Description
It all started for Mike Watt in San Pedro, California. That’s where he met D. Boon and George Hurley – who would later form The Minutemen – a band that would inspire legions. Watt went on to form fIREHOSE, and play bass for punk royalty with The Stooges, as well as hundreds of projects with musicians around the world. The Reverend Mike Watt Signature Wattplower is the result of a four-year exploratory between Watt and Reverend to produce a bass guitar with the perfect balance of sonic explosiveness and supreme playability, and ultimately looks uniquely Watt. The 30″ scale, compact size, along with touches like the Luminlay dots on the side of the neck are perfect for any player used to dark stages and long sets. The neck is made of Korina, 3 pieces laminated for strength – and features a rosewood fingerboard. The bridge is a Hipshot A Style Brass for great intonation and lots of sustain. And because it’s Watt, there’s an anchor inlay at the first fret and “Wattplower” at the seventeenth. This one is worth the wait.
Specs
Gallery
Features
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.
These tuners have a housing made of aircraft grade aluminum that makes them extra-light. The difference in weight can be as much as 2-3oz less in the headstock, which means a more balanced bass that’s more comfortable to play. And the tone is great! Your bass is more defined and enhanced with the Hipshot Ultralites.
This adjustable spacing bridge allows for more sustain and has a string thru or top-load option. Coupled with a Brass bridge spacer, the sustain on this bass is wicked!
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.
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.
The Anchor Inlay at the first fret is a tribute to Mike Watt's father, who was a sailor in the Navy.
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.
Mike Watt wanted high visibility side dots. These glow-in-the-dark dots by Luminlay emit a soft yet bright green light, making neck navigation on a dark stage easy! For extra brightness, charge the luminescent dots with a small LED flashlight.
Mike Watt prefers front mounted jack plates. But we knew a standard issue jack plate wouldn’t survive. That’s why we designed this custom jack plate, featuring thick steel and an oversize diameter, that won’t bend, crack or fail in the heat of battle.
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.
These vintage volume and tone knobs have the numbers right on them, with an extra triangle pointer, so you can see where your settings are all the time.
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.
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.
