Review: Reverso vs. Stryker

[Curtis]

Okay guys. I know you will be jealous and all reasons for it.

Just got a Reverso in to review... And you know what I am doing today? I put up my Hellborg rig in the sun in the garden and I'm playing the Reverso and the Stryker. I wanted to make a review, but I'm too excited to be calm and write, ha ha! But I'll try!

Well, where shall I start?

Of course the reverso can be seen as a Stryker, but there are a lot of differences, Reverso vs. Stryker:

Matched headstock - black headstock
JANIII Brass - JANIII
Block inlays - Spirit inlays
LEDs - no LEDs
One split P - Mirrored split P's
Passive electronics - active electronics
Nickel frets - Bell brass frets

But my Stryker has a lot of similarities, like the matte finish, chrome hardware, it are real brothers.

Some things are only visible when you see both basses together. The Reverso is much shorter, I guess like 10cm. or 6 inch. The fretboard is also reaching the body at the 21st fret, but the bridge is more at the end of the body. That means the body is much shorter. I believe the Reverso hasn't any hollow chambers (?) but it's very light.

Soundwise it isn't that far from the Stryker, with it's neck pick up on only. Both have an active Mec-P and same bodywoods.

I hope to post some more later, but first some porn:

Hmm... Flickr has changed...

Just a moment....

 

[Curtis]

Hmm.. I don't know hpw to post form Flickr anymore. The normal links don't work. Please go to Flickr: Chrispdekker's Photostream

 

[Curtis]

And a last thing: The neck of my Stryker is 38mm instead of 44 and nice. But the neck of the Reverso is VERY nice. 35mm, so like my '76 Thunderbird. Tiny and fast!

 

[Negyuh]

Wow Curtis, where in the netherlands are you now, maybe i can drop by

 

[Curtis]

Near Alkmaar. Heerhugowaard. And home for most of the weekend

 

[Negyuh]

Hmmm that's not right around the corner (in live in Oss), but it would have been nice to see those basses 'in the flesh'

 

[Curtis]

One 'bad' thing: You can't play a Reverso sitting down. It slips off your lap. But who wants to rock a Reverso sitting down?!?

 

[Curtis]

I'll try again to post some pics. Mind you, I made them with my phone. Not a very good quality...

Enjoy! And if you have questions: I'll send the Reverso back this monday, so ask them before monday. Unfortunately I am still not able to make soundclips.

 

[flipper_gv]

^beautiful pictures!

 

[Doog]

It's actually quite amazing how different the body shapes are, the Reverso is very truncated. Works well as intended, it sure aint simply an upside down Stryker.

 

[ALB]

How do you think the Reverso would sound with double P pickups like the Stryker?

 

[Nachobassman]

Thanx for sharing.

 

[Curtis]

@ ALB:

I think the Reverso will sound quite like the Stryker with two pick ups. I never play bridge pick ups only on basses. I'm more a middle or neck pick up guy. But I experiences the following:

On my Thunderbird I prefer the neck pick up only. With the bridge pick up dialled in, it's a bit more compressed. I played on a Warwick Streamer LX lately (see LX vs. Jazzman) and I preferred the neck pick up only again. It's quite agressive in a nice way and with the bridge pick up dialed in, it's a bit cleaner. With the Stryker I prefer having both pick ups full open. The coil on the bass side doesn't seem to do an awful lot, but on the treble side you have those two coils very close together, so the thinner strings sound fatter, better. So I guess for a rock sound both pick ups on is cool. And I guess I could handle 1,5 P pick ups. So only the one at the treble side at the back, ha ha!
That doesn't mean the Reverso sounds weak in any way. The front P only kicks serious ass, already and the Reverso has a special tone circuit.

Maybe Florin has other experiences with his mirrored P's?

 

[Florin]

The good thing with two pickups is that when you play with the pan pot you find a sweet spot where the GROWL is. Similar with Rickenbacker, Ric users know what I am talking about. Close a little bit the neck pickup and BANG!

I prefer a little bit more the neck pickup. Mr James Lomenzo finds his sweet spot more on the bridge pickup. I've tried his advice too, and the growl was indeed monstruos.

Many times I am using the neck pickup only

 

[Curtis]

I have to experiment more...

 

[cubanbass]

Great pictures, you are one lucky dude!

Which one felt better on a strap, I would think you would have an easier reach to the 1st fret since the Reverso is smaller. They look significantly different back to back. All this time I thought they were the same basses flipped over. Thank you for this review and photo gallery!

 

[phunku]

Thanks for the great info Curtis, and the pictures are drool inducing!

BLending the two pickups is a great thing that i sued to do on my Jazz bass loads, but on My $$, blending doesn't really do alot, it just muddy's the tone, ive tried having the Neck pup on single, and it still sounds a bit muffled! My two fave sounds are Bridge on its own in series, and the neck by itself on single, both those sounds are epic!

Can anyone help me out with blend? I cant hear any audible difference unless i have the knob fully centured!

 

[Curtis]

They're complete different on a strap. The Stryker is, like the Buzzard, a strange bass. The strap button is at appr. the 22th fret. That means it has a very long neck and every position feels like 3 miles more to the left than on 'normal' basses. That also means that if you play the bass in front of you, you can't reach the tuners You can play the bass in two ways: (1) The Entwistle position or (2) like me low strung and besides you at the hip. Think BB King, think shooting an M16 from the hip See my live pics at the Warwick On Stage thread. Having the bass in this way means you have a big bodywing to your right. Be careful: I have to say I kicked some mic stands down with that wing while turning on stage. But hey, I love to play my basses like that!

When I put my Stryker-strap on the Reverso, of course the bass was hanging on my knees The strap is mounted at the upper horn instead of the middle of the body, so it hangs like 10 inched lower. That Reverso button is at the 12th fret like almost every Fender/'normal' Warwick/any brand. The whole bass is shorter, so the Reverso is easier to handle for most people than the Stryker. I am used to T-birds and Buzzards, so this BB King/M16 position is normal to me But if you are used to Streamers or Corvettes, the Reverso is better.