Peavey HP Special CT USA

This baby was born in 2008 in Peavey's Custom Shop. This is a guitar worth writing about. It has all the bells and whistles a rock lead guitarist could ask for. The top is more beautiful than ANY other I've seen. I used to think that no guitar was match for my custom wolfgang....Well, I was definitively WRONG. This one is not a wolfgang, is definively better. The Floyd is better, and it can be adjusted to either fully floating or fixed. Both humbuckers have coil taps, which are better than any other taps I've seen, it actually makes it sound like a single coil as it should. The tuners are Schallers, with pearloid buttons. The neck is a highly figured birdseye maple neck. The body is solid basswood with a highly figured maple top (no veneers here).

This guitar is made for shred, but the coil tap is very versatile. I have wolfgangs as well, so I can give you a small comparison. The wolfgang takes a lot more time to get a good sound from. Wolfgang pickups are powerful, but they get muddy easily. On my 5150II stack, the HP special pickups go where the wolfgangs didnt. Their harmonics are better than the wolfies. The sound is VERY VERSATILE. Reason why my wolfies are going on ebay, all of them.

This is the only guitar that has gotten A LOT of attention from everyone right off the box. When I opened the case and saw that beautiful flame maple top I immediately fell in love with that guitar. The neck is flawless, it feels like it was made for me. Frets were excellennt. The setup...excellent. Everyting in order as it should. Mine even came tuned.

Come on... Its a peavey. My T-60 still kicking, Never had a problem with my VTM-60s or my 5150II stack. All my wolfgangs are still in great condition. Peavey has kept excellent quality at an excellent price throughout his whole life. His guitars are the best in business. The only thing I would be suspicious is the coil taps, bu those are just pots anc can be replaced easily in case they ever go bad. However, it looks like it may take longer than I think it would. They are perfectly well soldered.

Excellent. Quick to respond to emails. Always someone there to help you. The prices of replacement parts are reasonable as well. Have had great experiences with Peavey. I have bought accesories from them, and they are always helpful.

I can babble all day about how great this guitar is, but the bottom line is... YOU GOT TO TRY IT.

New HP special solid, one piece mahogany CT custom shop. Floyd Rose bridge and Schaller tuners. Purchased from Geoff at Rocknrollweekend.com and he is great. Link to pic http://rocknrollweekend.com/Black%20Splatter%201%20pc%20mahog%20-%20full%20V.jpg

Sound is great! Lots of harmonics.

Best part of the guitar. Guitar came setup pretty well. Great fret job by peavey.

Only had guitar for a short time. The input Jack needs to be replaced or fixed as the cable does not connect properly. No big deal for me.

NA

I love this guitar. The neck is the best part of the guitar. Just feels great in your hands!

Peavey USA HP Special Carved top
22 medium frets
2 humbuckers -w- push/pull coil taps
trans amber finish
basswood body, highley flamed maple top, birseye maple asymetrical neck
peavey floyd rose double locking trem with floating or standard option

included molded case

I play mostly classic rock in a gigging band.
We do everything from Led Zep, Trower, Van Halen, Hendrix, ZZtop to the Stray Cats.

This guitar is amazing, and covers a ton of ground. I don't use the coil taps so much as I really rely on the volume control.

The volume taper is great, really cleans up the dirty channel on my 5150 amp, so I am not channel switching and getting those annoying "pops"

The Pickups are really hot, so much so, that I generally play with the guitar volume around 6 or 7...then slam it up to full open for the leads..I only use a boost pedal for specific effects where I need to really jump out of the mix momentarally.

It has a real growl to it, even at home through my blues jr, I can get a ritch overdriven sound

On a clean setting with both pickups engages I can really hit a creamy jazz type rich tone as well

I have no complaints

As for effects used I generally run this through a Peavey 5150 or 6505 head
On stage I use a Marshall 4x12 cab and a carvin 2x12 cab
Boss tu2 tuner
Voodoo labs Microvibe
Zvex Box of rock
MXR evh phase 90
boss dd6 delay
and a ELH holy grail reverb

I set the guitar up with 10's, and they work and respond very well on this guitar.

The bookmatched flame top is amazing, I prefer it to any PRS 10 top I have ever seen

The neck's unique shape fits in your hand like you were born with it there, very easy to work with and FAST.

The trem is perfect

HONESTLY i don't sell these nor do I have any type of endorsment.

The USA version is just amazing! I prefer this to my 78 SG that has been my #1 for about 15 years.

the only thing I would change would be .. For peavey to make a version with a slightly wider neck.

Although it is comfortable, and I have no playing issue's, I just like a fat neck.

note: It is slightly wider than the wolfgangs and the musicman AXIS

No problems yet.

Although Basswood is very soft, so as a precaution I put a drop of wood glue in the hole when I replaced the stop strapbuttons with locking

No need to call them yet..and I run other Peavey gear
as mentioned (peavey 6505 and 5150 head)

I have been playing for 22 years, 15 of those have been in bands playing out regularly.

I always was down on Peavey due to some crappy solid state amp junk I saw in the 80's.

But after being introduced to there modern high gain Amp gear, I was a Changed man! Prev I used Boogie's and Marshall jcm 800 exclusivly!

This is one of 8 guitars I own , and it is on the top of the heap!
Truly a fantastic instrument.
Also, very lighwieght and balanced well , making for a nice time after 4 hours on stage!!!

I also own a vintage Gibson SG
" " Gibson Les Paul custom
a custom shop strat, jimmie vaughan sig strat
another strat that is my very own frankenbeast
and a couple of Reverends

This is always my 1st goto guitar!
Looks, playability, tone, It's all in there.

A little pricey, but still 1 or 2K less than a good Gibson!

quilted top/amber burst/birdseye neck.

I love playing it in the "rock" mode. I was able to get some decent jazz tones for practice. Like the other reviewer, I didn't care for the "clean" tone. It sounded kind of muddy.

It is one beautiful piece of euipment, I love it. It was adjusted well but I asked for 10's to be put on, they put 9's. Very easily corrected.

Looks like it is built very well, solid.

They have a great customer rep if your able to get to her.

I own a USA Dean Hardtail, 1 American Strat, 1 Mex srtat and a Taylor Acoustic. Playing a couple of years with intense lessons from a former Berklee school of music teacher. Definitely would buy again.

All the features have been explained so I don't feel the need to rehash this. The bottom line here is that Greg Howe once told me, It's a good hunk of wood." He's right. This guitar will spoil you for all other guitars because its so light and ergonomic. It just feel right when you're wearing it on stage. The neck is great. It may be a little wide for most people but the rear girth makes it very comfortable. It's a manly neck with great access to the upper regions. It envelopes your body and feels practicle.

I have an amber quilt top and it's gorgeous. It's very striking and I don't have to look like a SRV clone anymore.

I realize that this guitar was built to be a more versatile Wolfgang or shredder guitar. Mission accomplished. If you're one of these guys who has to have his Recto saturated to get your tone than this axe might me for you.

I play shred, blues, jazz, rock, fusion, funk and because I do all these things I realized the stock pickups were middy, unfocused, dark, fizzy and cheap sounding. It's subtle but it's there. You can make due, but it's there.

The Guitar player Magazine review for this guitar pretty much nailed this guitar for not having good clean tones. While I was playing the guitar I kept feeling like the pickups were the weak link here. Even though I'd read articles about how anal they were about these pickups and getting them to sound good together.

Curiosity got the best of me. I make a special order at DiMarzio and got a pair of black and cream humbuckers. A DiMarzio PAF in the neck and a DiMarzio Evolution in the bridge. I took it to a jam and became Steve Morse! The guitar sang!

I was right about the stock pickups. They were cheap. Or just maybe not to my taste. Maybe some people like cheap pickups. The DiMarzios I put in are more vibey, articulate with a lot more definition. No fizz! There's also a little spank in the neck pickup which the old pickups never did. I can still get the tele tones but now they sound more substantial.

Over all I'd say the guitar has a richer more luxuorious sound to it. The guitar screams like a bitch when you crank the distortion and gets soft warm jazz tones when you need that. I couldn't get those sultry tones with the old pickups. It was very woody, blocky and clunky sounding playing it through a clean amp.

Everybody seems happy with their guitars, but if you want to take this guitar to the next level and make it even more versatile, CHANGE THE PICKUPS! I'm planning on playing funk with my guitar!

I recommend Peavy adding a single coil in the middle for those straty funk tones that need to be funked. The middle position is kinda cool when you want the spanky tele thing for funk. But it would be even nicer to have strat pickup tone available.

Great guitar. Just make it your own!

THE END

Made in USA,offset basswood body,sculpted neck joint,bound figured maple arch top,oil finished asymmetrical birdseye maple neck with graphite reinforcement,25.5" scale with 22 frets,birdseye maple fretboard,two hand wound zebra humbucking pickups with coil-taps,3 per side headstock with Schaller machine heads,Floyd Rose licenced tremolo fully floating or blocked,3-way pickup selector,master volume & tone controls,beautiful transparent cherryburst color,Peavey hardcase included,made in 2006.

I needed a guitar for playing high gain stuff & after trying many guitars (won't get into that) it came down to a used Wolfgang or a new HP Special CT.After playing three HP Special CT's I went with this one cause it felt just right.Sounded better than the Wolf too.Sounds great with all my amps & a nice surprise is that the single-coil positions are quite good.My favourite position is full bridge humbucker into my Krank Revolution head or into my Peavey VTM-60 head.The bridge pickup has a rich,warm & full tone with strong aggresive harmonics but without sounding hard or muddy.The neck pickup is clean & articulate,reminds me of a SD jazz model.The only thing I dislike is that when pulling up the push-pull controls (in order to get single-coil sounds) it can be a bit hard.

The guitar is very well made & that's how every USA guitar should be made.The guitar was very well set-up & even in proper tune.The only thing I needed to do was adjust the truss rod a little bit to get a little more relief,which was very easy.

She looks very solid and ready to rock !

I've dealt with them in the past & have a lot of respect for Hartley.

Been playing guitar for 25 years (ever since Van Halen Fair Warning was released).I've owned a lot of gear through the years,now I have a Krank Revolution head with 412 cab,Peavey VTM-60 head with Wiggy 212 cab,Carvin vintage 16 combo,other guitars include Fender vintage player '67 USA telecaster,Peavey JD Omniac USA,Gibson SG standard.Like I said, I needed a high gain tremolo guitar & the Peavey HP-Special CT is just what I was looking for.After getting the Peavey JD Omniac which is an incredible telecaster BTW and I'll have to review that one also,I was blown away with the quality these USA made Peavey guitars have.Anyway, I love it & I plan on playing the hell out of her.

Mine is a custom shop guitar I acquired at www.rocknrollweekend.com made in the USA.

It has a transparent red quilt maple top, that looks fantastic. The maple top is quite thick around the pickups, that absolutely contributes to the great tone of the guitar. The body is solid basswood.

The bridge is a Floy Rose-licensed one built by Peavey. Tuners are are Schaller's in perloid finish.

The neck has 22 thin frets, great for tapping and legato.

Hard case was included, requried wrenches, and a key to lock the case and a peavey polishing cloth.

Peavey's custom shop gives you a great variety of choices to build the guitar you want, like for instance the woods of your preference, just like Wolfgangs in the past.

It has a volume and tone control, and a three way-selector. By pushing/pulling the volume and tone controls you can enable coil taps.

Two hand-wounded humbucker pickups by Peavey.

Top is quilt maple, body is basswood, neck is birds-eye maple with two graphite reinforcements. Neck is joined to the body with five screws.

This guitar has two hand-wounded humbuckers with an awesome sound and a double-locking Floyd Rose-licensed tremolo bridge, so this is mostly a guitar for hard rock / heavy metal tunes. BUT, it includes coil taps that are enabled by means of push/pull pots in the volume and tone controls so that you can get a single-coil sound as well (this is a great enhancement over the previous Peavey Wolfgang guitars).

This guitar has an awesome sound under heavy overdrive, with a lot of harmonics; I play it through a Line6 Flextone II and sounds great.

The guitar was set-up great from factory, with low action and light gauge strings.

You can choose to set the tremolo to be blocked (tremolo bar going down only) or fully-floating, by sliding a brass bracket inside the tremolo cavity. Although that implies the D-tuner (device to quicklu drop the sixth string tuning one whole tone, from E to D so that you can more easily play power chords) Wolfgangs used to have is not delivered any more with the HP Specials, I definitely consider this to be a very good enhancement.

The guitar was delivered with the tremolo blocked. Since I prefer a fully-floating bridge, I set it up by sliding the bracket forward, but still could not pull the tremolo bar completely upwards, so eventually I simply removed the bracket device.

The asymmetric birds eye maple neck has an "unfinished" feeling (due to a lightly oiled finish)that makes it extremely comfortable.

I love the unfinished feel of the neck. However, the disadvantage is it can get dirty easily, and you can feel frets a little bit rough when the maple wood of the neck is exposed to a very dry environment. My HP Special was retained at the customs for a while, and when I received it I got this rough feeling, specially when bending the strings, so I guess it was quite dry in the customs facilities. Only a couple of days after receiving it, this weird feeling disappeared, and the touch of the neck is great.

Besides that, this guitar is built to last. When heavily using the tremolo bar like I do, the guitar remains in tune.

Warranty is 2 years (+3 years if you optionally register, you can do it in Peavey's web page).

I sent an e-mail asking for an owner's manual and asking a question about the setup. I got an answer inmediately with a generic manual for Peavey guitars, they wil be sending me an HP Special-specific one once it is made available, and I was also provided with the telephone number of a guitar tech I could ask for support.

I've been playing for twenty years. I own an Aria and a '93 G&L Legacy which I love, but for heavy rock music the Peavy HP Special is outstanding.

If it was stolen or lost I would buy another one for sure.

I specially like the neck, but also the pickups and the tremolo bridge of this guitar.

I wish it had a D-tuner device like Wolfgangs used to have, but I guess that is not compatible with a fully floating tremolo bridge, so I think this is something just not possible to be achieved.

This is the new "Wolfgang". Eddie is no longer with Peavey, so they decided to build a better mousetrap, adding coil-taps, new design P"ups, and a newer shape, and carved back for comfort. Quilt maple top is stunning in Blueburst, with a fast mapole neck. Made by custom shop in Miss, USA!!!

I play mostly 80's style Rock, metal. V-H, Scorps, Maiden, Priest, etc etc..This Guitar nails all of it. I run it through Peavey Triple XXX, with Boss stomp pedals. This thing covers a lot of ground, especially when coils are tapped, for a Srat/Tele type sound. Pickups sound to me like a Duncan JB, witha PAF Pro, with a little less output, but still really bright!!! This thing sounds awesome at any setting. Nice Floyd Trem, stays in tune, and has a block for non-floating, which I like.............

I love low action! This Guitar did not disappoint. Came pretty low, and played nice right out of the Box. The Guitar came flawless, and was pretty much in tune!!! I took it to Gary Brawer in S,F, where I had it PLEKED, and set-up, now it is almost cheating!!! This Guitar was made with a lot of pride, as the finish is gorgeous. It is a Moonburst Quilt, stunning.............Maple top, Basswood body, neck ios gorgeous birdseye maple.again, stunning.

Used it Sat night for a club gig, and it did fantastic. My Band members were blown away by the big tone out of this lightweight Axe. Got great tone with tapped coils as well. Ddi great live. The laquer in these is thickmand shiny and very tough. My tech commented on the richness of the gloss, and how tough it was. I unscrewed the trem arm, and it fell off, nicking the finish, not a mark was left!! All Peavey's stuff is built to last............

Have not dealt with Peavey on this, just mailed in Warranty. They have always been good to me in the past

Been playing 28 years, have many Gibsons, Jacksons. I would replace if stolen. I compared it to Ernie Ball/musicman, PRS, etc etc. This had the best neck in my opinion. I love everything about this Guitar, it's wicked fast, and gorgeous too!!

This is a 2006 PEAVEY HP SPECIAL CT (Carved Top...just in case), and it's crafted right here in the good ole' USA. Mine has a phenomenal AAAA Flame Maple top set on a thick basswood body. The pick-ups are hand wound in the Peavey Custom shop and direct mounted to the body. It's a double Humbucker set up BUT it has coil splits for both the bridge and neck. It's a Floyd Rose Licensed Trem and it has an exceptional Birdseye Maple asymmetrical neck. The neck is bolted on by 5 bolts and has carbon (graphite) rods which make it stable as a steel beam....It doesn't move with the humidity. Low profile frets IMHOP....probably not classified as such but they definately don't feel like the jumbos I've played recently. I love this fact because the playability is unbelievable and bending is effortless. Let me try again...the frets are just right.

I LOVE late 70's and 80's METAL and as you might guess I'm a EVH disciple. I have been chasing his tones since I first heard them on the radio. That being said, this guitar does the "Brown Sound" like no other guitar I've ever played. I realize that the tone is in your hands, but the right hands with the right instrument is where the magic happens. This guitar will be that tool for great hands.

It has INSANE harmonics and the pickups are wound perfectly to make those harmonics fly off the board even when you're thumping that big E. It is a very articulate guitar and the PUPS will capture nuances of your style....which is imperative if you ever want to develop your own sound.

The coil splits give this guitar a great single coil tone (It can get TWANGY)...

EXTREMELY VERSATILE!! and it can absolutely ROCK....

From Steely Dan to Lamb of God....you have it covered...but the heart is definately a shredders delight.

The set up was perfect out of the box. I like LOW ACTION...and this was no disappointment. The frets and top are as GOOD AS IT GETS. I have Hubers, Andersons, Suhrs, and a dozen other high end guitars, and the fit and finish on this guitar is top notch.

I LOVED CUSTOM SHOP WOLFGANGS!!! I was reluctant to venture into this guitar because I was concerned it would be a watered down imitation of the Wolfgang.

MAKE NO MISTAKE....This is an evolution of the Wolfgang, and it is an improvement. They kept all the great features...including the most comfortable, fast, and playable neck of any guitar I've owned over 18 years. Then improved on it by adding coil taps and body contouring.

I have since picked up two more HP Specials and sold 4 Wolfgang Custom Shops. I still like the Wolfgangs...but truth be told the HP is a BETTER GUITAR.

Ouch!! That hurt to say.....

Built like a tank....

No worries...this is definately a PLAYER. I'm personally not worried about anyone stealing it backstage because I don't think anyone knows what the hell it is.

I like it this way....

Peavey is fantastic!!! Easy to contact and quick to respond...

I picked mine up from the GURU of Wolfgangs and now HP Specials....

www.rockandrollweekend.com

Geoff is fantastic and certain to be more insane about these guitars then anyone you could possibly imagine.

I have an enormous amount of gear and none of it is cheap....That being said this is my favorite guitar to go pick up and play. If I'm covering Van Halen, Dokken, Ratt...you know the line up...this is the go to axe without question. It's literally so easy to play it feels like I'm cheating.....

This is the new HP Special CT made in the USA. Materials and hardware are top notch. The body is basswood and the neck is birdseye maple with incredible figuring. The top is easily a AAAA flamed maple top with maple binding. Mine has the licensec Floyd Rose which can be set to float or get locked in to position. This guitar is as fine as any made today.

Sound is awesome. I play everything from rock to Jazz. I play through a Digitech Legend II through a Carvin X amp running into a Peavey 5150 4 x 12 top cabinet. Pickups are hot and can be coil tapped for a myriad of sound options. This guitar is versatile.

This guitar is flawless. Period. The woods are of the highest quality and it played great out of the box.

This is built to last a lifetime and beyond. I have no doubts this will stand the test of time. This is one of the finest guitars I have ever played.

Since mine was one of the first made it seems the owners manualswere not printed yet. One call and they shipped it out.

I have been playing for 30 years and have played and owned lots of stuff. This guitar ismone of the finest I have ever played. I also own a Fender Clapton Strat a Gibson Lucille, Gibson Nighthawk and Ovation Legend.