Peavey Generation EXP Custom ACM

-I'm not sure of the year, but is brand new when I received it.
-22 frets
-Solid top
-Volume, Tone, Magnetic\Piezo Balance, Five-way pickup selector, Piezo\Both\Magnetic switch
-Blond Alder body with black edge trimming, transparent finish
-Tele style body
-Piezo Tele style bridge
-Non-Locking Grover tuners
-No case or accessories

I play jazz, fusion and finger picking styles. This guitar does them well. I don't have an amp yet but I went to a local Sam Ash and tried it with a Fender Deluxe Tube amp and one of the Fender solid state amps. The Peavey Generation EXP sounded excellent with the Fender Tube amp. Not so good with the solid state. I've read other reviews of this guitar where the owners swapped out the pickups. With a good tube amp, these pickups are just fine. I was able to get Strat and Tele sounds, as well as a full bodied humbucker sound. The five way pickup selector enables you to switch from single coil neck\double coil neck\neck and bridge\double coil bridge\single coil bridge. The tone control provides nice variety of tone variance. After reading some of the user reviews on this guitar I was ready to go right and replace them until I tried it with the tube amp. I suppose I could complain about some of the aspects of the sound but at the price I paid ($180 on eBay), I am fairly satisfied. Acoustic sound out of the Piezo bridge is excellent for what I paid. I compared the sound to other guitars such as the Rickenbacker 380L, and the Parker P44. the Peavey's acoustic sound is better. I imagine that the sound would be even better with a set of new GHS boomers. For the best acoustic sound, use a Y stereo cable and run the Piezo output to an acoustic guitar amp or PA.

The action was setup pretty good but the intonation was not so good. The pickups seemed to be adjusted OK. This guitar is blond with two pieces of Alder wood nicely book-matched. Overall, the fit and finish was good. However, the volume and tone control knobs were not properly tightened and fell off. The guitar goes out of tune easily. The frets probably need some filing. Other than that, it is a beautiful guitar. I never imagined that I could do so much with one guitar. As another review of this guitar mentioned, take it to a good guitar tech and spend about $150 and you've got yourself a great guitar. I totally agree

The guitar does great except for the problem of falling out of tune. The hardware will definitely last, but needs some tightening. The finish is very good and seems to be very durable. The strap buttons are solid. I'd use this guitar on a gig without a backup. That is, after a visit to the local guitar tech.

Haven't had to use Customer support. I did call about modifications but didn't get too far with that. Even though the guitar was still in the original wrapping, plastic was still on the pickups and pick guard, I bought the guitar off eBay so it didn't come with a warranty.

I've been playing for 38 years and have had a lot of guitars; Les Paul, Strats etc. This one is my favorite. I would definitely buy this guitar again if lost or stolen. I love the versatility and simplicity of the guitar. I don't like the fact that I had to tighten some of the hardware to keep it from falling off. My favorite feature is the stereo output which splits the magnetic and Piezo outputs into stereo. This creates a very wide sound when recording or using two amps in a live performance. I compared this guitar to the Rickenbacker 380L at $1700, the Line 6 Variax, and Parker P44. The Generation EXP does not provide the wide variety of sounds that a modeling guitar such as the VG Strat and Line 6 Variax, but what it does do, it does very well.

* 25-1/2" scale
* Alder body
* Three-ply pickguard
* Vintage-wound bridge and neck pickup
* ACM analog acoustic modeling bridge with separate volume
* Maple neck
* Rosewood fingerboard
* 21 vintage frets
* Single volume and tone controls
* Three-way pickup selector toggles from acoustic ACM tone to
electric or both
* Ashtray-style bridge
* Grover tuners
* 6-in-line headstock
* Made in China
* Stereo cable for splitting ACM and standard output

I play primarily rock, jazz, country, folk and blues. I did not like the stock pickups so I replaced them with a pair of GFS Dream 180s that I had. The pickups compliment the guitar well. The ACM circuit is a bit noisy, but I like it quite a bit. It does not sound like a dreadnought. But it does not sound electric either. The combination of the alder body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and the Dream 180's make a very versatile guitar that work well with the style of music that I play. But considering that I had to change the pickups, I would give this a 7 at best.

Total fail here.

Quality control at Peavey China is lacking in all regards. Before this was even playable, I had to have the following done:
* Repair unfinished areas on the neck
* Have the frets crowned and leveled. The frets were not finished
at all on a brand new guitar. This is just wrong.
* Total setup. Intonation was not set properly at all. and the
action was too high.
* Have the nut replaced. The nut was cut too high.\
* Replace the knobs. They used set screw knobs on split shaft
pots. That is just asking for problems

The body was finished with no problems that I can see. I have one of the blond guitars. It looks much better in real life than it does in the picture. I'm not sure why the neck finish, setup and fretboard were in such poor shape. It pisses me off that I had to spend $140 plus pickups to repair a brand new guitar.

The guitar plays very nicely now. If you are interested in one of these, buy a used one unless you factor the initial repair costs into the purchase price

The guitar seems like it is well built. Time will tell.

I bought the guitar off of ebay. So there is no warranty since I did not buy it from an authorized dealer. So technically I bought it used from someone who took advantage of the Stupid Deal of the Day on MusiciansFriend.com. The guitar was new in box when I got it. I missed that deal. But such is life.

I've been playing for over 25 years and own several strats, an Ibanez AF-85 jazz box as well as several basses and acoustics. I was interested in experimenting with the ACM circuit on this. And it seemed less expensive to buy this guitar than to modify one of my strats. In retrospect, I should have modified one of the strats. This guitar turned into a major pain in the neck. Considering that I am basing this review on the condition it was in when I got it, I can't give it more than a 4. It is a good project instrument. After the repairs were done, I consider this a 9.

Awesome guitar beautiful mine is a sunburst I got it a few weeks ago from guitar center price was great too.I

Incredible it goes from sounding like an acoustic to full on metal I am working on a christian metal album and this guitar is just plain awesome I use a Digitech rp300a with this and it just blows me away so many different sounds out of one guitar

Do to budget constraints I bought a Blem from Guitar center took me three days to find the blem The guitar rocked right out of the box the action was great and I foung no problems with the guitar

I would definately use this guitar with no backup I play for hours and it just rocks stays in tune really well too. I would use this one live anytime

I have not had to call them ever I have a peavey bass I've had for over 20 years and never had to call

I have been playing music for 25 years I own many instruments I play 12 at last count . I would cry if it were lost or stolen and then run and buy another one

A truely amazing guitar with top notch hardware including Grover tuners and Graph Tech??? piezo acoustic pickup saddles - Peavey's patented ACM??(Analog Acoustic Modeling)circuitry - Solid Basswood body with real Quilted Maple top - Maple neck w/Rosewood fretboard - Dual-expanding truss rod - H/S/H pickup formation - 1 Vol., 1 Tone, & 1 Vol. for piezo pu - Stereo jack for splitting electric & acoustic sounds. The custom models were made in Korea not China and they come with the Grovers.

This guitar has to be one of the most versatile guitars one the market today as far as sound goes. The stock Peavey pickups sound suprisingly good and are able to create numerous tonal flavors from distorted hard rock & heavy metal to clean country twang, funk & blues. On top of that you have the ability to switch to acoustic mode which sounds very much like an amplifed acoustic guitar and you can blend the acoustic tones with the electric.

I first heard one of these guitars being played at church by one of the guys in the praise band. I heard the sound of an amplified acoustic guitar but all I saw was him playing his Peavey Custom EXP electric. I found out later that it was the Piezo sadles and the ACM??(Analog Acoustic Modeling)circuitry that enabled him to get such a realistic acoustic tone from this electric guitar. I was sold.

I know these guitars are made overseas but the build quality and finish to me rivals any American made guitar that I have owned. It has a very comfortable neck feel and the satin finish on the neck is nice. I will say that a couple of the pots and the 5 way switch were a bit scratchy sounding (not uncommon) but I'm sure a bit of DeOxit contact cleaner would quite them right down.

Very nice Tiger Eye Quilted Maple top. I'm giving this a 9 because it would have been nice if they put the quilted maple on the headstock as well.

The Peavey products I have owned have always been reliable and durable. The Generation EXP Custom is no different. Again this guitar comes with top notch hardware. I like the strap buttons. They are designed to protect against slipping out of the strap hole.

I Haven't had to use Peavey's CS.

I have been playing on and off for over 25 years. I have owned 2 Gibson Les Paul Standards, 2 Gibson Les Paul Studios, and an American Fender Fat Strat. As I said earlier this guitar equals them in build quality and features. Theres so many sound options it's truely all I need. I would definitely get another if it were lost or stolen.

This is what originally attracted me to this guitar, it's incredible features. Humbucking-Single Coil-Humbucking pickups plus piezo acoustic system (ACM). Grover tuners, 22 frets, gorgeous quilted maple top, front and back body bindings, very cool Tele-variant body shape (everyone has Strats + Pauls). Neck is satin finished and thinish in profile, very much to my taste. Reminds me a bit of a mid-80's Korean Fender Strat I wish I'd never given up. This guitar is Korean, too. The less expensive H/S/S non-quilt models are made in China and apparently don't have Grovers. Because I got it used, it came with no accessories. Mine is the wine red, coincidentally the same as my Epiphone. Just worked out that way. The maple top seems to be all one piece rather than bookmatched, so there is no seam at all. Very nice attention to detail.

Suits my situation to a T. As the only guitarist in a praise and worship band, I like to switch back and forth from electric to "acoustic" at will, often within the same song. The acoustic sound on this this is really quite convincing through a clean, flat system, such as a PA, keyboard amp or acoustic amp. Anyone who says it sounds too bright or overpowers the magnetic pickups probably isn't splitting the stereo output. This is absolutely essential. The H-S-H magnetic pickup arrangement is very nice. In the 2nd position, it actually splits the bridge pu, adding in the middle strat-type pu. Pretty nice, "quacky" sounds. Also very cool to mix clean acoustic with a heavily distorted electric sound. Can't do that on a Variax!

I bought mine used, so I can't comment on factory setup. I immediately changed the strings and battery and then adjusted the intonation, as I do with any guitar, new or used.

I see no reason to expect problems. Although I normally bring a backup (the Epi), I have used it without one, as long as I know the strings and battery are fresh. The GraphTech saddles should reduce string breakage anyway. Everything seems as solid as a rock. This is actually my second Generation and my third Peavey guitar overall. Unlike a few others here, I've had no problem with the output jack. Maybe it's the Chinese models that have this problem. As I have for decades, I replaced the strap buttons with StrapLocks as soon as I got it. No reflection on the original equipment, just insurance against my own clumsiness.

Again I bought it used, so no opinion here.

I've been playing over 40 years, opened for some very famous acts. I run the magnetic side through a Digitech RP200A and the piezo side through a Zoom 504 Acoustic, then both into the PA and a monitor. Lost or stolen? Sure, I'd buy another at the right price. My Epiphone LP and Yamaha APX10 acoustic aren't getting much use these days. I was considering a Michael Kelly Hybrid, a Schecter C-1AE or a Variax 300, all of which provide electric and acoustic sounds at the flip of a switch, but when this popped up on EBay at such a great price, I took a chance without every playing one. Of course having had a couple of Peaveys before, I figured it would be at least decent quality. Exceeded my expectations. Only thing I wish it had was a switching option to run the 2 humbuckers together, but I might just add that myself with a push-pull tone pot. I guess a trem would be nice, but that would probably compromise the piezo sound.