Reverend Sensei 290

[odd]

I'm afraid I'm really gassing for one. Any owners here? What do you think of it?

[ggwwbb]

Reverends are seriously great guitars and have a great bang for the buck! I don't own a Sensei, but I've played one several times, great guitar....I used to have a Roundhouse, which is very similiar and it pretty much cured my GAS for a Les Paul! Of course I no longer have it now (but I still have my Warhawk I 290, which is a bolt neck)......but I can say that you can't go wrong with a Reverend! Joe's pickups are the best!

[IPLAYLOUD]

Matching painted sides and backs added now.
FYI: Alex Lifeson has a Sensei HB that he warms up on before every show.

[Greentone]

I just went to the website and looked at it. Now I have GAS! Thanks a heap.

[thrashmetl]

I also used to have a Roundhouse HB, the Sensei replaced the Roundhouse, and it was truly killer. The only reason I got rid of it was because I like huge necks and although people say these necks are rather large, just wasn't large enough for me. Also, another plus, I actually ended up pulling the stock pickups and putting a Guitarforce Lord of the Blues set in that I liked, but when I put the stock ones back in before I sold it, I found that I liked the stock pickups better all around.

[MangoMango]

Just dive in.

I have a Sensei with Railhammers but I have lots of experience with the Reverend P-90s and they are capable of anything.

You can thin them out, do a nice warm and chunky blues or go full metal with with lots of singing overtones and harmonics.


It's a larger body in person IMHO and the neck is Gibsonish and oh so smooth.

Mine's a keeper for sure.

[arcey]

Originally Posted by thrashmetl

I also used to have a Roundhouse HB, the Sensei replaced the Roundhouse, and it was truly killer. The only reason I got rid of it was because I like huge necks and although people say these necks are rather large, just wasn't large enough for me. Also, another plus, I actually ended up pulling the stock pickups and putting a Guitarforce Lord of the Blues set in that I liked, but when I put the stock ones back in before I sold it, I found that I liked the stock pickups better all around.

What would you compare the neck shape/thickness to?

[bismark]

You can't go wrong with Reverend.

[johnnylighton]

Something I've noticed here and on HC reviews: people often talk about the build quality, the innovations, the versatility, and the value of Reverends. But I rarely see comments about how much they *love* the tones or the whole guitar. In contrast, there are so many comments about the love for Teles and Pauls.

This seems particularly true for the Sensei. The exceptions seem to be the USA Slingshot, which is out of production, and the Manta Ray semi-hollow.

If I'm right, why would that be? The pickups? Or just that most people seek the most-classic tones of the Tele and the Paul? Or am I wrong?

[cbpickin]

I have had my Roundhouse 290 for about 4 years and it is my favorite slide guitar to date. It is a great guitar for the money, but it also plays and sounds good.
I've only modded two things on mine:
1. I replaced the locking tuners it came with with a set of Grovers.
2. I recently swapped the pickups for a set of Fralins. There is nothing wrong with the stock P90's, I just wanted to try the Fralins and see if they improved the tone.

[jklotz]

Originally Posted by cbpickin

I have had my Roundhouse 290 for about 4 years and it is my favorite slide guitar to date. It is a great guitar for the money, but it also plays and sounds good.
I've only modded two things on mine:
1. I replaced the locking tuners it came with with a set of Grovers.
2. I recently swapped the pickups for a set of Fralins. There is nothing wrong with the stock P90's, I just wanted to try the Fralins and see if they improved the tone.

so do the Fralins improve the tone?

[Franklin]

I've had my Sensei 290 for a year and it's still the one I've been using for every show but one since. Great guitar!

[odd]

Damn, it seems there are no local dealers here. It would really fill out my need for an SG-type guitar with P90s. Both of which are not present in my current little collection.

Keep the input coming, if you please.

[odd]

bump

[hop]

I have a Sensei HB, and a Volcano w/ P90s. I much preferred the tone of the HB to the P90; the HB was thicker/meatier/growlier vs. the thinner P90. Of course I was going for heavy and crunchy (no tele twang or strat sparkle for me, thanks) but if you aren't you might prefer the P90. The thing is, with the BCC knob on the Reverends you can get pretty darn quacky from the HBs too.

Overall the Sensei is an awesome guitar but I've decided I like the ergonomics of the V shape better. Solution: I got myself a Volcano w/ Railhammers and now my Sensei's for sale.