# NGD: Reverend Jetstream 390



## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

I've never really had much use for a guitar equipped with P90s; however, when I picked up my Epiphone Casino, I instantly fell in love with that mid-rangey honk and growl. Naturally, I started jonesin' for a P90 equipped solid body guitar and had way too many options within my reach. Originally, my thought was to get a P90 equipped SG or Les Paul Special. Then I started thinking about something that would be useful in my band that would compliment my two main stage guitars which is an MJT Strat and a Japanese Jazzmaster. That meant that I needed to get something with a tremolo and preferably something in a Fender Scale length. Within my research, I eventually discovered the Reverend Jetstream 390 but was disappointed to find that there was only one dealer in Alberta.

There were a few things about it that I had to modify when I got it home. The fretboard edges were a bit sharp, so out came the screwdriver and I slightly rolled the edges just for a bit more comfort. I added two more springs to the tremolo and learned how to set up a Wilkinson bridge (which I've never dealt with before) after many repeated attempts. Finally, I added a mini toggle switch to the Strat-like electronics configuration so I could get a bridge + neck and bridge + middle + neck combination(s).

Overall, I'm astounded that these are $1k guitars as I've never played anything in this price range that was this well appointed and crafted. Starting from the top down, the tuners are Reverend locking tuners, the maple neck has a nice satin finish, the fretboard is a nice dark rosewood with a beautiful pattern, frets are big and all dressed nicely. The Korina body is light, has a tummy cut, arm cut and even a bit of a contour on the backside near the higher frets, but the thing I love the most is the cream binding on the top of the body, simply classy. The pickups sound amazing and are probably a little hotter than your usual P90s - granted, they're a bit noisy but I've never encountered a "quiet" P90. The pickguard (and matching backplate) in tortoise go really well with the 3 tone sunburst finish and although it's oddly shaped, I think it adds some retro styled looks to the guitar. The electronics are somewhat typical to a master toned Strat; however, Reverend's Bass Countour Knob is where it's at - you can dial those P90s into some single coil territory all the way up to a humbucker-esque growl. Finally, the bridge is an absolute masterpiece as it works very well with the locking tuners and graphite nut. It's a total bitch to set up, but once you have it dialled in, it will stay in tune regardless of what you throw at it. I was doing Van Halen type dive bombs on it and the thing just wouldn't go out of tune. I'm just a bit disappointed that I didn't discover these tremolo units sooner.

If you're thinking of buying a Reverend, just go ahead and do it because the playability and quality is far beyond a lot of guitars in that ~$1k range. If you haven't played a Reverend before (like I had prior to this weekend), I reckon you're missing out on some amazing instruments.


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## Bubb (Jan 16, 2008)

I've never had the opportunity to try a Reverend ,heard good things though .

Looks good !


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

nkjanssen said:


> Welcome to the Reverend Club!
> 
> That's a nice looking guitar indeed.
> 
> I'm still lusting after a Manta Ray HB, though I'm thinking it might be time to get into something with a more "dive-bomby" bridge like the Wilkinson. I have a lot of Bigsby's already. Maybe I should be looking into a Double Agent.


Thanks Jordan. That bridge definitely makes the guitar a lot more fun. If you have some time, I can definitely bring it by for you to give try. 

Speaking of Double Agents (unfortunately no Wilkinson), there is a guy in Edmonton on Kijiji selling one of these...


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

I fell for the three p-90 Albert lee EBMM in 2009 and have now owned two. It between owning the first and second, I was strongly considering this guitar that you have just acquired. Well done! 

I've been on a p90 craze since then. I just discovered MJS pickups. He makes a unique p-90 that allows the neck position more clarity than ever before. 

I'm jealous. First class !!


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Looks like fun.

As I get older I appreciate P-90's more & more.

Enjoy.


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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

Agreed! 

Yes, that's the guy. Before i bought this Jetstream, I was actually hoping he had a Double Agent II or better yet a III. 



nkjanssen said:


> I'd like that. We'll definitely have to get together again at some point soon.
> 
> 
> 
> Is that the guys who's also selling the silver ES 137? If it is, I just messaged him. That's too bad it doesn't have the trem. If I was going to get a Double Agent, I think the trem would be essential.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Nice, congrats!


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

looks amazing. nice one.


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## Fiveway (Mar 21, 2010)

Thanks for putting together such a well-articulated, thorough and knowledgeable NGD post. And great pics too! All NGD posts should be like this. 

Ahem, sound clips would throw it over the top though.


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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

sambonee said:


> I fell for the three p-90 Albert lee EBMM in 2009 and have now owned two. It between owning the first and second, I was strongly considering this guitar that you have just acquired. Well done!
> 
> I've been on a p90 craze since then. I just discovered MJS pickups. He makes a unique p-90 that allows the neck position more clarity than ever before.
> 
> I'm jealous. First class !!


I really do love the look of those EBMM Albert Lee models and will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for a dual humbucker one.

I can see why people love P90s so much because you can cover so much territory with them. I just checked out the MJS website, looks like they have some really nice stuff in there. I'll have to spend a lot more time with this guitar before I even consider swapping out pickups - so far so good.



Fiveway said:


> Thanks for putting together such a well-articulated, thorough and knowledgeable NGD post. And great pics too! All NGD posts should be like this.
> 
> Ahem, sound clips would throw it over the top though.


Thank you! If time permits, I'll try and record something. HAHA


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

The Contour control is so easy to implement, I'm surprised it hasn't become more common than it is.

You can see the particulars here: http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/372040-anyone-recreated-reverend-bass-contour-circuit.html

How does it work? From the point where the pickup selector output reaches the Tone pot, there are two paths to get to the Volume pot: via the cap or via the Contour pot. When the pot value is high-enough, the cap becomes the preferential path, but the cap only lets upper mids and highs through. As you reduce the pot resistance, you gradually allow a more efficient path for the entire spectrum to pass through, until finally when the pot is turned down to zero ohms, it's like the cap isn't even there.

If your guitar has no space for such a control, one can always use a simple 3-position toggle for a full bass-cut, some bass-cut, and full-signal preset.


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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

mhammer said:


> The Contour control is so easy to implement, I'm surprised it hasn't become more common than it is.
> 
> You can see the particulars here: http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/372040-anyone-recreated-reverend-bass-contour-circuit.html
> 
> ...


I like the contour control so much that I've actually been thinking about it for a couple of my guitars. When I was under the hood of the Reverend yesterday, I was fascinated by how simple that circuit is and wondered why it isn't more common in guitars today. I never thought of a toggle for it...you have the wheels in my head turning now Mark, thank you!


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## corailz (May 1, 2008)

Beautifull piece of wood you have here! I must admit that i'm GAS'ing on Reverend for a while and your thread is not helping for relief...LOL!
Congrats!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

TWRC said:


> I like the contour control so much that I've actually been thinking about it for a couple of my guitars. When I was under the hood of the Reverend yesterday, I was fascinated by how simple that circuit is and wondered why it isn't more common in guitars today. I never thought of a toggle for it...you have the wheels in my head turning now Mark, thank you!


The Fender Jaguar does it with a 2-position slide switch, though given that their inventory includes 3-position slide switches for the Mustang, I'm surprised they never implemented a 3-position bass-cut switch on any of their instruments.

You know, if a person wanted, they could implement an "ultra-bright" position for that switch, so that it not only cuts the bass, but adds another bypass cap to the volume pot to goose the highs and upper mids. Hmmm, looks like we got MY wheels rolling too! :stirpot:


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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

I kinda did something similar to my Tele where I went with a 4 way switch where I can run the pickups wide open, straight to the input jack and although it's pretty "raw" sounding, I can totally see where that sound would be useful. 

I just love having tone options like that for my guitars. 

Thanks to you, I'll be messing around with a few different ideas this weekend!



mhammer said:


> The Fender Jaguar does it with a 2-position slide switch, though given that their inventory includes 3-position slide switches for the Mustang, I'm surprised they never implemented a 3-position bass-cut switch on any of their instruments.
> 
> You know, if a person wanted, they could implement an "ultra-bright" position for that switch, so that it not only cuts the bass, but adds another bypass cap to the volume pot to goose the highs and upper mids. Hmmm, looks like we got MY wheels rolling too! :stirpot:


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## rhh7 (Mar 14, 2008)

Congratulations, it's a beautiful guitar!


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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

Woah! That is sexy!


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## Guest (May 17, 2014)

hoo ya! that's nice.I like the jetstream too.
I just recently picked up a 'warhawk'.
love the feel of these guitars.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Three p90's always rocks. I sill have my eye on the Pelham blue firebird Gibson put out a few years back. 

My Al Lee is a fav of mine. 
Congrats.


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## Maverick (Oct 21, 2009)

Oh yeah. P-90's !


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

That's the worst! That's one of the reasons why I like having things sent to the office.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

nkjanssen said:


> ..... wait in line for 30 minutes while the person at the desk serves TWO customers......


... who are still looking for Charles and Diana commemorative stamps.


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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

...or the Rush commemorative stamps.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

laristotle said:


> hoo ya! that's nice.I like the jetstream too.
> I just recently picked up a 'warhawk'.
> love the feel of these guitars.


My bandmate wants a p90 revernd. I should swing by with the rig to check out yours some time. It all depends on the neck.


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## Mutron (Dec 28, 2011)

Zombie thread back from the dead - but I just bought this EXACT guitar at L&M southside Edmonton. It has the added mini toggle switch so it's definitely this one! I stumbled into this thread while googling reviews of Jetstreams and what a coincidence. I'm loving this guitar and how easy to play and versatile it is - now I'm wondering it's story and how it ended at L&M, fill me in!


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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

Nice! You definitely bought a nice guitar. No special story on this one. A couple of years ago, I was chasing after a couple of guitars, including my dream custom shop Martin OM, so I ended up liquidating about 10 guitars from my collection...this being one of them. I guess the guy I sold it to must have traded it in. 

This is a super versatile guitar, and it ended up on a record that I was recording at the time. When I sold it, it was absolutely mint, so I would assume that it's in the same condition.


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## Mutron (Dec 28, 2011)

Yep, it's in great condition - not a mark on it!


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