Set-Neck Series
Contender 290
Finishes

Description

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.

Specs

Body Korina Solidbody
Pickups 9A5 Bridge, 9A5 Neck
Bridge TOM with Stop Tail
Neck Three-Piece Korina
Scale 24 3/4"
Neck Profile Medium Oval
Fingerboard Rosewood - 12" Radius
Frets 22 - 0.110"W x 0.050"H
Truss Rod Dual Action - Headstock Access
Tuners Reverend Pin-Lock
Nut 43mm Width - Boneite
Controls Volume, Tone, Bass Contour, 3-way
Strings 10-46
Case Two-Toned Teardrop (Available Separately)
Price $1099

Gallery

Features

Custom Pickups

We design our own proprietary custom pickups, to achieve the best tonal match with our instruments. Reverend pickups are also specifically designed for each position, for balanced volume and tone when switching.

Korina Body

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 our lively, responsive instruments that are rich in harmonics.

Bass Contour

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!

Pin-Lock Tuners

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.

Initialed Headstock

Every Reverend is hand initialed and serial numbered on the back of the headstock by one of our highly skilled technicians who sets up, inspects, and tests every instrument.

Thin Finish

The paint on a Reverend is thinner than most production guitars, allowing the body to vibrate more freely, for a more resonant and lively tone. Thick finishes might look a little 'slicker', but at Reverend, tone is a top priority. Our finish is also UV cured, which means it's 100% dry from day one, unlike vintage-style nitrocellulose finishes, which can take years to fully dry.

Custom Dome Knobs

Our proprietary knobs feature a lower profile which is less likely to be accidentally hit by the player's hand, and the white dot lets you easily see where your knob rotation is set.

Boneite Nut

We use "Boneite," a synthetic bone nut, that is more consistent than natural bone, on all Reverend instruments. It reduces friction, allowing the strings to slide through the nut slots smoothly, improving tuning stability.

Dual-Action Truss Rod

Our dual action rod adjusts in both directions, allowing back bow or forward bow. This assures correct adjustment range is possible regardless of string tension, extreme climate conditions, or the effects of long term aging. It’s also located at the headstock for easy access.

Custom Jack Plate

Our proprietary jack plate features four mounting screws, instead of two. The extra screws prevent the plate from tearing out of the body. Made of steel for durability, the laser etched logo adds an extra touch of class!

Pure Tone Jack

All Reverends use an upgraded jack by Pure Tone Technologies. A standard jack has single contacts, but the Pure Tone jack has dual contacts for improved grip, audio signal and reliability. The most dependable guitar jack available.

Treble Bleed Circuit

All Reverend guitars have a treble bleed circuit, preserving the treble when you roll back the volume control. When you roll back a standard volume control, the tone loses treble and becomes dull sounding. Now you can turn down and still sound great!

10% Pots

We use Alpha control pots with a +-10% rating. While a typical pot is +-20%, our pots are built to tighter specifications, making them more consistent. Typically used in expensive boutique guitars, but standard issue in all Reverends.

10% Poly Caps

We use caps with a +-10% rating, while a typical cap is +-20%. Our caps are made to tighter specifications, so they’re more consistent. Made of polyester, they’re also longer lasting, and less affected by temperature than cheaper ceramic caps. Typically used in expensive boutique guitars.

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