REVEREND GUITARS LAUNCHES MODERN GUITAR

Penny Haas
Public Relations
Reverend Guitars
[email protected]
(419)215 -1824
January 11, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
REVEREND GUITARS LAUNCHES MODERN GUITAR SERIES
Guitars to Have Classic Look with High Performance Upgrades
ANAHEIM, CA -- Reverend Guitars leads the industry in intelligent creativity with maximum performance.
Our newest guitars, the Bayonet and the Kingbolt, have super sleek bodies and screaming pickups designed for
heavy music. These models, as well as some other surprises, will debut at the 2013 NAMM Show at the Reverend
Booth (#3084).
The Bayonet is a set neck model with a longer and thinner body shape. The body has bevels for more
precision playing, while the ebony fretboard adds to the percussive attack. Railhammer pickups complete the
package, with a heavy-wound Railhammer Anvil at the bridge, and an aggressive Chisel pickup at the neck. The
Bayonet is available with a Wilkinson tremolo in Satin Deep Sea Blue, or in a hardtail version in Satin Army Green
and Satin Black.
Reverend’s Kingbolt is a bolt-on guitar with a new sleek body shape as the Bayonet. There are three
pickup options, and the Wilkinson tremolo is standard on all three. The Kingbolt with uncovered Reverend
Zebra Humbuckers is available in Metallic Blue. The Kingbolt RA has a Railhammer Anvil bridge pickup and a
Railhammer Hyper Vintage neck pickup and comes in Black, Satin Army Green and Metallic Gold Burst. And the
Kingbolt RA-FM has the same Railhammer pickups, but with a Flame Maple top, and comes in Satin Violin Brown
Burst and Satin Turquoise.
Also at the NAMM Show, Reverend is happy to host guitarists Gil Parris. Gil
is a Grammy® nominated artist with a particular style that blends jazz,
blues, rock and smooth jazz and has earned him critical acclaim. He will be
appearing at the Reverend Booth (#3084) throughout the weekend (Come
by our booth to see specific times). Gil will also be appearing at the All
Star Guitar Night on Saturday, January 26 at the Marriott Hotel Anaheim.
Reverend offers a Gil Parris Signature model, with two humbuckers
and a Lace Sensor Burgundy single coil pickup. The unique looking and
versatile guitar has a five-way switch and the Reverend Bass Contour that
takes the tone from New York to Nashville to LA.
Players are talking and Reverend's listening. Be a player. With top materials, select upgrades, and fresh innovations, Reverend is for daring musicians and independent dealers. But mostly, Reverend is for players.
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REVEREND FACT SHEET
• Joe Naylor, master luthier and company founder, designs all of the guitars. He selects all the components
and materials to make each one the best sounding guitar in its category.
• Korina is the wood of choice at Reverend. The legendary wood is highly resonant and very consistant. It is
abundant and intelligently farmed. We are proud to use Korina.
• Our guitar tech, Zack Green, sets up each guitar and bass before it is sent to one of our worldwide dealers.
• Reverend’s proprietary pickups are each specific to their position. The bridge pickups sound slightly hotter,
while the neck/middle pickups sing cleanly, giving a truly balanced tone.
• All Reverends feature a medium “C” neck profile with slightly rolled edges for a vintage feel. We designed the
necks with a dual truss rod system to ensure correct adjustment. Each one has a low-friction graphite nut and
high-gear ratio pin-lock tuners for more tuning stability. Our bolt-on guitars have a low-friction string tree.
• Every Reverend guitar features our proprietary Bass Contour control, a passive control allowing the player to
roll off the bass to create their own tone. The volume control features a full range of sound at every level, with
no treble loss when rolled back. The custom Tone control only trims the highest frequencies to minimize the loss
of volume.
• Every Reverend bass has a 5-piece neck and a string-thru bridge with top-load option. Each one also has a
pan control to further adjust the low-end tone by balancing the volume of the bridge and neck pickups.
• Our instruments are proudly crafted by Mirr Music Co. Ltd, Korea. They are designed and set-up by Reverend
Guitars USA.
COMPANY BIOGRAPHIES
Joe Naylor,
Founder and Designer
Joe launched Reverend Guitars in 1997 in Detroit, MI. His original body style is still used throughout the line,
joined by other, newer shapes. He designs every aspect of the instruments – from the shape of the body and
necks to the pickups. He oversees the manufacturing and provides customer technical support.
Joe holds a Bachelors Degree in Industrial Design from Western Michigan University, is a graduate of
Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery, and has repaired guitars professionally since 1981. In 1992 he opened Joe's
Guitar Exchange & Repair, a storefront specializing in repair and sales of vintage/used gear. The store evolved
into J.F. Naylor Engineering, one of the forerunners in boutique amps and vintage style speakers.
Joe began playing guitar in 1980.
Ken Haas
General Manager
Ken is the General Manager of Reverend Guitars. He is in charge of all sales, dealer relations, artist relations,
marketing, and anything else that needs to be done. Ken has worked with Reverend since 1999, where he began
as a NAMM show demonstrator and booth staff member. He was promoted to head of sales in 2007, and
became the General Manager in 2010.
He began playing guitar in 1981 and is currently in The Polka Floyd Show with his wife, Penny. He also
plays steel guitar in The Zimmerman Twins. Father of four and owner of countless guitars, Ken spends what little
free time he has driving his Mustang Cobra.
Penny Haas
Public Relations
Penny is in charge of Public Relations for Reverend, organizing all of the guitar shows and other outside events.
She also handles the press relations, the social media for the company, and any media data.
Wife of Ken Haas and mother/step-mother of four great kids, Penny has been playing guitar since 1999
and piano since 1981. Penny and Ken are currently in The Polka Floyd Show together.
Zack Green
Head Guitar Tech
Zack inspects, strings, and sets up every Reverend guitar. His initials, "ZSG," are on the back of every headstock.
A guitarist since 1984, he began repairing guitars professionally in 1991 and then joined Reverend in
1999. In his spare time, Zack restores vintage arcade games and muscle cars, and maintains his collection of
about 50 guitars.
Andrew Clark
Graphic Arts and Social Media
Andrew has been working for Reverend for nearly 2 years in the Graphic Arts, Marketing and Social Media
department. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design and has about 15 years of experience.
He's played Reverend Guitars exclusively since 2000 and spends his off time reviewing video games, and
playing in multiple bands.
BACKGROUNDER
Reverend has grown from auspicious beginnings to become one of the fastest growing, most respected
US guitar manufacturers today. Joe Naylor started building guitars and basses under the Reverend name in
1997, after graduating from luthiery school and having repaired guitars professionally since 1981. Joe’s also
known for his pioneering amplifier design and passion for all things guitar.
Originally based in Detroit proper, a place known for its American engineering and building prowess,
Reverend turned heads from the start, with a refreshing, yet ingenious approach to including the features guitar
players wanted in designs that recalled the greats of yesteryear without looking or sounding like cheap, slavish
imitations.
As Reverend grew in both sales and stature, Naylor brought additional muscle to the company's
employee roster, including boy wonder Zack Green, who has served as Naylor's chief setup guy since 1999, and
Ken Haas, longtime punk rock guitarist, entrepreneur, and sales whiz. Ken was named head of sales in 2007 and
became General Manager in 2010. Later, Penny Haas came onboard as event coordinator (she also helps with
sales and marketing), and more was added along the way to help keep quality standards up and prices down.
Over the years Reverend has attracted musicians of all levels. Some of the company's earliest players
included local-boy-makes-good Kid Rock, virtuosos Carl Verheyen and Rick Vito, Critters Buggin's Brad Hauser
and Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan. These artists were soon followed by Reeves Gabrels, Ron Asheton of The
Stooges (RIP), Gil Parris, Meshell N'degeocello and many, many more. Of course, this short list doesn't include
everybody – from the well known to the just-now-making-a-name-for-themselves, Reverend has always
attracted guitarists and bassists of all stripes because of its attention to what makes an instrument the kind
players want to play. That, by the way, is where Reverend's attention will always lie.
MONSTER MUSIC AND REVEREND GUITARS TEAM UP
Open House and Raffle to Benefit Sandy Victims
[The following text is reprinted with the approval of Monster Music, of Levittown, NY.
Hurricane Sandy hit their town this past fall. We were proud to help raise money for the area's relief efforts.]
Thursday night November 8th was a special night here at Monster Music. We held our annual Reverend
Guitars Open House.
This year it took on a different feel. Hurricane Sandy had ravaged our surrounding communities about 10
days prior, and most of our customers were still suffering without power. At the time, it was nearly impossible
for anyone on Long Island to get a tank of gas. Ken Haas from Reverend and I gave thought to cancelling the
event, but I really wanted to give people a chance to get their minds off of the devastation. We also decided that
we would build in a charitable component, so Monster Music and Reverend together donated a brand new
Manta Ray 290 to be raffled off at the event to help the local outreach at St. Bernard’s (They are our next door
neighbors whose food pantry feeds more than 150 local families in need each week). Everyone lined up to buy
their raffle tickets and settled in for a great night of music and fun.
The idea of the Open
House is that we
want our customers
to get their hands on
the Reverends. They
are guitars that when
you see and touch,
you buy! Everyone
was encouraged to
take down a guitar
and play.
Ken Haas, the Reverend General Manager, was here…
…so there was no question that our customers couldn’t get answered.
Those that attended they were treated to the incredible virtuosity of Gil Parris, who played his signature model
Reverend guitar to perfection.
More than anything it proved a good distraction for all of us, where we could take our minds for a moment off of
power outages, flooded homes, and gas shortages.
Our raffle ended up
generating more than
$750 in cash for the St.
Bernard’s outreach
and we collected more
than 100 pounds of
food for their pantry.
Great work everyone!
Johnny Cola had the
lucky ticket and immediately put his new
Manta Ray to use at an
open Jam later that
night.