Reverend Jetstream 290 Bigsby – Trans White – RW

The Reverend Jetstream 290 Bigsby: P90 attitude with a little wiggle

Some guitars are subtle.The Reverend Jetstream 290 Bigsby isn't exactly one of them.

You've got a striking offset body, a translucent Trans White finish, a pair of P90s and a Bigsby. In other words, pretty much everything you need to make a guitar sound cool before you've even plugged it in.

But the Jetstream isn't just about looks. Underneath the vintage-inspired exterior is a very modern Reverend: lightweight Korina construction, a roasted maple neck, locking tuners and the wonderfully useful Bass Contour control.

And that's where things get interesting.

Two P90s. No apologies.

The Jetstream 290 is equipped with a pair of Reverend 9A5 P90 pickups.

These are proper P90s — fat, raw and full of character — but with enough bite and clarity to make sure you don't disappear into the mix.

The bridge pickup has that familiar P90 combination of attack and growl. Hit it hard and it punches. Back off and it cleans up beautifully.

The neck pickup is warmer and fuller, with plenty of body without becoming woolly.

Put them together and you've got that wonderfully unpredictable middle position that makes P90 guitars so addictive.

Clean, crunchy, dirty, jangly, bluesy, raunchy…

The Jetstream 290 doesn't need a complicated pickup system because P90s already know how to have fun.

The Bigsby is the cherry on top

And then Reverend did something rather sensible with the Bigsby.

Instead of simply bolting a vintage-style vibrato onto the guitar and hoping for the best, the Jetstream uses a Bigsby B50 with a roller bridge, combined with Reverend Pin-Lock tuners, Boneite nut and a custom Soft Touch Spring.

The result is a Bigsby that feels smooth and controlled rather than like an invitation to spend the rest of the evening tuning your guitar.

You can add a little shimmer to chords, put some gentle wobble into sustained notes or go full rockabilly when the mood takes you.

It's expressive rather than excessive.

And that's exactly how we like our vibrato.

Bass Contour: don't underestimate this knob

Reverend's Bass Contour control is one of those features that sounds like a small detail on a specification sheet and turns out to be incredibly useful in real life.

Instead of simply rolling off treble, Bass Contour progressively removes low frequencies.

With the Jetstream's P90s, this means you can go from a thick, fat P90 sound to something considerably leaner and more focused.

Want more twang?

Turn it down.

Need to tighten things up when using a fuzz pedal?

Turn it down.

Your amp is already producing enough bottom end to move the furniture?

You know what to do.

It's a wonderfully simple way of changing the character of the guitar without changing pickups or touching the amplifier.

Korina body, roasted maple neck

The body is made from Korina, one of Reverend's signature choices.

It's a relatively light, resonant wood with plenty of harmonic content and a lively response. That keeps the Jetstream feeling like a proper solidbody without turning it into a shoulder workout.

The neck is roasted maple, which gives the Jetstream a particularly nice combination of stability, attack and feel.

The Medium Oval profile is comfortable without being skinny, while the 12" radius and 22 medium-jumbo frets give you plenty of room for both rhythm and lead work.

The 25 1/2" scale also gives the Jetstream a slightly snappier response than the shorter-scale Reverend models such as the Roundhouse and Sensei.

Trans White

And then there's the finish.

Trans White lets the character of the wood show through while giving the Jetstream a clean, slightly vintage appearance.

Combined with the offset body, gold-toned back-sprayed pickguard and Bigsby, it has just enough retro attitude without looking like somebody tried too hard to make a vintage guitar.

It's unmistakably Reverend.

Reverend does the practical stuff

The Jetstream 290 is full of the small details that make a guitar enjoyable to own.

Pin-Lock tuners make string changes quick and contribute to tuning stability.

The Boneite nut and roller bridge work together with the Bigsby to keep the strings moving smoothly.

The finish is deliberately thin, allowing the body to vibrate more freely.

And the Pure Tone-style approach to the hardware and electronics means this is a guitar designed to be played rather than simply photographed.

That's the Reverend philosophy in a nutshell.

The Guitar Bar verdict

The Reverend Jetstream 290 Bigsby is a brilliant combination of old-school attitude and modern practicality.

You've got the unmistakable character of two P90s, the expressive fun of a Bigsby, the resonance of a Korina body, the stability of locking tuners and the versatility of Reverend's Bass Contour.

It can do rockabilly, blues, indie, alternative, garage rock, classic rock and clean rhythm work with equal enthusiasm.

And unlike some guitars with a Bigsby, this one doesn't require you to make a sacrifice at the altar of vintage authenticity.

It simply works.

P90s, Bigsby, Korina and a Reverend neck.

What more do you actually need?

Well… maybe an amp.

But that's about it.

SPECIFICATIONS

Model: Reverend Jetstream 290 Bigsby
Finish: Trans White
Fingerboard: Rosewood (RW)
Construction: Bolt-On
Body: Korina Solidbody
Neck: Roasted Maple
Neck Profile: Medium Oval
Fingerboard Radius: 12"
Scale Length: 25 1/2" / 647.7 mm
Nut Width: 43 mm / 1.693"
Nut: Boneite
Frets: 22
Fret Size: 0.110" W × 0.050" H
Truss Rod: Dual Action, Headstock Access

Bridge Pickup: Reverend 9A5 P90
Neck Pickup: Reverend 9A5 P90
Pickup Configuration: P90 / P90

Controls: Volume, Tone, Bass Contour
Switching: 3-Way Switch

Bridge: Bigsby B50 with Roller Bridge
Bigsby Spring: Soft Touch Spring
Tuners: Reverend Pin-Lock
Hardware: Chrome
Strings: .010–.046

Pickguard: Back-Sprayed Gold
Case: Two-Toned Teardrop Case, available separately