Meet the Contender: Reverend Guitars’ flat-top, single-cut set neck guitar. Classically retro, but the offset body and six-in-line headstock give the guitar a modern feel. A strategic chamber under the pickguard increases resonance and reduces weight. The Contender 290 has a pair of 9A5 pickups for fat, raw, and bluesy tones with enough bite to cut through the mix. This guitar effortlessly combines vintage with cutting-edge — a hallmark of Reverend’s original designs.
Reverend Guitars design own proprietary custom pickups, to achieve the best tonal match with their instruments. Reverend pickups are also specifically designed for each position, for balanced volume and tone when switching. Korina (aka White Limba) is a medium-light weight wood, highly prized for consistency and tonal qualities. Often found in boutique and vintage instruments, all Reverends feature Korina bodies. A highly resonant wood, Korina is a key factor to producing lively, responsive instruments that are rich in harmonics. This passive bass roll-off is great for tightening up the low end, or re-voicing the pickups. It can make a humbucker sound like a single-coil, or give a P-90 that classic twang. Variable pickup voicing at your fingertips! A thumbwheel under the tuner pushes a steel pin up through the post, locking the string in place for exceptional tuning stability and super-fast string changes.