Reverend Spy

As previous reviewers have said, the body is made of a pretty strange mix of plastics, wood and metal. Whatever it is exactly, is is VERY light. The neck of mine is a one-piece maple older eastpointe number, and is quite chunky, but very comfortable. I prefer a good handful and a wider neck, so it's perfect for me. The features are pretty basic, three pickups, 5 way switch, volume knob, tone knob, set bridge. And one needs nothing more...

I can't fault the sound of this guitar at all. It's the nicest I have ever owned, and perhaps ever played. It sounds quite individual - somewhere between a 50's strat, a much less beefy and middly ES 335 and, nearest of all, an old danelectro or silvertone type thing. Thankfully it's not as harsh as the modern danos, and it hasn't got the same glassy bite of a strat. It sound's sweeter and rounder, the neck pickup being my favourite; warm and bell like. I did need to raise all the pickups however, the bridge one was quite weedy until I set it quite high, and now it has a lot more balls than I thought it capable of. Before I raised the pickups the guitar responded much better to a lighter touch than lots of attack, but now it does both beautifully. The tone knob is much more usable than I've found on other guitars too. You can almost get a Charlie Christian-ish sound out of it with it rolled all the way down.

On the whole, no problems that weren't solved easily enough. As I said above, I had to raise the pickups. The selector switch was a bit noisy and needed a clean, but that's probably not a common problem. Because I play with a heavy attack I needed to change the bridge saddles to graphite ones, but I've had to do that on most of my guitars - there were no jagged edges or anything.

Everything is built to last, and I trust it implicitly. It's been kicked about a fair bit on tour, and it somehow still looks as good as new.

I've never had to try and get any.

For the price it's a steal, despite the fact a paid far much more for it in Engoland than folks in the US have to. The sound is priceless, and it's so much cheaper than vintage stuff that's comparable. I use it mostly through a Music Man 210RP or an old Selmer Treble and Bass, and it loves the amps and the amps love it. It responds better to a least a few valves, but then what doesn't? I will never part with it, and if it was stolen I would do my damnedest to replace it, although I might have a job finding one...

Mine is a light blue USA-made Spy probably from the late '90s.
It has the standard 3 lipstick single-coil pickups (with 5-way selector switch), with the optional maple fretboard and bigsby tremolo.
the body (like all of reverend's bodies) is their phenolic laminate semi-hollowbody with a mohogany center bolck and internal steel sustain bar. This may seem strange, but the sound and tone is beautiful.
the tuners on this one are not the locking Sperzels found on many Reverend guitars.
it also has a tone control switch that does something to the tone when two pickups are selected, but I don't really use it much, so I can't really tell you much about it...

I've gotten more into the crisp single-coil sound in the past few years so I've gotten away from the gibsons and hollowbodies, and more into teles, starcasters, and P90s, and stuff like that.
I use it generally with a fender hot rod deville amp with reverend all-tone speakers.
the pickups are fairly low-output compared with most modern guitars, but the tone is crisp and clear, but with a rich lower end (especially in the neck pickup setting)... very vintage-y
I keep mine downtuned 2 half steps just for fun and it sounds beautiful - the pickups are rich yet crisp. A little thin at the bridge, but not thin at all at the neck...
My only compaint is the low-output aspect...but heck, you can turn up the amp...

Perfect.
these are beautifully well-made American guitars!
the neck is smooth, fast, and perfect with a great vintage feel.
it always stays in tune, even with the bigsby
Just a fine instrument (and I have 17 other vintage guitars to compare it to).

I don't play out a whole lot these days but I do play daily, and almost always with this guitar (because it's the only one I have downtuned right now).
I've been using Reverends for several years, and they're solid and they've held up great.
I've heard that they're really rugged and thoroughly reliable.
I have no complaints...

I've never needed them, but I hear they are great.
I know they will do repairs/setups on their guitars if you send them to the factory...

I bought this guitar because I loved my Reverend Slingshot (with P90s) so much, and I can't wait to buy another Reverend with yet another pickup comfiguration just to try something new...
These guitars have definitely made me a believer in Reverend Musical Instruments!
Even compared to my vintage Gibsons, Fenders, Mosrites, etc, the Reverends are the ones I look forward to playing most.
I would never hesitate to recommend these guitars to anyone from a novice to a pro, because they are well-crafted, reliable, incredible instruments far superior to most and for a fraction of the price. They are versatile , and their tone is unbeatable...
Try one if you can find one!!!

Rev Spy, older " Eastpointe" model in a lovely vintage turquoise, mine has what I would call a 2 post tremolo, non-locking tuners.
Standard fare... nothing crazy. Give it an 8

I play/produce/record blues, rock, roots, folk-pop, etc. Normally going after traditional low/med gain sounds. This guitar records FANTASTIC. Fits in the tracks well. Live, its a bit "thin" a la the vintage strat school of tone, but that can be EQ'd as appropriate for the situation. Not noisy. Summing this guitar up in one sentence: Sounds like the ultimate vintage ($$$) Strat ( for studio) ... but probably plays a hell of a lot better...and looks sooooooo much cooler (for stage!).

I bought some new old stock off ebay from some shop in CT ( if I recall). Came with gig bag, perfect condition. SWEEEETTT neck. I set it up with 10's. BTW... truss rod wrench fit is tight... not like my Fender products which tend to strip even using their supplied wrenchs!!! any techs relate to this problem? Very EZ to setup... meaning the basic construction is pretty damn close tolerance. again vs Fender... Carruthers guitars does my heavy duty work... ( thats where the Fenders go!!! =hidden extra $$$)

Durable. Sure. No reason to think otherwise. Its construction is unique, but we've been playing semi-hollows with solid wood blocks for years... this ones body is just polymeric. Sure its "plastic" but that tad of flexablity means it will not chip...ie think of flex vs crack. I gig with it...

I bought a drivetrain off them. Nice folks , fast shipment, etc.
Other than that. No real opinion.

I play professionally. Love the clean/ low output pickups...pretty neutral EQ on them. Can Twang in Bridge but doesnt cut through live quite enough. ( I swap guiars on stage and this one is a bit low output vs my tele or LP) so I'm looking for one of the Slingshot models for more umphhh. I bought this for live show flash as a backup and it delivers! Always get the " what is that guitar?. I've got/had too much stuff to list...as I tell my wife, I have one of everything a pro needs... " just one"...Les Paul, Tele., Strat, ( now add Reverend) etc. Amps = Rivera knucklehead, Fender Super RI, Gibson 15 watt little class A thing. Try out the Drivetrain OD pedal...super cool! Not high gain but clean boost to super cruncy its got you covered. That is a necessity for my out of town gigs in case I get stuck with a 120 watt Silverface Fender Twin! Reverend is now added to my short list of " Honey, every pro must have one of these..." I'm hooked.

PRETTY BASIC. 3 LIPSTICK TUBE PICKUPS. 1 VOLUME AND 1 TONE CONTROL. 5 WAY SELECTOR SWITCH. NON TREMOLO BRIDGE. GRAPHITE NUT AND STRING TREES. NON-LOCKING SCHALLER TUNERS I THINK. ROSEWOOD FINGERBOARD. BODY IS SOME SORT OF MAN MADE MATERIAL. CHECK OTHER REVIEWS FOR BETTER DESCIPTION.

I LOVE TWANG. BRITE AND BRITTLE, DEEP AND MELLOW. I BOUGHT THIS GUITAR FOR THAT REASON. THE PICKUPS ARE LOW OUTPUT SO GIVE A ROUND ACOUSTIC SOUND EVEN IN BRIDGE POSITION. NOT AS BRITE AND TWANGY(LIKE A STRAT OR TELE) AS I WOULD HAVE LIKED. PROBABLY PARTLY DUE TO THE GRAPHITE NUT AND PICKUPS. I'M NO EXPERT BUT I KNOW WHAT I LIKE. I'VE HAD ALL DIFFERENT TYPES OF GUITARS AND WOULD SAY THIS SOUNDS VERY CLOSE TO A DANELETRO WITH A STRAT SETUP. LOUDER ACOUSTICALLY THAN MOST GUITARS DUE TO IT'S SEMI HOLLOWBODY. I PLAY SOLEMN TWANGY GUITAR WITH LOTS OR REVERB AND TREMOLO. LIKE THIS GUITAR BUT JUST A BIT MORE BRITNESS OR TWANG WOULD MAKE ME HAPPIER. FATTER THAN MOST BUT NOT AN UNCOMFORTABLE NECK ON IT TOO.

THIS GUITAR IS BUILT BETTER THAN MOST GUITARS OUT THERE. SET UP WAS NEAR PERFECT. FINISH IS VINYL. GOOD LUCK TRYING TO DAMAGE. REALLY PLAYS LIKE A DREAM.

NEVER HEARD A GUITAR THAT STAYS IN TUNE BETTER. IT HAD REALLY LITE STRINGS ON WHEN I GOT IT, YET STILL STAYED IN TUNE WITH HEAVY ATTACK ON STRINGS. EVERYTHING SIMPLE AND SOLID ON THIS ONE.

HAD NO DEALINGS WITH AND WOULDN'T EXPECT TO WITH THIS GREAT CRAFTSMANSHIP.

VERY GOOD GUITAR AND VERY RELIABLE. NOT FOR EVERYONE. GO BUY ANOTHER MODEL OR BRAND OF GUITAR FOR HEAVY METAL. VERY GOOD FOR A MELLOW ACOUSTIC SOUND OR COUNTRY. FUN GUITAR. WOULD REPLACE IF LOST. NEEDS MORE BRIGHTNESS FOR ME THOUGH. ALTHOUGH MAY WORK FOR SOMEONE ELSE GREAT.

I have owned this guitar for a year prior to submitting this review. I got a super deal on it as a close out (I won't tell you how much, because you would be sick!). It is a made it the USA, 22 fret strat-killer tone machine. It is of unique construction - primarily wooden hollow body with synthetic rim, top and back caps. Traditional strat style, with 5-way switch, and three pickups. The pick ups in the Spy are lipstick tube type. I must admit I had a psychological adversion to lipstick tubes before I got this - they LOOK like they would sound shrill! However, this guitar cured me of that.

I find it hard to describe sound with words, but these pickups are great. Warm single coil sound, never over-bright. Clear, open. Versatile, as the tone control actually dials up some useable variations. Combined with the resonant body this guitar is all you would want in a strat-type guitar and more.

Reverends are legendary for the set-up and the build quality. This guitar is no exception. It is as close to perfect from the manufacturer as anybody gets.

At first I was concerned because this guitar is very light (about six pounds) and the synthetic top and back worried me a bit. Now that I have had it a year, no worries. It is tough, and scratch and bump resistant! It looks brand new after a year of steady use. That is better than a solid wood guitar will do.

This is another area where Reverend is legendary. The customer support is fantastic. I do wish they still answered emails, though, so I guess the support slipped a little. It is still far and away better than anyone else, though.

Reverends are super guitars at amazing prices. They will not appeal to the fad purchasers, but will be adored by the person who likes quality and value over marketing and endorsements. I think they appeal to people who have been playing for many years and who have owned a variety of instruments by many different makers. The beauty of these guitars shines when compared to costlier guitars.

This is an older model Serial number is a bit less than #500. Made in the USA:Eastpoint Michigan. Black textured phenolic top and back with pearl(mots) pickguard. Injection molded rim, Mahogany center block. This has the slightly chunkier "Eastpoint" neck, 22 frets rosewood board. Top loading fixed bridge similar to a hardtail strat. 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 way switch. # Kent Armstroing Lipstick pickups. Non Locking tuners. Its a nice simple guitar with everything that it need. The Tone control is voiced so that its usable. I would like to see Straplock compatible strap buttons added as a standard feature.

this guitar came with the reverend gig bag.

Gioves a great low ouput strat tone, a little bit rounder and chimeier. Add a little grit and it does some nice blues tones as well. The hollow body give it some nice airiness. I usually use it either clean or with a medium gain overdrive. Fine for most roots styles: blues, country, jazz, classic rock. I don't think it would make a good metal axe, but htats not my interest. Some 60 cycle noise but thats to be expected with a single coil pup.

I also have a reverend Slingshot, and while I like this guitar it suffers in comparison to that guitar. It sounds very good, but that guitar sounds great.

I bought this guitar used: Basically I plugged in and tuned it. Joe Naylor has designed a very nice guitar here. The squared off body is fine for me, I'm usually a tele guy. The reverend necks are a joy to hold, its just feels great in your hands. I had to ticten the setscrew on the tone knob once, otherwise not a single problem.

I wouldn't anticipate any problems with ordinary use, The neck seems solid, the body feels sturdy enough. There no paint to chip or crack. Strap buttons are pretty much standard issue. I wouldn't gig without a backup, but I feel that way about all guitars: strings do break.

I met Joe at a guitar show he seems like anice enough guy. But I've never contacted him so I have no opinion here.

If stolen I'd probably get another reverend, but I'm not sure if i'd get another spy. Joe has created a great design, ITs a nice a resonant guitar, you just meed to decide what type of pickups will produce a suitable sound for you. After buying a Slingshot, I bought this guitar and a Hellhound amp, so I am comfortable dealing with Joe. These are great guitars at a very nice price. this guitar was built before joe switched to through body stringing, I really should send it tn and have that done.

I'm playing for more than twenty years, purely as a hobbyist. I would recommend these guitars without reservation to most players comfortable with Fender type guitars. I'm not that crazy about the look of these guitars, but the sound is there, and they play great.

This is a brand new, made in the USA Reverend Spy. Technically, it's a "new-old-stock" model that Reverend discontinued last year. It sat unbought in a mucic store in Connecticut until I surfed into eBay and snatched it up. Contruction is semi-hollow, with a (TURQUOISE!)phenolic top & back, plastic sides, center block of white mahoghany w/ an imbedded steel bar, 22 frets(just about jumbo), rosewood fingeroard, chunky "C-shaped" North American maple neck(beautiful grain!), graphite nut, non-locking tuners, 2 roller string trees, tremolo system, chrome arm-rest, volume and tone knobs(1 each), 5 way switch contolling the 3 Kent Armstrong lipstick tube pick-ups!
A pretty unigue instrument.

I like to vary my tone, and play a smattering of everything from funk to hard rock in my band. The Spy is an excellent guitar for clean sounds(actually the best clean tones I've ever heard!)and overdriven bluesy leads. Even with the gain on my amp maxed, you cannot get rid of the Spy's "twang". That's a good thing, as it's a WONDERFUL sound. Crunchy chords sound great, though I'm thinking of adding another overdrive pedal for leads. I play a Reverend Hellhound 40/60 combo amp, and when using the Spy I like to keep the amp clean, and get overdriven rhythm sounds from my Reverend Drivetrain pedal. The pickups are nowhere near as noisy as a Strat, and the Spy's output is lower than most guitars. I had to turn my amp up a little when switching to this guitar at rehearsal. No big deal. The lipstick tubes sound like a vintage strat but warmer and airier. Great Chili Peppers funk tones to SRV leads. Great overdriven rock rhythm guitar. NOT for metal.

Set-up out of the box was great! Fret work is really good, pickup heights are fine. The neck wood has a really nice grain to it.
The chunky C-profile neck took some getting used to(the newer Reverend necks are a little different), but once I did I found the playability to be first rate! The hardware seems really solid. The tremolo stays in tune very well with moderate abuse.

Reverend guitars, despite being semi-holow, are solidly built. The hardware and materials are excellent, the phenolic top is smudge and scratch-resistant. Other than dropping it from a great height or dropping something heavy on it, I'm not too worried about anything breaking. I never gig without a backup, but I think the Spy would make it through an entire club set no problem.

Joe Naylor(Reverend's head honcho) never fails to answer my e-mails personally, and has coached me through the care & feeding of ALL my Reverend products. A great guy who makes a great product.

I've been playing for 15 + years, and almost all my current gear is Reverend(Rocco & Avenger TL guitars, Drivetrain Overdrive pedal, now the Spy. I also use a Visual Sound H2O Liquid Chorus/Delay pedal & an MXR Phase 90) I would definitely buy this guitar again. My only regret is I couldn't afford to buy TWO of them. It's an excellent funk/blues/blues-rock instrument.

1998 reverend spy built i believe in USA (OEM neck and parts by WD?).3 lipstick pickups (kent armstrong?) maple neck and finger board, body made of formica and wood with a metal sustain bar added, finished in an off white, with tortoise pick gard..plenty of vibe. fixed bridge. neck satin finish with vintage tint, jumbo frets, fairly flat radius, very cool case

very smooth, crisp, elastic, woody sweet tone. like a really great strat with plenty of warmth but also twang. neck pick up has a deep throaty, smoooooth, growl, notch positions are nice and quacky. middle pu is bright yet warm, neck pickup is very brite, but a bit thin. guitar has a ton of sustain, and prefers to be picked with a sot touch...too much pick attack and it gets a bit waffly. great tone with a deluxe reverb for country, jazz. rockabilly. blues etc. knopfler meets ronnie earl meets jerry donahue meets albert lee. neck is nice and beefy, but fret work was a bit poor out of the box, several frets required removal and resetting to eliminte some choking around the 5th fret on the top E and Bstrings (done by dealer, wildwood music,louisville, colorado without question the very best place to shop for guitars in the country).). i would definetly recommend this guitar to anyone that wants classic fenderish tones with more versatility and way more individuality.

set up was fine except for fret situation mentioned above. the hard ware is ok, unknown brand, tunes and bridge look somewhat cheap (but then again these guitars are under a grand with case). the case is awesome, two tone black/white with red plush interior. no owners manual icluded, but any one that has ever messed with a strat can figure this guitar out.

durability is a bit of a question. the neck is fine, but the body is very light and hollow with a formica type top, and the neck body joint is rather exposed (the neck joint has a huge over hang on the treble side and there is no 4 bolt plate (a la fender), but merely grometted screws for beck retention. i'll trade durability for tone any day and the spy delivers more tone that my strat and tele together.

never dealt with company, but i hear they are a great group. no idea about warranty duration.

been playing blues, swing, jazz & country for 15 years and this guitar really shines on this kinda stuff...really fantastic tone machine...very easy to play....super light weight...fabulous neck shape....very cool vibe and style....everything i have heard about joe naylor made me believe that these guitars will be something special and they are (great speakers,too). ideal guitar for the strat or tele owner that wants to step outside a bit and play something with a fresh vibe

Everyone bow down and pray for mercy, because here comes the Reverend! Reverend guitars are the brainchild of Joe Naylor, the same man who designed Naylor custom amps.
Looking for TONE? Look no further. These guitars are DEFINATE TONE MACHINES! Joe knows ALOT about TONE, trust me!
Reverend guitars are very unique and quite innovative. A wood based phenolic top and back are laminated to a six inch wide white mahogany center block to which a small steel sustain bar is embedded. These guitar are VERY resonant unplugged! Similar to a semi-hollow body but with a unique character all its own. The phenolic laminate has a slight pebble texture which contributes to the guitar's a very unique look.
Did I mention that these guitars are unique? They're also very light. They tip the scales at a mere 6 1/2 pounds. Light in mass, but BIG on TONE! They're perfect for the clubing guitarist. No back brace required here!
The Reverend Spy, the guitar I'm reviewing here had a dark tinted maple neck with a beautiful rosewood fretboard. The frets were jumbo sized, and the fretwork was VERY VERY IMPRESSIVE! It doesn't get any better than this! The Spy features 3 lipstick pickups, a 5-way switch, one volume, one tone and a pearloid pickguard. The bridge was fixed. I'm a big fan of fixed bridges, but a tremolo is also available if you're so inclined.
The Reverend Spy had TONE for days. Its perfect for blues an blues/rock! Which is what I play. It nailed SRV! Who says you need texas specials? Those lipstick pickups are sweet!
This guitar is quite versatile, the lipstick pickups can nail blues, blues rock, country twang, jazz and classic rock. If you play alternative or metal this is NOT the guitar for you, check out the Reverend Rocco instead.
The neck shape is chunky, but it feels solid. Its perfect for bends and slide guitar. The action was low with not a buzz to be found!
The body shape is hard to describe, you'd better take a look for yourself at the Reverend website, http://www.reverendmusical.com
Bottom line, if you're looking for a Strat and are put off by Fender's slipping quality control and elevated prices, check out Reverend Spy. They offer more guitar for the money, and more TONE....TONE TONE! Did I mention these guitars have TONE?