From the vivid imagination of Vernon Reid comes the Totem Series of Reverend Vernon Reid guitars. A sleek body features graphics inspired by Carl Jung’s Collective Unconscious Theory, Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey, and artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Romare Beardon. West African Adinkra symbols adorn the pickups and headstock, while American Hobo symbols grace the fretboard. Africana and Americana symbolism meld with profound graphics, conjuring vivid images that speak to humankind’s perilous, yet necessary journeys.
While visually stunning, these instruments are also refined tools of the trade. The recipe of Korina, ebony, and Railhammer Pickups, coupled with the sheer metallic mass of the Floyd Rose, serves up a tone best described as punchy! Harmonics pop, single notes sing, and chords ring with tasty overtones – delivering that knockout punch whether you’re playing clean funk or heavy rock. Now’s your chance to own a genuinely collectible art piece that sounds and plays as amazing as it looks!
Railhammer Pickups
Rails under the wound strings for tight lows. Poles under the plain strings for fat highs. This revolutionary design from Reverend founder Joe Naylor delivers exceptional clarity and punch, that will get you heard loud and clear!
Custom Artwork
AI generated images informed by psychologist Carl Jung's Collective Unconscious Theory, author Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey, as well as artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Romare Beardon. These images were then modified and arranged by Reverend designer Joe Naylor.
Floyd Rose Bridge and Locking Nut
The low-profile version of the infamous Original tremolo, the 1000 Series Pro features the same string spacing as the Floyd Rose Original (.420").
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!
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.
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.
Dual-Action Truss Rod
vOur 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.
Reverend Vernon Reid Signature Totem Series Guitar Features:
- Korina Body with Set Neck Construction and 24.75” Scale
- Three Piece Korina Neck with Soft V Profile
- Ebony 22 Fret Fingerboard with 12” Radius
- Railhammer Vernon Reid Signature Pickups
- Floyd Rose 1000 Series Pro Bridge
