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Reverend Brad Houser 5

My BH5 is currently strung with La Bella Hard Rockin' Steel Stainless set 045 - 128 and IMHO they suit the BH5 nicely.
I don't play this Bass live often but after pulling it out for the thread and thumping away for a bit… I'm going to play it tonight. A Great Bass with plenty of usable sounds.

Anyone using the EB Cobalt set on a BH5?
 
The BH5 is a Beast for sure. I've never tried the Blue Steels
let me know what you think. I'm sticking with the La Bella as they have tons of life left in the set. I dig how these basses have so many fat and unique sounds and I'm with you on the series mode. :bassist:
 
Boom!



BH5_zpsa997d058.jpg
 
Man, I've always really liked these basses. I don't know why Reverend has changed their approach to building basses. Because what time they were around, they had reasonable success, considering the size of the company. They should bring this design back into the fold, for sure. I bet they'd have quite a few more customers.
 
When they stopped making these, I talked to Joe Naylor about it.
At the time, he said this style of instrument was just too complicated and labor intensive to take overseas, and keep the quality he wanted, at a price point he felt would work for them.
I sort of doubt that's changed.

The new basses are nice, and I've played them, but I personally prefer my old BH5 and PJ4.
 
When they stopped making these, I talked to Joe Naylor about it.
At the time, he said this style of instrument was just too complicated and labor intensive to take overseas, and keep the quality he wanted, at a price point he felt would work for them.
I sort of doubt that's changed.

The new basses are nice, and I've played them, but I personally prefer my old BH5 and PJ4.



It's been a while, so I'm rusty about the specs on how these were built. Does yours have a wood top underneath that mother of toiletseat? Are they a solidbody, or what? Tryin' to figure out what'd make these so expensive to produce.
 
Old Reverend Construction:
some, like my BH5, were a laminate top sort of like Formica; and, some, like my PJ were Al-u-min-ium.
Inside, there's a 6" wide mahogany "tone block," which contains a 1" steel "sustain rod."
The wings are hollow.
Because of the solid cneter, they're not "airy light" like a Gretsch or similar, I think my BH5 weighs ~9lbs, and the PJ4 ~8lbs. They don't sound "terribly hollowbody" either; just a little softer and warmer than a complete solid body might.
 
Personally, I love that airy-type of sound. I wonder how that steel rod is mounted in that tone block? Is it inlaid similar to a truss rod, or what?
It's just be cool if they'd do another short run on these. A lot of players don't know what they're missin' when it comes to these basses. And, I'm not speaking specifically about the BH5, either. My buddy had one years ago, and I was straight up hooked on that bass. He never would sell it to me, though. He did let me use it for gigs quite a bit, though. And, all that ever did was prolong the agony of not owning one myself......:(
 
building the laminates.
shaping them and making them into a hollowbody; much different than chucking a wood blank in a cnc driven mill and hitting "go"
finish work
fret work: the neck on the old Rev's are glorious. beautiful hand done fretwork, rolled edges on the fingerboard make it feel like it's been played in for decades.

go build one, and see how well you can make it come out, and see how long it takes you ;)
 
Old Reverend Construction:
some, like my BH5, were a laminate top sort of like Formica; and, some, like my PJ were Al-u-min-ium.

I think you'll find the Lava is also aluminum. I put a scratch thru the finish on mine, looks like aluminum to me.

Interestingly (or maybe not), the Bugeye finish is not metal, just chrome plated plastic type stuff.
 
building the laminates.
shaping them and making them into a hollowbody; much different than chucking a wood blank in a cnc driven mill and hitting "go"
finish work
fret work: the neck on the old Rev's are glorious. beautiful hand done fretwork, rolled edges on the fingerboard make it feel like it's been played in for decades.

go build one, and see how well you can make it come out, and see how long it takes you ;)
Man, the BH model is so cool, I wish they'd made a 4 as well.

I had a Rev PJ and I agree about the necks--fantastic, particularly at that price point. I only sold it because I can't get used to the PJ setup. I run into the guy I sold it to every once in a while and he still loves it four years later.

I wish Reverend could somehow do a few special US runs of the old models for the hardcore fans, but I'm sure the tooling-up costs would be prohibitive.
 

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