Reverend Club King HB-B

Right up front: I play lots of different kinds of music: jazz, blues, rockabilly, rock, surf, punk, ska, polka, funk, a little soukous, flamenco and -gasp- new age-y world music. I've been playing for nearly 40 years, and have only recently decided that I will never be a rock star because I like playing too many different kinds of stuff.

I own a Strat, a Heritage 355 Custom and a 1957 Gibson ES-125D (I have a few other accoustics and also spend time playing the vina, accordion and clarinet). My Heritage was my main guitar (primarily for blues/jazz/rockabilly), but a) it's a little touchy and b) it cost to much for me to take it out and play around town with the possibility of it getting stolen or messed up (it's real purdy).

I heard a Reverend at a Red Elvises concert and decided to check them out. Couldn't believe the sonic versatility, and then once I checked them out, the prices. I've been eyeing a custom built Tele with Joe Barden pickups and a Bigsby (I am a huge fan of Danny Gatton and had the privilege of seeing him 8-10 times a year starting in September 1976 until October 4, 1994). But that was going to cost in the $2K range.

I got a Club King HB with a tremolo in blue. I was going through a surf phase last year (totally into Dick Dale, Ventures, Los Straitjackets and the Surf Coasters) and really needed a tremolo unit that didn't affect the intonation. When I saw the Club King, I fell in love.

The setup is like a Telecaster, with the exception of the bass roll-off knob. I've always loved the wah-wah effect you can get palming the tone knob on a Tele (listen to Duke Robillard or Danny Gatton do it!) and have really wanted that setup. I haven't been disappointed. I was shocked at how nice the fit and finish was given the price. I have no complaints about the setup (close to perfect) and I only needed to adjust the intonation a hair when I put on my preferred strings (GHS Eric Johnson Custom Medium Nickel Rockers). Took all of 15 minutes to restring and make very minor adjustments.

I've had the guitar for 6 months now and have only played my Heritage twice since then, and the Strat sits gathering dust, (the Gibson is temporarily out of commission).

With the bass roll off turned off, I has a very nice full, ES355 or Les Paul-ish tone, with it rolled on, it moves more towards the Tele zone. I use the roll-off a lot when I'm playing jazz stuff (half-way) and funk (all the way on, with a Boss wah-wah that models a Crybaby, a Morley and a Vox wah). I don't think I've begun to get all the tones I want out of it.

I love the fat frets, and it makes me want to take all my other guitars in and have them refretted (except for the Gibson which has really fat, flat frets and plays like butta). I've moved to heavier strings recently (preferring their longer sustain and staying in tune), and although they chew my fingers up a little, I really like the feel of this guitar. It's crisp, precise, and balanced, (for me). I was a little worried that the narrow-ish neck would be a problem, but it has a nice balance and feels very natural to me. It's got a long scale (compared to the Gibson and the Heritage), but I really like being able to comfortably play up an octave from B: it's really extended my range without me having to really learn any new skills ;-)

The body is heavy, but since I'm way past my "leaping from a stack of Marshalls" phase it's not a problem. The tremolo action is amazing, and this guitar stays in tune better than any of my other guitars.

Fit and finish is better than my Heritage (sorry guys). Everything works like it is supposed to, nothing rattles or buzzes, and I really like the sound of the pickups: sweet, but nasty at the same time.

The sound is very Gibson-y. Not as clear as a Strat or Tele, but that's ok by me. I can get near Tele tones, and that's sufficient for the stuff I like to play. It's a blast to crank it up and play really loud rockabilly or punk stuff, and then immediately dial it all back and play some smooth porno funk, clean country or cool jazz stuff. It's made me realize I need new amps: I play through a Fender Concert and a Blues Jr. but they're a little too harsh for this one. My Heritage has a softer sound, but I love the clarity and bite of the Reverend.

Oh, and the surf tones. Don't get me started. I wet my own pants playing Pipeline.

Overall I'd rate it a 9, simply because my amps don't do it justice.

Setup was excellent. I bought it sight unseen, off the web. It arrived in beautiful shape, beautiful color, no nicks, scratches, dents. There is one minor flaw in the edge banding around the body, but it's minor minor minor.

I have to say that Reverend's manufacturing model seems to be right on. I have only compliments for how well my Club King was put together. It just felt right as soon as it was out of the box.

My only complaint (?) is that the tuners are a little bit of overkill. It's nice that they have special dealies to make it easier to lock the thin strings on the pegs, but I learned how to string guitars a while back and don't need this "feature". The tuners stay in place, even when I play hard, and have a nice feel to them.

I didn't have to adjust the pickups at all, and the only thing I needed to adjust was the bridge when I changed strings 30 minutes after I got it (they shipped with thin, old strings which broke almost immediately--of course I was putting it through it's paces immediately). It was originally setup for xtra lite strings, and I put on mediums. This is to be expected.

All the switches have worked great (one of my complaints with the Heritage) and the input jack is solid.

If I had to pick one electric out of the ones I own/have owned/have tried to travel with, this would be it. It's solid, very dependable, and looks awesome.

Never dealt with the company. It was great out of the box. Their customer website seems friendly enough.

I can't believe this guitar for the price. I freaked out when they stopped selling direct, thinking that the price would rise. It did, but I was able to find one for around $700 new. I've played stuff that comes out of the Gibson custom shop (just down the road) for 10 times that amount that didn't play/sound as good as the Reverend.

This is the stuff. Hat's off to Joe Naylor and his crew in Warren, Michigan. Makes me proud to be an American.

This is the 2-Humbucker Semi-HB model. Std 3-way Pup switch. Vol & tone dials, plus a "low" type of tone dial separated from the other two. Foreign-made, and set up by Reverend in their US shop before shipment. Nice woods, finish and construction.

The sound is pretty good from this instrument. The Semi-HB design produces a very nice, balanced tone for both chording and leads. I'm a single-coil Strat-lover, and the sound is pretty much HB territory, which for me means less-versatile types of sounds. However, for what it is, it sounds good. I like both pup's on for the richest sound, followed by the neck position. The pups react pretty well to volume adjustments, and you can maintain the sound character when rolling back. The separate "Low" tone dial doesn't do much for sound enhancement; i keep it rolled fully-on, as cutting it back thins out the tone too much.

For me, this guitar plays very well. The action was set low, and plays very smoothly without any fret buzz anywhere. The intonation is perfect ... which is a BIG plus to me, since my battles with Fender Strat intonation never seem to end. The "feel" of this instrument is very good ... the way it cradles in your body's sweet spot; the way the neck feels as you move around; the smooth pull-offs. One thing: your fingers will become blackened as you play .... i suppose due to the fingerboard oil that was applied. I called about this: the Reverend guy said it was the strings - obviously wrong, and i don't know where he got that particular story; but i haven't pushed the issue, as there's no apparent downside to it, other than dark fingertips.

Haven't had it long, but so far it seems well-made. For the price i paid - $549 - i feel its a good price point. (And, oops .... i banged it once pretty hard against a stair railing on the bottom end of the body ... no nick or scratch! So, i guess that qualifies as a "crash test" of sorts.)

Well, i'll give them a "7" because they're responsive, but have an apparent knowledge-gap regarding their product, due to the above-mentioned finger-darkening issue. The phone people really SHOULD understand what they're selling a little better than they seem to, and avoid such non-sensical answers as, "it's the stings". I've been playing for 30 years, and i've never had multiple sets of new strings turn my fingers black!

I'll give this an overall "8" because the guitar feels, sounds, and plays well, and is an overall good-quality instrument that compares VERY favorably to the standard Fender / Gibson factory stock of guitars that sell for MUCH MORE. Also, Reverend sets up the guitar in their own shop prior to shipment, which is a BIG plus, compared to just shipping a product out from a factory. Overall, this guitar could sell for at least double the price, and still compare well to many other brands.

The Reverend Club King HB-B is one of Joe Naylor?s 7 new entries in to the Asian-made, low-priced guitar marketplace. This particular model sports a semi-hollow basswood body with a solid spruce top and features two of Joe?s signature humbucking pickups and a Bigsby-licensed tremolo.

Other hardware includes: Sperzel locking tuners, corian nut and maple neck with rosewood fretboard. You get three knobs with these models: volume, tone and bass contour, which rolls down the bass to achieve a single-coil type tone.

For complete details on this and other Stage King models, check out reverenddirect.com

The guitar meets my needs, which were for a jazzy-sounding instrument that was both light in weight and price. It would also be good if it could cover more than just jazz as I play contemporary Christian music at my church as well as blues and funk at the occasional gig or jam session.

I should probably admit to a bias right now: I?m a big fan of Reverend instruments. The Club King makes for my fifth Reverend guitar (yikes!) and I?ve owned two of their amps. Part of it stems from my efforts to collect instruments by companies headquartered in Michigan (I collect Heritage axes, too). But it?s also due to the fact that Reverend makes cool stuff at decent prices.

Despite this, I can say that some of Joe?s gear better suited my needs than others, so some of it went the way of Ebay. However, I still have my Wolfman guitar (?cause it?s just straight-up sexy) and my Kingsnake amplifier (one-stop shopping for several cool tones).

Having said all that, I?ll just add that I can?t think of anything else the guitar could have on it for my needs.

Hmm?here?s where it gets interesting. Joe?s strategy is building guitars that marry vintage and contemporary tonality and function. I think he pulls it off. Joe?s humbuckers are a little less hot than their modern-day peers, but they?re still articulate and very quiet.

However, since I?m not one of those players who believe they stopped making great guitars 40 years ago, the vintage piece has never meant much to me. So while the Club King HB?s pickups are nice, I wish they were a little hotter. This guitar really won?t push the front end of a non-master volume tube amp unless said amp is cranked. But like I said: I was looking for something a little jazzier, so that?s only a small take-a-way.

Another drawback to me is that whenever I switch between the Club King and my Heritage guitars, I generally have to adjust my amp?s e.q. to bring the best out of each guitar. The Reverend pickups sound better with less mids than the Heritage Schallers and HRWs. While worthwhile, it?s somewhat inconvenient. Gotta knock another point off for that!

Overall, the neck pickup is warm and articulate, the bridge pickup is kinda jangly and the two of ?em together provide a smooth bluesy spank. And with very little amp tweaking, I was able to come up with convincing jazz-box tones from the neck pickup with absolutely no mud.

I was surprised how much of a difference changing the strings made with this instrument! Reverend ships their guitars with S.I.T.-brand strings, which have always sounded kinda bland to me. I put some GHS Boomers on it and things immediately improved.

While the bass contour feature sounds great on other Reverends I?ve played, I haven?t found much use for it on this axe. With the Club King HB, it looses a little too much punch for me to get more out of it. I think the spruce top softens the tone a little anyway so when you roll off the bass, it sounds a little thin.

This guitar holds up surprisingly well in medium- to heavy-gain applications. I?ve used it with my Barber Direct Drive, Reverend DriveTrain II and my ProCo Vintage Rat and it did exactly what I wanted it to do with each. It can pull off Santana-like tones as easily as it does harder-edged stuff.

Another drawback to me is that whenever I switch between the Club King and my Heritage guitars, I generally have to adjust my amp?s e.q. to bring the best out of each guitar. The Reverend pickups sound better with less mids than the Heritage Schallers and HRWs. While worthwhile, it?s somewhat inconvenient. Gotta knock another point off for that!

Great. One of the best-playing guitars I?ve ever owned. And I think it would easily pass most players? sniff tests in terms of build quality.

My only beef here is the Bigsby: it works but it doesn?t move the pitch as much as the trem on my Wolfman. However, coupled with the corian nut and Sperzel tuners, it does as great a job of staying in tune as the Wolfman. So, I can only dock a point for it.

Like I said, I've owned a lot of Reverend gear and I've only had one problem...but that was only because I accidentally bounced my Wolfman off the pavement in a gig bag. Otherwise, normal wear and tear won't be a problem.

This is part of the reason I?m biased: Joe and crew always have always excelled in this area, both in person and over the phone. I was basically able to call Reverend on several occasions to bug ?em about this guitar and others. Again, very helpful.

I've been playing for nearly 30 years now with periodic bouts of gigging. I've owned waaaay too much gear in my life but I appreciate the lessons learned from the experiences. I really know what I like now...and what I don't.

So here?s the deal?Think ES 335 but with but with some charming little quirks. The spruce top makes for a warmer sound, but well-focused mids keep things from getting too mushy, even in moderately high-gain applications. I can?t say for sure that I?d buy it again, but I could definitely see buying another Reverend?they just sound and play good!

One of the best stories I can offer about the axe concerns its debut appearance at rehearsal the first week I got it. The bassist and drummer were both diggin? on it somewhat as soon as it came out of its gig bag. Then the drummer (who plays guitar, too) played it and loved the way it felt and sounded. It?s one thing if I dig it; it?s another thing if somebody who?s never played one before gives it a ?thumbs up? one minute into playing it.