REVEREND SPY
The Reverend SPY was another model that was in the Reverend Line-up from the begining. The first production model SPY was in Turquoise and enters the archives in 1997 as serial number 00035. By the time Reverend USA production ceased, only 206 SPYs had been produced. SPYs fell out of the official Reverend Catalog in 2003, but after Reverend announced the impending cessation of the USA line, a few more were ordered by Savvy Rev-a-holics. The last SPY to come out of the shop was custom ordered, in Smoked Chrome with Hawaiian graphics.
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Reverend
SPY For Sale?
If you are thinking about
selling your SPY, or any other USA Reverend Guitar, Bass, or Amp,
please send me an E-MAIL
as I am always interested in buying
USA Reverends (if the wife will allow!) But if not, I might be able to
steer you in the directions of someone who does, or expand your
guitar's exposure by listing it here on the RevFan.com site (for Free!)
SPY Collecting Notes
FINISHES
With
206 total instruments, only a few colors made it to the double
digits in production. The most common finish is Turquoise, representing over 25% of them at
57 instruments. Sky Blue is a distant second with 23 made. These are
followed by black (20), and Aged White (12).
SPECIALTY METAL
For the specialty metal
finishes, Bug Eye leads the way with 11, Lava Swirl follows
with 4, Ridged Aluminum 3, and one lonely Engine Turned Aluminum Spy
comes in last.
BRUSHED ALUMINUM
As stated above, the SPY model
leaves the catalog in 2003, which severely reduced the number of
Brushed
Aluminum SPYs made. In fact, most of the SPYs
in Brushed
Aluminum seem to have been ordered after it was announced that USA
production was ending. There are no SPYs in Moroccan Gold,
3 in Dragonfly Green, One each of Lake Superior Blue and in Smoked
Chrome, both with Hawaiian Scene
graphics.
FAUX WOOD
The Faux wood finishes were
brought on board to "lure" folks who were more interested in
traditional wood guitars into the Reverend congregation. As
with the Brushed Aluminum finish, the faux wood finishes come
in as the SPY goes out. There is one
Quilted Mahogany, but again, it was ordered and made as a last hurrah after it was announced that USA production was ending..
"One Of"
SPY "one of a
kinds", not
mentioned above: Navy, Safety Orange, and Pink.
FORMICA CORPORATION
One of the first "Specialty"
Reverends was one in a finish called
"Formica Corporation" (archives - F.C.). The story is that 14
instruments were ordered by the Formica Company to give to their
top salesmen. 
The finish is a wood grain
phenolic top over a chrome base. The wood grain top has been "cut" with
tiny
little squares to allow the chrome underneath to show through.
The effect has been referred to as "studded Mahogany" or
"pin dot". Its a neat effect, and a handsome instrument.
These rarely come up for sale and have become part of
Reverend Lore. These rarely change hands and I only know of 2. Please contact me if you have one of the other 13!
OTHER OPTIONS
Almost 30% of SPYs (59
of 206) were sold with either a standard fulcrum
Tremelo (49) or a Bigsby (10).
Maple necked SPYs make up about 10% of the population (21 of 206).
Wiring options: One model was retro-fitted in 2003 with a Studio Switch.
CUSTOM and NOTES
The first Reverend Lava Swirl guitar made was SPY (sn 01918).
Another quasi-famous SPY is the High Times Give-away model.
The official name was "Greenwood" as it had a faux wood
finish (in Green) Gold Guard, and Green Lipstick Covers.
One black SPY is noted as "Destroyed", but there are no details about
its destruction (as in WHY!).
Another SPY, in Coral Blue and is listed as being a "Prop - Non
functioning / sellable".
UPGRADES
Sky Blue Spy #02605 was returned for an
upgrade of Studio Switch,
Graph Tech Saddles and Sperzel tuners. Another Sky Blue was
returned for the addition of a Tremelo (#02533). One Ridged
Aluminum Guitar (I believe it was a Hitman?) was coverted to a SPY -
#01335).
Reverend SPY For Sale?
If you are thinking about selling your SPY, or any other USA Reverend Guitar, Bass, or Amp, please send me an E-MAIL as I am always interested in buying USA Reverends (if the wife will allow!) But if not, I might be able to steer you in the directions of someone who does, or expand your guitar's exposure by listing it here on the RevFan.com site (for Free) 02240 SPY RIG TRM
Reverend Spy 01645 - Formica Corporation (Studded Mahogany)
Reverend SPY 02240 Ridged Aluminum/Trem
Reverend Spy 00267 - Turquoise
Reverend Spy 00452 - Fireball Red/Maple
