Reeves Gabrels first found himself in the spotlight while collaborating with David Bowie in Tin Machine in the late ’80s. An eclectic guitarist who has participated in numerous projects including solo records, when he landed the gig with The Cure in 2012, he needed a guitar that could cover a wide range of territory. Reverend came to the rescue, and they recently launched a new version of his signature model (see this month’s “Approved Gear”).
Why did you need a new guitar?
It was like method acting. If I was going to join a band with this tradition and rabid enthusiastic following, I couldn’t go up there and come off as a session player. A lot of the older stuff features a Jazzmaster and a lo-fi sound, long before it became fashionable. There were a lot of semi-hollow sounds on the records, as well. To try something different, I talked to Ken Haas and Joe Naylor at Reverend. I wanted a guitar I could use for the entire night, so we came up with the Spacehawk and, later, the Spacehawk Supreme. The original had higher-output pickups. Because of the bass roll-off and treble bleed on the Volume control, you can get a Gretsch sound and all kinds of things.
What are the differences between the Spacehawk and the Spacehawk Supreme?
I kept everything from the original, including the phase switch and kill switch, but added a whole array of sounds and a Bigsby. The Supreme allows you to have all three pickups on with one of them out of phase. If you use the bass roll-off, you can thin it out. With all the pickups, you have the world’s biggest Stratocaster (laughs). I use the bass roll-off more than I use the pickup selector. It’s handy if you need a Telecaster sound but don’t have enough time to switch guitars. It’s a bit of a Swiss Army Knife with a real elegance to it.
Talk about the pickups.
We have a Railhammer Alnico Grande in the bridge, a Hyper Vintage Bridge in the middle, and a Hyper Vintage in the neck. You get more horsepower from the bridge pickup if you want that alone. The earlier model had a three-position switch, but the Supreme has a five-position blade. If you leave it alone and don’t want to play around with phasing, you can pull the Volume control and introduce the bridge pickup into any combination. If you have the blade in position 2 – neck and middle – you can pull up on the Volume control to introduce the bridge pickup.
I didn’t want to stray far from the designs they already had, so we used a korina body with a maple top, but I wanted a bigger body that was semi-hollow. It’s a Sensei shape that’s very lightweight. We added a few inches in diameter, but it’s still smaller than a 335 or a 6120, and easier to play. If you don’t pull any knobs, you have a five-position guitar like a Strat, with all these classic sounds. But you can also get weird if you want.
It was built specifically for playing The Cure material. I didn’t have anything that would get there, but also I wanted something I could do a blues gig with. It lives in both worlds. You can even play jazz on it. It has a nice PAF-style neck pickup. The fact that it’s a semi-hollow but doesn’t have sound holes allows you to play loud.
Which amps are you running?
My Cure sound is the Spacehawk through a Hiwatt. I’m playing through three 100-watt amps, but for the longest time I’ve been running Audio Kitchen amps, from England. I worked closely with them using my Spacehawk and my pedalboard. We EQ’d the amps to those using a 50-watt Class A, and they have three KT88s and a big transformer. It’s a cool machine.
Any feedback issues?
No. I thought, “Why do we need sound holes?” (laughs) The Spacehawk Supreme is futuristic, but has its feet firmly planted in tradition. When I first took it out of the case and the sunlight hit the three pickups, it was like, “I bought an old Cadillac!” (laughs)
What’s next?
I’m doing what used to be called Doom Dogs, but we changed the name to Gabrels-Kane-Parker Wells. It’s an all-improv band, and we never know where we’re going. There’s no material. We’ll play up and down the Hudson, and we have an EP coming out soon.
– Oscar Jordan
This article originally appeared in VG’s November 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.