GEAR REVIEW

The pickups offer a wide range of tones, including easy and meaty Clap- Raw Power ton- and Peter Green-style sounds from the neck CP90. A swing through The Reverend Guitars the clean to dirty ranges finds all sorts of warm, puckery tones. And don’t be Ron Asheton Model fooled by the Flying V shape – you may even be surprised at the cool country twangin’ the Ron Asheton delivers. f Ron Asheton had recorded just one headstock features Reverend pin-lock Want to crank up the gain and go to Ialbum in his musical career – the Stooges’ tuners. Hardware also includes a Metalville, but are afraid of the P-90 1969 debut – he still would be regarded as a tune-o-matic-style bridge and stop noise? Positions 2 and 4 on the selector legend. The Stooges’ proto-punk opus laid tailpiece. For controls, there are switch are completely hum-canceling the blueprint for a thousand punk, alt-rock, Volume and Tone knobs along with and deliver all the crunch with a little and grunge bands that a bass contour, out-of-phase tone for good grace. followed and featured basically a pas- More importantly, these pickups are the cult classic “I Wanna Price: $1,079 sive bass roll-off super-clean, giving incredible note Be Your Dog.” Asheton Info: www.reverendguitars.com that adds more definition with the crunch on, in some passed away in 2009, but single-coil twang cases better than that from a typical the folks at Reverend to the CP90s and humbucker. Clearly, Asheton and Guitars have honored him with their Ron puts some variable pickup voicing Naylor knew what they were doing Asheton model, available in both white and in easy reach – cool idea. Better when they designed this solidbody. a rather badass deep orange. still, the Volume knob is smooth Made in Korea, Reverend guitars The Ron Asheton solidbody merges sev- and perfectly sited for volume swells are set up in the United States by eral ideas into one compelling instrument. on the go. in-house technician Zack Green Obviously, there’s the Flying V-styled body Plugged in, the Ron Asheton (whose initials are on the back of (made of white limba Korina, no less), but quickly impresses. It’s a nicely every headstock). And the build itself Asheton and Reverend builder Joe Naylor balanced guitar and the neck is fairly superlative – the guitar is also added the big block inlays that recall feels great. Its weight is right solid and its controls and switches a Les Paul Custom. The triple P-90 pickup on the money and the body’s seem tough enough for regular configuration speaks to a number of vin- resonance is obvious before gigging. The neck is fast play- tage guitars, like the early-version Gibson the cable is even inserted into ing, allowing relatively easy Switchmasters and the non-reverse Gibson the nicely recessed input bends on the high E, and the Firebird III. A raised body elevation down jack. Tonally, the Asheton tone is versatile and pleas- the guitar’s face also brings to mind the offers a big sonic dimen- ing. Onstage, the V shape, venerable Firebird. sion, even when played three CP90s, and hot finish In addition to the historical touches, through smaller combo will more than grab fans’ Naylor and his team added some cool amps. Asheton may attention. Ron Asheton’s tweaks, like a rosewood fingerboard with have been proto-punk spirit clearly lives on in 22 medium-jumbo frets, a dual-action truss in his day, but this this fine guitar sure rod, a black swept-wing pickguard, a five- guitar is killer for to unleash any gui- way pickup selector, and chrome control both flat-out rock tarist’s raw power. knobs. Other design perks include three and electric blues. – Pete Prown lightning bolts on the upper wing of the V and a laser graphic of Asheton’s signature, located on the back of the headstock. Like the three-piece body, the Gibson- scaled neck (24.75") is also Korina and features a 1.65625" graphite nut. The Reverend-design triple CP90 pickups include a bridge unit that is hotter than a traditional P-90, while the middle and neck versions are slightly cleaner and reputedly less noisy than vintage P-90s. The neck has a pretty flat 12" radius with a medium- oval profile, while the three-and-three

Vintage Guitar November 2013