What to do with my Peavey Raptor International?

[vroom]

Greetings.

Background info
I've had my Peavey starter kit for about 9 years (I'm 18 now). It included the Peavey Raptor International guitar, Peavey Rage amp, soft case, etc. The Peavey Rage amp's input went out on me and ended up in the shed. Didn't care for it at all... that thing sounded terrible!

Anyway, I still have the Peavey Raptor. In fact, it's the only guitar that I've ever owned. I've always told myself that I'd buy a better guitar, but it's never happened. Same with the amp situation.

I've been using my Raptor with a Tascam US-122 to record and play through my computer speakers, using amp modeling in Apple's GarageBand.

What to do with it?
I'm still too cheap to buy a new guitar. But I'm wondering what I can do to make this Raptor better.

The tuners need to be upgraded. It never did really stay in tune perfectly and tuning was never really consistant. I'm considering blocking the tremolo to help with tuning stability. I also switch between standard and Drop D regularly. Which tuners would be a good deal for me?

I'm thinking of upgrading pickup(s). I've been playing with the bridge pup only because I like the fact that the treble comes out more. The other pups seem to be not as "bright" (I think that's the correct usage of the term).

I don't exactly know what I want in pups. The style of music I want to play is similar to Thrice, Nodes of Ranvier, screamo, powerful gain/distortion but still good in the cleans. The Peavey doesn't get me quite where I want. I can do the Blink-182 sound, but not the heavier stuff. There's quite a bit of twang, which I don't particularly care for. Does that get me any closer to narrowing down pup choices?

Amp?
If money wasn't an issue, I'd likely be playing a Gibson or PRS with a Mesa Boogie single rec., 5150, or Marshall half stack. But money is an issue, and I don't feel like dropping thousands on equipment. So I'm wondering how I can get this kind of style out of my Peavey Raptor, and an amp that can deliver that kind of sound at volumes loud enough to be heard over the drums in a club or bar setting, but not "stadium" loud.

I know, I'm probably aiming high, but why not? I'm sure some of you will enlighten me.

P.S. I recently "quieted the beast," but I don't know how much of a difference it made since I don't even have an amp.

[UnklMickey]

vroom said:

....What to do with it?
I'm still too cheap to buy a new guitar. But I'm wondering what I can do to make this Raptor better.

The tuners need to be upgraded. It never did really stay in tune perfectly and tuning was never really consistant. I'm considering blocking the tremolo to help with tuning stability. I also switch between standard and Drop D regularly. Which tuners would be a good deal for me?...

since you're too cheap to buy a new guitar, you'll want to get the best value for your $ when you buy new parts.

best i can think of is:

store.guitarfetish.com/

you won't find any tuners in their clearance section, but at $20~30 a set, they are good quality knock-offs for tasty prices.

the best tuners in the world won't fix your stability problems if your "trem" isn't stable, so you might want to try blocking it first. maybe you won't even need new tuners.



unk

[vroom]

Thanks, unk.

I'll definitely try blockin the trem first. Some of the tuning posts have loosened and they're the closed style. I've read around that this is when to replace.

Basically this is all new and an experiment for me. I really don't know what to look for in a guitar, amp, pickups, etc. This is really the only guitar I've ever played with and it's starting to show its use. These guitars sell for less than $50 nowadays, so it's not exactly smart to sink a bunch of money into them.

I'm starting to realize that I'll never get to play live if I don't have the necessary equipment. And that's starting to tick me off, so I'm trying to do something about it without breaking the bank.

I appreciate any help or words of wisdom that you guys have to give. Hopefully you'll understand that this site can be a bit daunting with all of the terms and jargon a newcomer may not understand, so bear with me.

[Mini-Strat_Maine]

I take it you have the Raptor I (1), the Strat copy? I found one collection of reviews on Harmony Central, some of which seem to have mixed the Strat-copy Raptor I and the Tele-copy Raptor II. The 1, 1 International Series, Junior, Plus (three types?) and Special are also reviewed. This is the only pic I found on the Web of one: www.blackhawkwebdesign.com/images/peavey.jpg

The reviewers on HC were generally positive. At least two of them mentioned the guitar not staying in tune, and one thought that might be due to the way the neck is mounted. Feedback was also mentioned more than once, so when you get an amp, run the GN troubleshooting checklist and see if that's going to be an issue with yours. (Maybe replace the stock pups with some that have their coils saturated [potted].)

Some of the HC reviewers may have mentioned specific things they did to make theirs more playable: www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/Peavey

Keep your eyes open for a good used amp, something that will let you get a feel for what you like about the guitar and what you might want to change.

Rock on!

--
Doug C.

[vroom]

Tonight I put in the trem block, but still think I should get new tuners. Not necessarily because of stability problems, but because one of the tuners popped out before I could restring. So the choices for the inexpensive tuners on Guitar Fetish are Gotoh, Kluson, or EZ-LOK. I'm thinking I'd prefer a locking tuner after the tuning problems I've had with this guitar and also for ease of restringing.

I've been looking around at pickups more, specifically hot single coils. The choices I'm seeing mentioned are P-90s, Fast Track 1 and 2, and Hot Rails. It seems that the Fast Tracks are geared for mid to lows, and I'm looking for something not so muddy with good highs and crunch. Don't exactly know which one would be best.

[mlrpa]

I understand about wanting/needed a new guitar. True, a new guitar could set you back some money, but so could doing a total rebuild/upgrade. 30 for tuners, 10 for a nut, 50-150 for pickups, you see?
There has to be a small, local shop in your town. Go there, check out the used guitars in the price range you can afford, and try to work out some payment plan You don't need a lot of money for a great guitar. The total amount for my 4 electrics is $265 (US). My 87 Aria Pro II (Prototype) cost $70, My Ibanez 87 PRO540R was $45, a 72 Penco Les Paul Copy was $50, and the most expensive, my 76 Univox Hi Flyer Phase 4, was a whopping $100! If you look hard enough, you WILL find a bargan or two.

[eljib]

I agree with mlrpa's advice. I have pieced together a few guitars before and they always come out more expensive than a total package instrument. If you are going to buy anything new for your axe, you might as well spend bigger money on a quality product. But that might not be practical for a guitar that goes for $50 because you probably will find that you want to replace more things as time goes on. Better to start off with a good guitar than to try to transform a junker. I know this because I just can't seem to get away from doing this same thing myself. Only once has it been rewarding.

There's no rule that says you can have only one guitar. Save up a few bucks and go looking around town for one that you HAVE to have (in other words, don't just buy something because it fits your budget). Make sure that it plays well and sounds like what you need it to. Or you could take that money and order a kit. Just for kicks I ordered the SAGA Les Paul type kit, and after putting it all together it's actually a very cool guitar. You can finish them the way you like, cut your own(or someone else's) peghead design, or just assemble and play like I did. All 5 designs (4 guitar & 1 bass) feature bolt on neck and basswood body, so I'll never fool anybody into thinking it's a Gibby, but those same features make for a really great tone, IMHO. The pickups sound great, and the whole experience really enhanced my knowledge of guitar construction and function. I believe that Wolf had very good things to say about the strat copies from SAGA, which I regularly see on eBay for $100 plus free shipping (check in the luthiers subsection)

Now then, with all that said, you really should consider your amp. I hated the sound of my '86 Fender Japan Strat (awesome quality guitar!), until I played through a decent Fender Champion 110 solid state amp and realized the problem with my tone was my entry level peavy amp. You may have a really great guitar on your hands and don't know it because of your amp situation.

If I got to choose for you I would get you the SAGA strat kit, and a megaswitch and then FORCE you to do the S-tastic mod. You would thank me later.
Total estimated cost = under $125
Total estimated return = Immeasuable happiness and pride, sweet second guitar, and lots of valuable guitar knowledge. How could you go wrong?

[vroom]

Trem blocking changed my life!!! Hehe. The guitar actually stays in tune now, no matter what. And this thing has SUuuSsssTttttAaaaIiiiiiNnnnnnn................................

Sorry, just a little overjoyed with this free mod. Merry Christmas (etc.) to everyone!

[Mini-Strat_Maine]

Hee, hee. There are no kids in my household, to watch as they gleefully open presents, so your most recent post is the next best thing.
Happy holidays; rock on.

[wolf]

eljib
Yes, I built a SAGA "Strat Style" kit guitar and found it to be great. Some people say you've got to change the pickups, the tuners, and so on. The only thing I "replaced" were the neck bolts (screws) because none came with the guitar. I found some strong wood screws in my workshop which were quite good. (The wood bolts (screws) that come with the guitar were eventually mailed to me and they are kind of flimsy). Also, I used a wiring scheme located at www.1728.com/guitar2.htm (yep that is my website) and that does make quite a difference.

vroom
You now seem to want to stick with your Peavey Raptor. Of course the choice is up to you.

[vroom]

I'll be keeping this thing around, as a second guitar at the very least. If you've seen the Schecter vs. Hamer thread, you know I'm thinking about a Schecter Blackjack S-1. Of course, I'll keep messing around with my Raptor to make it even better.

[UnklMickey]

wolf said:

....vroom
You now seem to want to stick with your Peavey Raptor. Of course the choice is up to you.

choice?

bah!

ADMIT you have the same addiction as the rest of us.

skip lunches, save money anywhere and everywhere you can, and get the money you need to upgrade the peavey as needed AND buy your next.

you don't have to buy all 10 of your guitars at once, but face it you're headed there. do what you need to, to eventually get there.



EDIT: i guess you posted while i was writing mine. i see you're not in denial.

so where does that used tube amp purchase come into the picture?

[vroom]

The amp comes before a new axe. Still researching, gathering opinions, and preparing to hunt down each model on my list. Stay tuned.

[vroom]

Hmm... just got offered a good deal on a new Schecter Blackjack S-1, as well as a Peavey Classic 30 that's barely been used.

Both are in the same location, only a few hours away from me...

GAS!!!!!
(Anybody else travel for gear?)

[bam]

bah!

ADMIT you have the same addiction as the rest of us.

:lol:

wow, you're really straightforward, righty, unk ?

vroom, this is my thought :

where do you play guitar ? Is it for hobby (at home only), or regular "Saturday-Night-Hero" gigs, or pro, or occassional only on school (college) events ?

If you're on a tight budget like me, think it well. If you're strictly a hobbyist and seldom goes out for gigs, then the "amp first" option is your choice. But if you goes out for gig regularly, you'd probably won't want to carry that heavy tube amp alone - unless you're a pro artist with some hired men and car to carry your gear wherever you go. And in most cases, usually your gigplace has a "standard", pretty decent mid-level tube or non-tube amp. I recommend the "guitar first" option here; just think about it : you can get a nice 2x12 used tube combo for $700; they would sound great, of course. but that's at your home. Instead of that, why don't you go for 2 $350-worthed guitars (or a $350 guitar and a few stompboxes) ? mind you, $350 is MORE THAN ENOUGH to build an axe that could surpass those $1350, or even $3500 ones, both in tone and playability. and stompboxes .. well, I doubt that there's a guitarist in this world that don't need one ever in his (her) life.

think wise, okay ? good luck ! remember the #1 rule in buying thingies - be patient, think and test over and over again.

[Mini-Strat_Maine]

vroom said:

GAS!!!!!
(Anybody else travel for gear?)

Oh, yeah, if it seems like a good deal. A few months ago, somebody in the next county north of me was offering a certain Fender amp for sale. After I read the HC reviews on those, I realized he had totally overstated the wattage of it. (Not deceptively, I don't think; many people were mistaken about the output of that model.) The HC reviews made me decide to look elsewhere.
From what I've read about (Hartley?) Peavey, he set out to make good stuff that the Average Working Stiff could afford. These comments kinda bear that out: www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Peavey/Classic_30-01.html

Happy huntin'.

[UnklMickey]

bam said:

...wow, you're really straightforward, righty, unk ?...

naw, you know me, i sugar-coat everything! .:rofl:.

[vroom]

Hmm. Since buying the 5150 combo, I've come to realize that my shielding did little to nothing in quieting the non-humbucking positions. I get a harsh hum/buzz in any SC mode, and when the amp's volume is up to "semi-rediculous" levels, I have a hard time avoiding feedback unless I flip to position 2 or 4.

I followed the instructions word for word. Only thing is I used "Reynolds Wrap Quality Aluminum Foil." Electric tape to ensure contact between pieces. I didn't shield the input cavity (should I?).

The non-humbucking positions don't cause me problems when hooked up to my computer, as long as I turn off my CRT monitor that's only a few feet away from the guitar.

What's my next move? I checked out the electrical troubleshooting, but none of it seems to be quite what I need. I'm probably just missing something.

EDIT: I should mention that it's not a problem when running the amp clean. Then it's just the slight hum. But being the gain monster it is, the lead channel and my guitar don't get along.

[sumgai]

vroom,

First, congratulations on snatchin up a good amp!

Next.... is it just me, or does anyone have anything good to say about shielding with aluminum foil? I've never made it work, but then again, maybe I'm just prejudiced.

Big clue for me: Electrical tape. Bad juju, my friend. No matter your reason for using it, it's not a sign of quality workmanship or materials. I know it's not fun the hear (read) this, but I gotta tell ya, you need to find some copper foil, preferably the heavy duty kind, and R&R that greasy kid stuff. (R&R - remove and replace) Then solder all the pieces of foil together. Be sure to follow the Star Ground advice over on GuitarNuts1.

After that, if you've still got feedback issues, then you may need to upgrade your pickups. But first, how are your current pups mounted to the pickguard? I haven't seen a Raptor in years, I don't remember. The idea is, make sure that the springs or spring-like materials don't resonate, causing feedback instead of dampening it. Also, it never hurts to stand a little further away from your amp. ;D

HTH


sumgai

[vroom]

Cheap guitar, cheap attempt at shielding. I had seen others use Aluminum Foil and read about it as a possible solution. I'd like to know others' experiences with it.

I did the majority of the cavity in one piece of foil, but had to cover a few spots where it had torn or slightly missed. Definitely would have soldered the pieces together had they been copper. BTW, I already star grounded it.

I'm starting (or continuing) to think I'd be better off with another axe. Maybe not anything spectacular, but something with decent electronics and pickups. I don't feel like sinking any more money into this one, since it has some body problems to begin with.

[JohnH]

I did my Hondo with Al foil. The base of the cavity had a paper template cut to shape, then foil stuck both sides with spray contact glue. The cavity sides have a long strip folded double, and overlapping under the base sheet. The side strips fold slightly over the top, to connect with the pg. The pg has a layer glued with spray contact. Its perfectly effective, although not as tough as copper foil, but with everthing screwed down, there is nothing to wear it out. Its a good no-cost option.

John

[sumgai]

John,

.....
The cavity sides have a long strip folded double, and overlapping under the base sheet. The side strips fold slightly over the top, to connect with the pg.

By depending on contact around the edges between the various pieces, would you not be introducing multi-nodal conductance of the ground circuit? Seems to me that you'd be defeating the star-ground principle, no?


sumgai

[JohnH]

sumgai said:

John
By depending on contact around the edges between the various pieces, would you not be introducing multi-nodal conductance of the ground circuit? Seems to me that you'd be defeating the star-ground principle, no?

sumgai

I think I'm OK. My theory is to follow the star grounding principle for all of the signal grounds, being the lower lugs of pots, grounded ends of coils etc. These, along with the bridge ground, back of pot cases etc, and jack ground go to the volume pot back.

The shielding wraps around everything, but the only place that it connects to the signal ground is at the vol pot. It is also connecting to the other switch bodies and pot backs, but none of these are on the signal path.

Sometimes as I replace the pg, i have it plugged in. The hum reduces as the pg contacts the rear cavity shielding, with a crackle, then quiet as it all gets connected.

Now a few more things I believe to be true, but am interested in comment on: Ive posted some of these before, but there are more EEs on the forum now.

A tree ground:

With a complex wiring scheme, making a single star ground can result in lots of messy wires. So I allow myself to do a 'tree ground', rather than a 'star ground'. By this I mean that some grounded points get connected together before reaching the star point, but following a principle that each grounded point has only one path to ground, no loops are possible in the signal chain.

A continuous shielding cage:

In making the screen around the cavity, one must certainly make sure that each screened part is connected. But given that there is only one connection of screen to the signal ground, is it better that the screen connects to itself in multiple places, so that loops can be created within the screen - eg across the cavity, up the sides, over the pg and back again? Is this what your comment is referring to? My hunch is that this is actually a good thing.it is trapping the induced energy and forcing it to be dissipated by induction - but I'm not sure, I cant hear a difference.

Now a bit more controversial

Although I practice at the church of the grounded star, I am to some extent an agnostic, and have yet to convince myself that it is really an issue. My old Shergold guitar has a marvelous ground loop right around its cavity, and there was no change when I cut it. I have tried to make massive ground loops with wires laid out on the floor, but I cannot get any extra hum, provided all that wire is, as in a guitar, ultimately grounded via the single connection of the guitar lead. My feeling is that the issue of ground loops within a guitar is very different to the more common one, created by multiple connections of equipment to the mains supply. In those, there are several amps of ac current generating voltage differentials between wall sockets. In a guitar, currents flowing between grounded points are minuscule, and connected by very low resistances. So I'm not convinced they are significant.

I think that shielding is important however, and that most ground problems in a guitar can be fixed if the signal path and shield only meet once. That way, any induced currents circulating in the shield cannot get into the signal.

John

[sumgai]

John,

(Your post was rather lengthy, so instead of quoting it, I'll just hit the highlights.)

I am also an adherent of the Tree system of branching grounds, in the electrical potential arena. This is much different from the phenomenon of magnetically induced hum. In a Tree system, you can "stack" branches onto a trunk, and that trunk's root is the final ground. At no time do any of the branch tips also contact that root point. There are no loops, therefore there's no possible way for resistive differences to create potential differences, thus there's no way to impose whatever hum that was present on the incoming power line onto the signal line.

Contrast that to the magnetic field phenomenon. In this case, we induce a hum "out of thin air", or so it would seem. And as luck would have it, the best conductor of electrons is also the best deterrent to magnetic fields, good ol' copper. (Well, OK, copper is the second best conductor. Since google is everyone's friend, I won't make you all go searching for Number 1: it's silver. 8% more efficient in carrying current.) Anyway, back to the subject at hand......

In a Faraday cage, or a shielded cavity, indeed we do want as complete a closure as possible between all the mating surfaces. But there is one sticking point, and that is, we should ground the entire cage at only one point. If nothing else, it's just that much safer, particularly if the screening is exposed to human contact (not buried under sheetrock, or even just plaster).

So why did I ask you in the first place about multiple contact points with an aluminum cavity shield, given the above treatise? Well, aluminum is not nearly the good conductor that we'd like to think. It's cheaper than copper, and nearly universal in every kitchen, but it can cause its own problems by not having a uniform surface contact resistance factor. If some parts of overlapping seams are better conductors than others, there is a greater chance for leakage. That's all. End of rant. ;D

In making the screen around the cavity, one must certainly make sure that each screened part is connected. But given that there is only one connection of screen to the signal ground, is it better that the screen connects to itself in multiple places, so that loops can be created within the screen - eg across the cavity, up the sides, over the pg and back again? Is this what your comment is referring to? My hunch is that this is actually a good thing.it is trapping the induced energy and forcing it to be dissipated by induction - but I'm not sure, I cant hear a difference.

No loops of either kind will be created by your reasoning. Indeed, all points are at the same magnetic potential (the wavelength of 60Hz being something like 18 3/4 feet long), and that's what we're shielding against. You can't induce an electrical current in so small a physical space at "Mother Earth" magnetic potentials. Thus no resistance (or inductance) is created or observed, and hence, we don't have anything to dissipate.


sumgai