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.

this guitar has a poplar body.the neck is bi lamanated rockmaple.this is a very nice neck.the neck has 22 frets.this is the crafted in the usa guitar.the only thing wrong wrong with this guitar win i got it was the fret ends.the were a little sharp but easily fixed.

this guitar sounds okay with the stock pickups but really comes alive with the fender custom shop pickups i installed.the electronics are junk so you will want to replace them to.now the guitar is a keeper.i am giving this guitar a lower rating with the stock pickups and electronics.if it came with the new pickups it woould be a 10.

this guitar is very well made as far as the neck and body go.the tuners are complete garbage.i changed mine to vintage shallers like the old fender ones.they were a direct fit.the neck pocket on this one is very tight.this can very from guitar to guitar.i had one peavey predator that had a very sloppy neck joint.this one is very good.the tremolo on this guitar is ok but i changed the saddels on mine to stainless steel.i also changed the tremolo block to a solid steel.

with the changes this guitar is very reliable.i also added dunlop straplocks.i could use this guitar live without a backup.it would hold up just fine.the finish on the body and neck seem fine.with the new parts i would give it a ten.

they seem very helpful.very good web site.

i bought this guitar nos from stock from a closed music store.it came with the gigbag.this guitar was built in 1994.i bought it in 2005 but it was still brand new.i paid 150.00 dollars for it.think of it like buying a body and neck and building your own guitar.this is a great guitar now.

The guitar is pretty basic, nothing fancy. It's a strat copy. It has a solid feel and plays well. I replaced the pickups with Fender Vintage Noiseless $100 ebay), and that one modification elevated it's status in my collection. Mine was red, and I painted it purple several years ago, mainly because I was bored. It's a great guitar to try modifications on, because it's not expensive.

Like I said above, I replaced the pickups in it. Originally it's sound wasn't terrible, I just wanted something more vintage. Notes are bright (maple neck) and sound as authentic as I would expect them too. As far as I'm concerned, put whatever pickups you want in it, and it will rival a real strat--at least sound-wise. I'm definitely of the mindset of buying a solid, versatile guitar (without the bells and wistles of a custom shop or vintage guitar) and putting custom shop or vintage pickups in it, and use money you save for other stuff.

I'm using it for home recording as my main single coil guitar (along with a Epi LP w/SDuncan pickups as my humbucking guitar). It has a great bright and cutting tone, like a single coil bolt-neck should. I personally don't think an experienced listener could notice it's not a real strat.

I'm giving it an 9 assuming the owner spends $100 to replace the pickups in it. It has the potential for really great strat sound.

It has a really nice action. Fret's are decent--I'm not too particular about frets as long as there is no buzzing, which there isn't. I'm sure I modified the action and scale over the years, but I don't ever remember a time when it was unacceptable. It can be easily tweaked to play how ever you need it to. Visually, it's nothing special to look at (except for having the classic look of a strat), but if you don't care about looks, this guitar is great for getting the job done.

I've owned this guitar for 10+ years. The only problems I've had with this guitar is the hardware does tend to corrode/rust. My hands sweat a lot too, so that doesn't help. The tuners do seem cheap, but I have absolutely no problems with them keeping tune. I don't use the tremelo that much though. Like I said above, it definitely feels solid and well made (in the USA, at that).

I've never needed customer support.

I'm a multi-instrumentalist and home-recording musician/singer/songwriter (doing it all as an experienced musician for about 7 years). I play rock music in a mixture of forms: a lot of it is alternative/progressive/experimental/classic rock/pop. I want a classic strat sound at times, but need to spend money on gear to cover all instrument duties and recording equipment (drums, mics, recording equipment, etc). I can't spend $1500 on every instrument in my arsenal, so this $200 guitar w/$100 worth of pickups gets the job done. It sounds good and plays well, and that's all I need it to do. I wouldn't ever need to buy another strat or copy unless I got a really good deal on one. I don't own an American strat, but I have played on them on a few occasions, and I don't notice much difference. I'm giving this an 8 overall, relative to the price. It's definitely worth the money.

early 90's strat monkey, USA, 22frets, alder body w/maple caps me thinks, 2 part laminate maple neck
v/v/v
h/s/s: 6.9 ohm early 70's t-top, seymour duncan lipstick tube, 8.0 ohm 50's dearmond

i play jazz/blues/rock and have played for 17 years
use 50watt bassman head, closed back 1x12 cab
i thought this thing was a joke, but the acoustic sound was so great, i figured i'd toss what extra pickups I had lying around to make a frankefurter guitar.
It goes from creamy rhythm pickup, to dano middle, to spanky strat bridge. Those are all the sounds i could hope for. So, for the price of electronics, I've put my les paul custom under the bed.

It survived being tossed in the trash outside my building. That works for me. If it had a professional fret dressing, the guitar would be top notch. The neck is so good my friend offered to buy it off me right on the spot. But he also has a guitar buying problem.

The tuners are wack and wiggly, but they work well enough. The paint job is pooh.

A great back up, or #1 if you don't mind people giggling at your peavey headstock.
I love the fact it sounds like a strat and plays better than most "pro" guitars.
Just wish the frets didn't blow.

1995 usa peavey predator. standard "strat" features- 3 single coild and a 5 way. 22 frets, start feeling neck. solid poplar body, 2 piece maple neck fingerboard right there. nice. mine is black, black pickup covers, black knobs and black pickguard. I like black. this one has the trem bridge screwd down with 3 extra large screws and I threw 5 springs in so she's tight as a rock. cheap peavey tuners but they work. strat scale, strat feel, strat vibe, strat sound.

Sounds like a strat. you know the drill. I play it through a Marshall 100w half stack. Cranked. Loud I'm saying. Just a Crybaby and a tuner in the line. Adjustable poles on the pickups. Dialed in. Nice.

Built like a tank. peavey usa is high quality stuff. my predator is a rock. handcrafted in usa baby!

usa peavey on par with usa fender

gret website peavey.com has it all old manuals everything answer any questions.

amazing usa guitar very low prices used

I have a 1969 Peavey Predator strat style white on white, which has the look of a Jimi Hendrix strat and a beefy smooth neck (best neck I have ever played on.)Has new Fender tuning knobs chrome, new bridge (Fender) and is currently in the shop to have new wiring, pickplate (white), and 1969 Peavey single coil pickups installed...
very good manageability on the tremolo arm ("whammy bar") 1 volume 2 tone knobs. Sounds better than my stepmoms 1970 Fender Stratocaster (based on my personal opinion.) on Roland Microcube 15 watt amp. TKL Soft Case. guitar is supposed to be picked up Wednesday November 2nd 2005.
I will reply as soon as possible. These guitars are better than you think, they are very under estimated for a very low price, I have a USA made 1969 (which sounds very uncommon, which many were made 4 years after Peavey was first established est. 1965.)They do not make USA Peaveys anymore, ESPICALLY THE 1969 MODEL VINTAGE, UNLESS YOU BECOME LUCKY! Good luck all & everyone who supports Peavey Products I Will Review as soon as possible...

I would guestimate mine is an early 90s usa model. It has an unfinished maple neck and red body. The fret board is very flat. It came with a non-original gig bag.

I played gibsons for years then briefly Rics. Then started playing strats and teles. I play mostly originals/classic rock/surf instrumentals. The predator sounds like a "strat." What else can I say? The pickups are cheap. They are not quite as good as the ones in MIJ fender strats but they are passable. I would like to replace them eventually but part of the charm & value of the guitar is how much you get for so little. I doubt if anyone who just listens to music would even be able to tell the difference between this and a real strat in a blindfold test so PU change is not a priority. I like to keep guitars all original if possible no matter how modest they are.

I LOVE THE NECK ON THIS GUITAR. Yes, it's unfinished, looks cheap and say's peavey on the headstock but it's the best playing strat neck I've ever had. I've owned (74 fender strat, 86 and 87 MIJ strats, 83 Tokai 62 reissue strats.) Of those hand downs the best quality built strat is not the 74 but actually the tokai. The peavy just has a great neck and is super easy to play and do whatever you want on: Lead, rhythm, playing high up on the neck, pull offs, etc. The neck is plain great. Really. I've heard that the new fender eric johnson model strat has the same radius as a peavy usa predator. The hardware and plastic parts are embarrasingly cheap. A non guitar player could spot them. The tuners feel cheap but seem to work okay. The paint finish is chiping allready. The wood, fit and action are all great and as good as any us or japan made strat I've played. My favorite strat neck of any I've played so far.

Peavey are indestructible. Drop it off a truck. Play golf with it. Door stops. Whatever. Really great, underated products. Sold me and I was a confirmed vintage snob.

Never needed them peavey has a reputation being great and even backing up discontinued products.

There great. I will buy a back up one when I get a chance. Not worried about the price going up they made a ton of these. I have a dream about sticking frailens on one but that would just be wrong. I like that I paid $50 for this and can do just about anything. I'm very satisfied with this guitar. No, it doesn't say fender on the headstock best playing strat neck yet. So cheap feel like going out and buying for my friends. The hardware, plastic and finish suck. I know that is a poor discriptive word. The neck and fit great

1994 USA made Peavey Predator "strat" copy with Poplar body (very light weight), two-piece "bi-laminate" Maple neck (no separate fingerboard) with 22 frets 12 radius and 25.5 scale. Typical Strat controls and layout - 2 tones, 1 volume, 5-way. S-S-S passive Peavey pickups (more on that to come), Power Bend tremolo bridge. My predator is "blonde" - looks like Yngwie Malmsteen's Strat. Cheap-feeling stock tuners seem to do the job. Guitar does go out of tune with moderate trem use, and I have 5 springs in the cavity with it screwed down tight flush to the body. The guitar has a plastic trem block and neckplate, which at first seemed cheesy but has never been a problem and contributes to this instrument's nice light weight. Also features a micro-tit neck adjustment fo lowering the action. The neck is thin- not as chunky as a Fender Strat, but not thin like an Ibazez Wizard either. Kind of inbetween those. Reminds me of the Peavey Wolfgang neck. I put a Seymour Duncan Lil 59 pickup in the bridge to make it a "fat strat." Stock Peavey pickups are OK- not great but not bad by any means.

This guitar has all the features of a Strat, is USA made, and playes well. Exceptional value on teh current used market.

I play classic and modern rock covers in a bar band. My original music is more heavy metal or thrash punk. With the SD Lil 59 in there it covers a wide range of rock music well. I use this guitar through a Marshall 100 watt half stack with a few Boss pedals. Single coils are typically noisy. Guitar is bright- Poplar and Maple woods. Thin sound with single coils, but that is the "strat sound."

My biggest complaint is that the tone knobs on most strats are not connected top the bridge pickup, and I forgot to do that when I put it in. The Peavey USA Predator does everything the USA Fender does but the Peavey is a fraction of the cost.

Peavey USA are solid instruments. I currently have 3 of them. Never a problem with any of my USA Peaveys. Soild, well made, no flaws.

I use thsi guitar for gigs all the time. Never let me down. I bought it used, had a pro set up, and never adjusted anything since.

Plastic trem block bothers me in theory, but again no problems in 3 years of heavy use. Tuners seem cheap, but again never had a problem. Finish is strong, I use strap locks on all my guitars.

This guitar is very dependable. It is mot my #1 main player, it is my #2, but I always break strings so this guitar is uses every gig and many practices.

Peavey is very customer-friendly. Their website has a lot of information. I have contacted Peavey 3 times and they were always helpful.

I have been playing guitar for almost 30 years. I've owned tons of guitars from most of the major brands. I bought this guitar because I couldn't believe the used price and thought it would be a #3 back up. I liked it so much, it moved up to my #2 and replaced my 1979 Fender Stratocaster. In fact, I sold the 1979 Stratocaster because this $70 copy played and sounded better. My main #1 guitar is a USA Hamer strat. I have had several Fenders over the years, and the Peavey is comparable at a much much lower price.

I love the fact that this is a USA made strat copy and I got it for under a hundred bucks. I hate no tone knob for the bridge, and the plastic hardware kind of seems lame but again- I have never had any problems with thsi guitar and it gets a lot of use.

This is an un update from my earlier review. I discovered that when I dismantled the guitar that it was made in 1992 (date is inside neck cavity). When I sanded the body down, I found out that it was made of poplar, capped on both sides with maple. The online manual doesn't seem to mention the maple caps. I also discovered that it has a neck tilt adjustment between the bottom two screws in the neck plate. This made it so easy to set the action on the guitar and get it just the way I like it. I believe that in the last few years fender came out with this feature on some strats. Not mine though. I think it was called micro tilt or some shit like that. I put 3 american standard strat pickups in it that I bought on Ebay for $31.50. I painted it a soft pastel yellow (3 coats). I learned VERY much about painting a guitar this time around. It has the same amount of gloss as my MIM strat, but when I looked at the 2 guitars on the wall side by side I noticed that the strat had lines in the finish. Mine didn't, but then I spent a lot of time wet sanding it and buffing it out by hand.

It sounds soooo beautiful through those 6BQ5 tubes. The strat pickups made the sound come alive. I can get really nice clapton type sounds just going straight into my amp with no gain. It's time to dump my MIM Fender strat. This thing cost me half the price in the end and sounds twice as good. If you want to restore and modify a strat type guitar, this is the one to do it with. I don't have an American strat to compare it to, but I'm sure the sound is close if not equal.

I can't stress enough the importance of proper setup of a guitar. So many guitars get a bad rap on this site because they are set up improperly. There are many sites on the internet that show you how to do a setup and Fender's site even show you how to to do a rough intonation setup, which is your starting point. A lot of times people think they have poor tuning keys when they actually don't have the right tremolo spring tension or some other minor problem. This guitar sounded like crap until I got everything adjusted just right.

Yep

I would definately get another one if stolen or lost. I may get another one anyway and make it a hardtail fat strat.

Pretty much same as most of the others. 22 fret, SSS. Appears to be all origonal. White body with black pearloid pickguard that's not easy to remove, because it slides up under the end of the neck and the neck pup gets stuck on the cavity when you try to remove the pickguard. This is not a big deal though, I will fix that when I give it a nice paint job (that's right, I'm going to paint this sucker). It'll be my second guitar paint job. I painted my son's Squier Tele black and it looks better than any Squier I've ever seen, but that's not saying much. The 5 way swith looks different than a Strat switch, but seems to work pretty well. All of the pots are 500k. The whole underside of the pickguard is shielded with foil which is good and the wires leading to the pups is nice but the rest of the wiring is pretty jinky. Especially the wires leading to the input. For the price all of these issues are minor and easy to fix.

I use 2 tube amps with my favorite being a converted 15 watt tube hi-fi with 6BQ5s that will remain unnamed, because I'm already competing with too many people on Ebay for a second one. I can nail just about any sound I want with this amp, depending on which guitar I use. I also have a 2003 Mexican Strat to compare this Guitar to. First of all, my Mexican Strat SUCKS for the 300 and some bucks that I paid for it. When I first got the PV the pups needed tweeked. Once I got the right height for all 3, it easily sounded as good if not better than my Strat. It is slightly noisier than my Strat but I'm hoping to fix that through better shielding and wiring. I can get some real nice sounds with this guitar. From a clean sound with a wet glassy edge to ZZ Top Tush type sounds. Little wing sounds very nice through it.If this guitar were a woman, it would be a slut because it can get nasty dirty sounds that the Strat can't. I like nasty! I prefer to play my Samick LP copy with a Seymour invader at the bridge for most of the stuff I play. I like having a Strat to play certain songs that I just can't get with the LP though.

The frets are better than my Strat.
The neck is smoother and easier to play than my Strat.
Even though the tuners seem cheapo, it holds it's tuning MUCH better than my Strat. I can slam the tremolo arm numerous times and it stays in tune. Not so with the Strat.
The bridge on the peavey seems to have a cheap thin chrome coating on it, but I like the shape of the saddle grooves and the tremolo seats well. The finish seems to have held up well considering the moderate fretwear. It seems that someone loved playing it before me. Although the frets have plenty of meat left on them.

Even though the guitar will prolly never leave my house, I'm sure it could take a beating.
Will it last? It's a PEAVEY!

Peavey customer support is the best. No doubt about it. Peavey is a standard for others to follow. I can ask them any question about any product, no matter how old it is and I WILL get an answer.I have also ordered parts directly from Peavey for My Bandit 112 amp. Customer service is very important to me and Peavey is the very best. Check out the forums on their site. It's a shame that the Peavey amp I want is discontinued, because if I were to buy new, it would be from them.

My ratings are based on the price of the guitar. If I had payed $400 for it I would have given it lower ratings. But for the price you just can't beat it.

A guitar from the '80s, bought from the other musician. It's an American guitar, not an Asian. It looks like a standard Stratocaster, but has a different headstock and the neck is bigger. It has 3 single coil pickups and the bridge with vibrato.
Made from an alder or maybe hard maple.
A solid made American Strat, really heavy duty guitar. Black with a black pickguard.

It sounds great - that means far better than the Mexican Fender, Squier or other cheap and crappy guitars. with the Marshall amp I can sound very similar to the Edge from U2 and with the Mesa Boogie I can even play some good sounding agressive metal riffs.
This guitar sounds very bright, full and rich. Maybe the pickups needs to be changed, but "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" at the local music store...
Anyway - it's a great guitar for me and I love it's sound.

I bought it used, so it has some scars and the screws are a bit rusty - but looks great with them. Tuners works very fine, there's no problem with a bridge, too. It's not as perfect like a Fender American Stratocaster, but a far better than some cheap and crappy axes you can find...

It's a perfect guitar for the live shows, as well as in the studio. A very solid working horse and I love it. In fact it's the first electric guitar that's mine. Earlier I borrowed from my friends some Fenders, Gibsons, Yamaha and even an Ibanez - so I can compare them. It's a typical rock guitar, maybe not for the metal guitarist, but it can suit many styles from rock'n'roll to hard rock, folk, blues, country, jazz, etc.
If you want to play heavy metal buy an Ibanez or Gibson instead of Peavey Predator, but if you have balls and want to play rock'n'roll - buy this thingy. You won't be disappointed.
It's my only electric guitar, but I can use it live without any backup.

Peavey has a WWW, but I don't need to contact them, because I have no problems with their guitar. Even if it was bought used.

I'll give it 10, because it's a fantastic guitar for that price. Very comfortable, easy to play, sounds great and looks very good. If it was stolen, heavily damaged or lost it could be like a death of the best friend. really... I loved this guitar so much from the beginning and I don't want to use anything else.
If you want to look good on stage and sound great, but you don't have enough cash to buy a Fender - have look at used Peavey Predator from the '80s. I think you'll be very satisfied. It's not an Asian made today's Peavey, but a real American handmade Stat. A very cheap and great Strat ;-)

1992 Peavey Preadator, made in USA, 22.5 Frets, standard SSS with 5-way selector, stock pickups, red with white pickguard.

I got this guitar for my 9th birthday in 1992. After 13 years with this guitar I can say it's held up really well, the only thing is the hum in the pickups has gotten a lot worse over time. but other than that for a learner guitar the features are really nice! The electronics are also going to crap and I've had to re-solder the input jack connections several times.

I play pretty much everything, I guess most of what I play sounds like blues. I run it nowadays through a Crate 80watt amp and a Boss ME-50 multieffects unit. The variance of sounds is not that amazing, but it goes from warm to thin with no problem. A little crackling here and there but that's about it. The decay is also really fast, what I mean by that is the sustain is pretty crappy.

Okay here is where this guitar excels, I have 7 guitars and this one has the best feeling neck of all of them. It's so fast and easy to play. No flaws from the factory. Seriously it plays so well, better than my les paul.

As has been said... it's a tank. 13 years and nothing but normal wear, never had to have it serviced... that's pretty good if you ask me.

Never had to deal with customer support.

I've been playing for about 13 years now and I have 7 guitars to choose from. When I want to shred I always pick this one up. If it was stolen I'd be pretty upset because it's the guitar I learned on, and also I'm having a lot of trouble finding a really high quality guitar that's this easy to play (I'm in the process of getting a Jackson RR3 which should be pretty quick). I love the feel, and the durability, and i'm not a big fan of the tone or the tremolo which sucks, the entire thing goes out of tune after a bit of whammy fun.

Overall it's a great guitar for learners but I wouldn't recommend it for show use (cause the tone sucks), and the feel is just perfect. Great guitar for the money though.

This guiar was made in the early 90's in the U.S. . Mine was purchased new by a friend of mine in about '92 and it went through a couple of hands before it was traded to me, but its been around me since it was bought.
22 frets imperfect frets
1 volume 2 tone
5 way selector
3 single coils a la '76 strat
I think the neck is maple
cheap old chrome plated fixed bridge
no locking mechanisms for these bargain basement tuners
the neck is a rather fat one

If you want a nice bassy sound it will give it.
Do not expect to pinch off any squealing harmonics.
No matter what you do with the selector switch, you get no screaming metal sounds.

The playability was crappy upon purchase, strings were begging to be set up.

Mine has gone through the roughs, but I expect could have held up better. I wouldn't depend on it for live playing. I would call this a practice guitar.

I've been playing over 10 years and am the proud owner of a Jackson Fusion EX Professional.
This strat-wannabe is perfect for keeping out on a stand for liquid access. My Jackson stays in the hardcase if I'm not using it.
I've even decorated my Predator with stickers to make its appearance fit its function as a take-all-abuse practice guitar.
I will admit sometimes I enjoy throwing down a few blues licks with her. It definitely has a sound and feel that I don't expect from my Jackson.
I plan on keeping this guitar (it is currently in need of a selector switch) but if anything happened to it I wouldn't kill myself finding a match. Just another practice axe.

My Predator is Black body with Maple neck. Basically a Fender Strat copy. Handcrafted in the USA. SSS with one volume and two tone. This is a solid body guitar but not sure if Maple or Poplar. I hear they are made from poplar. Cheap tuners, cheap 4 screw typical vintage style bridge and cheap one ply pickguard. 5 way switch. Three staggered pole single coil pickups. Standard strat features.

I play all kinds of music but mainly hard rock,metal. (Disturbed,Incubus,Metallica type stuff) I picked this up at a local pawn shop for $50! I have no idea what they sold for new. Although the body was beat up, i thought it was a steal for only $50. It was 100% stock and other than the scuffed up body, the rest was in great shape. I didnt know what i was getting sound wise when i bought it but i figured if it has a sold wood body and a decent neck it couldnt sound too bad, right?

I kinda expected it to sound like a $50 guitar and to be honest thats what i was looking for, a practice guitar, a beater but when i plugged it in i was really surprised! The first thing i said was WOW, not bad! It didnt sound as good as my USA Fender but it was pretty darn close to my Mexican fenders. All i was going to do with this guitar was change the strings, set it up and go but of course i wondered what it would sound like if i did some upgrading to it.

So there i went, typical me. I basically gutted it and started over. I put in a Duncan Hot rail in the bridge and a couple Fender singles in the neck/middle. New bridge (the old one was not bad but this one was better so i decided to upgrade it) New Fender pickguard and installed some Ibanez smooth tuners. All new electronics. 1meg volume and 2 500k tone pots with a new Fender 5 way switch. New Earnie ball strings, set it up, tuned it up and plugged it in. HOLLY Smokes! This thing came alive. It sounded like a whole new guitar and absolutely killed my Mexican Fender, pretty darn close to my US Fender maybe just as good.

Could it be i spent $50 on a beater, spent a few bucks on new electronics (the pickups i had laying around) and it could sound better than the Fenders i had? WELL BELIEVE IT! Peavey is not paying me for this nor are they paying for my time spent typing this so this must be true and it is. My friends agree. I have gone as far as blindfolding them and playing all four of my strat guitars for them (call me crazy, my friends do :). Three out of 4 picked the Peavey and the 4th picked the USA Fender but said it was very very close.

I have since sold my Two Mexicans and pocketed akmost $600 in the process. Not bad for a $50 investment.

If you find one of these somewhere and can pick it up under $100, grab it, upgrade it and ROCK cause it will flat out get it done for ya! Make sure its the USA made Predator. Dont waste your money on a Fender just because of the name. Dont get me wrong Fender makes a great rig but for the money the US Predators cant be beat.

Whoever had this before me, either didnt play it much or just didnt care. This thing was not really playable. After some neck,saddle adjustments it played out just find. Stayed in tune really well. Upgraded the bridge and tuners which made it that much better.

Since this was picked up as a beater and meant for more beatings, I have been needless to say, beating on this thing hard for six months now and its still kicking ass.

I have no clue since i have never dealt with Peavey. The only thing i can say is that they respond very fast to all the emails i have ever sent them. My guess is that they are pretty good to deal with.

I did most of my review in the sound catagory so ill be brief here.

Bottom line this was a 7 stock (not bad at all) but easily a 9-9.5 after upgrades. Ill rate it a 9 for this review. I expected a Big Mac and ended up with a T-Bone steak. LOVE IT!

I would not hesitate to gig with this rig and as a matter a fact prefer it over my other guitar for the heavier gigs. I still prefer my US start for clean tone but once i upgrade the middle and and neck pickup to Seymours ill more than likely use this for both and sell the US Fen as well. Why keep the $1500 guitar if your not going to use it. I got better things to do with my money.

Like i said above, If you find one of these somewhere and can pick it up under $100, grab it, upgrade it and ROCK cause it will flat out get it done for ya! Make sure its the USA made Predator. Dont waste your money on a Fender just because of the name. Dont get me wrong Fender makes a great rig but for the money the US Predators cant be beat. Before you spend $1500 give one of these USA Peavey a shot. Great deal fo the money. IM NOW LOOKING FOR A COUPLE MORE of them!

Mine is what I BELIEVE to be an early 90's Peavey Predator.... "crafted in the U.S.A". It is red (I love this red color) with a white pickguard. Its an obvious strat copy with 3 single coils and features that are much like a strat.

I bought it used so I don't know if the pickups on it are original stock or not. 2 tone knobs and one volume. 5-way selector switch.

Took me a while to realize that the bridge pickup isn't hooked to either tone knob. Since this is my first strat style guitar I'm not sure if that's normal or not. But it struck me as odd.
I'm going to give it an 8 for features since it has all the features I need to make music. I would give it a 10 except I have an issue with that "tone knob" not affecting bridge pickup... the pickup I use most.

To be honest... I HATE single coils but I am trying to make a break from the "heavy metal" mentality I've had for so long.
I have had nothing but high output humbucking guitars and thought it was time to try a single coil'er.
How do they sound? They hum (as expected). I don't know how you strat heads stand it! huuummm. For some reason... these pickups sound hotter than other single coils i've heard. You can do metal with these pickups (if you must)..... whatever they are.
I will likely trade the pickups out as I search for a personalized tone.
Overall a very average sound. What number value do you give "average"?
Fortunately.. this is a non-issue. Its just a matter of finding pickups I like. I must say so though this guitar was VERY resonant when I compared it to other guitars on the wall. Its unamplified sound stood out better. That's why I bought it.

This guitar is in great condition considering its apparent age. Just one big chunk of missing paint which was painted over with matching red ink.
Firstly: I HATE THE BRIDGE. Getting broken strings out of it has proven to be a nose hair pulling experience. Not what I'm used to. I will likely upgrade in this area.

Overall I'm very happy with the finish/fit/and action of this guitar.
In fact... of all the guitars I've ever played .. this one has THE BEST FEELING NECK I HAVE EVER TOUCHED IN MY LIFE. 20yrs of playing.
I don't know who invented the cliche "fits like a glove"...but they were obviously talking about this neck!!!!! That plus this low action I set it up for and the feel of the frets....... wooooo.

Its because of this neck that this guitar has become my main axe. It is because of this neck I will be holding on to this guitar... forever. (or until its demise). Whatever comes first.
I'm giving this guitar a 10 in this area. Thank you peavey for this neck. do your other guitars have this neck? If not... what fools you are.

reliability? Well this guitar is a decade old or so (I think) and it is in great shape. Just one paint chip. A few rusty screws. Easily remedied.
The volume knob needs tightening. Its wobbly. But hey! its used.
Stays in tune VERY well... not a typical trait of guitars this cheap.


I have to give it a 9 In this area. This guitar has already lived a lifetime and is working on its second and is holding on nicely.
I would give it a 10 except I keep picturing myself trying to get a stuck string ball end out of it after an onstage string break. Pee pants.

I was happy I was able to download a manual for this discontinued guitar (not that I needed it). Thanks peavey! I have never had to deal with them personally so I will not give a score in this area. This is the first peavey product I have owned.

Overall I HAVE to give this guitar a 10. The neck!!!! It is now my main axe. Yes... I plan to upgrade parts of it and get some custom wiring done....but Yes I LOVE this guitar. It will be a 15 after I've worked on some things. Plus it was cheap. I have not regretted this purchase like I thought I would as I was paying for it.

Typical strat style guitar, done better by Peavey. Real American hardwood body with a 22 fret 4 bolt maple neck with maple fretboard. Vintage trem style tailpiece with 6 adjustable bridge saddles. 3 medium output single coil pickups with a 5 position pickup selector switch, master volume and 2 tone controls. Chrome hardware with white body.

Typical expected strat sounds, but not as uninspiring as many of the American and foreign made originals with the low output pickups. No hum either like the originals. Not too high output like many of the shredder specials. Just right. After fooling with this guitar in the pawnshop for a few minutes, I knew I found a good one. Unplugged it sang, plugged in it cried and howled.

This one was treated like a door prop for most of it?s life, but it held up structurally with absolutely no breaks or cracks in the wood anywhere. Lots of dings and dents in the paint, with a few minor nicks in the back of the neck. The original assembly / construction looked good. Tight neck to body fit. The neck is very user friendly and the guitar balances well.

Reliability, Durability:
See above - solid guitar. Still sounded/played well after years of apparent abuse. No rust on any of the hardware. The original tuners seem cheap and too easy to turn, but they hold!!!! Actually stays in tune reasonably after using the trem bar. Of course, I did a total tear-down/reassembly/set-up and intonation. It is still 100% stock.

Customer Support:
Have never had to contact the manufacturer for anything, but they are there on the internet or direct by phone.

Overall Rating:
After flip-flopping for many years on my guitar of choice, I finally settled on a strat style with a 22 fret maple neck. I have always been a big fan of the Yamaha Pacifica guitars. Now I can say the same for Peavey Predators. GREAT value for the $$$$ spent. I like the Pacifica for the SSH pickup configuration, and I like the Predator for the SSS configuration.

See above - solid guitar. Still sounded/played well after years of apparent abuse. No rust on any of the hardware. The original tuners seem cheap and too easy to turn, but they hold!!!! Actually stays in tune reasonably after using the trem bar. Of course, I did a total tear-down/reassembly/set-up and intonation. It is still 100% stock.

Have never had to contact the manufacturer for anything, but they are there on the internet or direct by phone.

After flip-flopping for many years (39) on my guitar of choice, I finally settled on a strat style with a 22 fret maple neck. I have always been a big fan of the Yamaha Pacifica guitars. Now I can say the same for Peavey Predators. GREAT value for the $$$$ spent. I like the Pacifica for the SSH pickup configuration, and I like the Predator for the SSS configuration.