Peavey Generation EX Tele thoughts?

[brownpants]

Im on my second generation now- I have just got the 3 single coil pickup model in sunburst- it has the best sunburst finish I have seen for a long time.

The playability was awful, but after an hours work setting up and filing the nut slots it plays great. I've just finished carrying out my mods too.

I took out the String tree for the D and G and replaced the other one with a sturdier barrel type. I put some cheapo wilkinson tuners on.

I fitted a wilkinson bridge (again, a cheap one) and swapped pickups. I got a £30 hum cancelling bridge pickup of axesrus.co.uk and fitted two dimarzio virtual vintage 54s in neck and middle. I also did a bit of rewiring to get bridge and neck on together.

My other guitars are a Musicman Luke and Silhouette special. I plan on gigging this a lot over the next few months. I like my high end guitars, but i also love having 1 or 2 cheap guitars lying around to hot rod. But ive now found a guitar that alogether cost less than £250 (inc mods) and is way better than anything i could have got off the shelf fo that price.

I think with these guitars it is important to play lots of them and now and again you will find one that sounds nice. Now the brand snobs can listen in awe at my gigs!

I suggest everyone gets one of these guitars and has fun playing around with new components- you might just discover something great.

[RetroDaddy]

I'm on my second Peavey Gen Ex as well! Got the two pick up model in Sunburst a couple months ago and love it. So I just bought the three pick up model in butterschotch blonde with a black pickguard. The butterscotch finish is incredible but once again the tone is what sold me. To my ear this version has quite a bit different tone than the two pickup model. More sounds and more versatile though the pickups aren't as hot and the voicings are different than the tele style voicings of my two pickup model.

The frets were sharp so I had to spend about 20 minutes filing them the way I like them. The set up was too high so I spent about twenty five minutes lowering the action using the saddles and truss rod and then I adjusted the intonation which was close already.

Been jamming with the three pick up model now for a month and the thing is a tone monster. The guys I jam with are amazed by my tone. I'm playing through a blues junior or superchamp XD. Our lead guitar player is a gear snob and hates Peavey stuff. He's been laughing at me for buying my two Peavey's but my tone is far better than his Carver and it's killing him. This week he picked up one of my Gen Exe's during a break and was noodling around with it playing some Stevie Ray licks. He finally broke down and agreed it sounds really good!

You should buy one of these guitars if you're in a band full of gear snobs just to have some fun watching the gear they buy and sell in an effort to match or surpass the tone of a $200 guitar they refuse to buy!!!

[91xlntS-3]

Anyone interested in these guitars should go to E-Bay and punch in "Peavey Generation. The 3 p-up model in 'burst, natural and honey blonde are going for $149.00 with free shipping! There are also models with humbucker in the neck for $179.00.

Prices on these guitars are unbelievable! I've owned (and still do) several different Peavey models over the years, they are great "bang for the buck" especially on the used market. Most of the older models are even Made in USA.

Anyone interested should check these out before they're gone!

No affiliation, just wanted to give fellow members a "heads up" on what I found.

[roadrider502]

Where is the tele? I don't see one in any of the pictures.

[nordhaven]

I got a Peavey Generation Custom last week for a song $250. I'm loving it! Definitely a warm full sound with the two humbuckers. I'm gonna pull the neck pickup up closer to the bottom strings to get a bit more twang. This thing is so cool to play around with. Loads of different sounds with the pizeo integration. Love the neck profile. It had a little raised wood grain through the polly. I took a brown paper bag to the back of the neck and smoothed it right out. You can just feel the quality in the guitar if you know what I mean. the body finish is outstanding!!



If anyone is interested there is one or two left at Uncle Ike's in Iowa.

http://www.uncleikes.com/pc-6169-43-...zo-pickup.aspx

[Danno]

$185 shipped today from Music123:

http://www.music123.com/Peavey-Gener...94015.Music123

$200 less special $15 off when you spend $100 - $249.

[blueshawk1]

If you type "gearup" in the coupon box and hit apply, it will make it 169 and some change. I was so tempted, if it wasn't the two HB model......

[marantz1300]

I have a reactor. They were made in the u.s.a.The bodies are smaller with a deeper cut away.the neck is flamed maple and the bridge is screwed front and back,also the output is a metal gibson type.I changed the machine heads,neck plate(the neck has a tilt adjuster on it like a u.s.a. tele) and pickups to the u.s.a. ones i took out of my tele. It feels more comftable then my american standard tele. It now plays and sounds just as good as my tele.I got it from my neighbour for £30 last year. I'll take some better pics and post when i can.It's at work at the moment. Minus the stickers. p.s. the neck has the 22nd fret overhang

[Dan German]

Originally Posted by RetroDaddy

The burst finish just blew me away. It's a complex, flawlessly done, see through burst finish on a fantastic piece of wood (basswood I think) with a black pickguard.

The maple fretboard is fast and the frets on the guitar I played were flawlessly installed and properly finished. No fret buzz or sharp edges. The maple used for the neck of my axe has lots of figure and is surprisingly high quality. Same with the maple used for the fretboard.


As others have said the tone from the neck pick up is fantastic. Might be the best Fender sounding pure rythm or warm bluesy lead pick up I've ever heard on any guitar I've ever played at any price. The neck pick up totally blew me away through a Fender Blues Junior. The middle position sounds fantastic as well with the neck and bridge pick up both activated.

The only thing I found not to my taste on this guitar might be the bridge pickup. Others may disagree but in my opinion the bridge pick up is not as hot nor as good sounding as the neck pickup at least to my ear.

I agree that the sunburst finishes are quite nice, but the two that they had at my local were both done over badly mismatched pieces of wood; the grain of the different pieces appeared to be from different trees. But that's just a cosmetic thing. If one of those had been the best player, I would have bought it.

The neck pickup shocked me. On t style guitars, even Fenders I have played, I tend to be biased towards the bridge pup. Nine times out of ten it sounds better to me. On this guitar I keep switching back to the neck pup 'cuz it sounds so good. It responds nicely to the tone control, giving a good variety of sounds on its own. And it does seem hotter than the bridge. One of my only quibbles about the guitar is that the neck pup is pickguard-mounted. I don't like the look of those screws!

Originally Posted by RomanS

you'd have to make sure that the Peavey uses a 21-fret-neck, with the 22nd fret as an overhang, and not a full-length 22-fret-neck, otherwise the scale will be off with a Fender-spec'd neck.

21 frets, no overhang. And I for one can live quite happily with this neck. The peghead doesn't bug me as much as I thought it would, and I'm not trying to convince anyone that it's a Fender anyway.

[odiemann]

Where is the tele? I don't see one in any of the pictures.

Give it a break, that old tired line is really overused. It is in spirit a tele, as much a guitar that has all the correct shapes, but uses untraditional materials such as mammoth ivory, titanium saddles, humbuckers, special circuits, non- ash/alder bodies, or whatever.

In essence, it is more a tele by having the bridge, body material, and pickup configuration than many current Fender products.

[marantz1300]

Originally Posted by roadrider502

Where is the tele? I don't see one in any of the pictures.

that's an American standard in my pic next to the reactor.

[TAZ]

I have a new Generation EX 3 single coils. Paid $150 shipped.

At this price level, if you personally search, you'll go though many and hand pick decent one. This would be from any manufacturer. My purchase was on-line and will assume that it is a fair representation of the product. So, I'll speak only about this model.

The Generation EX fit and finish is pretty good. The body has a few small belt sanding digs along the sides. The string ferrules are not spaced evenly but they are in a straight line. The neck pocket is pretty tight but with a little work to reset the neck, it will be tight.
The pick guard cut/trim is very good and follows the body contour evenly. The paint (white) has a few sags on the sides and back. The milling is CNC and standard routes.

All the hardware is pretty good quality and I don’t find a need to replace any of it.

The electronics and pickups are really quite nice and the tones are classic Tele-twang.

For me where it became obvious that it was inexpensive was the neck – specifically the fret work. Many frets were not completely seated and the ends were dressed quickly or not at all. For the most part, a serious fret set, level, dressing and polish is required… you can’t serious play on it without getting cut or set the action lower than 7/64 at the 17th fret without fretting out in some places.

The neck width is 1 5/8” and it feels like a 12” radius. The profile is very, very thin. This becomes personal, I like the width and radius but the thin profile is not my preference.

I did a quick fret job and setup to hear if it has any character and it gave a pretty impressive performance enough to believe once the fret work is completed, it will have some nice tone. (by-the-way, with the quick spot level and end dress, the action smoothed out at 3/32.)

For new guitar at $150 shipped, it is pretty amazing. The fret problems are common with inexpensive guitars, some are far better and some are far worse.

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by bluescube

Seems similar to the old Yamaha Pacifica tele styles, eg. the 311MS for example

Now, this, I have more charity toward.

I wouldn't actively shop this guitar, but I wouldn't mind getting a bit better acquainted with it.

I still think if yer gonna pour money into a fun project, it makes better sense if, at the end of the day you refer to it as your "tele" and your friends don't spit out their beverages in reflex to your utterance.

[TAZ]

May 8th Update.

Reset the neck and gave it a fret job. It plays like butter. While I don't play normally with an action this low but at 3/64s across and no buzzing, it played itself.

With the neck issue fixed, the resonance and sustain is really nice. Sounds like a Tele. Unbelievable at $150.

[Dan German]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

Now, this, I have more charity toward.

I wouldn't actively shop this guitar, but I wouldn't mind getting a bit better acquainted with it.

I still think if yer gonna pour money into a fun project, it makes better sense if, at the end of the day you refer to it as your "tele" and your friends don't spit out their beverages in reflex to your utterance.

Ya know, I too would like to be able to afford a "real" telecaster. But I am a student, and only work full-time 3 1/2 months a year. So I have to bargain shop. Hence my Peavey. But both the Peavey and the Pacifica are slightly altered yet still recognizable tele-style guitars. Tell me exactly, what makes mine the object of scorn and the Pacifica worth "getting acquainted with"? I'll tell you right now, the only spitting of beverages that has occurred in my vicinity since I bought it comes after I play it then mention how little I paid for it.

[marantz1300]

I'll tell you right now, the only spitting of beverages that has occurred in my vicinity since I bought it comes after I play it then mention how little I paid for it.[/quote]
i like it.looks wicked in all black.

[P-Nutz]

... Peavey Generation EX Custom for $199, all colors.

I just ordered black, to complement my blonde Tele ...


Peace.