Reverend Sensei Jr. - Oh Hell Yes!

[Nubs]

I was browsing Reverb this morning which is always dangerous, especially when I come across this new model:

Be still my heart! I've never tried nor had a Reverend before. Can someone give me a run-down? Fenders are my preferred brand. How do these compare/contrast?

Thanks!

PS: Link to the page: https://www.reverendguitars.com/guitars/sensei-jr-lefty

 

[Mistercharlie]

Reverends are great. You’ll find lots of folks here who like them. I had a Charger 290 with a Bigsby, and sold it only because of the Bigsby.

Very nice guitars, amazing looking, like 1950s muscle cars, and killer pickups. I like the bass cut knob too. Every guitar should have one of those. I mean that literally — I put on one my Strat.

You should buy that one.

 

[twotone60]

I have five Reverends, including a Sensei 290 and the guitar in my avatar, which is a Jetstream 390. The thing about Reverends is that you don't need to upgrade anything on them - pickups, electronics, bridge, tuners are all solid and ready to go right off the bat. I don't know why you don't want a neck pickup, but that's strictly your call - I use mine all the time. The other thing that's nice about the Reverend guitars is the bass contour. A guitar with this configuration can get muddy, but a small tweak with the bass contour takes care of that.

 

[beninma]

That one looks like it's riffing on the Les Paul Jr ?

The bass contour knob looks cool.

 

[twotone60]

That one looks like it's riffing on the Les Paul Jr ?

Yes, actually like a Les Paul Special, but the korina body with belly cut and the bass contour make it a bit lighter and brighter and the neck carve will be more comfortable for most people. Not to mention superior setup and QC.

 

[BB]

Wonderful guitars. If I was looking for a new guitar, Reverend would be on my short list. Great necks with excellent fret work and an already broke in feel. The bass contour knob (as others have expressed) is a sweet tonal addition to an already sweet sounding guitar.

I recently bought a guitar loaded with Reverend's Railhammer buckers. This happens to be the Chisel set...a ceramic magnet pickup touted for heavier music. Truth be told, I would have never given them a second look as I play mostly clean and when I do use dirt, it's low gain. However, these pickups are exceptional. One of the most dynamic, touch responsive sets I've played. The wealth of tones that reside from 2 to 10 on the guitars volume control is most impressive. This guitar came wired with the bass contour in place of the tone control and as much as I thought I'd miss the tone control, I don't. Good stuff.

 

[985plowboy]

I'd like to play one.
A shop in Baton Rouge carried them years ago, but stopped.
Don't know where to find a live example.

 

[chris m.]

Reverends are excellent guitars, and they have quite a range of models.

 

[tfarny]

What a great take on the Jr / Special concept! Looks awesome, I don't know much about them except they have a good rep.
OP, it's going to be a Gibson-type experience I'm guessing, with an angled neck and a short scale.

 

[8barlouie]

I’m definitely going to give them a look next time I’m gassing. The quality of the components (which they specify on the website) is quite impressive.

 

[Fearnot]

Nobody splits the difference between Fender and Gibson better than Reverend.

 

[zhyla]

You should cross shop that with the Yamaha Revstar line. They’re good and have a similar but for more interesting vibe.

 

[gtrguru]

I'm a new Sensei 290 owner and Reverend convert. The bass contour knob is way more useful than I thought it was gonna be. I'm definitely going to be getting another Rev once I can make up my mind which one I want.

 

[BWNadeau]

I had a Manta Ray and a Charger. Very cool guitars,but the neck was on the smallish side - similar to Godins I’ve played. The Sensei Jr is one I’d love to own though.

 

[raysachs]

Someone posted about a Sensei 290 here a week or two ago. I figured I'd check one out the next time I was near a shop that carried them. Then I looked ant it turned out my local mom and pop music shop has them. They didn't have any of the P90 versions in stock but they had a Sensei and a Charger in stock, which were the two models I was most interested in the 290 versions of. So I stopped in last weekend just to get a feel for their playability, figuring the sound would be more than good enough based on everything I've read and the Youtube videos I've seen. Long story short, they're very very well put together for the price point. I didn't personally bond with the necks, so they're non-starters for me, but necks are such a personal thing I'd say anyone should check them out. I liked the feel of the Sensei more than the Charger, probably b because I seem to be OK with 12" fretboards on necks with bound rosewood and ebony fretboards but pretty much never seem to be on maple necks with maple fretboards. I like all kinds of Fender necks, but I've never liked any of their 12" radius necks. But even the Sensei didn't move me that much. My gold standards for necks are Fender for maple fretboards (with 9.5 or 7.25" radii) and Ibanez Artstar or PRS for rosewood or ebony. And neither of the Reverends felt nearly as good as those to me.

But again, just personal preference - no commentary on how well made they are. If their necks are to your taste, I wouldn't hesitate...

-Ray

 

[twotone60]

You should cross shop that with the Yamaha Revstar line. They’re good and have a similar but for more interesting vibe.

Care to be more specific? I can (and would) just as easily and with as much authority state: "Sensei has a far more interesting vibe than a Revstar."

 

[studio1087]

They have two of them at Cascio Music in New Berlin (Milwaukee) that I played yesterday.

They were extremely resonant. Unplugged they were fantastic. I did not plug one in but sitting and playing both of them made me think wow! Loud and jangly.

 

[zhyla]

Care to be more specific? I can (and would) just as easily and with as much authority state: "Sensei has a far more interesting vibe than a Revstar."

Oh it’s obviously subjective, the Revstars just grab me more.

 

[tdu]

I have owned dozens of guitars, and my Reverend Flatroc has been my #1 since I got it. You can see it in my profile photo. I had a Charger 290 which I wish I never sold because I bought both when they were a lot cheaper.

Re the Revstar vs. This model Reverend, the other guitar player in my band has both (one of the high end Revstar models) and seems to only play the Sensei Jr. He loves it. They are just totally different beasts though. Both are super well built. In my opinion the key difference is that Reverend pickups are fantastic, which is what he has also said in the past. I'd take their P90's and Filtertrons over pretty much any brand of either pickup I have tried.

Reverends are a lot more money then when I bought mine, but they are well worth it in my opinion. The quality of every single component and the build quality are top notch.

The only other note to the people wanting these to feel like a Fender... they don't and they aren't meant to I don't think. To me, they pick a middle ground between Fender, Gibson, and Gretsch, and do a really good job at that.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, I find the bass contour extremely useful. I barely use tone controls on a guitar, but I use it all the time. On my Flatroc, it totally takes the Revtrons into Tele twang territory.

 

[SASouth]

I just got a Sensei RA FM yesterday. I haven’t had a chance to plug it in yet but unplugged it resonates nicely.

I’m going to plug it in as soon I get done futzing about on guitar forums yakking about it.