Reverend is the brainchild of Joe Naylor. Joe studied at the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery. After graduating in 1987 he designed and built custom guitars before establishing the Reverend brand in 1997. Initially Reverend offered American-made, vintage-style guitars, that weren't knock offs of the classic Gibson/Fender designs. If anything their body shapes looked a little like the budget mail order models of the sixties (Airline, Harmony, Sears etc.) or Italian and German made models of the same era. Joe was also cofounder of J.F. Naylor Engineering (Naylor Amps). Currently based in Toledo, Ohio, Reverend is run by Ken and Penny Haas. who bought the company in 2009, and has a wider range of guitar models. All of the guitars are designed by Joe Naylor, manufactured in South Korea by boutique guitar manufacturer Mirr Music with final set up by the Reverend technical team.

Source: Reverend website (6 March 2021)

Torque Amps has its origins in a buisness started by Jim Edgeworth in the early seventies in Darlington, UK. Edgeworth built the forerunners of the current TORQUE range of amplification in small quantities in his retail shop. Success of the first products led to an approach by a major UK national distributor who commissioned a range of amplifiers under their own brand name. This first major contract initiated the formation of the Edgeworth Electronics Limited  company in 1978 and a move to a 2,000 sq. ft. workshop on the Chilton industrial estate. Within a couple of years they purchased a 5,000 sq. ft. factory in Darlington, but the deep recession of the the early eighties caused tremendous difficulties in the UK music trade and forced their sole customer to cancel all of their orders. This forced a widening of the customer base and they were soon supplying several UK distributors with products designed specifically for them and the company began to grow.

John McGuire was raised in a guitar manufacturing enviroment - his father is luthier Mike McGuire of Valley Arts Guitars fame. In 1993  Mike McGuire decided to move John and the rest of his family to Nashville to start a new career with the Gibson Custom Shop. John turned sixteen the next year started to work at Gibson’s Custom Shop after school. John studied an associates course in CAD and applied sciences, while at the same time getting experience in almost every department at Gibson Custom including sanding, fret filing, final assembly, and packing. He then started working full-time in engineering at Gibson Custom Shop where he designed  models including the Flying V Custom and the Flying V standard flame top.

Ben Tortorici classical and flamenco guitars in Long Beach, California. Ben Tortorici was already an accomplished woodworker when he was introduced to guitar making in 1978. His skills were refined under the guidance of his friend, the late R.L. "Bob" Mattingly, a renowned classical guitar maker, who studied under Miguel Rodriguez. Tortorici also worked for Boeing as an engineer from 1970 to 2000.

Source: B.J. Tortorici website (archived 2007)

Fructuoso Zalapa Luna is a maker of fine classical guitars in Morelia, Mexico. He was born in 1961 into a family of guitar makers in Paracho, Mexico, where he began his apprenticeship at age 10. In his late teens he left for Spain to spend several years studying with various luthiers including Felix Manzanero and Manuel Cáceres. His studies continued in the late 1980s in Mexico City at the National Music Conservatory. His guitars have received numerous awards and in 2019 he was awarded the Maximum Award of the VI National Contest "Great Masters of the Artisan Heritage of Mexico 2019", held in the city of Tlaxcala, Mexico.

Luis Fernandes de Cordoba makes classical and flamenco guitars in the tradition of the European master luthiers, such as Torres, Santos, Esteso, Hauser, Fleta and Bouchet. He got started in luthiery in his late teens: this led to a certified guitar-making course, followed by an apprenticeship in repair work and construction of classical, steel string and bass guitars. He has spent time with luthiers of all types, in the United States, Spain, Mexico, Argentina and his native country, Panamá.

Source: Luis Fernandes de Cordoba website (23 February 2021)