Peavey Generation S3

Maple neck with maple fingerboard. Lightweight chambered alder body, ala Thinline, minus the F-hole, 3 singles on a 5 way switch ala a Nashville. Nice flamed maple top in "Autumn Burst", made in 1991.

I picked this up after discovering Peavey's other Generation Series guitars, the S1 and the S2. While the S3 is nice, the stock version is not in the same league as the stock S1 and S2 Genny's, in my opinion. (solid brass bridge and Active pickups is the S1, the ones with Kahlers are S2's or Customs, not S3's...)

The stock pickups on my S3 sounded dead and lifeless, and the bridge rattled, killed sustain, and was the source of much buzzing.

Still, the neck was comfortable, and the body is very lightweight and comfortable too, so I took a chance and upgraded the parts I didn't like.

I replaced the bridge with a Stew Mac 6 saddle Tele bridge, and replaced all the pickups with Bill Lawrence. Had to change the pots too, after 15 years they were shot, and no hope of revitalizing them. The frets still had plenty of meat, and a level and polish put the butter back on 'em.

I paid about $350 for my S3, and nearly that again for the upgrades. Knowing what I know now, I don't think I'd pay $350 for another one. However, at $250, and I can feel the GAS kickin' in... lol

With the new bridge and electronics, this is one of my best playing and sounding guitars, even compared to my S1 and S2 Gennys.

BTW, The barrel jacks in these tend to go, same as on the S1 and S2 Generations. Mine was okay when I swapped the pickups, but a few weeks later, it's starting to act up... CHANGE THE BARREL JACK when you get the chance, you won't regret it.

With the upgrades, she gets a 9+. Before the upgrades, more like a 6 or 7.

I like absolutely crystal clear clean and high gain distortion. I like in-between tones as well, but I spend more time on the extremes than in the middle. The old pickups were too noisy with distortion and didn't sound very good clean either. The buzzy bridge killed the sustain. The StewMac bridge and Lawrence pickups fixed all that. With the upgrades, she gets a 9+. Before the upgrades, more like a 4 or 5...

Got this after she'd been floating around for 15 years, so I can't make any claims about the factory fit and finish. She accepted all of the mods I wanted to give her flawlessly.

Seems like a well made guitar. For a 15 year old instrument, she's in very good shape. The only problem is that the barrel jacks on these tend to fail, and when they go, they go. Change the barrel jack and she'll be good for another 15 years.

Peavey is the absolute BEST in terms of customer support.

Been playing over 30 years and I teach guitar at a small local college.

My favorite features are the light weight and resonance of the chambered body. I had looked at Thinline and Nashville Teles in the past, but the timing was right on this one. Even adding in the price of the mods, I don't think I'd be able to get a comparable Fender for $700.

Rating after mods: 9+, before mods, a 6 or 7.

My tele-style Peavey was made in Mississippi in 1990 or '91 (bought new in '91 in Santa Cruz for appx. $400 with just a gig bag). It has an eye-catching orangeburst maple flame top but is red on the sides and back, not solid, but a light "chambered" body. The neck and fretboard are maple with black fret inlays--nice and wide! It has one volume and one tone knob and 5-position switch (strat-style). My G3 has 3 passive single-coil pickups--black--I beleive the bridge pickup is a noise canceler. The cable input is on the lower side, the nut is plastic or teflon, the non-locking tuners are fine--still holds tunings well after 14 years! String-thru body, with cheapie-looking individual saddles--tele-style, which I had removed and upgraded and replaced the tele-sort of pickup bracket.

The neck initially attracted me to this Peavey, as I have large hands, but when I plugged it in I immediately fell in love with the warm tones, which in my opinion no tele or strat could hold a candle to. I play primarily country style -- and this guitar has been great for both rhythm and lead. Playing it in overdrive in the Rock fashion works well, too. I have played it through numerous amps over 14 years including small Fenders, Tube Works, and two larger Peavey's, and it's sounded killer on them all! I was not too terribly surprised to see many of the pros out of Nashville picking on shows with their G3's and sounding great! I like to use it on traditional Rockabilly, Western Swing, Outlaw country, and instrumental tunes; it works fine on Classic Rock, and on softer ballads as well.

The action was set fairly close to the frets, and I immediately raised them up. The neck continues to stimulate the senses...very flat and broad for my large hands, easily facilitating quick leads and unfettered, clear chord changes. This guitar is very light and slim--not bulky--very portable, and a joy to hold. The flame top and bright, warm orange finish always gets enthusiastic comments, the frets were nearly perfectly aligned and smooth--no snaggers.

This Peavey G3 has never seen the inside of a guitar case, and has been standing free over these many years. The finish has been chipped, the fretboard finish worn through in spots, but the color and body finish has not really diminished at all. No part of this instrument has failed in 14 years of playing. I would use it in a gig without a backup, for sure! It is still my favorite--and a very reliable one to boot.

I don't remember what the warranty was, but it expired long ago, and I've never had to deal with Peavey directly for any reason.

Like I stated earlier, this is still my favorite guitar. Eventhough I foolishly had a repair guy sand down the frets, which it really didn't need done to it. That's my one regret, you all, because it buzzes a little as a result.

I enjoy the ease of playability, size and shape of the neck/fretboard, the various sweet tones it emits, the lightness, the fact that it sounds sweeter than any Fender electric I've ever owned, and it's visual appeal. I romanced and compared this one for months against others of comparable price--none sounded this nice.
I was fortunate enough to have found an identical guitar on Ebay this week, which I'm paying $360 for, including it's original case. I'm looking forward to breaking it in properly with a new band. I've been playing guitar for about 24 years, and this is the axe!
I've been looking at another Peavey...the T-60. I have a Mexican "NAFTA" Strat which has been fine, but I'm spoiled by my G3!

I've got a 91 with the tiger maple top and rosewood fretboard. Active pickups, single coil and split humbucker, Kahler locking system. Love it all. Thin neck and fast fretboard lets me go when I need to. My favourite guitar by far. Extremely versatile.

I use this guitar to write my originals and play new rock covers with one of my bands and classic rock with another. Sounds great, the active pickups give me more power to the pedals/amp and I find I don't need to turn it up and still get a full rich sound. Love the split humbucker.

The tiger maple finish on this guitar is absolutely beautiful. Only one concern is the gold finish on the knobs/tuners have worn away or marked up. Extremely rugged and durable (only one very little ding in 11 years), despite lack of a pickguard. Great action, quality guitar.

I play with this guitar live all the time with no problems. Only reason I would take a backup is because it can be tough to tune if you break a string. But, with the locking system, once it's in tune, it stays there forever. Toughest finish I've ever seen on a guitar.

I've only dealt with Peavey for my Ecoustic, but they were quick and dependable.

I've been playing for 26 years and this is absolutely my favourite guitar. I also have a US Strat and a LP and they just don't play like this baby. I've never been a Peavey guy, but this guitar made me a believer. If it got lost or stolen, I'd search the earth for another, in original condition. No wonder Steve Cropper loved this guitar.

This is 80's Tele style,mohogany back,flame maple top with rosewood
neck..has 1 volume and 1 tone..the tone control I replaced with a push
pull control and added a mid-range control. It has an active humbucker
with a single coil in the neck position..With the kayler locking tremelo is is an extremely versitle guitar. I bought it with the OHSC
The guitar is beautiful and very near perfect in condition. The gold
hardware lays very nicely against the honey colored top.

I play in church and our music ranges from country gospel to blues to contemperary..my only quirk is I cannot get an accurate Tele sound,it has a sound of it's own. Not necessarily bad ,but, different. I run it thru a Classic 30 with the 12" speaker yhat also feeds the matching tweed 15" bottom, this is a fabulous combination. It is the quietist guitar I have ever owned and I've had american made fenders,gibson,ibanez to name just a few..

I purchased this guitar used about 4 years ago and it is perfect in finish,set up (I use 10's) there are absolutely no flaws in this one.I had several other variations of this model and this is by far the best one yet. I can understand why Steve Cropper fell in love with his !!

I play this guitar 3 nights a week and sunday mornings as well, but I take extremely good care of my equipment..I replaced the strap buttons with strap locs and I normally sit when I play..Sure I can depend on it, it's a PEAVEY and I've used them for years..I have several other hi dollar guitars but I never take one for a back up, I don't feel I need it !!

I've dealt with them before (not with this guitar) and believe me, they are top shelf in my book !!! Try writing a hand written letter to some of the other big name brand companys and see if the CEO answers!!!

I've been playing guitar since I was 6yrs old..I'm now 41 and have always enjoyed my PEAVEY products> I would definately buy another and have been looking for 1 with these options only to be finding the loweroptioned models.

Year: Unknown. Frets: 22 or so. Flametop Maple w/semi-hollow chambers. Volume, Tone, 5-way knife switch.

Neck PU: Gibson Humbucker. Middle & Bridge PU: Peavey S3 stock. Body is Tele shaped.

Body was horribly hand-painted in metal-head-red . . . I sanded and refinished in natural satin. Flametop ripples now.

This guitar sounds amazing to me. I put the Gibson pickup in to warm up the neck sound. It is very sweet for any type of slide work. For many recordings I just go direct to track. Very wide variety of sounds.

This guitar could have been beautiful originally. My re-finish is not bad ~ but not quite "pro" ~ but it works for me and I never have a hissy fit if I spill coffee on it!

This is one trooper of a guitar. Period.

n/a

I am primarily a piano and B3 guy ~ but write tons of songs on guitar. This Generation is my main writing guitar, and the only thing I crave is a 12-string version of this.

This guitar was made in the mid '90s (inthe US of A). 22-fret neck 25.5" scale, maple neck (frets set directly in neck), fairly flat radius board, tilt-screw adjuster; Tele-style body with a chambered (semi-hollow) mohogany back and a real figured maple top; tele 6-saddle bridge and bridge pickup, strat-style pickups at mid and neck positions, 5-position switch, volume, tone; transparent cherry burst finish;high quality non-locking tuners; Peavy custom skb case (very nice fit). I rate it a 9... excelent guitar, but it is still mostly a simple tele. Did I mention this tele is very light? This is one of the lightest guitars I have owned (nice for long gigs).

I play country (honky-tonk/Bakersfield) and some rock. This is a great guitar for country, but it does not have the "classic" tele twang. However, the overall tone is very good. This guitar can create very usable strat and tele tones, definately rich and full in strat positions. The stock pickups are not the greatest (the bridge pickup sounds thin and the others lack character). This is a very quiet guitar (oxymoron?); all controls and wires are well shielded. This guitar can definately create a variety of sounds.

Factory setup is unknown; I bought it used. I had to adjust the pickups to avoid "stratitis." As far as construction, fit and finish, I would give this guitar a pretty high rating. The maple top is properly bokkmatched, tight neck pocket, nice fret work, clean routs. However, the tele-style bridge is a little cheesy (I would prefer the classic 3-barrel style, but the pickup cavity is stock-routed to fit a humbucker also, so the 3-barrel will not fit well). Paint and finishing is also excellent.

This guitar is built tough (it's a tele, afterall). The hardware is definately road-ready, and the finish seems durable. I would definately use it in a gig (but I ALWAYS have a backup).

No problems.

I can't put this guitar down! Even though the tones aren't the greatest, I find myself playing this guitar much more than my others. Overall this is a great guitar. While it does not achieve the exact "spank, honk, and twnag" tones I had envisioned, overall sound is very good. I have been playing for 8 years, and have owned many teles. If it were lost or stolen, I would not hunt out another one. Great guitar, but I'd rather have a Fender '52 reissue or a G&L ASAT. Don't get me wrong... they are great guitars, and if you can find one (usually around $300), they beat the pants off of most imports at the same price. However, I prefer the more "traditional" tele tone. This is definately a fun guitar though, and not many stock teles can produce both tele and strat tones.

THIS IS A 1992 AMERICAN MADE TELE STYLE . IT HAS A MAPLE NECK & FLAMED MAPLE TOP. THE BODY IS SEMI HOLLOWED TO ACT AS SOUND CHAMBERS. THE SOUND IT PRODUCES IS THAT OF A FENDER TELE, BUT SLIGHTLY WARMER IN TONE.

I PLAY ALOT OF COUNTRY, BUT HAVE USED IT AT ROCK GIGS & WAS VERY SATISFIED

IT HAS TEFLON NUT & STRING RETAINERS VERY , VERY FAST NECK

I' VE PLAYED IT FOR 6 YRS RUNNING & I' TS BEEN RELIABLE IN EVERY WAY. I DIDN' T TAKE A BACKUP TO MY JOBS & I HAD GIGS WITH NASHVILLE ARTIST QUIT OFTEN

5 YR WARRANTY

IF YOU EVER GET THE CHANCE TO BUY ONE .....DO IT !!!