The owner of this company and I have become close friends. I like the guitars and he likes how I play. I'm not an official employee, but I'm acting as a cosultant for the guy. He gave me one (A les paul double cutaway) for free, and sells me any others I may want at his manufacturer's cost. Right now I have 7 of them.

He has them made in Korea, imports them and sells them himself on E-bay, eliminating all the middle men and thereby keeping the price down.

These are the nicest Asian guitars I've seen to date. They play and sound as good as any Fender or Gibson. I'll bring a couple to the Mesa show so any of you who are there can check them out.

I already had 2 basses, an Ibanez 6 string, and a Carvin 5 string fretless when I got involved with this company, so I didn't want or need another.

But I'll get one from the guy and bring it to Mesa to show people.

The real question though is this: Have you gotten to hang out with "The Ravenwest Girls?"

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Have you gotten to hang out with "The Ravenwest Girls?"

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There's actually collectors who have tracked the output of the best factories in Japan - the whole Hoshino/Ibanez/Greco stuff, the Matsumoku/Aria/Westbury/Vantage stuff and so on. Somebody might eventually do the same for the Korean output, if:
A) we don't drown in a glut of good guitars;
B) the last kid in the world doesn't fink out to Playstation 7;
C) the electricity doesn't run out and yield solidbodies useful only to club mastodons for lunch.

[This message was edited by David Mason on 20 January 2006 at 12:30 PM.]

Drew

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Drew Howard - website - Fessenden guitars, 70's Fender Twin, etc.

No sign of the tasteless combinations that are so common among some far east manufacturers who seem to know a lot about production and very little about what makes a good looking guitar.

But their webdesigner should find another job. That site is as messy as it gets! I thought that kind of "keep 'em guessing" design died off with the '90's, but obviously not. They could sell a lot more guitars if the site was clear, concise and easy to navigate (= welcoming customers) instead of trying to look "cool" (which it fails to do).

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´75 Emmons p/p D10 8+4, '96 Emmons Legrande II D10 8+5, ca '72 AWH Custom D10 8+3, Peavey Nashville 1000

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

I know that some Brian Moore guitars are equipped with Peizo pickups in the bridge, that function not only as an acoustic pickup, but also as a MIDI pickup as well, and the guitars have scrolling controls. I don't know how much this costs, but I assume the guitars are more expensive.

In all honesty, I have to mention that the guitars I brought to Mesa were my personal instruments, and I had some work done to them. They both had the frets polished, the action and intonation set up, and Earvana intonated nuts installed. Furthermore, the purple one that Al played has Gibson pickups. The green one has the optional Seymour Duncans that the company offers.

I had a chance to check out a K2 590. It really sounds good with the P 90s, but the one I tried was not set up properly. Like the others, it needed the frets polished and the action and intonation set. I think once that's once that's done, it will be a killer axe, as mine are now that they've been tweaked.

[This message was edited by Mike Perlowin on 01 March 2006 at 10:03 PM.]

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The nylon string guitar I bought has some fret uneveness and would play a lot better if the frets were evened out. It's still a great guitar and I would buy another one in a heartbeat.

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Exactly. These guitars are really great once they've been set up and properly adjusted, but they do need that little bit if tweaking.

The RWG guitars do not NEED to have the nuts replaced, but with the exception of a vintage Gretsch, I've put Earvana intonated nuts on every guitar I own. They really do make a difference, and guitars, regardless of brand, that are equipped with them are noticably more in tune than those without them.

I've had the frets dressed, and the action and intoation set on every guitar I've owned.

I've replaced the pickups on many, but not all of my guitars. This is also true of the RWGs.

The only guitar I've not customized in one way or another is the Gretsch.

So you are correct in stating that none of the guitars I got from RWG was "acceptable to (me) as (I) got them" but neither were any of my guitars by Fender, Music Man, Ibanez, Washburn, etc.

The bottom line is these are really good guitars that cost a fraction of what they would if they were sold through the normal retail chain, and once they are properly set up, they are as good as guitars that sell for thousands of dollars.

Check out the reviews they’re receiving on harmony central.(Note, Ravenwest is an extention of the original Raven company that went out of business when the original owner died. The reviews apper under both names.)

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/#man

I must tell you that you are wrong about the Earvana intonated nuts. You can see on any tuner how every note on a guitar equipped with one is more in tune, and I personally can hear the difference they make. Since you've apparently had no personal experience with one, you've not heard how much more in-tune they make the guitars. I strongly suggest that you find a guitar that has one and check it out. I believe that once you do, you'll change your mind about them.

[This message was edited by Mike Perlowin on 01 March 2006 at 10:58 PM.]

You insinuate that the guitars have unpalatable necks and need major work in order to be played. Not so. I am very particular about the actions on my guitars. I have had the frets dressed on ALL of them. (Except the Gretsch which is 100% original.) You insinuate that the stock pickups are no good and need to be changed. Again, not so. I have swapped pickups on many of my instruments, including my steel, (as have others here.) BTW The guitar I played at Mesa during Jim Cohen's set comes with optional Seymour Duncan pickups, which of course I got.

Your posts imply that there is something wrong with the guitars, and that I've been less than honest about them. Again, this is not the case. The fact that there are a couple of people on this forum here who bought them and are happy with them, coupled with the overwhelming number of positive reviews they get on Harmony Central should tell you that. (And yes, HC has a lot of 14 year old kids who think that music was invented by Jimi Hendrix, and that has to be taken into consideration. But when 30 or 40 people all say they like a particular guitar and nobody puts it down, they can't all be wrong.)

You insinuate that I put the Earvana nuts on the guitars because they don't intonate properly. Again, you're mistaken. These guitars intonate as well as any other brand.

Intonated nuts do not take the place of intonated bridges, rather they work together. As I mentioned, I have them on ALL my guitars (except the Gretsch.) Perhaps you ought to check them out for yourself and see how they work, how WELL they work, before you say anything else.

If you feel that you need a $3,000 guitar in order to play in a bar, that's fine. I feel that people in the audience are more concerned with the quality of the performance than with the brand name on the headstock.

Before I close thus post, I want to point out 2 things I mentioned earlier. 1- I do not work for this company and have no financial interest in it. The owner is a personal friend. 2- The reason these guitars are so inexpensive is that the guy has them made in Korea, shipped to his home where he stores them in his garage (thus saving the cost of storage) and sells them himself directly to his customers similar to the way many steel manufacturers do. If these guitars wen through the normal retail chain, they would cost far more.

The guitars speak for themselves. If amybody wants or needs a professional quality instrument at an affordable price, do yourself a favor and check them out.

As far as the guitars, they DO sound interesting, but sounds like a lot of setup is required to get them in shape. That seems consistent with most of the Korean guitars I've seen at NAMM - the *look* right, *feel* almost right...but don't play right until fretwork is done. That, to me, is a big issue - IMO guitars should come from the factory with decent fretwork. But then again, for the price, you can't argue much.

The restaurant where we hold the L.A. steel jam is currently closed for remodeling, but is scheduled to re-open next week, at which time I'll be talking to the owner about setting the date. Probably the 3rd or 4th weekend in April. I'll bring a couple of the guitars and let you see them for yourself. That is if you're willing to attend and sit through an afternoon of country steel playing. (You really should. You might learn somthing.)

The fellow who owns the company just gave me a K2 590 like the one pictured. (note- the K2 series are the budget line- this guitar sells for $269.) I will make it a point NOT to have any work done on this guitar prior to the jam, so you (and everybody else) can see and feel what it is like right out of the box.

My all time favorite guitar is an old Epi Joe Pass. Stock pickups. Stock everything else to my knowledge. It's just like my wife. We're a perfect fit. I've had more compliments on the tone of that guitar than with anyone I've ever owned. My wife bought it for me without even having me try it out based on my friend's approval. Maybe its the love that went into the purchase that helps; I don't know for sure. But, it just flat out works for me. No, it's not a fast neck like my Strat or Tele, but, I can play more tastefully on it than anything I've ever owned.

I ususally have to make adjustments to every guitar after I've played it a while. I don't see what the big deal is.

Didn't know the apology was to me since it wasn't addressed, but duly accepted. We're good.

[This message was edited by Jim Sliff on 02 March 2006 at 07:46 PM.]

Re cheap guitars needing fretwork: I just bought a gorgeous, really good sounding, oil finish mahogany body/mahogany set neck tele with a maple fretboard for less than $200. The frets are rough and not flush with the neck profile, otherwise it's flawless.

But my $3,800 Gibson J 200 also arrived with unpolished frets, rough file marks all over the fretboard, a too narrow bridge saddle and a badly filed nut (plastic!)

On a sub 200 dollar guitar, I don't mind an hour or two in the workshop - when done, I have a GREAT player for hardly any money at all. But when I pay so much it hurts, flaws are not acceptable.

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´75 Emmons p/p D10 8+4, '96 Emmons Legrande II D10 8+5, ca '72 AWH Custom D10 8+3, Peavey Nashville 1000