Reverend Daredevil HB

Reverend is a small guitar maker out of Michigan in the united states. They are right on the border on becoming a boutique guitar maker but their instruments are very reasonably priced. All their designs are completely original but are based off of iconic guitars from history. They all have great tone and playability and they have a model for just about any requirement of tone or construction. The Daredevil is part of their set neck series guitars. It is their take on the classic double cutaway design. The body as like a lot of Reverend guitars is made out of Korina wood. This model has a Korina neck as well that is set in. The neck is your standard 24.75 Gibson scale. The neck has a 22 fret rosewood fretboard with a 12 inch radius. Up top you get locking tuners and at the bottom a tune-o-matic setup. The controls are typical Reverend with a volume and tone and their famous bass contour knob. There is a 3 way toggle to switch between the Reverend Humbuckers.

UTILIZATION

The playability on these guitars is excellent. They have a very vintage feel but the playability is very modern. The 12 inch radius is very comfortable and the action is setup perfectly for it. The locking tuners are great and are something that every guitar should have. These tuners are pin lock so you will need a tool to unlock them. I think there are better methods for locking tuners but just having them is great. The upper fret access is great as this is a combination of an SG and a Les Paul. The body is full thickness and arched top like a Les Paul but with the big sharp SG style cutaways.

SOUNDS

This guitar can get all your classic humbucker tones. The Korina wood gives you the thick tone of mahogany without the weight so this is a lot better compromise than cutting holes all in the guitar body to make it lighter. The humbuckers are like hot rodded PAF's. They are slightly hot and are voiced well for classic rock. The bass contour knob thats on all Reverend guitars is part of the Reverend sound. It really gives you a lot of versatility without having to split the pickups. With the bass contour on you get a very full bodied tone from the guitar. Its really thick. If you turn it off all the way you get a thinner tone which is almost like a single coil but not quite. This effect works well on both pickups. You can get really jazzy tones with the bass contour on the neck pickup. The contour knob gives you tons of versatility without having to do a bunch of complicated wiring.

OVERALL OPINION

This model is discontinued now but they are not expensive at all. These models sold for about 800 bucks when they were making them and this is nearly boutique quality hardware. The fit and finish is good and the tone is excellent. Reverend is a great alternative to look at if you are looking for traditional tone but do not want to go to the big 2 guitar companies. You cant get a much better set neck humbucker guitar for less than 1000 bucks.