Raven West Guitars - My RG450

[Riley]

I broke down a week or so ago and bought a Raven RG450 PRS hollowbody knock off, for $420. It's a mahogany body with a thin maple flamed top and mahogany set neck. The guitar comes stock with Grover tuners, medium jumbo frets, bound body and neck, Abalone inlay in the neck and headstock. The fit and finish of the guitar is very good. The setup was perfect due to the fact that the guitar is setup by a pro out in California at Raven West before it is shipped. It's made in Korea. It's has typical mini pots and switch, but they work very nicely and even the pots have a great audio taper to them. The stock pickups actually sound very good. The bridge pup has a nice bite to it and the neck pickup is warm sounding, but can get a little muddy. My only complaint would be if you really study the guitar closely you can tell the neck is made from about 4 pieces of wood and the same with the body excluding the top. But what really impresses me is how easy it is to play, the neck just fits me like a glove, and it's the most stable tuned guitar i've ever laid my hands on. Since I got it I think once I had to adjust the B string a tad, otherwise it's in tune everytime I grab it! In the future I might have a bone nut installed and maybe upgrade the pups and pots etc. But I really dig this guitar! It plays like butter and sounds great for anything from jazz, to blues to rock!

Pics:

http://riley-music.com/Pics/GuitarGear/Raven1.JPG
http://riley-music.com/Pics/GuitarGear/Raven2.JPG
http://riley-music.com/Pics/GuitarGear/Raven4.JPG
http://riley-music.com/Pics/GuitarGear/Raven5.JPG
http://riley-music.com/Pics/GuitarGear/Raven6.JPG
http://riley-music.com/Pics/GuitarGear/Raven7.JPG

 

[Plank_Spanker]

That's a nice looking guitar, man.

 

[jpfeifer]

Wow, that guitar is a real beauty. It looks so much like the real thing. Nice figured maple in the top. How does it sound? Can you post some recordings of it?

I tried one of the real PRS Hollowbody II's recently at a local music store, just for grins. Not that I can afford a $4500 axe right now, or ever. I'll tell you something though, it was the nicest hollowbody guitar that I've ever played in my life. It was very responsive and sounded great clean (for fingerstyle) or cranked up. It was flawless as far as I could tell. The guys at the music store were hard selling me on it, because they know I like hollowbodies.

Does yours have a solid maple top, back, and sides? Does it have a piezo pickup in the bridge also?

-- Jim

 

[SuperSwede]

Wow, nice guitar Riley!

 

[Riley]

Wow, that guitar is a real beauty. It looks so much like the real thing. Nice figured maple in the top. How does it sound? Can you post some recordings of it?

I tried one of the real PRS Hollowbody II's recently at a local music store, just for grins. Not that I can afford a $4500 axe right now, or ever. I'll tell you something though, it was the nicest hollowbody guitar that I've ever played in my life. It was very responsive and sounded great clean (for fingerstyle) or cranked up. It was flawless as far as I could tell. The guys at the music store were hard selling me on it, because they know I like hollowbodies.

Does yours have a solid maple top, back, and sides? Does it have a piezo pickup in the bridge also?

-- Jim

The top is a very thin maple veneer I believe. The rest of the body is all mahogany. No piezo either. But for the cost it's a heck of a guitar. When I get some time I will try and record something to demonstrate it with clean sounds, with and without pick, and overdriven tones as well.

 

[DaveO]

I had one of their RG350's. Similiar guitar but solid body. Very nicely set up and really easy to play. But I have to agree on the need to upgrade the pick ups. Who can complain about that much guitar for that much money? I only sold it when I need to buy parts for the Part-O-Caster or it would still be mine.
Dave

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

That is a beaut Riley. I love hollowbodies too.

 

[oldguy]

Very nice! Good looking and easy to play always helps the inspiration to play more.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Man, really nice looking! I bet it sounds nice too, even before mods.

 

[Tone2TheBone]

Ooooo thats a neat guitar. Can I have your job? hahaha *thumbs up*