Reverend Warhawk HB

Tobacco Sunburst, very nice, reminds me of John Frusicante's main fender. Nice shape as, well, looks like an old fender jaguar. The bridge is a wilkinson and the tuners are also the same (im actually unsure on the bridge) but the tuners are nice, they lock the string through two holes, which keeps it in tune. Mine was made in Korea with two humbuckers. It has a raised center block, bolt-on neck, 3 way pickup selector. it also has a strat style neck with reverse headstock.

Let me just tell you, this guitar sounds AMAZING!!!! its my main guitar now, and will stay that way for a longggggg time. The guitar is fitted with a treble, volume, and the best part, bass contour knob. The bass contour knob gives you sort of a single coil/p-90 sound when completely rolled off. The pickups give a vintage sound and great feel. The bridge is a lil hotter than a vintage 59 and gives a great tone. The neck cleans up nicely and also gives great tone.

The guitar was built well in korea. One of my favorite parts, is how reverend has one person who inspects all the guitars being shipped. I have a feeling he's a professional in some sort of guitar repair, construction etc. because its setup excellently and the pickups are wound perfectly. I have not heard of any Reverend coming out badly or with any flaws. Highly recomending buying from, even if not Warhawk HB.

This guitar seems to be able to handle gigs quite well. Everything seems durable and seems built to last. I had a hard time getting my strap on the first time because it secures them so well. I would probaly gig without a backup with this guitar.

Reverend has a small staff, so your talking to one of like six people (including Joe Naylor) that are staffed at Reverend. The people there were very friendly and notified me and everything when my guitar would be shipped. The warranty last one year.

I have been playing for about 3 or 4 years now and recently upgraded to this guitar. I was very pleased, I was going to choose this or a fender HSS and I chose this by far. When researching it, I could not (including magazines) find one bad or medicore review on this guitar. It is highly recommended across the board. I highly recommend this guitar, the pickups and bass and treble sound amazing, and the neck is completely comfortable. The only unreal thing is the price.

Blue metal flake finish, done very good. Ordered with the les-trem tremolo bar. This works good and is smooth in it's action. If ordered as an option you still get the tune-a-matic bar and bridge with the guitar. I put the hard tail set up back on the guitar (I like it better). Nice hard shell case. The guitar is light for a solid body so it's not super resonant but still has a nice vibe.

The tones are quite impressive. good dynamics. The bass roll off control is actually very cool. It takes some getting used to but is quite effective. The pups are distincive in their sounds - maybe a little heavy on the bass but don't forget the bass roll off control. I am finding the guitar to be quite versital for different styles of playing. I found that the les-trem seems to take away the resonance a little but I like hard tail set ups better anyway.

The guitars are made in Korea and set up by the Reverend staff. The tech that does the guitar puts his initals on it with the S/N. The fit and finish is quite good. I was amazed by the finish and detail if the frets and nut. Received the guitar with the tremolo installed and was shipped from Michigan to Florida and it was in tune. If you order one it is set up to you request.

Hard to say about durability. My impression is that there should be no issues.

So far So good. If you call Reverend it very possible that Joe answers the phone.

I am very impressed. when you factor in the price it is an incredible deal. If you order one you will have to wait but it is worh it. I am going to get another one. I want to do the P-90 thing. The price I paid includes the tremolo and a hard case. aprox. $650

Brand spanking new Warhawk. Volume, tone, bass contour. No frills, just the basics. The way I like it. Typical gibson config. (ala firebird). Reverend style, firebird concept. Nice. Style out the wazoo.

Lots of gain...but with all reverend guitars...lots of tone too. Like "a good one" if you know what I mean. Lots of sustain...very nice rock tones. Creamy neck tone. sic sic sic.

Picked it up from Joe @ the Namm show. I think I have one of the 1st. Bought it on the spot. Set up well. Nice finish, kewl style.

So far so good. I've had other reverend guitars since 97. No problems. I expect this to last too. Joe is always helpful with any problems. (like body replacement ala Pete Townsend).

2nd to none. I you don't know this....learn it. Joe cares about his products and customers. It's like knowing Leo Fender or Ted Mc Carty...very kewl.

Playing since 1979. Lots of gear. Mostly reverend now. If it were stollen, i'd buy another. As with all reverend products...I like the consistancy. Always works, sounds good, looks cool. What else is there?

Made in 2006, Spring, good vintage year I expect.
I have the tobacco colored one.
Check out the website for the standard configuration.
I checked out the reviews and they were dead accurate.

So check this out, I usually practice using Guitar Rig 2 where I am meticulous in reproducing certain band sounds. I dialed up Back In Black, you know the band. I started playing it with my Warlock and I couldn't tell what was my guitar and what sound was Angus' SG! It is that close! It has that famous vintage sound to it I just can't get from my other guitars. Isn't that what it is all about really, having an instrument that is an extension of yourself?

Do you want me to get really picky? I thought the silver pot knobs didn't go with the guitar. I changed them for a set of vintage looking smoky gold knobs and this guitar looks like it cost thousands!
Everything else on this guitar was immaculate! I like the slightly wider neck, don't worry you won't really notice it unless you have big ape hands like I do. I can play this guitar better than all of my other axes.

This isn't a cheapo guitar. Read that again. Back in the 50's Leo Fender built guitars that were reasonably priced and now look at them!
Don't buy this guitar, cuz I kind of like the uniqueness of owning one and it will be worth a small fortune some day you watch and see, just like the vintage Fenders. What, you expect this thing to fall appart? I took mine to Afghanistan with me, go figure, a Warlock in Afghanistan, a Reverend in a Muslim country. LOL.

These guys are wonderful to deal with.

I think I will buy a Stage King next!

This is a new solid body import from Reverend, they stopped making the USA series to focus on these new wood imports. They've done a fine job doing it too. The guitar is very solid, nicely finished and the pickups are the same as the USA series so no surprised here. I had the chance to try one of these at the local guitar show this past weekend and was able to demo it for a while. 2 humbuckers, tone, volume, and bass contour control that revoices the pickups to your liking. Holding it felt a lot like a nice strat with the body being more contoured than their USA series which had more sharper edges with no contours. Very comfortable, substantial feeling, amazing fretboard which is typical of Reverends, rocking tone because of the solid body, nice package all around. I'm not used to a reversed headstock, but I didnt' notice it after a while because I never had to tune it because of the wilkenson locking tuners. These baby's goes for less than $500. really great value. I would consider this guitar to be geared for heavy rock, altho the pickups aren't as hot as some metal guitars, they are not inadequate in the slightest. Just not overwound on pupose like some pups. Probably better that way, cause you can always get a pedal to boost em anyway.

I play rock, blues, with some jazz influence, some jam band. I already have owned my healthy share of USA series guitars, and I wanted to check out these new imports. Definitely changed my view of imports...
This guitar is fat, and rocking, more so than the other semi hollows that they currently offer. They are real nice too tho. Solid Mahogany body with a raised center section gives a fat tone but not too reminiscent of other guitars, very chimy and unique, and mean and fat when dirty. I am a little more partial to Reverends at this point than some other people, just need to state that.

Well set up, but it was at the guitar show so I'm sure they checked all of them first before displaying them. Finish was flawless, but I already know that they have the guitars shipped to the factory for inspection before they are cleared for takeoff. They have some nice colors, I played a creme one, but the blue metallic is unbelievable in person. REALLY beautiful finish. Fretwork is flawless just like the USA series, I felt like I was playing one of those. I commend them on their unwillingness to sell anything cheap or flawed. After playing some of these new ones, I have a much different opinion of "imports" now. I think a lot of people will agree that even a lot of american made guitars have slipped in quality or are just way too much money for what they are.

I would think that these warhawks would probably hold up better than the previous phenolic USA series because its made of solid wood. And the USA series were pretty unbreakable.

Joe Naylor is a very nice individual, very professional, I was glad to finally meet him in person and I'm sure you could find many people who will attest to how he stands behind everything he makes. "The small company that gives a damn", rock on Joe!

I think I pretty much covered everything, only problem now is how to decide which new Reverend to buy. I own some of their guitars, and a bass and a kingsnake head and covet them all. When I walked through the guitar show I kept thinking that there are Reverends there, and there are the other thousands of guitars in the rest of the room that really weren't that impressive... I don't how they continue to innovate and improve on something that you would think is hard to improve on but they do it, and not in a flashy way, but in a clever engineered way. Reverend has substance first, but they also have style.

The Reverend Warhawk is part of Reverend's current line of imported (from Korea) guitars. But don't be fooled by the fact that this guitar is made overseas. Unlike most, if not all, contemporary imported guitars.. this line isn't made as a "poor man's" option (ie. cheap copy) of one of the big boys (Gibson, Fender, etc). It's actually an instrument that's striving to be recognized in it's own right as a totally serious guitar with a working man's price. It has it's own unique identity, and is built with all the extras and inside quality that a domestic guitar would be.. just overseas.

Case in point: the Warhawk. It's *highly* stylized. You can tell, right out of the box, that some really serious thought went into the design of this guitar. Already the sign of this instrument being so very different than the ailes of imports you might run across in your local guitar center that just scream "Hey, you can't afford a *real* Les Paul.. so come take a look at me". No sir, this guitar isn't impersonating anyone. The headstock is reversed, giving it a cool look. The neck is bolt on, like a fender.

There's a raised center running through the mahogany body which is supposed to affect the tone, design-wise. Whatever it is, it looks damn cool. The general body shape of the guitar is similar to the standard Reverend shape, which is a double cutaway, vintage looking thing. However, I think the bottom is more rounded than their regular shape. I've heard it compared to Danos and Strats. But to me, it kind of looks like a Les Paul Jr.'s bottom with a Jaguar's top. In any case, it's extremely classy. Unique enough to be it's own thing.. yet not crazy enough to be "weird" like something Prince would play.

The tuners are *high* quality, name brand Wilkinson locking tuners. I didn't think it could get much better than my former Reverends which have Sperzel tuners which have knobs at the bottom that clamp the string peg down on the string. But this current design is super simple, and just as effective. Two staggered holes in the peg keep the string locked tight as can be, and with no moving parts to break or strip like the Sperzels. Very cool.

The pickups are 2 straight up Reverend humbuckers (this is the HB model.. there's another Warhawk model that comes with P-90s), just like they've always used. Read other reviews to see the high, high quality of these pickups.

I got the upgraded tremolo system on my Warhawk. I'm very glad I did. It's a little known system called a "Les Trem", which was designed as a direct drop in replacement for Les Pauls which would cause no damage or modification to the guitar. It's a two piece system which includes a bridge with rollers for less string friction. I've used both the Kahler/Floyd Rose type of whammys, and the fender vintage type. I was never satisfied with either, really, and stopped playing guitars with trems for years. Fender ones didn't go deep enough, and Kahler ones never stayed in tune (and were ugly, and had too many parts). This system strikes the perfect balance for me. Doesn't constantly go out of tune, yet can go deep enough for my needs. No dive bombs, but definitely can do less than subtle effects. The arm is nice and stiff so it doesn't swing all over the play if you're not using it. And the action of the spring is smooth but firm. I was hitting it all day and never went drastically out of tune. Of course Reverend will include your fixed bridge with the deal so you can change back any time. Amazing.

A really cool feature is, besides the usual volume and tone knobs, you get a "bass contour" knob, which rolls off bass in a very unique and pleasing way. I flipped it over for some lead stuff, and got a really cool sound that suited the leads very well.

So as you can see, Reverend never chinced once on the hardware for this guitar. Immediately signaling that it is light years ahead of other imports. That, alone, should end comparisons to any cheap imports, as that is the first and formost weakness that I see in the others. But there's more...

I play all sorts of styles. I've played professionally in a punk band for the last 13 or so years. Besides that, I do soundtrack work which carries over into other styles such as pop, country and raggae. I've mostly stayed on the more melodic side of things. But recently, I've began playing in a very heavy metal band.
I've owned or played almost every major electric in the past years, and I'm quite a snob. I've owned a 12 string Ric, a 79 Les Paul Custom, a G&L Strat, a Tele, a Hamer Studio, a Les Paul Jr, Larrivee Acoustic, Godin, etc. I've even played a few pre-CBS Fenders on some records. I haven't played an overseas import since I owned one of those Steve Vai Ibanez things. I'm always looking for high quality guitars that aren't hugely known. For years I played Hamers. Then I decided to switch it up. I discovered Reverend guitars, and never looked back. I bought two of their "Slingshot Customs", which are fitted with the Reverend P-90's, which I'm totally in love with. I completely did away with the humbucker mentality for a few years. However, as I mentioned, I began playing heavier music in one particular project. I ended up getting a decent sound with the P-90's through some high gain amps, but it took a lot of work, and it didn't *quite* nail what I was looking for.
So I decided to give the Warhawk a try, and wasn't disappointed. It's humbuckers suit heavier music and take to high gain amps much better than the P-90's, as one would expect. I once heard the sound of this guitar compared to an SG and I wouldn't say that's totally untrue. The pickups are definitely not overly bright. Lots of midrange. But plenty of gain, no problem. No feedback, low noise. Definitely a unique sound. But if you want to play any sort of rock ranging from AC/DC to Morbid Angel, absolutely no problems would you have.
My regular setup is a couple of custom, all tube combos that are not unlike little Plexis, or something (Made by Gerhart Amps). I play them stereo and go through a pedal board with some high quality boutique pedals. An old Morley Phaser, a stereo Boss Flange, a Hot British tube distortion from Tube Works, and a Delay modeller from Line 6. Of course, most of these are only on for certain accents. But I did notice that the Flanger *really* jumped out in a positive way when I nailed it. Same for the Phaser. Light years crisper sounding than with the P-90s. I had recorded an entire release with the Slingshot Customs. But I'm for sure going to go back over those tracks with this guitar. It's simply better for the heavy tone of the band.

Another nice thing about these guitars is that after being built, they head to the Reverend home base where they are inspected and set up by the folks over there. I'm sure many other import companies claim to the similar. But I can tell you, I've picked up a lot of imports over the years and immediately put them back down as I could feel, within seconds, exactly why they were 10x cheaper than their competitors.
Well, since this one comes from the factory, you simply tell them how you want it set up and what string guage you want. I use fairly heavy strings (.011), and tuned down one and one half step. So that's how I got the guitar. The action seems a bit lower than my other Reverends. But that may be because I have it tuned down so low that the tension is less. In any case, it suits the faster nature of the music I'm currently playing. Let me tell you, I'm flying all over that fretboard now.

As far as the finish of the neck and fretboard, I can't tell one bit of difference between this one and the old domestic Reverends, which were similar to Fender necks of the absolute highest caliber. Silky, to say the least. I did notice that these necks are a bit wider. But not enough to take any sdjusting to. And the joint is nice and snug.

The finish was another great thing. The pic on the website doesn't do it justice. I ordered mine in Cream with a tortoise shell pickguard. It looks so good I could eat it. No overspray. No flakes. Perfect. I was really striving to find some flaws, here.

Well, I took my other reverends on tours all over Europe and the US and never had one problem, and they are semi hollow bodies. I'm going to hazzard a guess that this chunky solid body will be even *more* durable. I've only played several practices with the guitar at the moment. But I would easily play without a backup on this one. I could say that about any of my reverends, though.

Again, you can't get any better than the customer support for Reverend. It's legendary. Most any inquiry you have will be responded to in a matter of minutes by the president of the company who also designed all the guitars. I've never had one question go unanswered for more than a couple of hours. You can't beat it.

I'm 31 and have been playing since I was 14. Professionally since I was 17. I developed a snobbery in my guitar collecting pretty early on. I simply wouldn't touch an import, as I lumped them all together. I gave Reverend a shot because I know, for a fact, where they're coming from. It's a company built on old-school values. Joe Naylor loves making guitars. That's why he's in the business, period. He also believes in customer service being paramount. No where in that equation is a guy looking to make a quick buck by fleecing kids into cheap copies. It's a totally different angle. So I knew that when Reverend started doing imports, I could trust them to do something new. There is no law of physics that says just because a guitar is built on foreign soil that it *must* always be inferior in quality. In a blind test, no one in million trillion years could recognize this as an import. And I think the build quality smokes the American Fenders I've seen in the last decade. I'll be a guy that has been playing solely high quality, American made classic guitars for close to a decade that now has an import as my number one. That might be a historical first. But I know it won't be a last if these guitars get out there a little bit.
And if you're a newer player.. forget it. You won't find anything else close to this price range of this quality. If you're past the Squire stage and looking for lifetime guitar, give this a try.

I realize that this review looks unrealistically positive. But I honestly can't say that you could come close to this quality in any similarly priced, or more expensive guitars. I'm not one bit disappointed, so how could I possibly not give this guitar a 10 on all fronts? I opened up the newest music store catalogue today, and saw a guitar that was listed for $40,000.00!!! I kid you not. Not to mention a signature Les Paul that was $6,500. It's worse than oil! It's so refreshing to see that there are companies out there striving to make high quality guitars without price gouging. Guitars are meant to be played in sweaty little, smoke filled clubs. Not put up on a wall in a frame. And the price should reflect that.