New to the site.

[RM II]

I'm new here and look forward to learning from ya'll and joining in on some topics. I'll be checking in from time to time to keep everyone in line.

Little about me real quick. Been playing about 15 years. Main guitar is a Peavey Vandenberg buy my Warlock may take that title as I get used to it. Live in Indiana and gig with a cover/originals band. Enjoy everything from No Doubt to Megadeth to Disturbed. Big 80's hard rock fan first and foremost.

Hope to get to know some or all of you. Be good!

Pat

[EricV]

Peavey Vandenberg ? Cool !!!
Welcome to the site :)
Are you the guy who wrote about the PV Vandenberg in my guestbook ?
Eric

[Guni]

Hi RM II,

Welcome to the forums.

I'll cu around.

Guni

[RM II]

Yeah that'd be me, Eric.

I found this site about two weeks ago and have enjoyed coming back here and checking out what folks have to say and reading the articles. Good stuff!

[EricV]

Hi again...

well, thanks for the entry and I´m glad you like it. Nice to meet a fellow PV Vandenberg-player.
Did you do any modification on yours ? I replaced the pickups on them ( I did that on all Vandenbergs I own(ed) ), and just recently, I had a luthier change the position of the toggle-switch:
It now is where the neck-PU- volume knob used to be, and the latter now is where the switch one was... so that knob and the toggle switch were swapped.
I like that way better, the switch now is easier to reach for me... it didn´t bother me on the "stripped" one as much, because on that one, the trem is blocked.
But on the red one, it was sometimes tough to use the switch because it was right below the whammy bar, which usually is hanging down.
So I had that luthier do this modification, and I love it...

BTW, did you ever post your serial-#s at the Peavey board. According to those guys, the red one´s a `89, while the unfinished one is an 88-model...

Warm regards
Eric

[RM II]

Pretty cool to be able to talk to someone else that has a Vandy or two.

The only mod that I have done so far is to put a D-Tuna on my red one (therefore the trem is now blocked). I would like to replace the bridge pickup at least. It just doesn't have the punch or clarity anymore that I want. I was thinking of going with either a SD Jeff Beck humbucker or a Bill Lawrence hb due to the great things I've read about his pickups. Funny you should ask about this because I was wondering what you went with for pickups.

I have not posted the numbers but I know for a fact the black one I have was made in '89 (stamped on the heel). The red one I have is a color the guy told me was called 'sunfire red'. If I remember correctly, I bought it in '90. He told me they quit making the 'fire engine red' sort of color and that is what they went to for a red.

I bought the red one brand new and the other used about 6 years ago.

Have you seen or played the "new" V-Type series Peaveys? Just a re-release of the Vandys but I'm curious about the quality.

[EricV]

Hi,

Yeah, they changed their color-code a bit throughout the years of production. They changed quite a few things, actually. I own three of them, and they all have different vibrato-systems.
The red one has a Kahler 2700... that´s the one where you leave the ballend on the string. You pull it through the system from the back ( where you usually have the clamping-screws ), which is quite useful and just as functional as a regular FR-license system.

The "stripped" one has a Kahler Spyder. This one is blocked cuz on that guitar, I prefer the feel and sound of a blocked system, and the system was used up beyond being useable. You can replace the knife-edges, but unused ones are hard to find these days... Kahler has been out of business for a while

The black one has another version of the Spyder. On that one, you can loosen and tighten all screws with both an allen wrench and a screwdriver... they have a slot for flathead-tips.
Also, the necks on the 88 and the 89 system are quite different.. the older models neck is a bit rounder and, to me, more comfortable to play.

Here is a cool site with lots of info about the different versions: CLICK (http://www.geocities.com/vandenberget/)

Regarding pickups:
The red one has a Seymour Duncan Trembucker ( better bass response, less magnetic pull, hot PAF-style sound ) in the bridge position and a DiMarzio HS3 ( stacked humbucker ) in the neck position. I really like that combination.
The black one has a DiMarzio Tone Zone ( one of my favorite pickups ) in the bridge position and an HS2 in the neck
And the stripped one has a DiMarzio Double Whammy ( those are only made on custom order these days... they are similar to the Tone Zone and The Breed ) in the bridge and a Fast Track II ( humbucker in singlecoil-shape ) in the neck... the latter has blades instead of polepieces and therefore sounds quite balanced even when I do wide bends etc.

The Jeff Beck humbucker would be a good choice. I definitely recommend to check out the Seymour DUncan Custom Custom. It´s a GREAT pickup, sounds very round, fat and warm, abit like the pickups in the Music Man EVH ( I heard the Custom Custom was developed for Eddie ). One of my faves, although I use DiMarzios these days almost exclusively.

Other than the position-change of the knobs and switches and the replacing of pickups, I only had small modifications done,... the knifeedges on the red one were fixed ( filed and cleaned ), and I had those metal plates at the locking nut ( the ones that are pressed down onto the strings ) replaced by custom made ones... those are bigger and fit into the slots EXACTLY... ever since then, the guitar stays in tune WAY better, since the original ones were a tiny bit too small.
Oh yeah, the black one has a 2way mini-switch installed, which splits the Tone Zone...
Gee... gotta love those Vandenbergs, huh ?
BTW, the "fire engine red" was called "laser red" :rolleyes:

Haven´t had a chance to check out the V-Type yet, I´d like too tough. I consider the original Vandenbergs one of the best "superstrat" ever made, very reliable, sturdy, innovative ( the 2 degree pickup-slanting was a wonderful idea ) with a great sound ( I use it for pretty much every style... ), and I hope that the V-Type canlive up to that... they have different components, so I hope I won´t be disappointed. It was time for PV to bring those guitars back, there have been lots of requests...
Warm regards
Eric

NP: Dixie Dregs- Night Of The Living Dregs

[RM II]

Heh, heh.

Interesting stuff isn't it? (your website link)
I found that site last year sometime just doing a search. I would love to find somebody with a puzzle guitar or a quilt top and they didn't know what they had! "$200? Yeah, I guess that's a fair price." LOL

The black one I have has a 2700 series Kahler while the red one is the Spyder unit. It bums me out that you can't get new parts for them anymore. I have a favorite search set up on ebay for Kahler trems.

Saw a pink one about 3 years ago in a pawn shop for $200 in good shape and kick myself every once in awhile for not getting it. Saw a quilt top for sale on the net 3 or 4 months ago but they wanted an arm and a leg for it.

Sounds like you've modified yours pretty well. I've always been afraid to do too much and end up regretting it. You can't find 'em on every street corner like a Fender Strat.

[EricV]

Yeah, a student of mine recently bought a black one ( almost unused ! ) for like $350. She needed to get a new guitar, and I recommended the Vandenberg, so she bought it.
I told her that, if she ever wants to sell it, to give me a call ;)

Pretty much all of the modifications can be changed back. I can easily replace the toggle switch with the neck volume knob again, and I kept the original pickups.
The changes regarding the locking nuts and knife edges were necessary, because the vibrato systems didn´t stay in tune... they were used up after years of use and abuse ;)
You´ll hardly notice when you look at it. Only difference is that those little metal plates at the locking nut of the red one are made from stainless steel... grey one, not black. So it looks different.
One of my students is a toolmaker, and he is quite talented and enjoys making replacement parts for guitar-components. So when I approached him about the replacements I needed, he did them in a heartbeat. He did a great job and I am quite happy that everything works again.
Other than the whammy bar-components ( and its normal that they are used up after a while... it´s like that with every FR-style vibrato system ), I never had a problem... my Vandenbergs have gone through a LOT of shows, have been dropped to the floor ( I tend to lose control a bit at the end of a show :rolleyes: ), travelled many many miles with me... never had a problem, they´re really sturdy...
Eric