Peavey Predator

Peavey Predator International series. Strat copy. Does that mean it was made outside of the US ? I bought it in Joburg so anything is possible. I think I bought it in 98 but I could be wrong and I hardly paid anything for it because I traded in a drum programmer. I think I had to pay in $20 (R200). It has all original peavey hardware except that I took out the whammy mechanism and replaced with a machined brass block, now it stays in tune. Maple neck I guess.. the body is painted black and it seems to keep its looks. Mainly I wanted a guitar I could experiment with because I do pitch detection off the E and A strings to run a bass accompaniment and I even modified the nut and feedthrough holes to take bass guitar strings.. it s possible.

I love the punchy toppy sound. I use the front pick up to feed the pitch detector circuitry so the four top polepieces have been pulled to make the pickup blind to strings D G B top E and it works. I use a line ^ or Roland cube amp no extra effects . There's some hum but thats the norm for single coil pickups I think. It doesn't really wail but it does chirp. Perhaps thats my playing.

The whammy bar mechanism was a source of trouble but now that its locked its all fine. There's some fret buzzing when the action is set low enough to be suitable for lead playing but not offensive.

It's already done live playing and it's lasted. Sadly I don't do to many gigs on electric guitars I tend to play a Gretsch dobro most of the time but when I have taken this along I just love the looks on the faces of the other guitarists because Peavey has had an unfair (?) reputation of being crappy.

No warranty and never needed one.

I've been playing for 40 years and had Gibsons, Fenders and Ibanez. I bought this guitar as an experiment and have been pleasantly surprised. I knew the electronics would be robust because I have had Peavey amps and a PA but I didn;t expect the instrument features to be so sound.
What I like is the reversal of roles. Often when you're doing a guest spot or something and you take along a Gretsch, lets say, then the other guitarists will ask to see the guitar and the implication is always " You sound so good because you've got an expensive guitar" but now when and if I sound good they've got to say " Jeez he must be a great player to get that tone out of a $90 plank !!"

This is a Peavey Predator Strat made in 1992. I bought it through a partial trade-in at my local Daddy's Junky Music in November '08. I traded in an '04-'05 Squier '51 and got very little for the trade, and ended up spending cash I wasn't expecting to. But money wasn't going to be an object to acquire one of these lost beauties. You might be asking why a person would be so high on a some old Strat copy. Well, when I was a teenager I finally began learning how to play guitar. Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins were my favorite groups. My first real guitar was a '93 Peavey Strat copy, black with a white pickguard. My dad traded it for my old Silvertone with the amp built into the case. My dad, being a follower of good tones (Clapton, Eric Johnson), knew this guitar sounded good enough and the neck played well.
That original '93 burned out around 2001; the electronics just stopped working. I started playing a real nice Fender Mexican Strat, which I still have. So I saw a used Predator on Daddys.com and the guitar was only a few miles away. So I went for it. After the typical wrangling and hassling you get from a guitar store salesman, I walked out with the Predator. (I'd suggest selling on eBay or a local classified digest-type of thing before going to any corporate music store. You might get ripped off).
Anyway, this '92 is white with a black pickguard. It really looks great. There are a few chips and dings here and there. It has a thin, fast-playing, rock maple neck. The frets are medium. The body is Poplar. It has the standard three single-coils and the typical string-thru body bridge. Another nice feature are the modern chrome saddles, which I prefer over the classic Fender saddles. The generic tuners aren't great but stay in tune. I tried to install Gotoh's, but the headstock pegholes were too small for the Gotoh pegs to fit.

Plugged into my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 1x12, the clean tones have that nice, warm bright definition and ring just right. With my "secret" drive on, I can get some great classic '60's-'70's sounds with great dynamics while playing heavy. With a DS-1 on for added grit, I was able conjure some bombastic, fuzzed-out bliss. I tried my old small-box ProCo Rat and didn't get good results. The Rat quieted the overall volume. When using the whammy bar, the playing was all right, but I lost some sustain. This guitar can handle the heavy, but perform clean as well. From warm blues and jazz, to distorted rock, to classic heavy metal, this guitar does very well.

I bought the guitar without a set-up. I did find that it needed adjusting, as the action was higher down towards the neck joint. Sure enough, the neck had a slight dip, but was in no way anywhere near a banana. Peavey has a nice feature with the neck adjustment mechanism under the neck plate. I snipped off the old strings to try to adjust the truss rod from the head stock, but found quickly that it was the wrong method. There is a hole in the plate to access the hex nut which turns a disc into the neck block. With some careful 1/4 turns clockwise, I straightened the neck considerably. Then I took another hex wrench and lowered the saddles evenly. I also gently filed down the fret ends, which stuck out just enough to be noticed. That was an easy task. Everything now sounds and feels better.

This Predator is built well. It is a solid guitar which actually seems to weigh more than a Fender-made Strat. I'll be taking better care of this one. The old one took a beating and was leaned against walls and knocked around a bit for years as my brother and I shared it. And if the electronics fail somehow in this one, I'll waste no time having a professional repair it. I tried to fix the burnt-out '93 and was unsuccessful.
I would say this is a dependable, gig-worthy guitar. I'd also use this for recording.

I contacted Peavey recently to verify the year of make for this Predator. I received a prompt response with the information I needed.

Some people might think this is just another piece of junk, a wanna-be copy of an original classic style. In my opinion, I would own this guitar over most American-made Fenders anytime. It's a very nice-sounding, sturdy, tuneful guitar with vibe.

it's a peavey strat copy. It's all been said I give it a 5 here. but then i would give a strat a 5 here as well. It's from the mid 80's made in the USA. They have 10 on any given day up on ebay. I paid 75 for mine. The body was apparently hauled cross country behind a garbage truck on a chain. Cheap tuners that have no business being on a guitar. Neck was perfect and straight with no twist. it's rock maple with a focus on the rock.

When I got it it had the stock pickups. Which I promptly replaced... luckily I held on to them. For some reason mine had the peavey logo on each pickup cover. I put a dimarzio 58' in the neck, an dimarzio '61 in the middle and because I wanted more bite I stuck a chopper in the bridge... I played it that way for 2 months and out the peavey back in except for the dimarzio chopper in the bridge. I should strat out by saying that I had one of these before and gave it to my nephew. The peavey wasn't a real strat and I just had to have one. So I went out and got me a 2008 american standard Strat in olympic white. in short a very very nice guitar. Anyway smiling from ear to ear I went to vist my sister for a week and showed my nephew my prized new REAL strat. it kind of bugged me that for some wierd reason the peavey just felt better. can't put my finger on it or tell you why but it was just different. My strat sounded much better but to be honest it was dead on what I wanted. I was going to have to swap out the pups to get the sound I wanted. hmmmmmm if I am going to swap out the pups...... so back to ebay I went and got the beater I have now. Made the aforementioned hardware changes. Godd tuners and good pups. and sat for the next month or so comparing the two. MY 1000.00 strat against my now 200 dollar Peavey. It looks like complete crap as far as the finish goes ( the owner had tried to relic it) and it looks to have lead a very hard life. But she out performed the Fenser on every level. She play better, wasn't worried about the tinist scratch on the presitine finish.. hell I carved my name in the peavey. So long stroy short she completely smokes now. I love to watch someones face when I plug her into my crate palomino v16 and I know they are thinking this is going to completely suck and the cruch there skulls. Thier mouths hit the floor. I have turned down 500 cash, which is stupid cause I could make 300 bucks and do the same thing to any one of the hundreds up on ebay on any given week. But I am 50 now and don't need the money so let them go and do thier own. I had had lots and lots of guitars I won't get rid of this one but if it were stolen oh well no big loss. I'd just go out and get another and be jamming away before I could fill out a police report. These giutars are almost as good as the fender was and with the changes completely blow a STOCK STRAT OUT OF WATER period, no contest... at all finito all done

these things are a brick. I use it to chop tress down in the winter

did I mention it was a rock. I think it would outlast an anvil

absolutely killer guitar with few changes not bad at all just like it sits. Hell I gave away 150 bucks worth of highly rated pickups becayuse I like the stock ones better.

Look, it's a strat copy... what kind of features can it have? But it does have one volume + two tones unlike some other copies that have only a vol + one tone control. Very cheesy one ply pickguard.

Come to think of it, it does have one great feature...the neck has an adjustable tilt screw control access through a hole in the neck plate. Makes adjusting the neck angle and consequently the action very easy. Nice touch for a cheap guitar!!

I don't like strats, but there's some songs that you can only play that thin, tinny sound with a strat. So it sounds like a strat!

Of course, I bought a new pickguard with a hole for a humbucker, so now I'm much happier, as it made it more versatile!

I'M WRITING THIS TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THE NECK IS NOT SIZED LIKE A STRAT NECK. I HATED THE WAY THE HEADSTOCK LOOKED, SO I BOUGHT A STRAT REPLACEMENT NECK WITH A STRAT HEADSTOCK. LO AND BEHOLD, THE PEAVEY NECK IS ABOUT 1/8 - 3/16 " HIGHER (FROM THE TOP OF THE FRETS TO THE BOTTOM OF THE HEEL) THAN A STRAT REPLACEMENT NECK. THAT MEANS IF YOU WANT TO SWAP OUT THE NECK, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PUT IN A SHIM BETWEEN THE NECK POCKET AND THE NECK ITSELF. ALSO, I GOT STRAT REPLACEMENT TUNERS B/C THE SHAFTS ON THE PEAVEY TUNERS ARE TOO NARROW FOR THE HOLES IN THE STRAT HEADSTOCK.NOT A DEAL BREAKER, BUT YOU NEED TO KNOW. MAYBE PEAVEY WAS JEALOUS AND WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU KEPT THEIR HEADSTOCK ON THEIR GUITAR.

Other than that, it's fine. I'm a Gibson man, (1970 335td), and I basically wanted to buy a strat because of peer pressure. Of course, there's no way I'd pay for a real one, so now I got this copy that looks and sounds like a strat. I'm happy. Certainly a great value, especially since it's made in the USA!!

First I'll give you a little about myself. I am a fairly active player, been in several bands but nothing "professional". I have been playing for around 15 years. The Peavey Predator was my first full size electric. My mom spent her tax returns on it for my Christmas and birthday present(we didn't have much money) 350 bucks for the guitar and a Peavey Rage 158 amp. Man that was the sweetest thing to happen in my life. I LOVE the Peavey. Probably mostly because of the history we have together but non the less it's a great guitar. It has aged beautifully. It's a 1992 Us made Predator black with white pickgaurd with factory tuners(ok)and a strat style trem.

Well it took me several years before I had the money to buy myself another guitar, which was fine cause I really loved the Peavey. I played it constantly. I was the kid playing the guitar while on the shitter! This thing went every where with me. But as soon as I plugged it in a large amp I realized that the electronics were terrible. I tried putting some different pickups in but I was young and didn't really know what I was doing. I ended up getting another guitar and that became my main unit. I put the Peavey down for many years, only playing unplugged from time to time until a few months ago. I had some 70's reissue Strat Pickups laying around and decided it was time to get her running again. I took a chance and purchased some electronics from guitarfetish.com and boy was I pleased. I did the most meticulous wiring job on the Peavy that I have ever done. New pots, switch, input jack and pickups. Now it is the HOTTEST sounding guitar in my group. I have been reunited with my love (I used to sleep with this guitar) once again!

To be honest I don't remember how it was from the factory but I can say that it plays wonderfully now. I have of course made some neck, trem and intonation adjustments over the years. I would like to get a graphite nut for it and some new tuners. Also the frets are worn totally flat from all the miles I put on this thing, so if I were to take it on the road I would definitely get new frets installed and upgrade the nut and tuners and possibly the trem.

Well as I have said I think it has aged beautifully. The paint on it is still great there is of course some chips and dings here and there but 15 year will do that to ya. I used to wax it when I was growing up with is so the finish still great. The neck is a joy, not too thick, not too thin, and the satin style finish is so smooth, wonderful. I have dropped it and been very lucky I feel to never have any major damage. I own a Fender deluxe super strat that somehow fell out of its stand at a basement show and it got a crack all the way through the headstock. The Peavey just brushed things like this off.

Never dealt with them(a good thing).

Well I've been playing like I said for around 15 years. I have a few other Fender Strat's and a Fender Acoustic. I also have a Dean ML for some metal fun and I'm planning on getting an Agile 3000LP. I play through a Fender Hot Rod Deville 212. I am mostly a blues rock style player but I can do a little metal and jazz when needed. Of all my equipment I have the most attachment with my Peavey. I don't think I could ever get rid of it for anything. I remember when my strat got the crack in the headstock and I needed a guitar quick(the peavey was not working at the time)and my girlfriend suggested selling the Peavey to help buy a new one. Luckily I totaled my mazda by hitting a deer and cashed in on full coverage insurance. I was able to keep my Peavey, my girlfriend and get a new guitar. I wouldn't have had any other way. I LOVE THIS GUITAR!!

1994 Crafted in the USA Predator, White with white pick guard. Nothing fancy. For years I have owned only "inexpensive" guitars. I just play for me and some friends casually. Nothing like a professional... I believe that it is a poplar body and maple neck. The body finish is good it has held up for 13 years already, the white color is yellowing a bit, (you can tell when taking the pick guard off) and the satin neck is great. To say the least it is mellowing very nicely.
I've had the same problems that most of the rest of the comments are saying, the fret ends were jagged and I asked the music store guy about it, he said to try and sand them off... after about six months they stopped bothering me. I have hot rodded it heavily. I replaced the electronics with a Carvin S/S/H setup. A deal they had with a pearliod pick guard. Which really changed the sound dramatically. I had found a great resource with Carvin and bought their brand of closed tuners. I RARELY have to retune between playings. Their electronics are good but I had to change the 5 position switch out to a Fender. (For some reason that not only took out the crackle, but it sounded much better after that. Go figure that one out) I tightened the springs on the saddle/tremolo to where it was tight on the body. I never liked the stock trem. It was a disaster. I blocked it (ala Erec Clapton) at one time, but found that just tightening the springs worked just as good. I've been playing it for years and was told by my wife that if I wanted another guitar (I want to get a 'real' guitar. Maybe a USA Tele), I would have to get rid of one of theo ones I have now and replace it for the new. (I can get around her) But the thought of getting rid of the Peavey was unheard of. I paid slightly less that $300 for it, but for me I would have to sell it for $800 to $1000. And I doubt anyone but me would see it like I do.

With the upgrades it sounds fantastic.
Right now I have it just the way I like it

Perfect action and the fit and feel and weight are perfect for me.
The body and neck are in great shape.

I've only played it out once. At a blues club meeting where everyone got a chance to show their stuff. But I was pleased with the way it played.

Never had to use them.

I have a Yahama acoustic/electric and an Oscar Schmidt 12 string. I can't compare them to the Peavey. (see what I mean about buying cheap guitars???) But of the three I don't have a favorite. Each of the three is great for what I need it for. But I may end up leaving it to my great great grand children. I don't think I can get rid of it.

A little bit about me: I've been playing guitar for 37 years and have toured all over the planet as a side man for many well known artists. Also have done alot of studio work-and last but not least-went to Berklee (but I can still play).Now let's get down to business. I went to my favorite pawn shop the other day and picked up a USA (made in 1992) Peavey Predator for $57.75 (w/ hardshell case).It has a maple fretboard, black body (strat style w/ string thru body, whammy bar tail piece) in excellent condition. After taking it apart for a thorough cleaning it looked just about brand new when I put it back together(I put Ernie Ball super slinky strings on it).

I can play all styles (except flamenco) but currently play country ( Brent Mason style) using a Peavey 130 Special amp with no effects. It's not the quietest guitar I've owned but I've played some Fenders that were noisier. The one thing I can say about Peavey is- they make excellent playing axes but their electronics are sub standard so I will upgrade to Seymour Duncans soon.

The fit and finish of this guitar is excellent. To make it a top notch instrument I will change the electronics and tuners ( about a $200 investment).

I own many high end guitars- but after I upgrade the pickups and tuners this will be my main axe. Why? Because the quality of the Predator is awesome.

I bought this guitar because I wanted a strat style guitar,3 single coils,comfort,weight,looks.This guitar has a cool aged white body with some minor scuffs in just the right places to give it a vintage look.The neck is maple with some wear in the open chords,it has the older cursive "predator" logo.I currently use a yamaha sbg 2000.

Line 6 pod 4 channel footswitch into fender super reverb re-issue amp.
ch1 marshall,ch2 roland jazz chorus,ch3 fender blackface deluxe,ch4 soldano high gain.The pickups on this guitar are not bad but not great either.I think i'll put carvin ap11s in the neck and middle and thier version of a hot rails in the bridge.Carvin p\ups sound great and are only about 35 bucks each.this will make a serious difference.

The fit and finish on this guitar is very good,the neck pocket is tight,the finish is nice and looks good for it's age.I actually had to file the 22nd fret as it loosened creating a dead zone on the b and e strings,from the 17th fret to the 22nd fret this took me 15-20 mins,it now plays cleanly up and down and all around.The wood is of good quality,heck it's stayed together since 84 or so.I set up my own guitars, even though this one plays very well,now that I did homespun fret job on #22,it will recieve my full pro set up and will play better than it ever has.the tuners are to fast of a ratio but work ok.
the pots,swithes,work good but could benefit fom some crc electrical part cleaner.9 when i'm done

Peavey guitars are pretty rugged,I don't see any issues with the predator usa.Like any guitar you have to maintain them,if you gig night after night sweating all over the poor thing without wiping it off you'll beat any guitar down.The chrome hardware on this guitar is in excellant condition.I don't see any reason that you would have problems at gigging with this guitar!

Don't know,but i have heard good

Peavey predator "hand crafted in the usa"100 to 150 dollar range it can't be beat.Heres what you do,put in some better pick-ups,change the tuners[maybe]pro set up,go to your jam.When they start the peavey crap tell them how much you paid,tell them made in usa.Plug your axe in tell them about the hot new pick-ups while you ripp off some hot practice riffs,and watch your fender toting friend say,wow that sounds good.

This is just an update of my review dated:
Submitted 10/19/2004 at 09:37pm by Anon E. Muss
(wow the time flew buy).

I own the 90s peavey predator usa crafted strat styled guitar. S/S/S.
Its now been 2 years and this guitar is still my main player. I own many more guitars in various price ranges but this one is still my fave. The honeymoon is long over but the marriage still thrives. I did some custom mod work to the wiring and tuners mainly and put on a new custom pickguard and new knobs.

In my opinion, this discontinued guitar (the early 90s usa crafted peavey predator strat copy) is a hidden american treasure and gem for those looking for the best bargain in dirt cheap.
I would not hesitate to buy one again. As a matter of fact.. I didnt hesitate. I now own 2 (hopefully soon 3-5 modding each differently). For the price these early 90s usa predators go for on the used market this is hands down the best strat style guitar you can get in the $100-150 price range (USA). People say that about every cheap strat style guitar they like,...but this time WE MEAN IT.

Obviously its no $1500 custom shop "dont leave me, honey" luxury guitar with rich man's frills...But.... its one of the few cheap guitars I know that can actually COMPETE with many expensive guitars in terms of PLAYABILITY and feel. And I am no stranger to expensive guitars. I'm a guitarist.

I ended up not changing out the bridge as I originally promised myself. That would have been pointless. This bridge is fine I've since concluded but I always have a paperclip on hand in my guitar toolkit in case I have trouble getting the ball end of a broken string out. I changed the tuners even though the original tuners stayed in tune. I never use the whammy or even have a bar for it so I don't know how well it stays in tune under extreme whammy abuse.

Its been thru MANY pickup changes mostly because I couldnt make up my mind if I wanted this to be a vintage sounding axe or a modern hotrod. Thats when I realized I needed more of them and set them up for different sounds (high gain to vintage). The guitar body is routed such that it can fit humbuckers in both the bridge and neck too with a pickguard change.
And you guys with small hands will be happy to know this guitar is small hand friendly! This is no dreaded baseball bat neck.

The poplar wood is nice in tone (poplar is Steve Morse's choice of wood last I checked).
The guitar is a feather and is easy on the shoulders.
I would also love to get this guitar custom painted but you know me and plans.
I'd rather have 5 of these (personally modded) than one $1000 guitar. And thanks to the price, I can.

The early 90's USA made Peavey Predator is a surprisingly capable Strat copy. The features are simple and consistent with the typical strat. Poplar body, and maple neck (Bi-Laminate.) Vintage style fulcrum bridge, 22 Frets. I give the Features a slightly above average mark because the features are standard, and the quality of the components are a little low since this is designed to be a Budget guitar, but I have to acknowlege that the components, though kinda cheap, hold up.

I always used the Peavey Predator with the Peavey Bandit 80 watt Amplifer. Both the guitar and the amp were made around the same time, '91, '92. They seem to work well as a team! I used a vintage Ibanez multi-effects pedal which included a compressor/limiter, the infamous Tube Screamer, and a Stereo Chorus. I experienced a HUM problem with this guitar and would always try to find a direction to point this guitar in so it would stop humming. My solution was to install a Seymour Duncan HOT RAILs in the bridge position. I still have some old Demo recordings that I made with the Predator, and with the Duncan pickup I wouldn't be able to distinguish this guitar from an American Fender Strat. With a new pickups I would give this guitar a 9 or 10. And you know, I don't remember the stock pickups sounding bad... they were just noisy, so I think I'll give this category an 7.

If you are interested in an early '90s Peavey Predator, and you have the fortune of finding one that was cared for, you should find that the guitar is everything you would expect in an American made guitar. If you are considering the Predator as a Beginner, it would be beneficial to have an accomplished player evaluate the instrument to make sure that it is set up properly, and commission a technician to make any needed adjustments. Once the guitar is adjusted (provided that it's needed) the guitar is a low maintanence, ready to play guitar. The playability of the Predator will be friendly to a beginner and comfortable to a professional.
I give this category an 8. By the time I was ready to upgrade my guitar it was a chore to find something that I honestly liked THAT much better to justify spending a large amount of money on. It's a great guitar for the money!! And with some minor upgrades, it plays with the big boys. It deserves an honest 8 for Action, Fit, and Finish...

The two big drawbacks that you will find with this guitar is probably the reason they sold for $200 brand new, and that is the pickups, and the tuners. If you wanted to, you could replace the bridge as well and this guitar would tear up its Mexican cousins. Durability is pretty good! With the stock tuners, it needs frequent attention... which I got sick of so I replaced them with Sperzel Locking Tuners. $50.00... That fixed it.
Back in the early '90s my family was one of those big families that went around to Churches and Family Bible Camps and played music... except we played rock songs where most families play gospel/country songs... anyway, my Predator was my main guitar for all those years and it's the only guitar I needed. It stayed in great condition as we stuffed it into trailers and the backs of vans or suburbans with the meek protection of a gig bag... It's a reliable, and durable guitar!

I was very happy with the local dealer that carried Peavey's service, and I bought with 100% confidence that I was backed by Peavey, and my local dealer.

If you are interested in the Peavey Predator to use as a Student's or Beginner's guitar, I would Insist that it is the BEST electric guitar for the prices that they are available for now. I have been playing electric guitar since '92, and I started on the Predator and I relied on it for years before I upgraded. And after modifying the tuners and pickups, an "Upgrade" meant spending alot of money!
Overall, the Predator is a No-Brainer for Beginners. It's a reliable guitar to gig around with. If you're looking to stay under $300 for a used Strat style guitar, the USA Peavey Predator is what you're looking for, and a well cared for Predator with a hard shell case should never cost you more than $150.00. It's a No Brainer! For it's overall value, I give it a 10.