Reverend Airwave 12-string electric semi-hollowbody

[HighPlainsDrifter]

I've had this guitar for a while now and decided to finally show it to you fine folks on TFF. This one came to me from Wildwood Guitars out of Colorado. This is the first Reverend guitar that I've ever owned or even played but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one. I had been wanting a 12-string electric for a while and it really came down to this one and the Gretsch G5422G-12 Electromatic Hollow-body double-cutaway. Although I never got to try the Gretsch, I have absolutely no regrets buying this guitar although if I had it to do over, I might have gone with the surf-green instead of the burst. No matter... I like them both. Also available in black and natural. All look nice imo.

Pickups: P90 neck/ bridge. What fantastic sounding pickups in this particular guitar... very well balanced and clear. They pair quite well with the woods of the korina/ solid spruce body, the korina/ walnut neck, and the rosewood fret-board... great resonance and tone to be certain.

Bridge: Each saddle is fully intonateable for all 12 strings. Had to make some slight adjustments when it arrived but intonation is now spot on. I did add a shim and a longer screw subsequently raising the height of the low e string saddle. The issue was due to the difference in the e/E string gauges along with the fact that the maxed-out saddle height was still just a little too low. Now the low e-string sits right alongside of the low E... perfect. The rest of the strings didn't have this issue so that was the only modification that I had to make.

Nut: 1 3/4" Boneite/ synthetic. I believe that this material is comparable to graphite for what it's worth... Obvious quality over plastic. Tuning is stable and slots feel correct in regards to depth and width. Slots match the radius flawlessly and action is ideal from top to bottom.

Controls: Vol/ tone/ bass contour. The knobs function smoothly and roll on/off gradually with no abrupt jump in volume or tone. Bass contour knob is great for re-voicing and tightening the low end. The 3 controls seem to compliment one another quite well. I especially like vol and tone dialed down a bit while turning up the contour knob slightly... very nice sound.

Body/ top: Semi hollow-body Korina with solid spruce top. Resonates beautifully. Seems that the woods match the P90s very well. I believe that most of the people that don't care for Reverend, feel that way because of some models strange body-shapes. It seems that their designs evoke a strong "like" or "dislike". At least in pictures, I didn't love the Airwave shape nor hate it but when I finally saw it in person, I instantly appreciated the quality and aesthetics so much that it was easy to develop a fondness for the quirky shape too. I dig the retro/ non-traditional look personally.

Neck: 5-piece korina/ walnut. "Medium oval" shape is probably most similar to my PRS S2 ( pattern regular profile). Feels truly solid and substantial... Extremely comfortable for me as I've moved away from "Wizard-ish" profiles over the years. I've also played LP's with similar feeling necks but I don't know what years they were. Regardless, It's extremely solid-feeling with a nice "chunkiness" to it... Really feels fantastic to play.

Locking Tuners: These seem like very good-quality. Pitch is stable and although I'm not looking forward to doing a complete string-change, the task will no doubt be much quicker and easier with these particular machine-heads.

Hard-shell case: This guitar comes with a very cool retro-looking two-tone hard-shell case. The fit of the guitar in the case is perfect and the overall quality of this particular case is evident. Handle, stitching, and latches are I believe very durable... especially as they compare to a lot of other HSC's out there these days.

Additional specs:

Made in: S. Korea/ set-up/ inspected/ tested in US
Hand initialed serial #
24.75" scale
Set-neck
12" radius
22 med/ jumbo frets
Dual-action truss-rod

[gibsonjunkie]

'Tis a thing of great beauty!

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Ah... Thank's man. It was worth posting about. Really happy with the company and the product.

[CoyotesGator]

That is pretty!

Congratulations bud!

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Thanks so much, CG!

[OldStrummer]

Very nice!

I hadn't heard of Reverend guitars until last year when the guitar player of the worship band playing at a men's retreat played one. Curious, I asked him about it (I saw him/them again this year). The two things that stood out from his comments were, it stays in tune superbly, and it costs less than comparable guitars from "the name guys."

[Don]

That's awesome!

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Very nice!

I hadn't heard of Reverend guitars until last year when the guitar player of the worship band playing at a men's retreat played one. Curious, I asked him about it (I saw him/them again this year). The two things that stood out from his comments were, it stays in tune superbly, and it costs less than comparable guitars from "the name guys."

I found both of those sentiments to be true. The neck on this guitar just feels so solid. Tuning stability may or may not be directly attributed to the construction and/ or materials but the pitch of this guitar is the most stable of any guitars that I own. The tuners on this thing also feel rock-solid and [infrequent] tuning adjustments are minimal and precise. Also, comparing the Gretsch and the Reverend side by side ( online anyway lol), I was more impressed with the specs, materials, design, etc of this one over the comparably priced Gretsch. Thanks so much for your comments, OS.

That's awesome!

Thanks, Don for taking a look!

[ch willie]

Man, that is a nice guitar. Reverend makes some lefties. I hope when I get ready to buy a 12 string that they start making those in a lefty.

[renderit]

Awesome sauce! Love it!

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Man, that is a nice guitar. Reverend makes some lefties. I hope when I get ready to buy a 12 string that they start making those in a lefty.

Man, I've never looked but I'll bet that 12-string electric lefty's are hard to find. Not sure how the Reverend brand is doing in today's fickle and saturated market but if sales are strong then I would think that they might expand some of their line-up to include more lefty's, new models, etc. Sincere thanks for taking a look, Willie.

Awesome sauce! Love it!

Thanks, man. I appreciate that.

[DanTheBluesMan]

I usually associate 12 strings with Ricks and Gretsches, which are different looking enough that the Reverend fits right in. That is a fine looking guitar. I always thought the bigger strings were on top.

The only 12 string I've ever played was a lefty acoustic, which of course was totally wrong for me. Tried to play it righty and lefty, was equally abysmal

[HighPlainsDrifter]

I usually associate 12 strings with Ricks and Gretsches, which are different looking enough that the Reverend fits right in. That is a fine looking guitar. I always thought the bigger strings were on top.

The only 12 string I've ever played was a lefty acoustic, which of course was totally wrong for me. Tried to play it righty and lefty, was equally abysmal

The bigger strings ARE on top... as long as you're standing on your head!

I guess that's true... Rickenbacker certainly has an iconic look but I sure have never jived with them... nor their prices. I was so close to getting the Gretsch over the Reverend but every time that I visited Sweetwater, they were out of the black and the cherry so I moved on and I'm satisfied that I did. I'm sure the Gretsch would have been a winner but at least in hollows/ semi-hollows, I'll take the P90's over the Filter-trons any day. I can easily understand how some 12-string guitars don't jive with some people and the ones that I had played years ago certainly didn't suit me either. Fortunately, the two that I have now though ( The Reverend and a Taylor) have such perfect action that they are an absolute joy to play. Thank you for stopping by, Dan!