Peavey Generation EX Tele thoughts?

Wildhawk · June 18th, 2007, 08:10 PM

They look like a good base to upgrade on. Feedback from any owners/players of them appreciated.

ole6string · June 18th, 2007, 08:36 PM

I had one a couple of years ago. Was a great guitar for the money. I really liked the body shape, it seemed to balance well and was comfortable to hold. I sold it in a moment of insanity. I should have kept it. It would have been a fun guitar to mod.

Maybe I need another one.

jwells393 · June 18th, 2007, 08:36 PM

Why bother? You could get an Affinity Telecaster for less and have something that looked like a Telecaster and not like this...........

....................

Momotoro · June 18th, 2007, 08:50 PM

why do non-tele shape garner such responses from some great thinking people?

incaowns · June 18th, 2007, 10:45 PM

mmm...sexy...

EunosFD · June 18th, 2007, 10:47 PM

Agreed, it's refreshing to have some variety and the Omniac (as pictured above) is a decent looking guitar. However, I believe the Generation referred to by the OP is their older much more Tele'esque looking model. They had a model called the Reactor as well which was even more traditional. Most if not all Generations I've seen were rear routed with either a flat or carved top (some with figured maple) whereas the Reactors had a pickguard and were top routed like a traditional Tele.

Jason R. · June 19th, 2007, 12:50 AM

I modded a '94 Peavey Reactor I got on eBay for $150. Jerry Donahue in the bridge with a SD '59 HB in the neck. Love it. Solid guitars.

RomanS · June 19th, 2007, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwells393

Why bother? You could get an Affinity Telecaster for less and have something that looked like a Telecaster and not like this...........

....................

From testing both at guitar stores a number of times, I have to say, the Peavey is much better by far than the Squier Affinity Tele, both in construction/playability and sound - while the Affinity feels like what it is - a cheap entry level guitar, almost more of a toy - the Peavey feels like a well-made, but competitively priced real guitar...

tlsmack · June 19th, 2007, 06:28 PM

Not a huge Peavey fan, but they are nicer than most Squiers. I think the Gen Ex ofers some great pickup combinations also.

ole6string · June 20th, 2007, 10:48 AM

Oh great! Thanks for this post. Now I think I have to have one of these. Uhg!!!

franchelB · June 20th, 2007, 06:48 PM

I played a friend's Peavey Reactor (T-type guitar), and I swear I was hearing Tele sounds! Highly underrated guitar!!

Jellecaster · June 20th, 2007, 07:56 PM

No idea about the Generation FX or Reactor, but I have an Omniac JD and say what you will, it is a GREAT guitar. Sounds good, feels good, looks good, is good - mmmmm good.

1.JPG

Sleph · June 20th, 2007, 11:21 PM

Quote:

while the Affinity feels like what it is - a cheap entry level guitar, almost more of a toy - the Peavey feels like a well-made, but competitively priced real guitar...

+1

ole6string · June 25th, 2007, 09:44 PM

Well I played a lovely Peavey Generation EX today in a very nice tobacco sunburst finish. I gotta tell you, I think this is a great guitar for the money. Workmanship seemed great. Finish was flawless, frets were perfectly dressed which is the first time I have seen that on a chinese made guitar or most any guitar anymore. The neck is big and fat and felt very comfy in the hands. The neck appeared to be tinted and had a lovely feel. Vintage style tuners.

I was pleasantly surprise with the pickups as well, both pickups sounded great but the neck pickup sounded exceptionally good. The design of the body is very comfortable to hold and not too heavy.
I used to own one of the Generations that had the HSS configuration and to be honest the quality in this guitar blows that away.

Electronics are what you would expect, could stand a new switch, jack and pots but they still felt reliable.

All in all I was very impressed with this inexpensive little guitar. Now I have to try and talk myself out of going back tomorrow to buy it.

jtricer1973 · November 25th, 2007, 09:54 PM

Hey guy's , I am new here but thought I would put in my 2 cents. I just bought a Peavey Generation EX sunburst finish with standard tele setup. It was $10.00 more than the Squire and I have to tell you it is far and away a much better guitar. Believe me, play the Squire then play the Peavey and you will agree. Also the pickups in the Peavey sound great. The finish is excellent and the neck is finished with a nicely tinted finish giving it a vintage look. Also the peavey is string through the body while the Squire is not. Now that I think about it, my Generation is about 3 times the guitar the Squire is and I LOVE it!

RetroDaddy · January 25th, 2008, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wildhawk

They look like a good base to upgrade on. Feedback from any owners/players of them appreciated.

Wildhawk, I thought the same thing. A nice looking, inexpensive, Tele platform that I could mod into a really good sounding tele. Today I had thirty minutes to kill before my business luncheon. Went to my local shop and they had the Tobacco burst version of the Gen Ex telecaster.

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 perfect combination. The last guitar I saw with a burst finish this good was from the Gibson Custom Shop. Pictures don't do some guitars justice and you have to see this finish in person to appreciate it.

Others have mentioned the nicely shaped neck and tinted finish. The tint is perfect, nails the Fender look and it makes the whole guitar look vintage and proper. 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.

They really nailed it by putting vintage Kluson style metal tuners on the headstock. They work great and complement the rest of the vintage look of the guitar.

The POTS and volume controls don't seem cheap like Squire POTS or Hamer Slammer POTS, they look and work like high quality Telecaster POTS and the chrome housing appears to be of high quality.

The chrome ashtray at the bridge appears to be adequite. I had to adjust the set up because the action was too high and it was easy to adjust the height and intonation.

The thing is a tone monster! 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. That might just be because the neck pickup is so extraordinary. I think it may be a reverse wound Keith Richards style neck pick up. I'm going to play the guitar as is for a few months just to see what I think long term before I swap out the bridge pickup.

You really don't have to do any upgrades on this guitar. It's a $500 guitar masquerading as a $200 guitar. I bought it today on the spot!

boris bubbanov · January 25th, 2008, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwells393

....................

It could very well be a $ 500 guitar passing for a $ 200 guitar.

It'd be far better if it looked nothing at all like a Tele. I'd rather a product have its own separate visual space. An ambiguous 'Changeling' is always my last choice.

It looks like a man passing for a woman. Sorry.

Bubbanov

scottwatermusic · January 25th, 2008, 11:53 AM

I think the newer Peavey models look pretty good. There are many more less appealing models out there. As far as quality... Yeah these things a definately better than an affinity series Squier (and I'm a fan of those too).

As for the Peavey Reactors, well I have a '94 model (white) and it is my main guitar for gigging. The only thing thing that I want to upgrade would be the tuners. But it stays in tune gigging for 4-5 songs. Just picking it up at home and playing it, it's almost always in tune.

RetroDaddy · January 25th, 2008, 12:47 PM

To each his own. I think the shape of the Peavey Gen Ex body looks as good or better than a Tele body. I've not seen a Fender tobacco burst finish as good as the burst finish on the Peavey. For those with similar tastes this is one hell of a Tele for the money.

I am partial to the shape of the headstock of a Tele but the vintage tint on the Peavey neck and the vintage tuners and the shape of the neck and the quality of the piece of wood on my guitar is so good there's no reason to replace it.

But for those of you that have to have a Tele headstock you could easily buy a licensed headstock from Warmoth or get a used tele headstock and put it on the Peavey body and use the Peavey tuners and the rest of the Peavey rig.

That's one thing that is so cool about buying inexpensive guitars. You have so much money left over you can have fun making all kinds of mods if you want to. The set up on my Peavey was way to high so today I spent 45 minuts adjusting the truss rod and string height and intonation. I can't find any flaws with this thing now that it's set up right.

Incredible bargain for under $200 brand new.

bluescube · January 25th, 2008, 01:06 PM

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

scottwatermusic · January 25th, 2008, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetroDaddy

To each his own. I think the shape of the Peavey Gen Ex body looks as good or better than a Tele body. I've not seen a Fender tobacco burst finish as good as the burst finish on the Peavey. For those with similar tastes this is one hell of a Tele for the money.

I am partial to the shape of the headstock of a Tele but the vintage tint on the Peavey neck and the vintage tuners and the shape of the neck and the quality of the piece of wood on my guitar is so good there's no reason to replace it.

But for those of you that have to have a Tele headstock you could easily buy a licensed headstock from Warmoth or get a used tele headstock and put it on the Peavey body and use the Peavey tuners and the rest of the Peavey rig.

That's one thing that is so cool about buying inexpensive guitars. You have so much money left over you can have fun making all kinds of mods if you want to. The set up on my Peavey was way to high so today I spent 45 minuts adjusting the truss rod and string height and intonation. I can't find any flaws with this thing now that it's set up right.

Incredible bargain for under $200 brand new.

I'm pretty sure that a Fender neck will not fit on a Peavey. The Peavey neck is wider.

RetroDaddy · January 25th, 2008, 06:19 PM

BluesCube...you're right. The Yam Pacific and Gen Ex Tele standard look very similar. That Yam has a humbucker (double coil) front pickup whereas the Gen Ex tele standard has a single coil. I'm pretty sure the single coil neck pickup is reverse wound Keith Richards style. You gotta hear the tone from that thing!

If its' true that a Fender neck is too wide for a Peavey Gen Ex body then depending on how far off it is it would be easy to make it fit by routing or otherwise removing some of the material from the Peavey body cavity making the body cavity wider to accomodate the Fender neck or one could by shave some material off the base of the Fender neck to fit it into the existing Peavey Body cavity or you could do some combination of both.

Hard to know for sure what would work best since I haven't done it yet myself and haven't measured a Peavey Body Cav or the base of a Fender neck to see if they are sized differently and if so by how much.

There's a 95% chance that if it's not a natural fit a mod like this can be done by somebody with a bit of skill with woodworking. About all that would be needed is a router, a couple of chisels, hammer and a dremel or roto zip or other such high speed grider/sander.

Be interesting to know if anybody on the site has tried this mod yet? How about it fellas?

RomanS · January 26th, 2008, 05:24 AM

According to "scottwatermusic", the Peavey neck is wider, so a Fender neck would be too narrow, leaving a gap, no routing or shaving is going to help here; also 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.

But anyway, as much as I like the Generation as a very good entry-level model that works right out of the box, it doesn't make much sense to get one as a platform for modding with another neck - even if it would fit (which apparently won't be the case), once you add the price for a Warmoth neck, you start hitting price regions where you can also get nice MIM Teles or Lite Ash Teles, which are the Generation's direct competition, quality- (not price- !) wise, from Fender.

RetroDaddy · January 26th, 2008, 04:46 PM

Scottwater said he's "pretty sure" a Peavey neck is wider not certain. I haven't measured it to know for sure. So if anyone out there is thinking about putting a Fender neck on a Peavey I'd measure it up beforehand to see if it will work.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say the scale will be off? Do you mean the Fender neck would simply be a different length because if it were to fit I don't see why that would be a problem???? Can you explain further???

The reason I would consider doing a mod like this is because it would be a cool project, I like the Peavey Tobacco burst finish and body better than Fender's version and I think the Peavey sounds better than the comparable priced Fender. So I'd do a project like this for fun and to end up with a custom guitar that's exactly the way I want it!!!!!

June 18th, 2007, 08:10 PM	#1 (permalink)
Wildhawk Tele-Meister Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Madison WI Posts: 404	Peavey Generation EX Tele thoughts? They look like a good base to upgrade on. Feedback from any owners/players of them appreciated.

June 18th, 2007, 08:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
jwells393 Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Albuquerque, USA Age: 64 Posts: 11,918 101 Photos	Why bother? You could get an Affinity Telecaster for less and have something that looked like a Telecaster and not like this........... .................... __________________ Jack's Disclaimer: When I say something.... always ask yourself ..... "What the hell does he know?" _ Guys - learn to disable the flash on your digital cameras.

June 18th, 2007, 08:50 PM	#4 (permalink)
Momotoro Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: germantown, tn Age: 56 Posts: 430	Why? why do non-tele shape garner such responses from some great thinking people?

June 18th, 2007, 10:45 PM	#5 (permalink)
incaowns Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hong kong. Age: 17 Posts: 453	mmm...sexy... __________________ Sonic Blue Fender 69' Reissue Mustang. Inca Silver Fender 98' American Standard Telecaster. Faded Wine Mahogany Gibson 03' Les Paul Vintage Mahoany. Lapis Blue Maple Quilt Top Ibanez 03' SZ520.

June 19th, 2007, 12:50 AM	#7 (permalink)
Jason R. Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2006 Location: Coronado, CA Age: 35 Posts: 259	I modded a '94 Peavey Reactor I got on eBay for $150. Jerry Donahue in the bridge with a SD '59 HB in the neck. Love it. Solid guitars. __________________ Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise. Psalm 33:3 '94 AS Tele > TS-9 > DD-3 > Deluxe Reverb Fly Navy! www.hsl49.navy.mil

June 18th, 2007, 08:36 PM	#2 (permalink)
ole6string Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Williamsport, PA Age: 39 Posts: 178	I had one a couple of years ago. Was a great guitar for the money. I really liked the body shape, it seemed to balance well and was comfortable to hold. I sold it in a moment of insanity. I should have kept it. It would have been a fun guitar to mod. Maybe I need another one.

June 18th, 2007, 10:47 PM	#6 (permalink)
EunosFD Tele-Meister Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: MD Posts: 342	Agreed, it's refreshing to have some variety and the Omniac (as pictured above) is a decent looking guitar. However, I believe the Generation referred to by the OP is their older much more Tele'esque looking model. They had a model called the Reactor as well which was even more traditional. Most if not all Generations I've seen were rear routed with either a flat or carved top (some with figured maple) whereas the Reactors had a pickguard and were top routed like a traditional Tele.

June 19th, 2007, 06:28 PM	#9 (permalink)
tlsmack Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Lonk I-lant, New York Posts: 359 42 Photos	Not a huge Peavey fan, but they are nicer than most Squiers. I think the Gen Ex ofers some great pickup combinations also.

June 20th, 2007, 10:48 AM	#10 (permalink)
ole6string Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Williamsport, PA Age: 39 Posts: 178	Oh great! Thanks for this post. Now I think I have to have one of these. Uhg!!!

June 20th, 2007, 06:48 PM	#11 (permalink)
franchelB Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Irving, United States of Texas! Age: 43 Posts: 1,848	I played a friend's Peavey Reactor (T-type guitar), and I swear I was hearing Tele sounds! Highly underrated guitar!! __________________ Feel free to visit my homepage! http://www.myspace.com/francisbalagtas

June 20th, 2007, 07:56 PM	#12 (permalink)
Jellecaster Friend of Leo's Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: New Hampshire, USA Age: 40 Posts: 2,085	No idea about the Generation FX or Reactor, but I have an Omniac JD and say what you will, it is a GREAT guitar. Sounds good, feels good, looks good, is good - mmmmm good. 1.JPG

June 25th, 2007, 09:44 PM	#14 (permalink)
ole6string Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Williamsport, PA Age: 39 Posts: 178	Well I played a lovely Peavey Generation EX today in a very nice tobacco sunburst finish. I gotta tell you, I think this is a great guitar for the money. Workmanship seemed great. Finish was flawless, frets were perfectly dressed which is the first time I have seen that on a chinese made guitar or most any guitar anymore. The neck is big and fat and felt very comfy in the hands. The neck appeared to be tinted and had a lovely feel. Vintage style tuners. I was pleasantly surprise with the pickups as well, both pickups sounded great but the neck pickup sounded exceptionally good. The design of the body is very comfortable to hold and not too heavy. I used to own one of the Generations that had the HSS configuration and to be honest the quality in this guitar blows that away. Electronics are what you would expect, could stand a new switch, jack and pots but they still felt reliable. All in all I was very impressed with this inexpensive little guitar. Now I have to try and talk myself out of going back tomorrow to buy it.

November 25th, 2007, 09:54 PM	#15 (permalink)
jtricer1973 NEW MEMBER! Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Little Rock, Arkansas Age: 35 Posts: 3	Hey guy's , I am new here but thought I would put in my 2 cents. I just bought a Peavey Generation EX sunburst finish with standard tele setup. It was $10.00 more than the Squire and I have to tell you it is far and away a much better guitar. Believe me, play the Squire then play the Peavey and you will agree. Also the pickups in the Peavey sound great. The finish is excellent and the neck is finished with a nicely tinted finish giving it a vintage look. Also the peavey is string through the body while the Squire is not. Now that I think about it, my Generation is about 3 times the guitar the Squire is and I LOVE it!

January 25th, 2008, 11:53 AM	#18 (permalink)
scottwatermusic Tele-Meister Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Hattiesburg, MS Age: 33 Posts: 129 3 Photos	I think the newer Peavey models look pretty good. There are many more less appealing models out there. As far as quality... Yeah these things a definately better than an affinity series Squier (and I'm a fan of those too). As for the Peavey Reactors, well I have a '94 model (white) and it is my main guitar for gigging. The only thing thing that I want to upgrade would be the tuners. But it stays in tune gigging for 4-5 songs. Just picking it up at home and playing it, it's almost always in tune.

January 25th, 2008, 12:47 PM	#19 (permalink)
RetroDaddy TDPRI Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Middletown, CT Posts: 85	To each his own. I think the shape of the Peavey Gen Ex body looks as good or better than a Tele body. I've not seen a Fender tobacco burst finish as good as the burst finish on the Peavey. For those with similar tastes this is one hell of a Tele for the money. I am partial to the shape of the headstock of a Tele but the vintage tint on the Peavey neck and the vintage tuners and the shape of the neck and the quality of the piece of wood on my guitar is so good there's no reason to replace it. But for those of you that have to have a Tele headstock you could easily buy a licensed headstock from Warmoth or get a used tele headstock and put it on the Peavey body and use the Peavey tuners and the rest of the Peavey rig. That's one thing that is so cool about buying inexpensive guitars. You have so much money left over you can have fun making all kinds of mods if you want to. The set up on my Peavey was way to high so today I spent 45 minuts adjusting the truss rod and string height and intonation. I can't find any flaws with this thing now that it's set up right. Incredible bargain for under $200 brand new.

January 25th, 2008, 01:06 PM	#20 (permalink)
bluescube Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Greensboro NC Age: 41 Posts: 1,062 6 Photos	Seems similar to the old Yamaha Pacifica tele styles, eg. the 311MS for example

January 25th, 2008, 06:19 PM	#22 (permalink)
RetroDaddy TDPRI Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Middletown, CT Posts: 85	BluesCube...you're right. The Yam Pacific and Gen Ex Tele standard look very similar. That Yam has a humbucker (double coil) front pickup whereas the Gen Ex tele standard has a single coil. I'm pretty sure the single coil neck pickup is reverse wound Keith Richards style. You gotta hear the tone from that thing! If its' true that a Fender neck is too wide for a Peavey Gen Ex body then depending on how far off it is it would be easy to make it fit by routing or otherwise removing some of the material from the Peavey body cavity making the body cavity wider to accomodate the Fender neck or one could by shave some material off the base of the Fender neck to fit it into the existing Peavey Body cavity or you could do some combination of both. Hard to know for sure what would work best since I haven't done it yet myself and haven't measured a Peavey Body Cav or the base of a Fender neck to see if they are sized differently and if so by how much. There's a 95% chance that if it's not a natural fit a mod like this can be done by somebody with a bit of skill with woodworking. About all that would be needed is a router, a couple of chisels, hammer and a dremel or roto zip or other such high speed grider/sander. Be interesting to know if anybody on the site has tried this mod yet? How about it fellas?

January 26th, 2008, 05:24 AM	#23 (permalink)
RomanS Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Vienna, Austria Age: 36 Posts: 2,713 14 Photos	According to "scottwatermusic", the Peavey neck is wider, so a Fender neck would be too narrow, leaving a gap, no routing or shaving is going to help here; also 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. But anyway, as much as I like the Generation as a very good entry-level model that works right out of the box, it doesn't make much sense to get one as a platform for modding with another neck - even if it would fit (which apparently won't be the case), once you add the price for a Warmoth neck, you start hitting price regions where you can also get nice MIM Teles or Lite Ash Teles, which are the Generation's direct competition, quality- (not price- !) wise, from Fender. __________________ http://www.pbase.com/romans http://www.myspace.com/romans212

January 26th, 2008, 04:46 PM	#24 (permalink)
RetroDaddy TDPRI Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Middletown, CT Posts: 85	Scottwater said he's "pretty sure" a Peavey neck is wider not certain. I haven't measured it to know for sure. So if anyone out there is thinking about putting a Fender neck on a Peavey I'd measure it up beforehand to see if it will work. I'm not sure what you mean when you say the scale will be off? Do you mean the Fender neck would simply be a different length because if it were to fit I don't see why that would be a problem???? Can you explain further??? The reason I would consider doing a mod like this is because it would be a cool project, I like the Peavey Tobacco burst finish and body better than Fender's version and I think the Peavey sounds better than the comparable priced Fender. So I'd do a project like this for fun and to end up with a custom guitar that's exactly the way I want it!!!!!