Other Shape Guitars

The Van Halen model was manufactured from 1990 to 1995 in the USA. The one I was fortunate to test had a Floyd Rose, but there are some rare models with a fixed bridge. Moreover, the guitar I tested had the particularity that its owner had a chamfer set under the Floyd, which standard models don't have. The Floyd rests on two screws that sit on top of the soundboard. As a result, you can really pull the Floyd and make the guitar scream as loud as ever!! The specs of the basic models are: - Basswood body with cutaway, white binding and flamed or curly maple top. - Birdseye maple neck with 22 frets, maple fingerboard with black dot inlays. - 2 Dimarzio Custom humbucking pickups. - 4+2 Schaller tuning machines with pearl buttons. - Chrome hardware. - 1 volume + 1 3-way switch. - Fixed neck or Musicman Floyd Rose-licensed tremolo. Colors of the fixed neck: trans-gold, trans-purple, tans-red. Colors of the Foyd neck: black, metallic gold, natural, sunburst, trans-black, trans-blue, trans-pink, trans-red, trans-purple. UTILIZATION The neck is chubby (it's very round!!), comfortable and you can do bends easily!! What can be really annoying is that the body isn't chamfered, so it's a bit hard, but once you start playing you completely forget about it!! Access to the upper frets is good. This guitar has a sound with a lot of character!! SOUNDS I tested it with a mesa-boogie F-30 and it's so frickin' powerful!! It's a true guitar for hard rock!! It was a real parade of tricks in the store (tapping, sweep, legato) and everything was a real joy!! And the tremolo!! What delight!! To make this guitar scream in a store full of people and having a guy come up to you and say "don't stop!! Keep on playing!!" Man, that feels good!! OVERALL OPINION I have tested it several times and each time I've had the same feelings, it has a sound that stands out from the others!! I recommend people to try this model at least once in their lives because it's surprising and a great discovery!! I have never taken it with me because it's pretty expensive, in comparison to the standard secondhand bargains (they wanted $3200!!) It's a real quality guitar, a one-of-a-kind!! It has a character that won't leave you indifferent, either you love it or you don't!! I think it's a guitar that is very faithful to the sound of its creator: Brilliant, with presence and unique!! Personally, I was ecstatic with it!!

Where is it made? (USA, Japan, Mexico, France...) US model How many frets and what kind of pickups does it have? What's the pickup configuration? 24 frets 2 PRS zebra coil humbucker pickups What kind of bridge does it have (Floyd Rose, Wilkinson....)? prs acc 4007 tremolo. What controls does it have (volume, tone, pickup selector...)? What kind of neck does it have? Volume, tone, LM-type switch. UTILIZATION Is the neck comfortable? Very comfortable, I prefer it to my prs CE 24, which is too slim, too slender Is the access to the upper frets easy? Yes, it couldn't be easier, although I would've preferred thinner frets from the 20th fret. Is the instrument ergonomic (body shape, weight...)? Nothing to do with a LP, you can play 4 hours straight without a problem Is it easy to get a good sound? ... It's incredibly versatile. A small snag, however, is that mine sounds too sharp when I play clean, despite my efforts to adjust the highs with my amp. Which affects my other guitars, since I have to alter my settings live. I also tried to adjust the pickups. It was useless. I would love to read what other people say about this. SOUNDS Does it suit your music style? Yes, very open sound. And it sounds good with anything: fender, marshall, mesa and, as of lately, ENGL!! Which amp(s) or effect(s) do you use with it? I'm sold on this one. Engl and mesa I have an engl powerball and a mesa mark V What kind of sounds do you get and which settings do you use ("crystal-clear," "fat," etc.)? Fat, fat linking park-like sounds, but also really vintage funky and bluesy sounds. Very nice for picking as well. Which sounds do you prefer / hate? I love a clean sound that is a bit thick, like a strat with a light tube screamer. I love to get this sound with the santana. The humbuckers fulfill this role fabulously. Further, as I said before, I hate the shrill sound of my PRS, that's why I give it 8/10 OVERALL OPINION ALL-ROUNDER How long have you been using it? I've had it 2 years and play 50 gigs per year. Which feature do you like the most / the least? Its weight, reliability and that you can do whatever you want with it. And its look!! Did you try any of other models before buying this one? I have 2 strats, one LP and another PRS How would you rate its value for money? It's expensive, but I don't want to see this model everywhere. Quality has its price. Based on your experience, would you buy this product again? ... Yes, I'm looking for another one to not wear it out.

I owned a USA made 2002 PRS McCarty in dark blue, moon inlays, wide-fat neck, thicker than standard mahogany body, maple top with 22 frets. It had light vintage style tuners and one-piece stoptail bridge. 1 push/pull Tone knob and 1 volume control and 3-way switch. The nickel silver covered McCarty pickups had been replaced with an EMG 81 in the bridge and an 85 in the neck. The guitar was used and had some dings here and there but the high quality of build was still very apparent. UTILIZATION 20-22 fret areas, you may need to bend your wrist a bit awkwardly, depending on your hand size and reach. It was the same with my 1996 PRS standard and definitely not as easy to access as the PRS SC 250's and 245's I've had. The neck was a HUGE wide/fat, so much so that I could not do sweeps and some other lead moves that I was accustomed to. There are differences between PRS necks, even if they are labeled W/F. I had a PRS 250 SC standard that was listed as a W/F but was more like a W/T or regular carve. I posted this observation and the birdsandmoons (PRS) forum and others commented that there is some hand finishing at the end of production and some necks may get sanded down more than others, even if they are labeled the same thickness. The guitar weight was fine - but in the end the really thick neck forced me to sell it rather quickly. SOUNDS I used this guitar with custom built Peters amplifiers, which are kind of a cross between a Peavey 5150 and high gain Marshall/VHT with a little Boogie thrown in. The amp was paired with a 4x12 that had Celestion Gh12 -30's and a Splawn 4x12 with Governor/ManOWar speaker combo. I usually go for a nice thick Jerry Cantrell AIC tone, to use with my modern rock/metal band. The guitar had a very open and deeper bass sound to it. It seemed to muddy a little under high gain playing. This made it sound somewhat undefined during rhythm playing. The EMG's couldn't prevent the inherent bass of the guitar from coming out and gave it the generic EMG clean tone. The guitar had very nice and thick lead tones and it was best suited for that. In the end, it was too bassy of a sound and it didn't fit the best for my style of music. OVERALL OPINION I liked the lead tones the best. Absolutely could not stand the thick neck and was not happy with how the guitar responded under high gain rhythm playing. I was looking for another PRS to match up with my '96 standard and in the end the '96 blew this one out of the water with playability and sound. For being used, the action, fit and finish were very good. I have been through many guitars and had a number of years where I would buy, try and flip, which enabled me to have many guitars around to try out. I'd recommend trying them before you buy, because each neck will be a little different. I got a good deal on this one but was not able to play it before purchase and I would not have made the same choice, even though I made out even on it's resale. These are high quality instruments if you like thick necks. You can get good deals on them used, so I still think they are a good value for the used price.

I first noticed Patrick’s work on the Internet around 5 years ago. I was instantly intrigued by the pics he made, how every single one was hand made by him and their unique, purpose built design, with carefully chosen materials. After using his pics for several years and having always been a fan of his guitars, I was in a position to buy a serious instrument. I had read every review online and watched everything I could find on YouTube about them and my mind was made up, time to order one. I contacted Patrick via his contact form on the website and he replied quickly, after a few emails discussing my specs for the guitar / how the process would work, I placed the order and sent payment. The next day I received a photo of the bare wood that would eventually become my guitar. Over the weeks that followed (around 6-7 weeks I think) I was always kept updated by email regularly, every time he had worked on the guitar and it was amazing to see it progress. I was even able to see him carving the neck live on Instagram and chat with him in the live video, a seriously cool experience you simply will not get anywhere else. Patrick was absolutely brilliant to deal with, a super cool guy who really cares about keeping the customer updated during the build process. After the build was complete, he had the guitar shipped and it arrived in 4 days from Switzerland to the UK even during the (current) pandemic. It arrived very well packed and first impressions were even better than I thought. The case even contained a free Hufschmid guitar strap and a logo mouse mat, an extra nice touch indeed! I had followed the build online, so I knew what to expect, but in the flesh this guitar was just on another level. The guitar is simply stunning. For a start when I removed it from the packaging it was still perfectly in tune even after shipping, and after some time getting to know the guitar it is incredibly stable for tuning. The quilt maple top in blue burst looks amazing in the flesh and you can tell straight away this is a very high quality guitar indeed. The attention to detail is insane, every glow block inlay on the fingerboard is seamless and perfect and there is even a Hufschmid metal coin inlayed into the back of the guitar and It also has the Hufschmid pickup mounting rings. I plays effortlessly as Patrick hand carves each neck to a photo of the customers hand, so it feels like the perfect neck and the intonation / action is absolutely spot on. The pickups (I went for Glowbuckers) sound huge. I play mainly rock / metal and they have clarity, bite and growl unlike anything I have heard before. They also play clean amazingly well and when both pickups are selected the clean chimes are quite similar to a tele. It is truly a very versatile guitar that can produce hundreds of different tones when playing with the volume and tone controls. You can always drop a set of nice pickups into any guitar, but this so much more than that, it is the sum of incredible tone woods, great quality components and a lifetime of Patrick’s talent, skill, passion and care that create the perfect recipe for the huge tone and great playing feel. I have owned and played a lot of good guitars over playing for nearly 20 years now, all the big brand stuff and I know this is better than all of them, there is a certain organic feel you get from it that you simply cannot get from a factory guitar. It really feels alive and sounds huge even without an amp, proving the high quality of construction and woods / materials used. For the price I think they are incredibly good value for money. To have a guitar built to your own specs, totally by hand from one very talented luthier with a lifetime of experience. A lot of thought, care and expertise goes into these guitars. There are no CNC machines involved here, everything is done totally by hand with hand tools like files, or some small basic power tools. Considering there are many factory made guitars that cost a lot more than these, I think they are 100% worth considering when looking for a seriously high quality guitar. I saw in a review for these guitars once that “You don’t own a Hufschmid, you simply look after it for the next generation” and now I have one, I totally agree! Quite simply the best guitar I have ever played and it has made me enjoy playing music so much more. In summary, I firmly believe Patrick leaves no stone unturned in creating these phenomenal guitars. They are very cleverly designed, very well thought out and expertly built. The ultimate recipe for the perfect guitar in my opinion. Pros: Looks amazing and totally unique Sounds huge and very versatile for different music styles Feels effortless to play Made from top quality components, by hand Inspires me to play more Glows in the dark! Incredible tuning stability Cons: None. Although I already want another one! Robin Stephens, Cornwall, UK.

Where is it made? Canada How many frets and what kind of pickups does it have? What's the pickup configuration? 3 Godin-type pickups, two humbuckers and one single-coil + One piezo for electric sounds + One piezo for synth access What kind of bridge does it have (Floyd Rose, Wilkinson....)? It has vibrato but no Floyd, it's the classic type with springs What controls does it have (volume, tone, pickup selector...)? One volume / one tone control for the three classic pickups Vol + Bass + medium + treble controls for the acoustic-electric part One volume for the synth One split to toggle between them One split for the synth settings What kind of neck does it have? Mahogany neck with ebony touches I think it's a bit sticky, even though I've cleaned it up completely to no success (I don't like mahogany) USE Is the neck comfortable? Apart from the fact that the rear is sticky, yes it's fast and easy to play Is the access to the upper frets easy? YES, thanks to the skillfully carved cutaway Does the instrument have an ergonomic design (body shape, weight...)? The guitar is heavy, but it's like an all-purpose Swiss-army knife Is it easy to get the right sound? ... Yes! But careful, the output level is twice as high as that of a Clapton Strat or any other Godin and even a Takamine with the electric (these are three of my favorite guitars)... Watch out with the volume pot and involuntary distortions with multi-effects! SOUND Does it suit your music style? You can do anything with it! So, yes. Which amp(s) or effect(s) do you use with it? I play a GNX directly connected to a PA system or, when I play on my own, I use a Stagepass What kind of sounds do you get and what settings do you use ("crystal-clear", "fat", ...)? Anything! It's a Swiss-army knife! Which sounds do you prefer / hate? I think the MIDS are a bit light. The lows are often too low and the highs too high. It might lack an additional pot... And the remarks some other people have made regarding the split and the tuners are true. OVERALL OPINION How long have you been using the product? 3 months Which feature do you like the most / the least? I can go to any bar and play ALONE with my multi-effects, my GR20 and my Stagepass, and it all fits in the trunk of my old cabrio! No need to carry three guitars, two amps... Did you try any other models before buying this one? I already have 10 guitars and have played an awesome one: The Parker... But it's too expensive How would you rate its value for money? Considering the price I bought it for... Excellent Based on your experience, would you buy this product again? ... Yes! I bought it to go easier on my Clapton Strat equipped with GK3 and my Takamine, which has started to age a bit and it cost my a kidney to get it refretted this year. It doesn't have the same appeal as the others, though... I think it's a "salable" (but not disposable) guitar

Made in China with 21 frets and a set mahogany neck. It comes with matched H90 (P-90) pickups Vol X1, Tone X1 and 3 way Pickup selector all mounted on a pearloid pick guard. It uses Hagstroms full contact tremelo system which works ok. since I don't use trem I added 3 additional springs and have it tightened down. This actually makes it resonate through the Mohogany body and neck even better. This one features the discontinued White Pearloid Pick Guard that Hagstrom now offers in Charcoal Pearloid instead. UTILIZATION The highest frets are a little harder to reach than an Ultra Swede. But it's not that big of a deal because of the sound this thing puts out. Because of the short neck scale and smaller than SG body it's light for a mahogany bodied guitar. The back of the neck is more D shaped than the Ultra Swede as well but I like it. The P 90's crank out perfect tone whether my amp is on the clean channel or with high gain. SOUNDS I use a Roland JC-120 with a TS-9 Tube Screamer in front of it. I use a Morley Distortion 1 pedal for my solo boost. I also use a Vox VT100 with a foot-switch to change up the sounds variations. I usually play with a lot of gain and flat EQ. I can get any sound I want out of this guitar. For instance playing lighter stuff through the clean channel on my amp is suitable for entertaining the old folks. I will probably not buy any other brand of guitar than Hagstrom. I'm partial to the 24.75" scale of this one, the F200 and Ultra Swede set Neck guitars. OVERALL OPINION I really like how much lighter is is than an SG or LP. It way more stylish than a Strat too. It's just a good all around sound machine. I would probably not buy another 21 fret guitar which is why I'm eager to receive my new F200.

I've had my Jackson infinity pro for many years, the Japanese craftsmanship is as good as anyone's (and better than most). The action can go as low as you want (not withstanding exessive wear) and has a very comfortable neck profile with good access to the upper register. There's nothing remarkable about the tonal range given the materials and pups it comes with - but neither did my 74 LP standard which I discarded for the Jackson. This is a great looking instrument - many of the comments I've received were about how nice, and classy it looks - but each to his own, these guitars are pretty rare and getting a 92 issue with matching paintwork finish and abalone inlays is getting more difficult (and expensive). Playability - this guitar is a fast-playing dream, and for me a finger picking nightmare - like all floating bridges with a low setup, but horses for courses, it's a great instrument to do classic rock and whizz around on - and I'd reccomend it to anyone that way inclined.

I received this guitar from Patrick Hufschmid in March (thanks customs), after ordering it in January. The specs are the follows: ONE PIECE premium perfectly quartersawn 'Sipo Mahogany' body + neck! ▪Highly figured ONE PIECE 'quilt maple' top! ▪Premium 'Crelicam Ebony' fingerboard, 24 frets, 25.5"scale, 12 - 16" compound radius. ▪Exclusive 'HufGlow' fingerboard block inlays. ▪The world's first polyetheretherketone (PEEK) nut! ©keAWmx03u4BBqcA2 ▪Hipshot hardware. ▪My very own designed solid brass laser etched mounting rings! ▪High tolerance CTS pots. ▪A rare NOS Russian 'FT-2' 0.027uF TEFLON capacitor - ©concept. ▪Aluminium shielding. ▪Made to measure 'Hufschmid GlowBuckers©', the world's first resin cast humbuckers which glow in the dark (copyright registration number ©DEP635754926735555984). ▪The logo inlay design in the back is an actual coin featuring a gorgeous antique nickel finish. ▪20 coats of hand applied oil based varnish. First, the ordering process: working with Patrick was an absolute delight! He provided many updates throughout the whole process, asking me questions etc, and even just provided delightful conversation as a friend. He left no stone unturned during the build, and is extremely efficient and doesn't waste his customer's time, finishing guitars in ~8 weeks or so! He even had to order a second case when this guitar didn't fit, and he paid the extra out of his own pocket. Now for the guitar: it has the most gorgeous top I've ever seen! Each finish is unique, and this blue is really something special. The varnish overall on the guitar feels amazing, and smells great. The Aton shape is basically a Jaguar guitar, but with a cutout at the bridge. It is mega ergonomic, and sits perfectly when I play. I need to bring special attention to the neck-Patrick requests a photo of your hand, so that he can carve the neck based on your hand. I have to say it's the most comfortable neck I've ever played! It's definitely thicker than what most are used to, but I have had some thumb/hand issue with thinner necks so this is a welcome reprieve, and seems to confirm thin necks are not for me. Sound wise, this thing is a beast! Acoustically, it is extremely resonant, and honestly the loudest guitar I've played that wasn't an actual acoustic. The pickups are extremely versatile, I can play the heaviest of metal yet get an amazing clean sound, I wish these weren't exlusive to Hufschmid as I'd like to put pairs in all my guitars! In summary, if you are looking for an amazing, all handmade instrument, made by passion and a skilled artisan luthier, than you cannot go wrong with Patrick! I fully recommend him!

I received the Relapse guitar from Patrick at the end of 2020 and it has to be hands down one of my favourite guitars for its playability and the way it sounds. Starting off with the aesthetics, we went with a distressed paintwork finish without going down the relic route. This allows the grain of the Mahogany to be shown off while at the same time adding awesome theme color to the design. Finishing is a super smooth oil finish, which i much prefer to heavy plastic style glosses. Coming to my two favourite parts of the guitar ...the neck and pick ups. The neck is crazy smooth and the fret dress and finish is spot on. The fretboard edges are perfectly rolled which is a pleasure to play. The neck itself is not wizard thin but actually a nice cubby C shape, which gives lots of support to my hand and makes playing up and down the neck very comfortable. Now the pickups...honestly the best pick ups I have ever played through, I wish I could get them on all my guitars. They are really powerful and yet very articulate. Pitch harmonics are easy to pull off, while note definition on chords ring clear as a bell. But lets be honest, i did get this guitar for Jazz, this thing slays...it can do classic rock great, but im using this thing mainly for crush riffage and leads (ability allowing). I play it either though my Victory V30 Valve set up or through my Fractal Axe fx and it sounds killer. Now to start saving for that Tele shaped beast....

Features The Backlund 400 DLX has a mahogany body and neck with a polyurethane finish (it comes in blue, black or red, whereas the model I’m reviewing is red). It is the ‘deluxe’ model as it comes with a tremolo arm/bridge not found on the regular Backlund 400. Weighing 7.5 pounds (3.4 kg), its body shape is unlike any other and has design elements that crosses vintage with modern. The mahogany neck (24.75-inch scale) has a rosewood fretboard with a soft-C shape. The fingerboard radius is 14-inches (350mm), with 24 medium jumbo nickel frets, mother-of-pearl shark teeth position (aka ski slope) markers and a 1-5/8” carbon nut. The two-piece plastic guard (more a design feature as opposed to an actual pickguard) has a brushed metal-looking finish atop a two-toned, beveled body. The bridge is a Duesenberg Tremolo System that has a similar ‘range’ as a Bigsby, viz., two semi-tones up or down (with flat edges on the bridge for better comfort while palm-muting). There is a slight neck heel bevel to the neck (upper frets are relatively easy to access). The neck and bridge pickups are both medium output passive custom wound double coil humbuckers. The electronics (volume and tone) are quiet, as is the 3-position switch. The jack cover is a countersunk Telecaster style. There is a Volume and Tone control, and the 3-toggle switch (with silver tip to match the hardware) that selects bridge humbucker, bridge + neck tapped or neck humbucker). The machine heads are Wilkinson tuners and the hardware is chrome. The Buckland 400 DLX does not come with a gig-bag or case, but there is an option for a case (the guitar’s shape/length suggests that a gig-bag would not be available). An Allen-key set was included for truss-rod, vibrato arm and knob adjustment. Sound The pickups have a bell-like and clear quality that accentuates the harmonics and note definition. They are sensitive to touch and produce a good deal more volume when the guitar is picked hard versus softly, being ideal for those who like to include a lot of dynamics in their playing. I would classify the pickups as mostly midrange output, since neither bass nor treble tend to accentuate as much or to excess. There are three variations in pickup selection via a toggle switch, each with a variation on a full-bodied tone. In essence, when switching from a bridge to a bridge/neck tapped the same tone can be heard with a transition from high-mids emphasis to mids; and then switching from bridge-neck tapped to neck there is more emphasis in low-mids. Even with these differences it is apparent that you’re hearing the same pickups (likely since the neck and bridge pickups are the same custom wound pickups). The Volume control rolls off slowly, although there is a decent difference with only a partial turn (from full to down slightly), thus making it very good when rolling off higher-gain and distortion (between lead or heavy crunch to a moderate crunch). The Tone control has a good range, and when rolling the treble off completely the bridge pickup sounds very much like the neck pickup. The split-pickup selection has a similar reaction, sounding deep enough and similar to the neck pickup with the tone rolled back completely. Interestingly, the neck pickup sounds only a touch darker (more bass) with the tone rolled back completely. Action/Fit/Finish No adjustments were required – a solid setup. Pickups were adjusted at a reasonable height with chrome pickup rings to match the pickups. There were no flaws in the paint (bubbles, streaks or consistency issues), the neck is smooth with the same red polyurethane throughout. The paint separation or edging (between black and red) is straight and without quality (bleeding) issues. The neck heel has a modest and smooth carve (no armrest or belly contour, although comfortable to play). The carbon nut has a good cut/finish, the frets well dressed (a slight bevel or roundness to their edges), and the tuning pegs have a solid feel when turned. Reliability & Durability This guitar plays well and sounds as good as it looks (although its look certainly succumbs to a particular taste). It is in the higher priced instruments among the Eastwood collection, but the detail and construction is not typical and is a show-piece as much as it is an instrument to be played. The Wilkinson tuners feel solid, the volume/tone knobs are steel, the strap buttons well-secured and of a good size and contour/shape, and the pots are quiet and feel of good quality when turned. All aspects to this deluxe guitar are up to standard for a quality instrument, as they should be for the price. The frets are nickel, which means faster wear than stainless steel, which is one of the minor downfalls for a guitar of this caliber. Overall Impression Designed for Rock ‘n Roll, the Backlund 400 DLX is good also for softer Rock to Hard Rock. It can get through Metal fairly well (not as good as guitars made for Metal), which is good considering its looks (you can’t argue that it may look retro in some respects, yet has a very modern appeal). The pickups do cut through the mix when combined with high-gain gear, and certainly pickups can be swapped if a higher output is preferred. At a price of $1479 USD the Backlund 400 DLX is a bit pricey, but no more so than a good Stratocaster or Les Paul Standard. And if you like the Backlund design, then there are no substitutes. It certainly plays extremely well (good neck feel and low action), it has a nice finish and fret-work, and it sounds good with various types of gear, from distortions, overdrives, modulations, etc. For its price range I would like to see locking tuners and stainless steel frets; as well, the tremolo arm is not meant to be a ‘whammy’ bar, as being too aggressive tends to loosen the arm within its housing (held in place with two Allen key screws), besides having a range of only a few semi-tones, viz., it is a VIBRATO or TREMOLO arm. In a seated position a person’s thigh tends to be in the way of the tremolo arm at times – however, due to the design of the Backlund 400 DLX you can play it in a classical seated position (similar to a Strandberg and other such guitar designs), and doing so allows for better tremolo clearance.

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Kurt Cobain was known for his fender guitars throughout his career. Mostly the Jaguars and the Mustangs. Early on he played the Jaguar and later on he played the mustang. Fender came out with a Jaguar Kurt Cobain signature last year and now they have a new Jaguar based on what he use to play. He played made in Japan Jaguars and these guitars are made in the same factory his was and they come with the same mods from the factory. With this guitar you get an alder body in the small Mustang shape. The neck is a 24 inch scale maple unit with a rosewood fretboard. The fretboard has 22 vintage frets and a 7.25 inch radius. The phase switches are recessed to simulate Kurt cutting them off without having to make them unusable. The neck has a large headstock with vintage tuners. The bridge is a tune-o-matic style bridge. The pickups are Kurts preferred setup. The bridge pickup is a Seymour Duncan JB while the neck pickup is a slanted single. The controls are typical Mustang with the crazy phase switches no one uses on the top of the pickguard. The other controls are typical with a volume and tone. UTILIZATION This is by no means a shred guitar. It doesnt really have the construction for shredding. The neck is only a 24 inch scale so it can be kind of cramped up in the high end. The frets are a lot smaller than what you normally find on modern guitars as well. This is all topped off by the 7.25 inch radius. Modern shred guitars usually have like 15 inch radiuses so this fretboard has a very vintage round feel to it that doesnt help you get a low action. If you arent planning on shredding on the guitar it is alright. It is great if you are a smaller person or a girl and you need a guitar that you can easily handle. The short scale on this guitars means people with smaller hands can play it easily. SOUNDS This guitar has a really raw punk rock sound. This guitar isnt really for clean tones and shred tones. its for power chords and riffing. The shorter scale and looser tension on the strings give you a bit of a thicker tone from the guitar. The bridge pickup is mounted directly into the body and not on the pickguard so you get a more direct and woody tone. The JB is a classic bridge pickup. Kurts older guitars used Dimarzio Super Distortions. Its nice to see Fender being accurate with these mdoels. They easily could have thrown in a generic hot Fender humbucker in the bridge. OVERALL OPINION This guitar is meant for hardcore Cobain fans but it is not super expensive like older models so younger players can still afford it. Since this guitar doesnt have any crazy signature markings it can be enjoyed by people who arent particularly Nirvana fans. If you just like Mustangs in general you could enjoy this guitar for having a heavier sound than your typical mustang.

This is one of my favorite Reverend guitars. Reverend is a small guitar maker out of the midwest United States. They are almost a boutique maker but their guitars are very reasonably priced. This is part of their set neck series. This is for getting your Gibson tones. This guitar has a Korina body and a Korina set neck. Korina sounds like mahogany but is much lighter so you get all the tone without having to poke holes in the wood to save weight. The 290 in the name tells you get two P90 pickups. The pickups are reverend designed. Up top you get locking tuners to match up with the tune-o-matic bridge. The controls are typical reverend with a volume and tone with their famous bass contour knob which lets you cut the bass from the pickups to get a more twangy sound. UTILIZATION This guitar plays and feels great like every other Reverend guitar. I prefer their set neck guitars because I am more of a Gibson guy but their bolt on guitars are good as well. The scale on this guitar is 24.75 so it feels very familiar. The radius is a comfortable 12 inches which isnt bad. The locking tuners do their job and keep you in tune well. SOUNDS The tone on this guitar is great. P90s are some of my favorite pickups. They have the single coil twang with nice body to keep them from sounding thin and shrill. On this guitar it matches well with the Korina body. The bass contour knob really adds versatility to the sound. It lets you dial in how much bass you want in the sound. Wide open you get the full body of the guitar. You get a really thick gritty P90 tone with a full body. If you dial back the bass contour knob you get more of a twangy tele sound. This guitar is very versatile. Its almost like you split the P90s when you dial back the contour. OVERALL OPINION Reverend is quickly becoming one of my favorite guitar makers. Their products are well put together and made in America all while being sold at a reasonable price. They pretty much have a guitar for everyone. If you are looking for a Gibson style guitar with gritty nice P90 pickups this guitar is a great alternative to a Gibson or Epiphone. The quality is up there with Gibson but you can get it for Epiphone money. Thats a win in my book.