Meet the Contender : Reverend Guitars’ flat-top, single-cut set neck guitar. Classically retro, but the offset body and six-in-line headstock give the guitar a modern feel. A strategic chamber under the pickguard increases resonance and reduces weight. The Contender 290 has a pair of 9A5 pickups for fat, raw and bluesy tones with enough bite to cut through the mix. This guitar effortlessly combines vintage with cutting-edge, a hallmark of Reverend’s original designs ! This model benefits from all the upgrades Reverend has rolled out across its range over the past few years. A new Boneite nut, which reduces friction and has a resonant response similar to that of bone. Or a new 3 abreast string tree, Etched Reverend logo on the jack plate, new improved dual contact jack socket with etched jack plate, upgraded pots and capacitors and new lower profile knobs. The result is an instrument which is highly reliable and performs perceptibly better than many competitors in the same price bracket. No wonder these guitars get such consistently great reviews. You get boutique quality without the big price tag.