Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature Review & Prices

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Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature Review
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  • From Reverend's 2021 Signature series
  • Reeves Gabrels Signature
  • Made in South Korea
  • 6 strings
  • 25.5"'' scale
  • 12" Fretboard Radius
  • Flame Maple top
  • Korina body
  • Roasted Maple neck
  • Ebony fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: Reeves Gabrels Signature Bridge (Humbucker/Passive)
  • Neck pickup: Reeves Gabrels Signature Neck (Humbucker/Passive)
  • 1 volume and 2 tone Dome knobs
  • 3-way Switch
  • Wilkinson WVS50 IIK Tremolo bridge
  • Medium C Bolt-On neck
  • 22 XL Jumbo frets
  • Reverend Pin-Lock tuners
  • Weight between 8.15lbs (3.7kgs) and 8.5lbs (3.9kgs)
  • Compare Specs >

Our Scores and Tone Evaluation

Playability 70
Sound 80
Build quality 68
Value for money 73
Overall Score 73
Tone Evaluation
  • Heavy Metal
  • Hard Rock
  • Jazz
  • Blues
  • Funk
  • Country
Strengths & Weaknesses
Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature
  • Locking Tuners
  • Expensive Wood
  • Boneite Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Phase Out Pickups
  • Tremolo
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • Made in South Korea
  • No Neck-Through Build
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock

Price Overview

Its average competitor's price is $1300, which means that the Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature is within the average price asked for this kind of guitar. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 6 strings and Tremolo bridge that are made in South Korea.

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Your feedback

Not all instruments are created equally. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our users who have played this instrument say. If you've played it before, help others by voting below!

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Is it Easy to Play?

The Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature meets 4 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's not bad for beginners, but it could be better. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players to get used to.

New Player Friendliness

Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Locking tuners
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable shape
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale

Hand Size Comfortability

After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature's construction favors people with relatively small hands.

Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this guitar—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.

Big Hands
Small Hands

How Lightweight is it?

We found that the Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature weighs between 8.15lbs (3.7kgs) and 8.5lbs (3.9kgs). This was recorded from some online retailers that publish the weight of the instruments they sell.

Scale Length

Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.

Here's the Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature's 25.5" scale length compared to other common sizes:

Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature Scale Length Comparison
Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature's scale length (at the top) compared to other popular sizes

This is the same scale length used in Stratocaster guitars, and it's one of the main reasons they have such a bright sound. It's considered a long scale when compared to most non-baritone guitars.

Since the distance between bridge and nut is relatively long, you'll need to give the strings more tension to get them in tune. This higher tension will allow for a couple of things. First, you can get a lower action (get the strings closer to the fretboard) because the strings won't 'wiggle' too much when pluck and won't cause fret buzz. This can allow you to use lower tunings without increasing your string gauge, and it will make it easier to press down the strings fast.

However, the frets will also have a wider separation between each other, which can make it harder to play, especially if you got small hands. The higher tension will also make the strings feel stiffer, so bending will require more strength.

More with the same scale length:

Neck Profile

Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature Neck Profile
Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature's neck profile

The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.

It has a C type neck. C-shaped necks like this have been the most popular for the last years. The reason is that they feel good in most hands. It's generally a thin neck that doesn't get in your way when playing fast, but that also has enough mass to give your hands a comfortable grip for chords if they aren't too big.

Thin necks like this make it easier to move your hand across the neck and it helps when playing fast solos, especially if you like to leave your thumb free while playing high on the fretboard. However, thinner necks are also weaker and will need adjustment more often than a thicker neck.

More for different hand sizes

Fretboard Radius

When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.

The Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature has a 12" fingerboard radius.

Here's an image comparing this fretboard radius to other popular choices:

Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature Fretboard Radius Comparison with Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul
Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature's fretboard radius compared to others

This is the same radius that Gibson uses in most of their guitars. When compare to the other popular radius of Fender Stratocasters, you can see that it's a lot flatter. Guitars with this radius are usually made to bring a good balance between single-note and chord playing.

Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature has the same radius across the board.

More with the same fretboard radius:

Playability compared to main competitors

25.5'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.693'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.654'' Nut Width
Compound Fretboard Radius
Multiscale Scale Length
D Neck Profile
1.693'' Nut Width
16'' Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.654'' Nut Width
14'' Fretboard Radius
24.75'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.654'' Nut Width
14'' Fretboard Radius

Nut Width

Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature Nut Width
Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature Nut Width

The Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature has a nut width of 43mm (1.693''). This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 6-string guitar. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.

Frets

The Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature has 22 frets. Even though 24 frets has become really popular, there's still a good reason to get fewer frets; the pickup at the neck position will be further away from the bridge. This makes the neck pickup achieve a warmer tone. You might want this if you're playing Jazz or similar genres.

However, if you don't care about the warmer neck pickup, more frets will always be better. It's always nice to have the option to play higher notes if you want to.

It comes with nickel silver frets, so they won't last as long as stainless steel frets. If you use your instrument a lot, you might need to replace the frets after a few years. But this is unlikely as most people change instruments before this happens.

More with the same amount of frets:

Fret Size

Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature Fret Size Comparison
Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature's fret size (in orange) compared to other popular sizes

Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.

The Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature's frets are XL Jumbo size. These are extra-large frets, which are perfect for people who truly want the least resistance for techniques like vibrato, bending, tapping, and just playing fast in general. You won't be able to feel the fretboard with these frets, so if you press too hard you'll get the notes out of pitch. It might take a while to get used to them because of this.

More with the same type of frets:

Playability Score

Bending & Vibrato Ease 80
Chord Playability 50
Solo Playability 80
Playability 70

Tone Analysis

Wood will have little influence in the final tone of an electric guitar or bass. Instead, the hardware, especially the pickups, will be the most important thing to look at. Bur first, let's see the quality of the wood.

Wood

Limba wood pattern used for guitar building
Limba Body
Roasted Maple wood pattern used for guitar building
Roasted Maple Neck
Ebony wood pattern used for guitar building
Ebony Fretboard

Limba Body: Available in either black or white, it's a type of wood with beautiful natural patterns decorated with long dark chocolate stripes. As a tonewood, it is comparable to Mahogany but with more mid-tones.

Roasted Maple Neck: Similar to simple Maple, but even stronger, darker, and more stable to temperature changes. This is thanks to the treatment process that consists in using high temperatures to drain the water, sugar, and resins from the wood.

Ebony Fretboard: This is one of the most expensive woods there is, which is why it's mostly used for fretboards. It is dense, heavy, highly resistant and comes in a really dark color that gives any guitar a classy touch. Tone wise, it helps the high side of the spectrum and provides good sustain.

Pickups

This guitar comes with pickups from one of the top brands: Reverend. So you can expect well built pickups with great sound that shouldn't need an upgrade anytime soon.

These are passive pickups, so you can expect a rounder sound and a moderade level of output.

The Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature's configuration is HH. With this pickup combination, you'll get warmer tones and more output than using single coils. Humbucker pickups cancel the noise that single-coil suffer from, which also results in a warmer tone. This pickup combination isn't only for high-gain music like Hard Rock or Heavy Metal. Their warmness is also popular for Jazz, Indie, R&B, Blues and more.

More with the same pickups

22 Frets
Tremolo Bridge
Reeves Gabrels Signature Bridge Bridge Pickup
Reeves Gabrels Signature Neck Neck Pickup
22 Frets
Tremolo Bridge
Reeves Gabrels Signature Bridge Bridge Pickup
Sustainiac Neck Pickup
22 Frets
Bigsby Tremolo Bridge
Reeves Gabrels Signature Bridge Bridge Pickup
Reeves Gabrels Signature Neck Neck Pickup

Versatility

It comes with the popular 3-way switch that is present in most guitars. For more versatility, players tend to prefer a 5-way switch, although it all depends on what you want to use your guitar for.

It has a Phase Out option. When activated, the pickups will ''work against each other'', meaning that they will cancel out their shared frequencies. The result is a very thin sound, instead of a full, rich tone. This is an interesting sound for genres like reggae or funk and has also been used in classic Hard Rock.

Diagram

Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature pickups switch and push knobs diagram
Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature's switch options

What music genre is it good for?

As a 6 strings, Solid Body guitar with HH configuration and Passive pickups, we'd recommend it for genres like Hard Rock or similar. However, you can use almost any guitar for any genre. This is just the typical type of music for this particular one.

Sound Score

Pickups 90
Sustain 80
Versatility 76
Tuning Stability 75
Sound 80

Build Quality Analysis

Country of Origin

Knowing where the instrument is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive instruments are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.

The Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature is made in South Korea. Guitars made here are well-built and tend to have good quality control, even though they focus on mass production. This used to be the most premium option just below Japan or the US, but other countries like Indonesia are becoming great competitors because of even cheaper labor without sacrificing quality.

Bridge

Wilkinson WVS50 IIK Tremolo: This type of bridge allows you to change the pitch of the notes by pulling the bridge with the attached bar, which gives you better versatility. Also, since the bridge is not fixed to the guitar body, the bridge will move as you bend the strings. So you'll have to increase the distance of your bends to reach the same tension (note) compared to a fixed bridge. This allows you to perform smoother bends but will also make you slower. Finally, remember that this type of bridge requires a bit more maintenance than fixed ones, especially when changing strings.

More with the same type of bridge:

Tuners

The Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature comes with locking tuners, which helps with tuning stability and makes changing strings a lot faster and easier. As long as they're high quality, these are the best tuning machines you can have. The only disadvantage is that they are a bit heavier than normal tuners.

Nut Material

Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your guitar. A well-cut nut will make sure it stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.

In this case, the Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature has a Boneite nut. This is a synthetic bone material made to look, feel and sound like bone. It's more consistent than bone since it's human-made, so many people prefer this type of nut to guarantee a good nut.

More with the same nut material:

Neck Joint

The neck joint is the part where the neck of the guitar meets the body. There are three main techniques to attach both parts together: Set-In, Bolt-On and Neck-Through. The latter two provide different advantages, although neck-throughs are the most expensive.

This guitar has a Bolt-On neck joint. Even though this type of neck was looked down upon for a long time, nowadays bolt-on necks are well built and provide just as much sustain as any other join method. First of all, it's cheap to make because it consists of simply 4 bolts that attach the neck to the body. And you can travel with the guitar more easily, swap out the neck if you damage it, or upgrade to a more comfortable neck later on.

More with the same build:

Build Quality Score

Quality of materials 60
Features 70
Quality Control 75
Build Quality 68

All Specs

Reverend Reeves Gabrels Signature
General
Brand: Reverend
Year: 2021
Configuration: HH
Strings: 6
Made in: South Korea
Series: Signature
Colors: Black Satin, Orange Satin
Left-Handed Version: No
Body
Top: Flame Maple
Type: Solid Body
Body Material: Korina
Bridge: Wilkinson WVS50 IIK Tremolo
Neck
Neck Joint: Bolt-On
Tuners: Reverend Pin-Lock
Fretboard: Ebony
Neck Material: Roasted Maple
Decoration: Dots
Scale Size: 25.5"
Shape: Medium C
Frets: 22 XL Jumbo
Fretboard Radius: 12"
Nut: Boneite
Nut Width: 43mm (1.693'')
Electronics
Switch: 3 Way
Knobs: Dome
Pickup Mods: Phase Out
Volume Controls: 1
Tone Controls: 2
Bridge Pickup: Reeves Gabrels Signature Bridge (Humbucker / Passive)
Neck Pickup: Reeves Gabrels Signature Neck (Humbucker / Passive)

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