Peavey Raptor 1 International Series

Bought the guitar a couple of days ago. The pickups are amazing very good warm strat sound. Sounds better than my old 57 reissue. especially through a MusicMan Amp (65 RD 112). This is kicks ass playing blues it really does. The pickups and scratch plate have yet to be examined to discover whether the pickups might be replacements; which might always be a possibility. However great sound, proper strat characteristics.
Bridge not the highest standard but solid.

Rich full sound not too bright very proper sound indeed. Way above some copies like squire. Better than alot of Fender strats for sure.

Kneck is definately unique to the design, feels like a D kneck Tele 50's but that is the beauty of this particular guitar. Solid body. Tuning pegs okay a little too delicate.

Great gigging guitar for sure. Solid structure. Looks hot very classic strat look.

No experience of this independant buy from trust worthy professional guitar dealers.

I have been playing for 37 years. Used to have 57 reissue, 78 Tele USA, this guitar compares with both as a palyer and sound of pickups, which is most important to me.
If lost or stolen I would be gutted. Love the pickups. kneck, look of the body and pickup, classic in style. The sound and feel is comparable to the Fenders I once owned no doubt at all. I would prefer a more slender feel to the kneck but hell, for the money excellent value, no doubt what so ever !

Made in Korea this one, early to mid nineties I Think. Bought it on Ebay for 16 GBP, that about 28 US Dollars at current exchange rates. Standard Strat Style, Standard passive SSS Pups with 5-way with a different neck headstock (Kinda like a 50's sharkfin streamlined look; actually quite cool instead of being different for the sake of it). Mine was red, very like the Fender Fiesta red, and looked good. Body was plywood, quite heavy (Which I prefer to basswood, or any other pseudo-wood as its strong, and whilst not rich sounding, it's clean, neutral and doesn't suck tone or sustain too much). Fitted unusually, and to my delight, with Medium Jumbo Frets, which were quite hard, and they were nicely cut. Rosewood Fretboard. The most disguting tuners in the world, even after prewinding, and double locking by passing through one pair of windings and out through another, it still went out of tune The Tuners slipped, not the strings! They must be a really high ratio, like 10:1 or less, it was even hard to tune as a fractional turn of the tuners would shift a semitone.

I have to give it a 3 for sound, OK on clean, it gave a clear and bright sound, but no real chime or ring to it. I play a very tight, chromatic punk thrash style, with lots of pick hand or palm muting, and overdrive just before the point that the sound starts to fragment. Even with mild gain, it sounded really raspy, and it wasn't anyones fault but the guitar, I was using a Hartke GT60 valve hybrid half stack and a DOD 308 Malmsteen Preamp OD Pedal, and at the time My Washburn X50 pro with S Duncan pups gave a fantastic creamy, fizzy and liquid sound. The Peavy sounded like a hyperactive wasp with the same rig!

I bought it second hand, and the set up was horrific. The neck was bowed so it buzzed, even with the high action it had, intonation way off. The neck had very little taper from the body to the neck, and I had to shim the neck pocket, just to rake it back a little, and make it feel more natural, which was a little, but not remarkable improvement. I adjusted the truss rod, action and intonation, and it sounded great when not plugged in. The paint was thick and solid, although because it was ply, you could see they hadn't smoothed off the cutaway before painting, and as a result the different ply layers caused a rippling effect to that bit. You couldn't see from the front though. The frets were nicely filed, and overall looked 10 times better than it sounded.

Solid as a rock, body and neck anyway. You couldn't use it live though, unless you had a drum solo in the middle of every song to let you re-tune it. It wouldn't sound good live, and you'd need to buy some decent tuners, pickups, and put proper pots in, as the stock ones have flimsy shafts (I had to stick a screwdriver in the split and bend them apart to make the knobs stay on). I bought mine for the price of a pizza and a few beers, so I guess that if I spent another 10GBP on some Korean made Wilkinson 19:1 Rotomatic tuners (Darn fine Grover clones, maybe even made in the same factory, I got a set for a tenner on Ebay once and they transformed a Gibson Melody Maker), and maybe another 25 pounds on some better second hand pickups, I'd have a guitar that would mop the floor with any entry level guitar, all for around 50GBP... Then I'd take it on stage, but not as my main guitar.

Never dealt with them.

I'd buy another for 16 Quid, or maybe 25 Quid second hand. If I spent over 100 quid on even a new one, I would be silly as you can buy a cracking electric guitar new for a little over 200 Quid (My Wasburn X50 Pro with It's Set neck and mahogany body, seymour duncan pups, grover tuners and full binding cost just me just 239GBP. I'd definitley buy one again, but it would need to be cheap, and I'd have to swap the shoddy pickups and tuners.

bought in around 1997-1998 dont honestly know how old it is. it was my cousins
strat look alike body S/S/S pickups, bought it used with a case and some cheap amp
lots of hum, with .10-.60 guage strings in drop C gives a nice crunch

at first, the guitar sounded wonderful, then was unfortunately dropped, and the sound changed for some reason, its still in one piece, but it just sounded really muddy and flat

i got the guitar without strings on it, most of the hardware missing or broken i had to replace it and do it all myself
i also had to adjust the pickups
the tremelo's handle was broken off inside the bridge before i got it, never used it stayed in tune over all, but i put a piece of wood in the bridge so it wont move
other than that, after i got to it, the guitar was awesome!

this is a solid guitar, its taken some nasty spills and takes a constant beating, i play death metal and it still holds up, id use it as a backup, after my Quest Atak 5

never even talked to Peavey

ive been playing for 11 months, yes months, but ive got quite skill, i own a Epiphone SG custom and a Quest Atak 5 i play them all on a VOX AD30VT
if this guitar was stolen or lost, id snap, i love it
my favourite thing about this guitar is the neck, its thin, big frets, easy to shred
id say this would be a good guitar for beginners, but for those who like to really make shit shine, then this guitar can really scream
right now, im restoring mine back to full health, took two of the pickups, turned them into a humbucker, took out the tone knobs/pots, got a new volume pot and in the process of making a pick guard

old peavy raptor 1. possibly 10-15 yrs old. strat copy body. pickups, pick guard, and body, and knobs are all white. body might be agathis- it is very heavy. 3 single coil pickups and 5 way selector. tremlo. good sized frets.

this guitar plays well for all music from metal to reggae. I use a digitech multi effects pedal. the pickups have a little noise but not bad- they are single coils after all. when two pickups are selected there is no noise. the tone is excellent. the bridge pickups are very bright and the necks are smooth and mellow. good sustain. all in all great sound espically for lead.

the body is heavy but nicely balanced. the neck is thin and fast and not too wide- good for people with smaller hands and super easy to play. action is still great. pickups needed adjusted up a little but was very easy with a screw driver.

this guitar might not have the best stage presence. though it is rock solid. the hardware is not the best. strap buttons and knobs are solid. finish is great. its old and still shiny aside from the neglect i've given it. I hope the quality has not diminished since this one was made.
i don't play live and would probably use another guitar for that just because looks and all. but as far as playing at home this guitar is a gem.

I hope peavey has not sacrificed quality on there entry level guitars since this one was made 10-15 years ago. cuz this one is excellent. I would look to peavy first for a new guitar because of this one.

21 fret, maple body & neck triple single coil pick-ups

I play Hard rock and metal mostly. I toy with a little blues and classic rock. The individual pickups are noisy but combos sound nice. The middle-bridge combo give me a great cruch for metal. I use it with an old Fender solid state and a Zoom 505 (the original). I like the clean tone out of it.

I don't remember the set up from the factory. I got it like 12 years ago as my first axe. Over the years as I've learned how to play and set it up, I feel like it is a very easy guitar to set up if you know how.

I don't play live, but probably would use it because it is a little noisy. I've had to replace the Volume pot and the fret are a little worn, but hey...its 12 years of played instrument! I've "tried" to refinish it several times because I didn't like the original sunburst finish. Because of that, the strap buttons have had the srew holes strip ou tof the wood. Other than that, hte guitar has been reliable for me as I continue to learn.

I haven't needed to use support.

I have been playing for close to 15 years. I have two Ibanez guitars that are far better, but cost more too. When I bought it, I just wanted an electric guitar and amp and I got the whole package for around $170. I don't love it or hate it. If it were stolen, I would not buy it because I know enough about guitars to not buy something this cheap again. That being said, I would not dicourage a beginner from buyiing it and I would be very upset if it broke or was stolen because it is my favorite guitar for sentimental reasons.

Not the best guitar but for the money its worth it. The finish is nice, goes out of tune easily.

In my opinion, sounds great for classic rock. Pick-ups are great for the money.

For the money, its an excellent guitar, but i wouldnt take this guitar to a gig. The finish is nice but its a smaller less durable guitar.

An excellent practice/begginer guitar but not reliable. Strings go out of tune and god knows what else would go out if played for any amount of time. I wouldnt use this guitar at a gig, with a backup or not. Some aftermarket parts and a total rebuild and this little guitar could be a true performer.

Overall, a starter guitar that is worth the money. Ive owned it for almost 2 years, and if you baby it and dont be rough on it you will have a working guitar. Has the potential to be a star but with some of the parts peavey built it with, it doesnt have the durability of a good guitar.

It's a Stratocaster copy, has 21 frets, 3x SC, black finish with white pickguard, cheap tremolo (don't even touch it or you can tune the guitar once again), 2x tone, 1x volume - basic features. The features are OK, but the tremolo is bad (better to have none than to have this one).

It's a cheap guitar so don't expect a good sound. The sound is really bad, don't even think about playing rock or metal with this. The cheap SCs are really noisy and. All in all it's crap.

OK. If you are buying any used guitar don't expect the set-up to be good at all. It always requires some adjustment. This guitar had also some minor flaws, but nothing you couldn't fix.

I hope you don't even think of gigging if this is your only guitar. The guitar looks like it's gonna fall apart right now. And it stays in tune for a song or two but not longer.

Never dealt with them.

Hey, my advice to you is not to buy this. If you want a guitar for clean or low-gain sound then it might be OK, but that's it. If you buy it anyway, then you will definitelly figure out in 2 weeks (or sooner) that it was a total waste of money. You better save some more money and go buy another one. Anything is better than this. Really!

three single coil pickups, made in Taiwan. One volume, two tone knobs; made in China. Plywood body with plasic vaneer, made in Poland. Unidenifyable wooden neck, cut from some undescoverd species in Brazil, shipped to Ethiopia, carved in India. Tuners molded out of recycled fish hooks from Australia, don't stay in tune. Ive never tried to climb up the neck so I can't tell you how the scale is. Has a tremlo tailpiece that I have yet to find a tremlo arm to fit. Came with a case that is worth twice the retail value of the guitar, assembled in North Korea; we'll keep that a seceret.

Remember jaming out in your kindergarten class with a tissue box,papertowel tube, and rubberband guitar? Cool, me too. This guitar sounds comparable. Only instead of cardboard you have upgraded to plywood, cardboard to endagering our world, and rubberbands to REAL STRINGS!!! Ok I guess you have pickups too. This thing sounds like a Boar Hog getting checked for colon cancer. Turn the volume past 5 and your ears are starting to tell you, "Uuuuh were gonna start bleeding here if you don't that that peice of (fine instrument) down." Very hard to decipher what the hell your playing when the pickups are feeding back so much. I guess this guitar could be your exclusing Hendrix Star Spangled banner guitar or you could devote your attention %100 to practicing Ywengie throws! Whatever your choice I would chosed between those two because not much else is going to come from your playing if you think your getting a "good" sound from this guitar.

this guitar actually had the ability to be set up like any other guitar from the 0-300 dollar price range (they are all one in the same guitar) If you have 300 bucks and you want a guitar, go the street and look for 100 pennys then go get a guitar, it will sound much better. Plays much like the cheap ass fenders from Mexico or Squires from Bangladesh. If you like them you'll be Ok with this. A good visual example of what this guitar feels like is taping 22 razor blads on a ruler stick then running your hands up and down it. Get the point? Frets have sharp edges and catch your hand if your not careful.

Who knows, it feeds back horribly and hums so bad on my little practice amp, I'm afraid to plug into my big rig so I'll never get the chance to test the durability. But my house is made of plywood and it has withstood some pretty feirce thunderstorms so I'm sure this guitar could do the same.

Wow! What could I tell them? Can they give me a better guitar? Oh this is peavey. Nevermind.

In all honesty this guitar would be a great entry level guitar. Very comparable to other mexico strats or Squires from who knows where. However, I compared this to my American Deluxe Plus Strat ( Only other strat type of guitar I have), and there is just no comparison. I have been playing for about 10 years now and have numerous guitars of different styles. I just couldn't see me sitting down to play this guitar for any reason at all. To me any amount of money spent on this guitar is a waste. So heres the rundown in my opion; If you're a beginer and want a strat guitar to learn the basics on buy it!!! It plays the same as the mexico strats and squires for a fraction of their price and can be set up just as well. If your an intermediate gettin your chops in your bedroom still, steer clear. This guitar will only dampen your playing above an entry level style. If you are advanced, sure you can throw some new pickups in it, get it set decent, file the frets down, get different tuners, change the electronics and you'll have a nice backup guitar. But if your going to do that, why not just get a good used American strat for slightly more? That is why I gave this guitar a 2 overall. Only really suited for the First time player and as soon as their style gets slightly agressive it will start to go out of tune on them and they will want something better.

Don't where the guitar was made and I bought this off of E bay for a cheap price, I fugured it would be a work in progress type of deal! But it has two sets of serial numbers on it, first on the back of the neck, 00377110 and the other on the neck plate (where one bolts the neck to the guitar body) 7114162. IF any one knows what that means drop me an E Mail. LOL
21 frets and I guess for the money a laminated body; it has one volume and two tone controls 5 way selector switch with three single coils. You know the standard Strat copy!
Don?t have a clue on what the body is made of but it has a maple neck with rosewood fret board. Tuners keep the guitar in tune which is a big plus and it has rather fat frets.

This cheap little guitar does just what I wanted! I needed that Sweet Home Alabama intro and this hit the nail right on the head! Next I happen to like the twang on can pull out of this guitar, and at the same time the single coils can be used as a nice tool for some old Blues too So for my wants from Southern Rock to Blues and Country this guitar does the trick.
I use a Behringer V-Tone GMX212 Combo 2X50m watts of power and the Behringer FCB 1010 MIDI Footcontroller.
Single coils are noisy but for the money hey you get what you pay for. : )
The Single coils have that bright poppy/twang sound one expects from single coil strat knock offs, ranks better than the Squier I own in the sound department.
With the right twinkin' on the Amp I can reach a full range of sounds, as I have already stated from Country to Rock to blues, I have another guitar for the harder rock so this works for me.
Bought it used and I need to replace all the screws due to rust and the pickup look rather well aged, don't care for the Trem at all cheap guitar and a cheaper trem that I don't use! On the plus it does stay in tune!! I use D'Addario number 10's strings and they sound great.

When I got the used guitar the set up stank to high hell! The Neck was bowed the intonation was out and I must say the previous owner didn?t know how to take care of the guitar. The trem is cheap at best but I don?t use the trem anyhow.
After a couple of days of SLOWLY twinking with the truss rod I got the neck straight and then set up the correct string height and intonation. So after the work I must admit the guitar is of good quality and put together very well. The pickup screws are rusted and the single coils have some rust on the poles too. But the sound is still there! The Single coils are a bit noisy but isn?t all of them unless you spend over 800 bucks?

So far this guitar looks rough but it?s put together to last. Nothing lose on it and yes I?d use it!

Been playing for 10 years now and I own one Squier Guitar one Tradition PRS type guitar, one SG copy and a couple of flat tops and now this one. ; )
If lost oh well it?s just fifty bucks but I would be inclined to look more closely at Peavey guitars for this one does feel good and sounds good.
I love the sound of the single coils, which is the reason I got it. Hate the cheap trem though and the neck plays nice.
I feel it play right up there with the Squier for much less money. Neither will take the place of a good real strat, of which I have play and used and loved. LOL
Don't do as I did and buy it with out playing one first, me I was expecting the worst but for fifty bucks life is good.

1998 model, made somewhere in Asia.
Standard S/S/S Strat copy
See other reviews for specs.
I made the mistake of buying this guitar because I thought that Peavey still made all their stuff in America. I didn't bother to look at the word "International" on the headstock or the 2mm sticker on the back that said "made in wherever". No surprises as far as features. It's hard to find a guitar this good for the price, no matter where it's made.

I'm Playing this guitar through a Peavey Prowler for distortion stuff and a Trace Elliot GP12SMX with an effects processor for clean.
I shouldn't have gotten a guitar with three single coils but I did, and I'm now glad I did. This thing sounds great. I couldn't get enough overdrive out of the stock bridge pickup so I replaced it with a Fast Track 2. It screams now. The other two pickups sound terriffic for clean and slightly overdriven blues or a Brian May kind of sound, but I record on my computer, so the neck and middle pick up a lot of noise from the monitor when used by themselves. Any combination of two pickups or the Dimarzio by itself is completely silent. The Fast Track is an extremely high output pickup and there's not a difference in volume when switching between the pickups, which was a surprise. I'll probably try to upgrade the pickups later just to make a quieter setup but I have no complaints about the sound.

Let's make sure we understand that this isn't a PRS. For what it is, it's a great little guitar. Don't expect to pay 150 bucks for the world's greatest guitar. It was stupid enough of me to expect an American made guitar for that price.

The first thing I did when I got this guitar was to put a block in the trem and remove all but one of the springs before setting it up. I hate the cheap trems and never bothered to figure out how to set them up properly, but I don't see why it wouldn't work as well as any other guitar with a crappy non locking tremolo. I never touched the truss rod and it's had quite a few miles put on it without moving. The guitar plays well all the way up the neck on all six strings. It's about time to think about a re-fret because I've ground them up pretty badly over the years.

The body paint is very thin; you can see the seems from the wood joins and the grain sometimes if you look really close, and the jack worked its way loose until I hit it with some loctite. The pickguard looks like it was cut in a hurry and after seven years with no oil or maintenance the machine heads absolutely suck. Considering the price though, it plays great and stays in tune. If I were to do anything to it I'd put locking tuners on it. Other than that it more than met my expectations.

I've dropped it, banged on it, beat it up, sweated all over it and let it hang on a wall without a case for 7 years and it's been fine. I don't gig with it but I don't see any reason why it couldn't handle it. The finish is thin but has yet to wear through or crack. From more than 7 feet away the guitar looks great. I replaced the strap buttons with a Dimarzio strap lock when I got it. Like I said earlier, the frets are looking a little ground up and they probably should last longer than a few years. I do a lot of bending, but not more than anyone else does.

Peavey rules. Their support is as good as anyone in the industry, their employees are friendly and best of all, they speak English. I wouldn't send a guitar back to them to repair just because it doesn't make any sense to do so. However I also wouldn't count against a guitar because a string broke.

If this guitar were stolen or lost, I'd regret the loss of the Dimarzio pickup and the strap locks. It's a good little guitar for what it is, but I have no sentimental attachment to it whatsoever. I may raid it for parts when I build a solidbody guitar or I'll just use it to practice my re-fretting.