Peavey Raptor Plus project

[zipseattle]

Picked up this older Peavey Raptor Plus off of eBay for a song, I think mostly because it had a missing nut for the output jack, a bent selector switch, and the sides of the neck pocket were damaged. This is from 1982, it has a plywood body, and it's not a classic so I'm using it to try some things - update the volume and tone controls, repair the neck pocket damage, contour the heel, and refinish the body. The neck has a bit too much forward bow, even with the truss rod loosened entirely, so that will be a challenge. Will stick with the current pickups for now, but that could change.

 

[zipseattle]

Repair on the neck pocket: Saturated the cracks with thin CA super glue until the cracks would not wick in anymore. Then for the area missing a chunk and the displaced area of the largest crack, I built up layers of wood flour sprinkled in wet CA, making sure each layer of wood flour was saturated, creating a big lump. After about ten minutes or so the broken area cured enough to shape with files and a Dremel. Now the repair is harder then the surrounding wood.

I also filled in the unneeded screw hole with a dowel since I'll be changing the screw location for the contour neck plate.

I won't be stripping the finish - the polyester filler and top coat are super hard and smooth and have been curing for over 40 years! I'm sanding and repairing dings and then will prime etc.

 

[zipseattle]

Over the years the filler and paint shrank into the underlying pattern of the plywood leaving horizontal lines when viewed at certain angles. I'm block sanding until those disappear.

The body weighs 3 lbs 10-1/2 ozs and resonates nicely when tapped - no thuds.

 

[zipseattle]

More sanding and using automotive glazing putty to finish up the repairs.

Creating the contour. Used CA to seal and coat the exposed wood.

 

[mtjo62]

Those are good guitars. Same as the Predator Plus models which had ceramic HSS PUs and a 2 point trem. I also have a USA Firenza P90 model with the same body and neck as yours. Yours is more likely 92 which was the Leakesville/Wolfgang era. My buddy and I bought up 5 of the Predators we liked them so much. We figured the necks were USA and maybe some the bodies and they were shipped off to S Korea for final assembly.

 

[Scooter91]

I've got one of those in the pile with a brush applied barn red paint job. You might have given me the itch to dig that guy out and see if I can bring him back to life!

 

[24 track]

I found a predator plus in south paw that some kid bought on impulse then wanted to trade it in because it played bad for him it needed a set up, less than a 100.00 cdn with a Floyd Rose on it. I did replace the pickups with Lace Alumatones now its dead quiet. I use it as my test guitar in the shop any noise and I know its the amp I am working on.

 

[zipseattle]

First coat of primer. I use self etching primer because it sticks really well to the underlying finish. They are pretty thin coats and they don’t cover well, if you look closely, you can see some sharpie marks underneath.

The neck pocket repairs turned out pretty well. there are a few areas that I will address with some very thin glazing putty. Then I’ll use a high build primer.

 

[zipseattle]

 

[zipseattle]

Working on the neck: I misspoke in my first post - the neck has a very pronounced forward bow, even with the truss rod tightened as far as possible. DISCLAIMER: I take no responsibility if anyone ruins a neck using the following method (though this is the second neck I've used this on successfully).

1) First I made a neck straightening jig - about $10 for the materials at the big box store.

Preparation - Jig, clamps, and shims to reverse the forward bow.

2) Ready for heat. I loosened the truss rod completely so there was zero tension and then created a back bow roughly equal to the existing forward bow with the idea that the wood will spring back to straight when the process is done.

3) Heat treatment - I placed in a cold oven, and then set the temp at 175* Fahrenheit. Once the oven reached temp I kept it there for just over an hour, then turned off the oven and let it cool naturally. After the neck reached room temperature, I tightened up the truss rod firmly before removing it from the clamps and jig.

Now the neck is visually dead straight. It will be a while before the guitar is ready for assembly so I'll monitor to see if there are any changes.

 

[zipseattle]

Trying something different based on this video:



The guitar has master volume and tone pots. I’m switching out the tone control for this “revoicer”. Very curious to see how it turns out.

 

[zipseattle]

Progress has been very slow. Surface is about as good as I’ll be able to get it in terms of smoothness. Still deciding on a color…

 

[Zarkon]

Cool project! I love seeing folks put some care into forgotten guitars to make them useful again. The Raptor Plus didn't show up until the mid-late 90s if I'm not mistaken, back in 1982 it was still just the T series guitars.

 

[zipseattle]

Cool project! I love seeing folks put some care into forgotten guitars to make them useful again. The Raptor Plus didn't show up until the mid-late 90s if I'm not mistaken, back in 1982 it was still just the T series guitars.

I originally thought it was from 1982 based on looking up the serial number on the neck plate. Then I found out that that only applies to USA-built Peaveys. This was built in either China or Korea from what I've been able to find out, so I'll roll with your and mtjo62's estimates.

 

[Zarkon]

I originally thought it was from 1982 based on looking up the serial number on the neck plate. Then I found out that that only applies to USA-built Peaveys. This was built in either China or Korea from what I've been able to find out, so I'll roll with your and mtjo62's estimates.

Yes indeed! They were well into their import era by this point. Have you given any more thought to the pickups and electronics? If Peavey guitars and basses at the lower end of their price range had a weakness, it would have been that, even dating back to the tail end of their US production.

 

[zipseattle]

Yes indeed! They were well into their import era by this point. Have you given any more thought to the pickups and electronics? If Peavey guitars and basses at the lower end of their price range had a weakness, it would have been that, even dating back to the tail end of their US production.

Still going with the original pickups and the re-voicer (post #11) instead of a tone control. I have a set of Bootstrap single coils that I've had for years on standby.

For color, I'm leaning towards the olive green of the first primer coat. Did that years ago with a Squier that I gifted to a friends daughter - sprayed it, then went over it lightly with 1000 grit to give it a nice flat, almost satin, finish. Here's an old picture (and thread) of that guitar.

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