Reverend Guitars was founded by Joe Naylor in 1996 and gained immediate popularity due to their unique shape and use of alternative materials. The company has slowly shifted all production to Korea over the years and currently offers a wide range of models with distinctive features, catering to the mid-priced market.

The Roundhouse has a Les Paul-like single cutaway design with a slightly rounder, hour-glass figure. Our review Roundhouse is one of the original production models, which features a flamed maple flat top on a solid mahogany body (newer production runs utilize a Korina body) with a 24 ¾” scale Mahogany neck topped with a rosewood fretboard. Workmanship across the board is excellent with a high attention to detail. Top to bottom, the axe is flawless.

Naylor’s soft oval shape is a perfect description for the neck profile, which is chunky enough to satisfy those who like beefier necks without scaring away those with more modern preferences. Fret dressing is perfect all around, making the guitar extremely comfortable. The tilt back headstock features Wilkinson EZ-Lock tuners which, as expected, provided rock solid tuning stability (note that Reverend now uses their proprietary Pin Lock tuners on the current production run).

Controls feature a standard three-way pickup selector, master volume, and master tone knobs. However, the Roundhouse sports a curious third knob lurking just behind the tone control. Reverend calls it a Bass Contour and it functions like a reverse tone control rolling off bass (more on this below).

…the Roundhouse’s tones definitely fall into the vintage PAF territory with a particularly sweet and chimey high end...

I auditioned the guitar using a Fender Cyber-Champ, First Act VA881, and Boss GT-10. Plugged up, the Roundhouse’s tones definitely fall into the vintage PAF territory with a particularly sweet and chimey high end that I can’t say I’ve experienced out of a dual humbucker guitar before. It really seemed to pair nicely with the Vox voiced UK Chime channel of the VA881, which really complemented the crunchy bridge’s midrange, yet allowed the smoother, rounder sound of the neck to shine with the volume rolled back a bit; all while showing off the Roundhouse’s excellent high end.

Now for that curious Bass Contour control…After five seconds of auditioning the capabilities of this innovative tone circuit, I was in awe of the vast versatility it added to the guitar. Rolling it back all the way brings an almost single coil-like tonality to the guitar and all the spots in between serve up various shades of awesome. Using the traditional tone control in coordination with the Bass Contour really makes the Roundhouse one of the most versatile dual humbucker guitars I’ve ever played.

I was equally impressed dialing up some clean Fender tones on the Cyber-Champ where I was greeted with spank and sparkle; the Roundhouse spit out everything from slinky funk to big, smooth jazz tones with ease. I hate to sound like a broken record, but Reverend’s Bass contour control is simply awesome, kicking this already great guitar into the stratosphere.

The Reverend Roundhouse is a striking guitar with excellent playability and a perfect choice for those searching for versatility from a dual humbucker guitar.

Price: ~$560 USD (2007 model) - $700 USD (2008 model)
Pros: Excellent playability, innovative tone circuit.
Cons: None