Great Stuff!!

The finish is a matte purple, the grain of the wood can be seen through it as well. And the pickguard is made of some sort of striped wood that really sets it apart. These guitars are made overseas, but it hardly shows.

I like to play anyhting ranging from sanata to Social Distortion and this guitar gets the job done. I run it through my Yamaha Magicstomp, then into my peavey valve king on the clean channel and it really opens up. it has a very open sound, and is fairly strat like in tone. these pickups do not fare as well with high gain, but they are single coils so that is understnadable.
Also this guitar holds its tuning very well. better than my hard tail guitar.

Out of the box the action was reasonable, but higher than my liking. And the trussrod needed some adjustment. The fret edges are not perfect, but the problem is hardly noticable. and on of the tone knobs is slightly crooked as well. the nut needs a little adjustment as well, but not that much of a problem.

I have banged it around the house, but have no gigging experience so i cannot comment here.

have sent them an email and they replied fairly quickly. but thats all the experience i have with them.

This guitar is well worth the price, which may vary if you buy from their ebay auctions. I would put this guitar against a fender standard anyday. the overall sound is superior, and it plays just as well.