Reverend Slingshot

Stock, Slingshot- not a workingman's version. Eastpointe Neck- doesn't get any better!!! Lightweight, balances like a dream, could wear 2 of these and stilll not be as heavy as my Les Paul. Range on control pots better than most out there, doesn't get too muddy w/ roll-off. Wished I had the case to match- Mines black w/ the white trim. Tuners, above average.

Blues, especially slide, (hate the term)- classsic rock, country, only if it pays good.. I'
m a P-90 kinda guy, so this is right up My alley. The stock pickups give Me exactally what I want. Having a phase switch built into the tone control is a plus. Not too much hum for single coil p/u's. It's not too bright for My taste, good fat tones,.

Bought it off of e-bay, played out of box Rev's before, so I had a yardstick. Was going to order this model w/ the Hawaiian scene top, but by the time I had the $$, the guitar line went out of production..:( Had fret wear, and action was way screwed by prev owner, a fret dress and a set up brought it back to "buttah" like playing, like Rev's have- Not a fault from factory, just to be clear.
Being a repairman, had this baby screamin' w/in 1 hour. No-scratch finish is a plus for a working musician, no electronic issues

Travel w/ it, no issues, built to last. Some guys could break a bar of pig iron, this one will last me as long as I can play. since I play slide at least 1/3 of the time onstage, I always have at least 2 guitars, but no worries on thie ones reliability. Cahnged Fender style strap buttons to Shaller Straplocks- use 'em on all My guits, period!

Had questions about guit- called Reverend, very helpful, tho I dont know what they'd do for repairs, now that the line is out of production. I'm sure they will honor warr issues, tho.

Been playing 37 years :O Gig regularly w/ Les Paul Classic, S.G. Blueshawk, Heritage 535, custom made strato-s (made by Me). Play thru Victoria Bassman, Super Reverbs. Great old school jump tones thru Vicky Bassman, w/o hollow body feedback issues. I'd shoot anyone trying to grab and dash one of My guitars, this one's no exception. looking for another, maybe a Wolfman. Added "dice knobs" for cool factor. Find me the matching case and I'd be happy! If I find another Slingshot, I'll set it up for slide. I play this every day.

2005 Slingshot (Frankfort show model), Aged White, Tortoise pickgard, 2 P90, 3 Position selector Switch, treble and bass control, Fixed Bridge. Phenolic body, Maple/Rosewood neck Fretboard 009 gauge SIT strings. Locking Tuners. (see Reverend Archive page on their site)

I mostly record and write songs. No live playing yet, but in the process of rekindling live playing after a dry pause of 12 years due to lack of inspiration (did not touch an instrument during that time) maybe unconscious need to live more experiences to have more to express. I play all instruments (guitars, bass, percussion, harmonica, keyboards) except drum kits (Macintosh Garage Band,takes care of that).

When the inspriation came back in 2005: I purchased standard guitars (MIM Strat/Tele)and Ibanez AFS75RTD, not because of budget contraints but by efficiency. I always try out the top of the line models in the shop and then go down until I start hearing a difference (sound or playiblity) that I no longer can accept. Example: I have tried out the Gretsch line (vs the Ibanez) and did not see me paying almost 6 times more, better invest in a better amp/preamp and practice more. Same for the Fenders; the standard models are not perfect electronic-wise (though I prefer the Standard's playibility) but good strings and good amp/effects esp. (compression and enhancers)can make it sound as good as the American made. Did I mention practice ?

Back to Reverend: I am inspired by sounds. I plan in changing most of my guitars at any certain point in time (trade-ins, sale) to find newinsprirations.

Not so with the Reverend. It is a keeper.

Why? It is unique. First the reviews: most reviews always repeat the same cliches (even in HC), however for the Reverend guitars other words and images were used by the owners.

The concept: the lone builder with a clear idea (can anybody say Leo Fender ?).

The sound: no need for enhancers (it is naturally enhanced). Even the unplugged sound seems to be coming from an low volume on-board hi-fi amp. Ideal for all modern/classic pop/rock, would also work for rockabilly, if that is necessary.

Plugged depending on the amp: you get almost a chorus effect when clean or more a ZZ top when crunched and compressed

It is hollow and solid sounding at the same time. The strings have a piano like sound to them and reward confidant playing style. The attack transients are very particular (the Reverend sound i guess)

I would not use it for jazzy/ballady styles as its dynamics may be to assertive. Metal, though I do not play it, would probably require heavy EQ/compression but could be done. But then I could play Motorhead/AC/DC on it any time.

Weight: light as a feather. My wife says a girl could play this...), but not unsubstantial, you feel the guitar is there and it also vibrates like a archtop on your body

Look: maybe a girl would not play it, because of its cool understated macho look (more Clooney than Jagger).

Neck: you have played it all you life already after 5 minutes.

Bonus: I got one of the last original teardrop cases (almost cooler than the guitar), black with white sides with the Reverend Logo. Most of us would probably would pick up more girls with the case than with our guitar playing ;-)

Remarkable Intonation : tested it with other guitard. Actually it may be the best sounding guitar because it actually plays more in tune the many others.

Slight buzz on 6th string, but disappering after acclimitation in my appartment

Phenolic is light as plastic/strong as a linoleum kitchen table. I see no problem playing live with it, actually you could play a long time thanks to the weight .

You may have to check you habitual amp/compression settings, if you are used to Strat/tele sounds. But forget them and sound new !

Tuners are very orignal with round locking bolts on the underside.

Back up: only if you are afraid of breaking a string and

Bought it (without even trying the guitae) from the German distributor per email ( I live in Switzerland): Taranaki Guitar company in Germany. Arne Brill the owner is friendly and trustworthy.

Played bass in a group for over 10 years, then lapsed in to a 12 year pause due to lack of inspiration. Playing, recording and writing songs since 18 months again.

I play Fender MIM Stat and Tele, Ibanez Artcore AFS75TRD, Duesenberg Double Cat 12 String electric. Hohner and Ibanez (12 string) acoustics

Would buy it again and any other model on Reverend with my eyes closed and ears open

Reverend Slingshot: fit and finish are excellent, this is a very solid guitar. pots a bit scratchy though, but they are a few years old, so I'm not surprised. mine's an Eastpointe model (thicker neck, very nice playing neck). I hated the chrome arm rest, very uncomfortable. but I just took it off and sanded down the sharp edge under it, now it's very comfortable. also very lightweight, which I love. this used to be my favorite guitar, mainly only used for the neck position. over the past two years I have come to hate the pickups. they "purr" more than "growl". very fuzzy/hairy sounding, especially under gain (low or high). indistinct and weak. I think the semihollow body takes away the spank you'd get from, say, a strat. the neck pickup though is fairly sweet sounding ("piano like" perhaps). I didn't feel like swapping pickups so I just sold it. the semihollow body does impart an "airiness" to the tone, which I like, but again, the pickups were intolerable so I let it go. I love my gretsch pro jet, which does a similar thing to the reverend with its chambered body and mini-humbuckers--recommended. really though a pickup swap would probably make the slingshot sound great, but I didn't want to invest that much in a guitar, and there is a risk that the weak tone is a result of the guitar's construction, not just the pickups...not worth the trouble to find out. one thing that concerns me is the sound samples on the reverend website, every single one, sound like absolute crap to me. could just be their kingsnake amp that I don't like, or the microphones, or their settings, or maybe all their guitars actually do sound bad? but know this: I absolutely love my Reverend Drivetrain II overdrive, and the 12" alltone speaker was awesome as well, has that vintage american jensen sound, very sweet. They are also friendly and helpful people. I wish they'd bring back the workhorse line, nobody wants to pay $900 for a guitar.

here are some specs on the pickups and neck from Joe Naylor:
Reverend Neck: 22 fret, 25-1/2" scale, 1-21/32" wide nut, 12" radius fingerboard. Medium oval back shape like early 60's Stat. Eastpointe: Thicker front to back at the 12th fret by approx. 1/16 inch. Otherwise the same profile. Narrower at the nut by 1/32 inch total. However, string spacing is the same
Eastpointe: Approx. 7/8"(.875) at 1st fret, 15/16"(.938) at 12th fret.

Reverend P90's use a ceramic bar magnet and 42 gauge wire. The neck is
wound to approx. 6.5K ohms, the bridge 8K.

sound: 6

As an addendum to my previous comments concerning the business approach of Reverend I should add that I've never tried to run a business myself. The Reverend Slingshot is my favorite guitar and at one point or another I've owned a lot of different guitars. If I still had some of my vintage guitars I have no doubts that I would still be playing a Slingshot today.

I'm sure reviews before have covered most of this. I have owned six Reverend guitars and currently own five. My first Slingshot is by far my favorite. I think I bought all the guitars in late 2003 and 2004. This first Slingshot has a faux maple top and a rosewood fingerboard and is a premium model not a workhorse. For someone new to Reverend the Slingshot has two P90's. It's light weight!!

I think one of the great contributors to the mojo of this guitar that is often overlooked is the fact that the P90's are fairly weak in output. I think mine run about 8.2K in the bridge and 6.7K for the neck pickup. Most P90's are hotter than that more like 10k/9k depending on the pickup mfg. It seems most people think hotter is better...all the time. This lighter approach lets you turn your amp up and gives the guitar an amazingly musical quality that is hard to discribe. Lots of headroom with a very comfortable sound. I'm not talking about relaxed music though because I play a lot of hard R&B and Funky Blues in Texas. This guitar smokes and screams, it just lets the amp do the work. The Slingshot has a very different and cool relationship with the amp than a guitar with hot humbuckers that beat a preamp to death. It's the first guitar I've owned that has a great clean "and" a great overdrive sound. Combining these pickups with the semi-hollow body and whole design of this guitar makes it one of the coolest guitar I've ever owned and I've through a lot of guitars in 37 years of playing seriously.

This first Slingshot is close to perfect. I've had some problems with other Reverend guitars. I bought a demo Commando that I ended up sending back for fret/neck work because is was fretting out up the neck on whole note bends. Initially Joe wasn't too cool on the phone assuming I wasn't able to evaluate the situation. He then said send it back if you can't adjust it out with the truss rod. I couldn't and did send it back. He personally did a great fret job on it at no charge and no return shipping. I had another Slingshot that had a similar problem but not as bad and simply could not find a decent fret leveling/dressing person in the Dallas area to fix it...no kidding. If you have a good fret repair person buy them something nice. The rest of my Reverend's have been pretty good.

The non-metal tops on these are pretty much zero maintenance. I personally find the banjo style arm rest to be slightly uncomfortable but I think that mostly when I'm sitting with the guitar but I guess that's more of a feature item than an a reliability item. That feature made it a lot less expensive to mfg. these guitars.

Please see above....first rate. No answering machines or waiting on the phone. I've talked to Joe several times without knowing it for a while.

See above. I've gotten so many compliments on the sound of this guitar. It just flat out sounds great. It's beyond a few words of explanation really. I'm currently playing through a Fender Deluxe Reverb with a Jensen Neo. 12" speaker in it, TAD 6V6's and some very good preamp tubes. The amp weighs about 36 lbs with this speaker and the guitar in a gig bag is about 7 lbs. What a great combination for anything but hell-metal or a situation where you need a "really" loud unmic'ed clean tone. I can take one in each hand and go up stairs without much effort. Here's the editorial part: I think maybe Reverend has a very narrow business approach that is perhaps too conservative. I don't think you can get anything non-stock from them. It would be great to buy a pickguard assembly or a neck from them but I don't think this is possible. I don't think you can ask for a different pickguard color than what is offered stock. I understand the economics of this approach but I think it might be creating an overly ridged vibe for the company. This is just my opinion but I think in the music business you need to swing a bit. So what if someone wants to put a Slingshot pickguard assembly in an old Commando body? It's only Rock'n Roll.

This is a Canary Yellow 2002 Slingshot. It's loaded with Reverend P90s, string-through body, phase switch, Sperzel locking tuners...pretty much anything I'd want. I almost feel like the ridiculously feathery weight should count as a feature, too. It's pretty hard to make something incredibly light but with confidence-inspiring strength, but here it is. I also got a slick hard-case, but I guess that doesn't say anything about the guitar.

When you play chords on this guitar you really hear each string shimmering along with its five siblings. But like the Beach Boys, they manage to maintain the perfect balance between crisp distinction and smooth blend. Fabulous.

Best neck I've ever touched. Buttery smooth (maybe even velvety), with just the right action. Each element of the guitar is flawlessly implemented to yield a cohesive instrument that is equal parts machine and art.

I suppose if you dropped this thing from aloft (or even a loft) it'd be in trouble. But what hollow-bodied guitar wouldn't be? Otherwise it's a rock. Bonus points for the banjo-style "bumper" for your right arm.

There was some question as to whether this thing is "Canary Yellow" or "Aged Yellow." (Does it really matter? Nah. It's yellow.) But the folks at Reverend took the time to look at their records and hazard their best guess as to which it is (Canary Yellow took home the trophy). Keep in mind this is a three-year old guitar being sold from one second-hand customer to another. Reverend stood to gain absolutely nothing from their research other than the good graces of a stranger. Well they get the good graces this stranger and his 10.

You've probably caught on by now that I am enamoured with this instrument. I have/had a bunch of decent guitars...a gretsch syncro elliot easton, a epiphone casino, a hamer, a smattering of danelectros...but none is in the same area code as this thing. Heck they're not even in the same hemisphere. The sound, the touch, the build, they're all phenomenal. I guess at this point I'm supposed to say what I'd do if somebody stole it. But I'm sure you guys can figure it out.

Brought brand new from Junior's Music in CT. This is the "Workhorse" version that is no longer made. Too bad too, 'cuz this thing is an amazing value.
It's your basic two pickup guitar with three-way switch, master volume and tone. Nice vintage strat-style bridge with through body stringing. Excellent bolt on maple neck with beautiful rosewood board. Body is semi hollow with internal white mahogony blocks providing structural integrity. Top and back are some space-age composite material with a "pebbley" surface. The sides are smooth, white plastic. The body shape is quirky, but balances nicely for sitting and standing. Think vintage Danelectro with really good components and a more mainstream sound. The tuners are adequate non-locking types. The cool two-tone case was extra.
Overall pretty basic but what's there is very good.

I was looking for something between my Les Paul-oid and my Strat-oid vibe-wise, and this baby fits the bill. I play classic rock or something like it with some blues thrown in. The Slingshot will handle quite a bit of that territory. The bridge pickup is clear and punchy with a tele kind of vibe to it. Excellent for country-ish stuff as well as rootsy stuff. Sounds great with overdrive. The neck pickup is not as loud and quite a bit mellower. It's sweet sounding and not as punchy. My personal fave is to run both pickups together. With the semi-hollow body, there's a tone for you, airy with oodles of shimmer. Very tasty for first position strumming and leads.
The P90s can get buzzy when near a CRT or florescent lights, but that's not unexpected. The guitar could be shielded a bit better however.
The volume control has a great taper and sports a treble-bleed capacitor so that the highs are retained when rolling down the volume. The tone control is effective for about 2 thrids of its travel. Still this is better than a lot of really expensive guitars where the tone control is effective only in one tenth of the travel.

The guitar arrived with rubber bands for strings. YUCK! They played awful and sounded worse! After putting on my choice of strings and adjusting the truss rod for the increased tension, it played & sounded beautiful. The action is low enough for me with no buzzing. It's a sustain machine even when bending. I love the feel!
I adjusted the pickup heights some which is easy on this guitar since they are mounted to the pickguard and adjust like you would adjust strat pickups. The guitar doesn't have too much that can go wrong cosmetically since it's made from man-made materials. I could find no fit/finish issues with it what so ever.

I haven't had it long enough to tell, but I think that with reasonable care, this guitar will have a lifetime on par with just about any guitar on the market.

I have never had to get anything repaired and I hope that I never do. But, I do own a Reverend amp and have talked with Joe Naylor as well as others at Reverend. A human answers the phone and tries to deal with your question/problem (even if they have to go ask Joe first). They get lots of points for that alone!

I've been playing for 30 years with a decade taken out for other things. I own or have owned a vintage Gibsons and Fenders. I currently use a Carvin Bolt strat-oid and a Warmoth double-cut Les Paul Style. The Slingshot, for what it is, is as good an instrument as anything I've owned or played.
I was also considering a PRS SE with P90s and a Gibson Les Paul Special DC. While they sounded great, I did not care for the PRS's neck and the Gibson was a bit out of my price range. The Slingshot has turned out to be an excellent value and has a tone that neither of these other guitars had. I'm smiling soo hard that you can see my back teeth!

I did my first review of this guitar on 01/20/2002. It has been there & back..It came with stock p-90's, I put Duncan stacks on it, and it sounded great. I sold it and the guy put a pair of Gibson 57 classic's on it, and I just got it back, this thing smokes, very 335 vibe..

The sound has always been great on this guitar. The feel also has been great. It has cracked and came apart in the back, but alittle super glue and its back ready to rock. The gibson humbuckers gave this allready killer tone a boost in the classic 335 vein. Man what a great tone. Its fat as hell but still keeps its twang & articulation.
The guitar is just a great tonefull piece of art. Naylor should get lots of credit for this...

This guitar has been beat to hell & back. over 500 gigs & concerts. Lots of different players playing it and on many different amps. It has come through for everyone. The poor thing was in very bad shape when I just got it back, but 2 hours later, its ready to take on everything I can toss its way. 10 stars for putting this much work into a fairly cheap guitar. The Neck alone was worth the cost.

Excellent...

Was great, but can be hard to get parts for the guitar, like pickguards & pickups, he just don't sell em.

For what this thing is, its hard to beat. I have recorded & played every type of club inside & out. Its been a go to guitar. It can't replace my vintage strat, or replace a les paul, but for what it brings to the table is just fantastic. I have owned two, and I am buying another real soon...

This is a Workhorse Slingshot received directly from Reverend in June 2004. One volume knob, one tone knob, two P90 pickups, "Aged Yellow" body, white pickguard, rosewood fingerboard, with the graphite saddles upgrade. The Workhorse differs from its Premium series counterpart in that it has non-locking tuners and a single-ply pickguard. The guitar stays in tune very well despite the non-locking tuners. The guitar was purchased with a way cool two-tone black and white Reverend hardshell teardrop case. Really makes a statement when you walk into a gig carrying that thing! I'm giving a rating of 10 because it's everything it claims to be and suits me perfectly.

I'd give this guitar more than a 10 on sound if I could. I'm blown away by the P90s. I never played a P90 guitar before this and I'm now hooked. I play blues, roots-rock, classic rock, etc. The tone control in particular is much more dynamic than other guitars I've had, which makes it more of a useful tool and adds to the guitar's versatility. It can go from screaming, crunchy leads in the bridge position to warmer sounding woody tones in the neck position. The guitar also has some unique qualities due to its semihollow construction. I'd say the sound is warmer than the conventional single-coil pickups on a strat or tele, but brighter with more punch and clarity than a humbucker. I plug directly into a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue tube amp - no effects.

I know you're not supposed to give a perfect score, but I'm going to anyway. The guitar was set-up perfectly for me, including the string gauge of my choice. No flaws. Received the guitar in the mail and it was packed very securely.

Seems to be solid. I've played out with the guitar and I'm not the least bit concerned that it might be too "fragile" to stand up to normal wear and tear. I'm not overly physical with my guitars, but I don't pamper them either. This one will be around a long time.

Ten, ten, ten! The folks at Reverend are a truly customer oriented crew. I've only had positive experiences with them, and they go above and beyond the call of duty to respond to their customers' needs and questions.

I've been playing close to thirty-years. I gig out regularly, and have used mostly vintage reissue strats or teles in the past. Ever since I got my Slingshot, it has become my #1 guitar. It's lighter and more comfortable than my tele, and its sound takes a back seat to noone! The quality is excellent, and I like the fact that it has a somewhat unique design and doesn't look like every other guitar out there. I think you'd be hard pressed to find another quality American-made guitar at this price. I bought this guitar in part due to the consistently rave reviews on this website - and I couldn't be happier.

2004 Workhorse model Slingshot, burgundy red finish, nickel plated hardware. 25 1/2" scale, 22 medium jumbo frets, 12" radius fretboard, 2 Reverend P 90 single coil pickups, standard Gotoh style tuners, non locking, nice roller string trees, graphite nut, hardtail strat style bridge, string thru body.
Neck is maple with slab rosewood fretboard, nice medium C shape, rolled fingerboard edges, cream plastic dot position markers. The body is made from a plastic rim, with a solid mahogany center block and tone bar for sustain, phenolic top and back. Semi hollow construction.
3 way switch, master volume/tone controls. Chrome dome knobs for volume/tone controls.
Single ply white pickguard, unique shape, output jack on the front of the guitar.
Has a chrome plated arm rest on the upper lower bout.
Available with a case, I got the Reverend gig bag for an additional $25.

I gave this category a 10 because you can get many options on any of the Reverend guitars. Mine is what they call their Workhorse model, less available options, non locking tuners, single ply pickguard instead of 3 ply guard. Everything else the same as the Premium versions. Good value for the bucks in my opinion.

The guitar has a very full sound to it, I suppose partly because of the semi hollow construction. I have read some people describe the sound as like a fatter strat, but I disagree. Pickups seem to be medium output, they overdrive my main amp that I use quite well, which is a tweed 5E3 Deluxe I built myself. Hum cancelling in the center position of the 3 way. Overall, a very nice sounding axe, has a unique sound none of my other guitars has. When overdriven can do the classic rock thing well, and when cleaned up can do some nice blues. Gets a nice jazz sound on the neck pickup with the tone rolled off. Very versatile guitar IMHO.

Pretty much flawless as received. I bought it off their website as a guitar left over from a trade show. Only $480 for a USA made quality guitar. Very cool looking, nice vintage vibe unlike any other guitar. Very nice neck, if you like medium C profile necks you will like this neck. Superbly finished frets, they shined like little mirrors, no sharp edges. Nicely rolled fingerboard edges. Nut cut well, one tiny imperfection on it on the bass side, looks like a file slipped, but you gotta really look to see it. Doesn't bother me.
Top looks different, has pebbly grain to it. Hardware good quality, stays in tune very well, and I bend strings constantly since I am mainly a blues player.
When I first got it, the second day it developed a very annoying buzz on the high E string. I put on a new set of strings and that solved the problem. Keep in mind the thing just got shipped 1000 miles or so, with no problems when I opened the box. Action was set very nice at the factory, no complaints there.

Nice solid guitar, more fragile than a tele or strat because it is hollow on the sides, but the hardware and workmanship are top notch. I believe the guitar will be around long after I am gone. No strap locks, but the standard buttons grip very well.

I called once after I got the guitar to ask about the buzzing high E string, talked to Joe Naylor himself. Nice and professional conversation. Other than that, haven't had to deal with them except when I called to order the guitar. Shipped quickly with no problems. No hassles.

Great guitar, and for the money, you just can't go wrong. USA quality at less than $500. Highly recommended. I have been playing over 30 years, and this guitar is a keeper.