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The Reverend Club (part 8)

#2,521
comatosedragon said:
View attachment 4725841

The Decision arrived Sunday. It's for sure the heaviest of the four (ebony board and aluminum PG contribute to that); but still light overall. I have not had too much time to play it, work is crazy and I've been sick with this stomach thing.

The Raymond is my fretless conversion; but I'm a little embarrassed to show the whole board. I did a good job removing the frets and Appling maple veneer; but it was when I decided to get fancy and remove/replace the fret marker dots that things became ugly. I will share when I feel more comfortable with it. I may just break down and buy a new blank fretboard, not sure yet.

Anyway, flying my Reverend flag high here. AFAIK, I just need a five string to complete the collection . . . . . . . . . . .
:bassist::bassist:
Click to expand...

Post your impressions of the 25th anniversary Decision P when you get a chance. I have one on pre-order with Sweetwater that's supposed to be coming in August. I've had my eye on Reverend basses for a few years and finally decided to pull the trigger when I saw this special edition Decision come out. I had my 25th anniversary with my company this month so it seemed like a fitting way to celebrate.
 
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#2,522
After a little more time with the 25th anniversary Decision, here are my impressions.

I mentioned that the Decision is heavier than the other 3 basses, and that is true (I believe); but it was also a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. This still sits somewhere around 8 lbs 8oz by my estimation. I know the weight of my Triad (8lb 4oz); but not an accurate weight of any of the others. I just play the Triad almost every day, so I noticed the tiny difference right away.

Fit and finish -- this is why I am such a huge Reverend fan. Immaculate in every way, truly top notch. I really like the Silver Freeze color, very blue to my eyes. I haven't had an ebony board on a bass for a while, I really like this one, although part of me says it might have been a better look with roasted maple. I love having a variety of basses that all sound different, but feel exactly the same in almost every way.

Sound. Here is where I was very surprised. I have mentioned before that all my Reverends sound different (to me). Well this one sounds different too, but I was immediately in love with the tone. It took me a long time to find a good tone with my Triad, and the Raymond and Mercalli both take some tweaking to get right, but I just plugged this in, set the pan to 50-50 and rocked out. I guess this is kind of what the 'classic P' sound is, but I have owned Fenders and Warmoths, and none of them sound as good as this Decision.

As a bass player who has never left his bedroom, I am not very good at explaining tones, nor do I have any info about how this 'sits in a mix' or anything like that. I just know I love Reverend basses, they make me want to play everyday.

As a slight derail; does anyone know just how limited this run is or is going to be? I have heard said that only 25 of these are being made, but I can not find any info to confirm or refute that. Seems low to me (and I think there are 4 or 5 of us on these boards with one right now), but what do I know! :smug:

:bassist::bassist::bassist:
 
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#2,523
comatosedragon said:
After a little more time with the 25th anniversary Decision, here are my impressions.

I mentioned that the Decision is heavier than the other 3 basses, and that is true (I believe); but it was also a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. This still sits somewhere around 8 lbs 8oz by my estimation. I know the weight of my Triad (8lb 4oz); but not an accurate weight of any of the others. I just play the Triad almost every day, so I noticed the tiny difference right away.

Fit and finish -- this is why I am such a huge Reverend fan. Immaculate in every way, truly top notch. I really like the Silver Freeze color, very blue to my eyes. I haven't had an ebony board on a bass for a while, I really like this one, although part of me says it might have been a better look with roasted maple. I love having a variety of basses that all sound different, but feel exactly the same in almost every way.

Sound. Here is where I was very surprised. I have mentioned before that all my Reverends sound different (to me). Well this one sounds different too, but I was immediately in love with the tone. It took me a long time to find a good tone with my Triad, and the Raymond and Mercalli both take some tweaking to get right, but I just plugged this in, set the pan to 50-50 and rocked out. I guess this is kind of what the 'classic P' sound is, but I have owned Fenders and Warmoths, and none of them sound as good as this Decision.

As a bass player who has never left his bedroom, I am not very good at explaining tones, nor do I have any info about how this 'sits in a mix' or anything like that. I just know I love Reverend basses, they make me want to play everyday.

As a slight derail; does anyone know just how limited this run is or is going to be? I have heard said that only 25 of these are being made, but I can not find any info to confirm or refute that. Seems low to me (and I think there are 4 or 5 of us on these boards with one right now), but what do I know! :smug:

:bassist::bassist::bassist:
Click to expand...
When I spoke with Tim at Reverend, he stated 24 Decision P basses.

I hope that's true, as I pulled the trigger and grabbed mine as soon I seen the anniversary post. I didn't need another bass, but I was interested in Reverend and was awaiting some new colors.

Seen the anniversary blue, and that was it. They say silver, but it's blue. And I'm a sucker for anything blue.

Sweetwater sent it right out.

I played it last night extensively at band practice and a few solo practices, and it's for sure a keeper.

I have a car show gig Saturday morning, so I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

So far, it's a great bass.

I glad yours was perfect, as mine needed a slight touch up on the last fret. Looks like they forgot to sand the fret marker. Other than that, near perfect.

My luthier took care of it for a few bucks, and now I'm super happy.
400469F2-FCC2-4E30-8232-356F96A0B54E.jpeg
 
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#2,524
So we did an outdoor gig today and I put the Reverend through the paces.

Hot and sticky in New Jersey today.

I did replace the original strings with my favorite DR Pure Blues.

The bass sounded amazing!

Loved playing it and the sound was perfect in our mix.

Really enjoyed gigging with this bass, even though I just got it a few weeks ago.

Had a few complaints regarding the anniversary color, which was cool.

All in all, pretty happy with this Anniversary Decision, a good decision for sure.

5521DA2A-A106-4926-AF81-07006C2D24F3.jpeg
 
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#2,526
John Stephen said:
That all sounds great except I'm surprised anyone complained about the color! I think it's great. And who cares what color the bass is???? Glad to hear it went well.
Click to expand...
No complaints, complements.

Was half asleep when I posted.

There was a vintage Vette that was at the show that was almost the color of the bass.
 
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#2,532
Clark Westfield said:
Just watching the Reverend Fcebook page and Ken Haas stated they made 36 basses.

Said they may increase the run to 70 in total in the fourth quarter.


All in all, under 100 is cool for collecting, I think?
Click to expand...

I'm glad there's more than twenty something!

I need to get myself sorted and get one ordered pronto!
 
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#2,533
Howdy Reverend fans.

I've been trying to find out more about the Jazz Bomb pickups. All I seem to be able to turn up is that they are "hum-free with increased output".

Is the hum-free performance achieved via a stacked dummy coil, or is it a more traditional (though narrow) humbucker with parallel or series coils? Or...?
 
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#2,534
nnnnnn said:
Howdy Reverend fans.

I've been trying to find out more about the Jazz Bomb pickups. All I seem to be able to turn up is that they are "hum-free with increased output".

Is the hum-free performance achieved via a stacked dummy coil, or is it a more traditional (though narrow) humbucker with parallel or series coils? Or...?
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure they have two coils. No dummies hiding anywhere.
 
#2,536
nnnnnn said:
Howdy Reverend fans.

I've been trying to find out more about the Jazz Bomb pickups. All I seem to be able to turn up is that they are "hum-free with increased output".

Is the hum-free performance achieved via a stacked dummy coil, or is it a more traditional (though narrow) humbucker with parallel or series coils? Or...?
Click to expand...
As others have said, they're humbuckers, and honestly that's what they sound like. This isn't a bad thing, but is a bad thing if you're trying to approach an authentic Fender-jazz-bass tone. They sound great, but just aren't single-coil jazz pickups.
 
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#2,538
nnnnnn said:
Thanks. So does that mean that each half of the P Blade pickup (on other model basses) is a complete humbucker, four coils in total, like the Dimarzio Split P?
Click to expand...
Presumably. If each half was a single-coil, only one rail would be needed in each half. Joe Naylor's single-coil guitar pickups have only one rail, and he does produce split singles (humbucking) via Railhammer Pickups.
 
#2,539
nnnnnn said:
Thanks. So does that mean that each half of the P Blade pickup (on other model basses) is a complete humbucker, four coils in total, like the Dimarzio Split P?
Click to expand...
Experience: I own a Triad (3 Jazz Bomb pickups) and a Wattplower (P-Blade pickup). I mentioned the Jazz Bomb "sound" earlier; the P-Blade definitely sounds like a precision-style pickup, but they're definitely very "hot", both in "size" of the tone and that they're a little snappier than a traditional precision pickup. As the other user guessed, I would agree they're probably humbuckers, or perhaps a "double" split-coil.

Note that you can e-mail [email protected]; they answer most questions and reply quickly.
 
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