NGD - USA Peavey Predator (update: another surprise!)

[slowhand84]

Received my $99 USA Peavey Predator score today...and I am honestly pretty blown away! If this one is representative of how these normally are, I can highly recommend it to anyone looking for a killer strat on the cheap. According to the research the necks are USA-made and the bodies are import, but are alder, so calling it a full USA-made guitar is a bit of stretch...but on to the review!

This one came with a truly hideous pickguard that will soon be in the trash, but with the added benefit of Fender Noiseless pickups in the middle and bridge positions that are like $65 bucks a piece new. UPDATE: neck pickup that sounded too good to be stock turned out to be a Fender Custom Shop (Fat 50 model, I think). Score!!

It's in really excellent shape for it's age with only minor pick scratches, and I think this is probably a 1996-97 model. Frets need a quick shine-up, but no fretwork needed. Just a polish to brighten 'em up.

Heard from some that the nut and tuners may be questionable, but these work well and hold tune great even when I use the trem bar. Don't think they'll require changing, and same goes for the bridge. Really resonant, and gets that 100% authentic strat quack no problem.

Best of all, the damn thing came with an original Crybaby wah at no extra charge. 2020 sucks, but at least there's some good news in this trash fire of a year.

Here are some pics, and I'm off to restring and jam for the evening.















And lastly, I love a nice tight neck pocket (and no cracks despite being about 25 years old!)

[ID10t]

Nice.
I know to each their own, but that is not a hideous pick guard.

[slowhand84]

Nice.
I know to each their own, but that is not a hideous pick guard.

Yeah no offense meant to folks who like green tortoiseshell of course, and just about any color looks decent up against a black body...but to me it's pretty jarring. This'll get a nice black guard which with the white rail single coil Bareknuckles will look pretty Gilmour-ish, if a bit more menacing

[golem]

I think goingwith an all black pickguard would be perfect. The "USA" predators are definitely a good find when you get a good deal on them. With the pickups already being upgraded, you sell the pickups and I agree you'll have almost nothing into the guitar before modding. Killer find.

[ILuvTeles]

Check out the serial number on this page to get build year
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Peavey_guitars

[slowhand84]

Check out the serial number on this page to get build year
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Peavey_guitars

Yep I found that already but it only goes up to 1995 (-077), so can’t nail down an exact year...but based on the pattern and my serial starting with -079 I estimated 96-97. Thanks!

[slowhand84]

Ok well my plans for this changed...I really really like how the mid and bridge Fender noiseless pickups sound in this thing so I decided I'm going to save the Bareknuckle Cobra pickups for my next Kiesel (which inevitably will happen) and just ordered a neck position Fender noiseless pup for $30 shipped to have a matching set.

Going to swap this guard for a black one, but otherwise we'll be all done.

[slowhand84]

Well, we have an interesting update...I had a feeling there is no way this neck pup could possibly be stock because it sounded WAY too damn good, and who changes the mid and bridge pups on a guitar but leaves the neck stock/unbranded...

Took the pickguard off, and things make a little more sense now...Fender Custom Shop Fat 50 neck pickup in this bad boy! All the guts appear to have been swapped too, quality CTS 1 Meg pots, etc.

Freakin' score!!

[JimyTheAssassin]

Oh ya total score. 1meg is a lot higher than the standard 250k but the quality bump is nice for sure. The only think I would think about doing is fixing the spaghetti and the cold looking solder joints on the backs of the pots. Enjoy the new axe!

[slowhand84]

Oh ya total score. 1meg is a lot higher than the standard 250k but the quality bump is nice for sure. The only think I would think about doing is fixing the spaghetti and the cold looking solder joints on the backs of the pots. Enjoy the new axe!

Thanks! Already tidied up the wires, as for the solder joints I haven’t noticed any problems whatsoever and everything’s working perfectly so I guess I’ll fix it if it ever becomes an issue.

[Mossman]

That's a great score! Peavey always made good stuff. Like Yamaha, even their cheap stuff was good quality. Not too sure about now, though.

I think it's best to have a matching set of pickups. Except for maybe a couple of occasions, I've never been a fan of "mix 'n match".

That pickguard sure proves that not everything looks good on black (sorry [mention]ID10t[/mention] ). I think aged (creame) pearloid, tortoise, gold and black are all great PG color choices for a black guitar, though.

[slowhand84]

That's a great score! Peavey always made good stuff. Like Yamaha, even their cheap stuff was good quality. Not too sure about now, though.

I think it's best to have a matching set of pickups. Except for maybe a couple of occasions, I've never been a fan of "mix 'n match".

That pickguard sure proves that not everything looks good on black (sorry @ID10t ). I think aged (creame) pearloid, tortoise, gold and black are all great PG color choices for a black guitar, though.

Thanks! Mix n' match in my experience almost always works out just fine unless you REALLY mismatch the pickups. In this case they're all Fender pickups and the CS Fat 50s in the neck works SO well with the noiseless mid and bridge pickups...it's just the ideal "strat" sound in every position. I had every intention when I bought the guitar of just selling these pups and putting in the Bareknuckle Cobra set I had lying around, but now I wouldn't want to change a single thing about how this guitar sounds so I'm leaving it all exactly as is. I thought I would swap the tuners too but I changed the strings today and its staying in tune flawlessly so amazingly it seems like for $99 this thing needs absolutely nothing.

Except the pickguard, the pickguard does have to go. I'm plannin' on going with just a regular black pickguard since this was meant to be a Gilmour tribute project anyway and I love that look .