Reverend Charger HB

I own the prototype Charger HB, serial # 04933, initialed by Joe Naylor. Unlike most Chargers, this one is made of alder with a gloss honey finish. It also varies from the production model in that the humbuckers are uncovered. I like the tuners???Wilkinson???though I prefer Sperzel locking tuners which are found on other Reverends. The body is chambered, which makes it light and resonant, and the edges are rounded over (again, not like most production models). The neck is the best I've played. It was made in 2005 and assigned its serial # in '06. There's a 3-way switch for the two zebra humbuckers, volume and tone controls, plus the bass roll-off knob which is unique to Reverends. I love this feature. It allows you to re-voice the pickups and get an incredible range of sound from heavy thonk to chimey. Rosewood finferboard.

I find that this guitar is good for a lot of things???from palm-muted plucking Rock stuff to chimey strumming. It has better "thonk" than my Reverend USA Rocco, probably because it is all wood construction. The downside, perhaps, of the all-wodd construction, is that it does not have the well-balanced and clear tones at all frequency levels that the USA Reverends have.

The guitar's set-up and finish are flawless.

This guitar is very sturdy, and ver lightweight. Everything on it seems quite solid.

I didn't buy this directly fro Reverend, but I have dealt with them many times. They're great! It's a small company that is very responsive. Joe Naylor, the founder, frequently responds to question and comments on their forum website.

I've played since 1982. I would definitely replace this guitar with another like it if I lost it. I love the light weight, the great neck, the chunky sound you can get, but also the chimey sound you can get with the bass roll-off. I don't love it as much as the USA Reverends, but I keep it because there are certain thing it can do that my other guitars can't. For the price, I can't se how anyone could not love this guitar.

I have owned this guitar for approx. a year now. I have not found any finish flaws. I have the black with rosewood fretboard which is not available now. Great looking guitar!! I bought this because I own a Slingshot Custom with P-90's, and always wanted to try out Reverends humbuckers. I am not disappointed, these pickups sound awesome, especially through my Dr Z Carmen Ghia. I do not like the EZ lock tuners, they have 4 holes, each set is 180 degrees from the other(one upper, one lower). They are easy to put the strings on, and stay in tune, but when you go to take them off, you literally have to cut them off with a set of dykes, it's a pain! I only use one set of holes when I put new strings on. This guitar like all new Reverends, comes with the bass contour control, I personally am not a big fan of this feature. I noticed a significant drop in volume when you roll it off, I prefer to keep it all the way up, and use the tone knob, or pedals to tailor my tone. Like all Reverends, the neck is the best part of the guitar, a little bigger than my Slingshot Custom, but still a joy to play!! The body is mahogany, and tone chambered, making it slightly lighter, and giving it great tone.

I play blues/rock, so this guitar works perfectly. I use Dr Z amps, this guitar sounds great through both my Dr Z amps(Carmen Ghia head/1x12 cab), and Maz 38 SR 1x12 combo), but best through my Dr Z Carmen Ghia. I use a variety of pedals, RC Booster, Clark Gainster, Red Snapper, Klon, Supa-Trem, Line 6 Delay Modeler...this guitar and the Carmen Ghia in combination with the RC Booster, and Clark Gainster gets into the Robben Ford territory. I highly recommend those 2 pedals. I am getting a Zendrive soon, I have been on the list for 15 mo. now. This guitar will cover most styles of music, it probably more suited for rock and blues, but you could cover country too.

Guitar was set up great, I think I had to intonate it, and adjust the pickups, but that was all. Plays and sounds, and feels great!! Like I said, no flaws!

Built solid, will last a lifetime and then some! Very dependable, but take a Tele of some variety.

Reverend is a great company, I own 3 of their guitars. You can always call them and talk to a fellow guitar player about almost anything. Can you do that with Gibson?

I have been playing a long time, and should be a lot better than I am, I would buy another Reverend in a heartbeat, problem is, which one to buy?? There are so many. I bought a Buckshot, which I will be getting next week. I will post a review on the future for it. You can not get a better guitar for the money period!!!

The Charger reviewed here is a 2006 discontinued model purchased new in April 2007. The dual humbuckers are no longer available on the Charger, it is now only available with the P-90's.
It's hard to describe the body style, maybe the love child of a Les Paul and a Tele? funky, yet cool. Retro-modern might be a good description.
Mine has a nicely figured solid, flame maple top on a chambered mahogany body. The 25 1/2" neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard. The neck profile is hard to descibe, maybe a slim "boat" contour, but not too chunky.
It has a tune-o-matic stop-tailpiece bridge.
Controls are master volume, master tone, and an incredible "bass contour control" (see below). Pickup selection is via a 3-way blade.
Pickups are chrome-covered Reverend HB's. More on these below.

I considered several other guitars in this price range, including a PRS Standard SE, a PRS Tremonti SE, a Michael Kelley Patriot Custom, an Epi Les Paul, and three other Reverend models, including a Club King HB, a Jetstream HB w/trem, and a Jetstream 390 w/trem. The selection came down to the Reverends...the others weren't even close, especially the Epiphone.

I play Blues to classic Rush to Jimi Hendrix to Lincoln Brewster (contemporary Christian). I need something that can cover a lot of ground. I run into a Traynor YVC-80 2x12 with Hellatone 30's, with a boss chorus in the effects loop. I use the gain channel mostly, but also the clean channel with a BD-2/TS-9 setup in front. Also, I run through a Boss GT-8 straight to the PA for my worship band at church. I will review the guitar->amp sounds here.

First, there is very little noise, as you might expect with HB's. The pickups are not as bottom-heavy as you might find on a Les Paul, but still have that low-end growl. The balance between the neck and bridge PU is excellent.
Trying to classify these as dark/full/bright is difficult due to the bass contour control (BCC). I'm not sure how it works, but turning the knob counter-clockwise will progressively cut the bass, giving a more "chimey" sound reminiscent of a strat, but not all the way there. Maybe more like a P-90. In any case, it sounds incredible, and is infinitely better than a coil tap set up. Playing into the clean channel with the bridge pickup, you can go from a full HB tone to almost a Tele-twang. Again, it doesn't totally nail the sound of a strat or tele, but it comes close. Also, unlike coil taps, the volume seems to still be there. I think Mr. Naylor could make a lot of money if he sold this control as an aftermarket item for LP's. Incredible.
I would describe the output of the PU's as fairly high, but not anything like a Super Distortion. These blew the Patriot Custom away, but had similar output to the PRS Standard SE. However, the tone was overall much better in the Charger. I also compared this to a Club King HB, and the Charger had a "hotter" sound as well. This could be due to the maple top...not sure. Maybe I got lucky. In any case, this guitar can cover Country Tele twang to AC/DC easily. It does not try to clone anything in particular, but has its own distinct sound.

the guitar is set-up with medium-jumbo frets. I found the action to be very nice...not too low, not too high. Very good for aggressive blues playing.
The finish/binding/etc is very good. Nothing like a $3000 PRS McCarty, but for $500 I can't imagine asking for much more than I got. I was a little disappointed with the neck pocket on the Charger I have. Compared to the other Reverends I tried out, which had very tight pockets, mine has a *very* small gap on he low-E side. Not big enough to put a thin pick in, but it was there. You might think it would affect sustain, but my Charger has sustain for days. Other than that, the finish on the Charger Flame Maple is heads and shoulders above anything else in this price bracket, possibly up to around $1000-$1200. Tune-o-matic bridge was set up very well, great intonation. Holds tuning very well.

I have no reason to doubt this guitar is gig-worthy, but only time will tell. The hardware is of high quality, and the finish seems very durable. I feel like it is reliable enough to gig without a backup.
Like all new Reverends, this guitar was made in Korea, but it is strung and set up in Michigan. While quality might be suspect due to its origin of manufacture, I have only heard positive feedback on discussion boards, reviews, etc.

No problems, so I can't evaluate customer service. However, check out Reverend's web page and you will find that the owner of the company regularly contributes to forum discussions and responds to inquiries. From reading those posts, it also appears that he might be the one to answer the phone if you should call the company.

I've been playing for 25 years. I currently own a Strat Plus Deluxe with Jason Lollar pickups (Blondes), a GT-8, various pedals, and a Traynor YCV-80 2x12.
There's been only a few times in my guitar playing past where I got really excited about a particular sound: my first pinch harmonic, the first time I played through a cranked marshall, hearing my strat the first time with the Lollar Blondes, and playing the Charger with the bridge HB, slightly rolled off on the bass countour going through the clean channel on my Traynor. I love this guitar. If I had more money, I would have also bought the Club King HB. These are quite simply incredible guitars for the money. They could easily charge $200-$300 more and not have a problem selling them. If you can get past the "funky" body shape, you will not be disappointed. The only problem I have is with the neck pocket, but that is getting pretty picky, especially since it doesn't seem to affect sustain.
Look, there are better guitars out there, but nothing comes close in this price range. Nothing. For an all around, gig-ready, "cover all grounds" guitar, this is worthy of consideration.

Fantastic finishes... I hear the bodies are made and painted in Korea to cut costs, but you'd never know. *Other than the fact that the actual price on these guitars is just STUPID affordable. It's got fast volume, tone, and BASS CONTOUR knobs. Bass contour, you ask? Yes... and you'll love it. It almost makes the guitar sound like it's got single coils again. It's very weird; it's very amazing. Of course, the Reverend neck... if Gibson or Fender were to sell the necks and stamp their names on them, they'd make as much money on those necks as Reverend does on the whole guitar. And why? Because they'd market it as some "Premium Series" or whatnot. If you've never played one, just do it... but be prepared for a mind-blowing experience. Seriously. The feel and action and setup (ETC.) on every one of their guitars is better than anything else I've played. *And I've played about every mainstream/modern/vintage guitar there is to play.

Sound? It's THE REVEREND sound, baby. Not booooooooomy like a Gibson... not thin like some cheap Fender humbucker. It's smooth, warm, and balanced everywhere you play, but with the mostly solid body design of the Stage King series, you're also going to get a bit more of the traditional focus and/or bite of something LIKE a Paul, but honestly... you just might prefer it over the Paul, like me. *NOT saying the Paul is a bad guitar, but I will say this: 1) to find a REALLY GOOD one is A) VERY tedious... they're pressed outta Gibson's factory way too fast, and the setups are almost always pretty horrible, and B) if you find a Paul for 500 bucks that beats ANY Reverend, you let me know. The only Paul's I've liked are my friend's '69 Custom (a SWEET - and HEEEAVY weight-wise guitar) and a few other modern customs that are all over $2500... to me, it's just NOT worth it when the differences are primarily cosmetic (and MAYBE the guy at the shop put 5 more minutes into the setup time). I dunno... you decide. Bottom line: I've never played a bad Reverend, and I've tried A LOT of them... been to the factory and to music shops that sell them several times. Every time I've picked another one up, I've been thinking, "Maybe this will be the bad one... maybe this one will sound funny." Just doesn't happen. Yeah, some sound different, but whatever... I'm done. Go try one. For real.

Action = Perfect
Pickups = WOW
Everything is done masterfully on these guitars... Naylor knows his stuff, and honestly, while he's actually a really nice, down-to-earth guy in person, he's kind of a guitar FREAK. He's VERY particular about what comes out of his shop, and his designs and finishes and setups, well... again. Just try one. But remember: this is a bang-for-the-buck guitar that DOES NOT play like a bang-for-the-buck guitar. "You try it" may just mean "you buy it." (Or two or three.)

I've had my (discontinued) Rocco now for coming on 3 years. It's been setup maybe 2 times over months and months of hard-core touring. And here's what's funny... of all the guitars we'd have in the trailer, this one's tuning always held the best. As for my Charger HB... the reason I got this was because it was just like my Rocco, only slightly more focused and with a bit more growl, low end, etc. I have NEVER been disappointed with this guitar. It's REALLY, REALLY mean, and it's definitely road worthy to match. SOLID.

Customer Support is just one more area where Reverend shines. They setup their instruments the best because, obviously, they know them the best.

This is a great company that I feel every electric guitar player in America should know about. *Unless you're an idiot or an a__hole. Seriously... these guys are fantastic, their products are top-notch (and VERY unique/one-of-a-kind), so I just don't see any reason to shut-up about them.

I believe I officially own the title of "Endorser" from Reverend now, actually... and why? Well... it doesn't give me one penny of a discount, but what it does mean is two-fold 1) I've bought 3 of their instruments now (a Rocco, a PJ Bass, and my lovely Charger HB, in that order), and 2) I keep sending them business... because just about every guitar player that I get to know eventually tries out one of mine and is too blown away to not go out and buy one. Sometimes, it takes a year or two (like my friend Curtis, who's going out to get or order one sometime this week or my friend Mike, an AMAZING jazz/rock guitarist out of Belmont), and other times, it takes 2-3 weeks (like my friend Jon from The Great Fiction - www.thegreatfiction.com), but again... I know of few who have denied them and NO ONE who has ever even been disappointed in trying them.

I started out trying an older Reverend that I borrowed from a friend. That was 4 years ago. Since then, I've acquired 3 of my own Reverend instruments, and I couldn't be more happy with any of those decisions. From the moment you pick up a Reverend, I expect you'll be pleasantly surprised, regardless of whether or not I'd said anything.

God bless you and goodnight.

I bought the amber-colored Charger HB. It has a fantastic satin finish neck with a dark rosewood fretboard. The playability of this neck is as good as I have ever felt, and I own some high-end (aka "over-priced") guitars including fender custom shop models. The neck on this guitar is worth the price alone. It has 2 humbuckers, 3 way switch, volume, tone and bass contour control. The back and sides of the guitar are black with a creme binding, while the top is a laminated maple. The finish is very nice. It has Wilkinson tuners and a graphite nut

I play a broad range of music including U2, Tom Petty, The Beatles, Guns n Roses, Aerosmith, etc. The two humbuckers sound great. Not too thick; not too thin. You get a good full sound, but not overly thick like some Les Pauls. But also not as thin as a traditional Fender single coil. I love it, just right with no hum. The bridge pick up sounds great clean and distorted. It is bright with a nice bite to it while still having fullness and clarity. The neck pickup is full of warmth with deep low end. The bass contour nob allows you to dial in as much or little bass while preserving the treble... much better than a typical tone control.

The fit and finish are very good. Not perfect, but its not a $3,000 custom guitar. But it is every bit as good (or better) as the fit and finish of Fender American Strats. The action, however, is better than the strats. The set up was great out of the box and the intonation was right on. Reverend really shines in this category. I own 2 Fender American Deluxe Strats (and I do like them... but for $1,199 each) and the action and set up were terrible on both of them when I bought them new. Fortunately I know how to set up guitars. I give the Reverend a 10 in this category as well, because for $550 there is no better.

I've only had the guitar for one month so I can not judge the actual long term reliability. However, I am certain that it will be fine. The materials, design and craftmenship are excellent.

I spoke to the owner Joe Naylor personally. He took the time to talk with me as I wanted to share with him my delight in finding out about these great guitars. I'm sure he can't take the time to speak with every customer each day, but if you call him, he'll make the time.

This is a no brainer... 10! I've been playing guitar for 25 years. I've owned probably 50 electric guitars. For price, performance and style, this is the holy grail. Not just the Charger HB model, but the whole Stage King line. I played almost all of them at the local dealer in Atlanta. Finally someone got it right. Not another Strat or Les Paul copy, but something unique. Unique in appearance and tone. I'm not saying you should throw away your other guitars, but one of the Reverends should be in everyone's collection. And if you can only have one guitar on a budget of up to $1,000, spend $500-$550 on a Reverend and put the other $500 in your pocket. I'm really impressed!

As said,great neck,finish,and pickups with the bass contour. A great sounding two pickup humbucker guitar. My search is over.

This is the 1st humbucking guitar that I've played that I liked. Being a Fender guy, I never found any to suit me, tried most of them. This guitar sounds great bright and crisp cutting tone really. I play tube amps 58 Deluxe,Blues JR,and Pro JR. Effects include: Barber Tone Press and LTD Overdrive,Visual Sound H2O,BBE Sonic Stomp.

Excellent set-up,great neck good workmanship all around. The bass contour really works well on the humbuckers!

Well it's brand new but feels very solid. Like a top of the line guitar.

Been playing 30 yrs,know what a good guitar should sound and play like . This one's a definate keeper.

Beautiful wood and colors, all hand-assembled and set-up parts (including hand-wound pick-up's, etc.), and the Reverend-PERFECT neck (you won't even believe it) that everyone who plays is blown away by.

The bodies are cut and painted in Korea, but other than that, the thing is 100% US made, and the level of craftsmanship will stand for itself when you try one out.

Self-locking tuners that stay in tune as good or better than anything else out there--including the more recently used Sperzels.

The neck is positioned so that it leans out a bit more than the USA Retro series, which actually makes it a bit more playable as one can lean the guitar more towards his/her fretting hand.

Of course, while we're on the subject of the neck, again... it rocks, but the other great thing about the way this instrument is set up is the fact that the neck is REALLY pushed out from the body, and the cutaways are extremely pleasing to the touch... because you won't touch them. It's the most accessible fretboard/neck you're ever going to find; unless, of course, you buy one of those weird looking electric guitars that have no body to them. And hey, if that's your thing, enjoy it. *And leave me to my Reverend, please. =)

The actual character of this guitar is a little bit less beefy (in the low, low frequencies, mind you) than a Les Paul, but you'll be surprised at how smooth-to-punchy the midrange and sparkle can be. It's a VERY useable sound for many styles of music.

The Charger (like most if not all Reverend's) has a Bass Contour knob is extremely useful... dial it back for a bit less bulk in your sound, or take it all the way back, and you've pretty much got something that's in between a Strat and a Tele. VERY cool for switching sounds on-the-fly.

And let's not forget the LOOKS of these babies... it's smooth, period. It feels good in your hands... closer to the weight of a Paul, but more like the feel of a Tele-hybrid of some sort.

If you've never tried one of these, seriously... GO TRY ONE. You'll be amazed regardless of what type of music you're into. They are, in my own opinion, the most under-rated electric guitars out there, and I've tried almost all of them at one point or another.

This is not a weak guitar. As stated in the previous section, the Charger sounds closer to a Paul, but without such an extreme low-end "beef" that can honestly get annoying after a while. It's a smooth, rock-solid, rock-hard instrument that can find its place in any song due to the quality of its components, its setup, and its versatile voicings. No matter where you turn those knobs (so long as you leave the volume one UP), you're NOT going to get a sound that disappoints you.

As I've already said, but I will state again... Reverend knows they're stuff. I'm telling ya. I've been to the factory, and I've seen how they work. Joe Naylor has this stuff down to a SCIENCE, and he is a mad and obsessive scientist about his production. Every guitar that comes out of this company comes out 99% the same in terms of setup and action. It just doesn't get any better, but I'm serious... you really have to go and try one out for yourself. *Granted, if you can't make it to the factory, the chances are that, in shipping, something might have gotten moved around, or--worse yet--some idiot at a guitar store might have taken the liberty to adjust it differently than the factory specifications (which you can find online, by the way, and set it up exactly how the Reverend guys do), but under normal conditions, Reverends have--hands down--some of the best setups available (if not THE best setup, but anyway... you guys are probably starting think I'm exagerating, and yeah, I got a discount/sponsored price on my Rocco, but everything I'm saying is of my own VERY free will... I don't make something off of telling the TRUTH about these guys).

JUST TRY ONE. You'll see what I'm talking about.

I've been using the Charger on/off the road for a few months now, and it holds up just as well as any guitar. I can tell you this too that, back when I only had the Rocco, it held its tune and setup better than my buddies Les Paul and two Tele's. I don't know why... maybe it's the locking tuners? But either way, they are definitely work horses. They're built tough.

Reverend guys are great. I've spoken with Steve (web-tech-customer guy) and Joe (owner and president) several times. They are down-to-earth, modest, and HONEST guys. I own 3 Reverend instruments now, and each one of them is very special to me--and each one is CONSTANTLY getting someone else' attention: "What the heck is that thing? It sounds incredible." Then I'm always like, "Here... TRY IT OUT." Of course, the last SERIOUS/RESPECTABLE guitar player that actually tried mine out went and bought one a few weeks after. It's just one of those instruments you pick up and know right off of the bat--even before you plug it in--that it's something very special... that it was designed and built with a lot of thought and care put into it.

I've been playing guitar for about 7 years now, and while I'm not the most "80's super leads" technical player, I'm all about musicality, creativity, and TONE.

In the past, I've toured with various groups that have played huge venues... in fact, not that it really matters, but I've literally performed in front of well over 400,000 people thus far. *I've just done some huge shows, that's all--like the RCA dome with 43,000 people. I currently play in a great band called Schaeffer with some good friends of mine. www.schaeffermusic.com or www.myspace.com/officialschaeffer I'm also working on some of my own stuff at www.yrlk.com

Bottom line... I wouldn't lie to you. I've got no other benefit other than personal satisfaction that you will enjoy these instruments. Reverend is a top-notch company with really cool guys/families and ridiculously great products.

That said, there's nothing really else to say but GO and TRY ONE OUT for yourself. I'm telling you... it's like picking up a new and improved classic design that you'd have expected to see in the 60's and 70's... only Reverend's only been around since the 90's, I suppose.

I own a Reverend Charger HB and it is currently my utility guitar. The Charger is made for Reverend in Korea and is shipped to their US facility for pickup installation and setup. It has a chambered mahogany body with a solid spruce top and has an attractive shape which has hints of several other classic electrics without mimicing any particular model. The top is nicely bound. The two pickups are Reverend's own humbuckers--wide range but not excessively hot. Controls are volume, tone, bass rolloff and three way pickup selector switch. I especially like the bass rolloff because it is possible to get a single coil sound from the humbuckers. The neck is maple with a satin finish and tinted. It has a fairly slim profile, a great size for me, not as chunky as a Strat '50's neck nor as spindly feeling as I find current Fender C shaped necks. The 25.5 " scale fretboard has a fairly flat profile in rich looking dark rosewood and comes with the most polished smooth jumbo frets I have seen in a long time. The bridge is a tune-o-matic style with a stop tailpiece.

I needed a flexible guitar because I play big band swing with a little funk, jazz and rock thrown in. A guitar for meneeds to sound good at low volume but cut to the front for soloing and have some bite. Prior to this I had used Epiphone Casino, Dot, and Fender Stratocaster guitars. We do concert gigs as well as dance gigs
I play it through Fender amps--Blues Jr for concerts and Hot Rod Deluxe for dance jobs, both also running through the PA board. Unlike the Casino I can use effects such as volume/wah and compression without getting hiss from stage lights.
I like the flexibility of the pickups and controls as well as the added warmth of the chambered body. I get single coil sound as well as humbucker sound easily. No need to set up several guitars for a gig.

Since they set these guitars at the US facility it was good from the start. I've been used to setting up my own instruments for over 40 years and was surprised to have a guitar right from the get go. I didn't find any flaws.

This guitar is solidly designed and well made and is as tough as my Strats. Unlike the US made Reverends, this guitar is not made of composite materials. The staggered Wilkinson tuners and quality hardware appears fit for the long haul. I don't forsee needing a backup guitar at our gigs.

I bought this guitar at the Philly guitar show and had my questions answered by Reverend's president, Joe Naylor.

I've been playing for over 46 years, currently own two Fender Strats and an Epiphone Dot and Casino as well as a bunch of basses. I had considered buying an H/H Fender Strat, but haven't heard great things about the Fender humbucker sound. The only downside for me is the body shape makes it less comfortable than a Strat to play while seated. If it was stolen I would buy another in a heartbeat.