Watt's new Reverend signature model

[Dave W]

Only a few bars played at the end, but I like the interview and hearing what he wanted in a signature model.

[gearHed289]

That was awesome, thanks Dave! Watt is speaking my language.  Cool little bass. Too bad about the inline headstock.

[BTL]

That's really cool!

[Chris P.]

Cool! I put some info about it (with the wrong country of origin) in a NAMM post in another topic. I like this little bass!

[Pilgrim]

Interesting blending of ideas from a P-bass and EB-0 with rail pickups. The finished product looks simple but it's interesting to hear how much revision went into it.

[4stringer77]

I wonder if the pickups are really that hot and overwound or if it's just the rig he's playing through.

[slinkp]

Yeah, the sound in that video seemed pretty dark and distorted. But I'd reserve judgment until I had my hands on one... I've seen Watt a number of times over the years and honestly I don't like his stage tone much at all. It's loud and powerful but tends to be rather mushy and indistinct.  It was that way with his old pair of Eden 410 XLT cabs, and still with his new pair of DNA 210's.

His recorded tones tend to be better. For my taste he's never topped the great T-bird tones he had on "Contemplating the Engine Room" back in '97.  It was that recording which set off my fascination with Gibson bass tones and eventually led me to this community!  And also introduced me to the work of Nels Cline, who is now one of my absolute favorite guitarists.   But... I saw Watt on that '97-'98 tour and he sounded mushy live back then too! 

[Chris P.]

+1 for Nels!

De double rails humbuckers... Guess they will be hot-ish.

[Dave W]

Hard to tell from such a short clip. I'll wait for someone else to do a demo.

[Alanko]

If you search for "Mike Watt Reverend" on Youtube there is a full length video of him playing a gig on one of the prototypes. The tone is pretty mushy with a slightly brittle top end. Mike's playing seems a bit approximate at times as well, complete with the odd string bend. I guess for him it works perfectly, and it might mean he stops chopping up old EB-3s! Big respect for Mike Watt, and I do enjoy the Minute Men, but I still don't really follow what he plays or how he comes up with any of it. White punks on Eric Dolphy. 

[Dave W]

If you search for "Mike Watt Reverend" on Youtube there is a full length video of him playing a gig on one of the prototypes. The tone is pretty mushy with a slightly brittle top end. Mike's playing seems a bit approximate at times as well, complete with the odd string bend. I guess for him it works perfectly, and it might mean he stops chopping up old EB-3s! Big respect for Mike Watt, and I do enjoy the Minute Men, but I still don't really follow what he plays or how he comes up with any of it. White punks on Eric Dolphy. 

This one? I agree with your description, but it's still hard to tell how much of that is his preference in stage tone. The bass may sound fine in somebody else's hands.

If the street price stays at $1400 then Reverend must not expect to sell very many.

[Alanko]

That is the video! I watched a bit more, and Watt is really battering that bass towards the end! The tone reminds me of the Mustang that I used to own. There is a P bass grind to the top end, and a woofing low end, but the two don't always marry up very well, especially when played hard! This audio on the video is weird, as there are ambient mics in the room that are out of sync with the main audio feed. By the end there is an annoying pre-echo on the vocals. Probably not the best reflection of what the bass sounds like, so yeah I'm waiting for a demo video as well.

I'm still not used to seeing Watt playing such a clean-looking bass. I wonder if he will mod his personal Reverends, or whether he is done with all of that?

[Chris P.]

Only the extra ring around the jack input is a reminder of his Gibsons and a bit DIY-looking.

I thought the price might be much too high too. I think a faded Gibson SG Bass was half, a PJ Mustang is one third to a half...