Hey y'all I hope you are enjoying this video. It's amazing to hear about all of your first rigs, we all seem to have very similar stories. Peavey & Crate FTW! Lol .........* What guitar would you like to see featured next?! (ALSO, did anyone watch till the very end? Can you name that tune?)
No Peavey or Crate here. Gorilla amp with Tube Stack engaged all the way! Sadly, my first guitar was a vintage Gibson Melody Maker that I traded away for a BC Rich Gunslinger..hey, it was the 80s. I've always kicked myself for being a stupid teenager and trading away that guitar.
@Theresa M Ronquillo ... ...ok ... So... @Theresa M Ronquillo & RJ , I didnt pay attention to the last song at all , but does she remember that luv seat @ 5:05 (ish) RJ ??? I saw that & said , Hey !!! We had the exact same ones , ( couch too) , but looks like your side , (& perhaps) the back cushions were missing ... ♡♡♡ this shizz, & Thank You Sir , May We Have Another !?!!???
Amazing story man. You grew up around my Time. I was drumming seriously at 11. On base in San Antonio Tx. Then moved to PC Florida. Eventually met Brad with my Uncle Clyde in Biloxi MS. Pat n Nick's sharing many beers and sessions with 3 doors down. Hahaha. Brad you owe me a Ludwig SpeedKing. Original. You asshole. Hahaha Anyway ....I'm learning more about guitar today. Keys and writing. 48 next month. Time Is sneaky. But my son I taught young too. He had been taught at 10 and hes way way way amazing today. Probably more like you. Check out Disareyan on iTunes Gplay. That is if you like neoclassical Metal. Hah peace man.
I bought a Fender Strat in 1978 and the hum bugged the crap out of me too. So in the early eighties, I went to the local music store and they put active EMG pickups in. Years later, I put the humfree Kinman’s in and went from muddy soup back to chime.
My main Strat is still a Fender Japanese Contemporary Strat just like that but in Candy Apple Red. I actually love the trem, I just removed the behind the nut locking system and the fine tuners, works great. I added string trees and swapped the pickguard for tortoise shell. Same pick ups in it and its solid as can be. The volume knob is super fast and has ruined be for a lot of other guitars, its the only guitar that I can do volume swells the way I want. Growing up in Meridian, MS of course one of my first amps was a Peavey Bandit 1x12. I kind of miss that amp but I have a couple of old Peavey amps still and really dig the "Saturation circuit" on the old ones.
I'm a late bloomer and learned to play the guitar at 20. My first rig was a Jackson with a Floyd Rose that I traded in after a week when I broke a string by trying to tune it with the locking nut on. So I ended up with a Marathon brand Les Paul copy and played it with a DOD Metal X and Classic Fuzz thru a 15 watt Washburn amp. My dad got me all this back in 1995 at a Braun Peretti music store in Bonn when I visited him in Germany. I remember being into Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins and even saw Green Day live in Cologne during that time. Later I formed a sucky band with some college friends called "Acid Tone", not quite as catchy as "The Plague". Awesome memories!
I live 3 blocks from that Marshall music in AP. Sadly, they cater more to school band instruments these days and hardly have any guitar stuff in there anymore. Walked in there last summer to get strings and they had a couple squier strats and a fender champion 40 in the "amp room" lol.
Love this story. Reminds me of when I started in the 80s and had to discover by trial and error how to get rid of hum, and how to even get distortion. Love it, keep them coming.
I chuckled when you were messing with the amp. I had that exact same amp as my first amp in the 80s. Now supposedly some of the high end Peavey amps today are good. But I will never try one just cause I remember that thing so well. I remember when I got my first rock guitar teacher too lol he had a full Marshall stack. Then me with my little Peavy.
In 1989 at age 13 (looks like we're about the same age), my first rig was a cort effector and sears LGA amplifer (which was terrible - it was solid state and a combi amp for keyboards or clean guitar, and the only "distortion" you could get out of it was diming it so that the speaker would be overloaded). Replaced a year later (after my guitar teacher lectured my parents) with a fender princeton chorus and an ibanez musician. Sounds like antique stuff now, but 30 years ago, it was a pretty good second set. Marshall stack and Gibson les paul or SG standard were way out of the budget for what I could get out of my parents, and I was too young for a job at the time. Gigged through high school with the musician and princeton chorus, and then gave up pretty much. Back to it now, but never intend to "Get good", and scratch building guitars along with playing them.
My first electric is the same as yours. My mom bought it for me after finished high school. Mine is white. I had a hard time to keep it staying in tune. So I sold it. After college, I grabbed myself a Fender MIJ Foto Flame. I’m in love with this guitar. I should have kept my Squier system 1 and did some modifications like yours. ‘Cause the wood and other staffs seemed to be well built. Well, I’m glad I found you on UA-cam. Your VDO and guitar knowledge are amazing. Thanks, cheer!!!
My first amp was a Gm-05, a trashy kit amp that peaked at loud volumes, but I love that it kept me inspired to play even when I couldn’t play punk because of bad distortion
This amp was a very common rig for high schoolers in 78-79 when I got started in the 10th grade. All the guys I played with had Peavey Bandits 50 and 100 watt versions. I think the 100 had chorus. Everyone had MXR distortion. I played bass through a Yamaha 50 watt combo and later through a Basssman 50 and a 2x15 cab. We didnt see Squiers until 82 I think. The Fenders at the time were not well liked with their hit or miss quality and goofy large headstocks. The Squiers were almost as good and under $100.
I actually really like my 2017 Squire Bullet HSS hardtail strat. It was my first guitar. So far I've replaced the nut and string trees with Tusq, sanded down the rough fret ends, and changed out the tuners for Fender locking ones.
I also picked out my first electric with my dad. At JB music (Philippines). There was this sole "Suzuki" HSS strat that had an orange burst, which we bought for 10,000php in 2005. Sometime later, a Zoom 606. Then a fancy classmate bought an Ibanez (that had the check logo), and upgraded his pickups. I bought those old pickups and put them on my Suzuki strat! So the bridge was crunchy, the neck was swanky, but the middle dropped out in volume. Great times..
The first guitar I learned on was my dad’s 1977 Guild acoustic guitar. It was in mint condition at the time and sounded great. Hard to play but great acoustic tones. He played in bands in the 1960’s and owned all types of cool guards and amps. My first real rig was a Gibson Les Paul Studio, 1994 model, white with black and gold hardware and an ebony fretboard. My amp was a Fender Princeton Chorus w/ 2x10 Fender speakers. a solid state amp but actually can produce some good tones. Really great clean tones actually and the chorus is pretty cool. My first pedal was a Vox Wah and then I picked up a giant old Big Muff and a Boss SD-1. When I went to music school and started gigging I switched to 50th anniversary Stratocaster which I feel in love with. Man I miss that Marshall rig tho haha.
That was cool story! Brings back memories. I worked for a year and made payments on red charvette by charvel , and an old 64 fender blackface deluxe that was given to me, had a 6 inch non original speaker with bailing wire to hold the speaker in place. It sounder horrible. I still have both still. Good ole days. Thanks buddy!!! Love the videos
That blue and White fits perfectly my custom Shelby AC Cobra inspired cabinets: blue tolex with 2 White stripes. First rig is a 1980 Black Gibson Les Paul standard with a Red knob Fender eighty five. 500$ canadian dollars total.
I have an 88 Squier that is metallic blue...this was my first Strat. And my first amp was the...Backstage 30! About a 1977 vintage, and it had no AC plug on it. The guy had to plug the wires into the wall to test it for me. And that store is still open today! Hasn't burned down or anything. I didn't have the SuperSat, though, so I bought a couple of distortion pedals (an HM-2 and a Rat). Still have 'em! This video took me back, very cool. Thanks, RJ. I subscribed as well.
Dude... Can't figure the last tune but I love it! Had a "Marlboro" head from sears and a Burgundy no name Les Paul shape back in 83. Man, I really miss that guitar... Memories bro... Thanks so much... Truly.
Around the same time, my first guitar was a MIJ Squier from Wonderland Music in Dearborn. First amp was a Peavey Backstage Plus from Pyramid Guitars in Redford. Second amp was a Backstage 50. I still have the Squier, and it's still my main guitar.
Great vid! I remember that Strat issue of Guitar Player magazine. I threw them all out when I moved back in 2001, only keeping the ones with tabs (like GFTPM, Guitar One, etc). My first electric was an Aria 510T semihollow with a Supro amp. Still have the guitar....wish I still had the amp.
That was fun-makes me think of my first rig too. I had some no name used white strat copy that was $99 and a crate amp. Eventually upgraded to an early used korean epiphone les paul and peavey amp. Love that you still have your first amp, and even bought a replacement for your amp. Good times. Riffs at end, sunshine of y our love, obviously La Bamba (also a huge movie influence on me as well as Crossroads), and Talk Dirty to me. Who couldn't love Poison in late 80's.
I started in late 70s, with a black les paul copy. They judiciously replaced the mahogany with premium ply, and the carved maple with a piece of bent plastic. It was surprisingly effective, as it made it semi-hollow. The previous owner had put an uncontrollable distortion unit in the back, which was usually broken. I still miss my amp, a 6 watt ss with normal and bright inputs, which was never knowingly unclean. Someone lost it for me, and I've never found one since. I think it was by Mighty Mite, but have contacted the company, and their records don't go back that far. I think you should do the whole of La Bamba for us!
Wish I could get my first rig back. In 84 traded my dads 64 strat and 64 vibroverb for a new charvel and new laney half stack. Had to get those metal tones. 😳
You mean get your dads old rig back? Boy, I hope you son trades your butt rock stuff for a hello kitty guitar, high heels and lip gloss. You know metal tones!
My first guitar was a Hondo Les Paul copy. 1983. The selling feature were the two double coil Dimarzio Super Distortion pickups🤘🏻 Wished I still had it😢. Not worth anything, but it sure we be cool to have it back.
I love that blue strat! I bought my first good guitar and amp in 1963 with my Navy re-enlistment bonus: a '62 Fender Strat in desert gold and a '63 Fender Deluxe Reverb. I could actually play better back then than I can now. Of course, since I seem to be an idiot, I managed to trade off a fabulous combo for something else and let my practice go idle. So there, a cautionary tale for you all. I'm re-learning to play as an old creaky geezer and enjoying UA-cam lessons and vlogs from folks like R.J. Thanks, R.J.!
Great video! Makes me reflect on my early years. I had a new '92 Mexi Strat in black. A Chandler tube driver pedal. Then I found a 1968 Fender Princeton Reverb amp in the local buy and sell for $200.
You and I are almost the same exact age, I think! Influenced by the same movies even.. LaBamba, especially! My first rig was a Cort Strat copy, red with white pickguard.. and a small solid state Crate amp. Good times! The one I regret NOT buying was a Tokai Love Rock! Good stuff man!
I had a Peavey Decade and a Peavey Backstage in 1983 that i used to stack together...lol Then I finally graduated to a Peavey Renown with a few cabinets. We all had Peavey gear in the 80's. Fun vid once again R.J.
My first guitar was a used $100 black Strat that had been modified with a les Paul type bridge and stop tail piece with a piece of pickguard covering the bridge body hole. It had a thin Jackson maple neck. I got a cheap Stone practice amp a few months later which was terrible and then upgraded to a Peavey Backstage 50 just like the one in your video. I have gave it away about 5 years ago as I didn’t use it anymore since I had a half stack and head.
My first set up (after the technical first LP copy that was horrible and almost unplayable) was a 1984 Carvin V220T and a Peavey Classic 65w 2x12. I saved up allowance and lunch money to buy the Carvin and my parents bought the amp. I still have both.
So awesome. I recently found my first guitar after being in storage for over 30 years. It is a blue Cimar Stratocaster copy that has now faded to a nice seafoam green. Thanks for the video.
Cool. you still have it and it's in great shape and it's a MIJ strat which is even better. Those are great guitars. That old 80's Peavey is still killin it. Man you are so fortunate to have vids of you playing back when you were a kid. I got nothing from when I was a kid.
Mine was a dixon strat copy with one humbucker and a peavy bass amp haha then I decided to "upgrade" to a line 6 spider. Much happier with my rig now fender 62 reissue strat and a fender deluxe reverb.
My childhood is kind of similar to yours. I remember I really loved La Bamba and it was the first song I played with the first band I’ve ever formed. It was the only song we played, but we had fun. I got a Blue Squier Strat and a Fender Bullet amp. I got some really good Ritchie Valens tones from the two.
This was fun RJ! Wow, we have similar influences...Walk Don't Run, La Bamba, etc...right down to the blue Strat (though mine was stolen just before Christmas 20 years ago (: I got over it. Sort of :)
My first Strat was an '86 too. I had a black American one that unfortunately was stolen ... I still miss that guitar. And a Peavey Backstage ... weird.
My first amp was a 10 watt Peavey Decade. Last week, I bought one off of Ebay and it sounds pretty good in the Normal channel. It has more punch than the Tweed Fender Champ I built. I've heard that older Peaveys are starting to get collectible... because of the memories.
Back in the 80's I sold soooo many Peavey amps! Bandit 65's were the big sellers in Minneapolis. I owned a hybrid Peavey Encore 65. Sold a bunch of those too. I actually spoke with Hartley Peavey during that time. He recognized my name and said ... "You're the guy in Minnesota who's selling all the Encore's!" Wow, you've got me tripping memory lane!
Wow R.J. I had virtually the same rig in High School. I started with an Aria Pro II strat copy but traded up to an 87-88 Japanese strat. Same color blue but a Kahler locking trem and Peavey Studio Pro 40. Just had a time machine moment seeing that blue strat and and the Peavey combo in a 2019 UA-cam video.
my first guitar rig was a Gorilla amp and a Epiphone LP Custom with Dimarzios, my bass rig was a pawn shop Epi explorer frankystien bass and a Crate amp. When you was starting I was in the "big leagoes" and had a nice Gibson Ripper and Fender jazz bass with Ampeg stack, glad I still had a small 50 W bass amp so my college roomies would'nt kill me! LOL
Pretty cool story man. I wish I still had my 1st rig, from the mid sixties. Japanese powder blue Tiesco Del Ray and crappy solid state amp w/8" speaker. Whatever guitar you choose to demo, I'm sure it'll be an interesting story. Thanks for sharing.
Man... My first rig was a second-hand Paul Beuscher Les Paul replica (very cheap but very reliable guitar... that I still own), and my brothers hi-fi as an amp. I didn't have any money so I couldn't buy an amp for maybe two or three months so I plugged the guitar to the microphone input of the hi-fi. It was the cleanest sound i got from aplification. It didn't matter how loud the volume was... the tone was always clean. So when I got a little money I bought the first second-hand solid state amp I could afford because I was hungry for some distortion. As it tuned out, and I didn't know it at the time... it was a bass amp. Most of my friends that were into guitar playing had these nice strats (mostly Squiers), Yamahas and Ibanezes that they played trough Fender, Marshall and Peavey amps and I was a bit ashamed of my budget rig. But when they first heard the tone of my cheap guitar trough my cheap bass amp they freaked out. The sound was very different from anything they could do with their rigs. Those were the early years of grunge in Europe and for highschool kids without money in a God Forsaken Town in the northeast of Portugal it was difficult to replicate that kind of tone ... except for me. I was probably the worst guitar player among my friends... but because of my rig I became the most popular for awile. LOL
My first guitar at 9yrs was a dark purple/maroon Johnson model (strat copy) by Axl guitars. I still have it and the amp it came with that had no gain channel. I ended up not getting into playing until 13-14 and bought myself an Arbor LP copy and a DigiTech Rp box to plug into my amp for more sounds than just clean.
Awesome! Lol. Thanks for sharing! My first amp was a Peavey Backstage 30. I think I bought mine in 1984. It's long gone as well, but I did see one online at a GC a few months back and luck myself for not buying it then.
That's so cool! I started off with the same Japanese stratocaster, only mine is metallic red. I left the original tremolo system with the string lock installed though. Still have the guitar, took it around the world so some of the fine tuner screws are broken off. My first amp is also a peavey, a 'studio pro'. A little bit older than yours I guess, because it says 'saturation' instead of the newer 'supersat' system. I always liked les Paul type guitars, but a real Gibson was not affordable for me in those days so I bought an Ibanez les Paul custom, which was probably as good a the real thing. Still have that one as well. I really enjoyed this video RJ and your other videos as well. Thanks a lot!
I had a Peavey Studio Pro from the 80s. It was given in trade to a friend who didn't play guitar(?). He later gave it to me. I gave to a friend about 2 yrs ago. It's still going! 💪 reverb.com/item/929748-peavey-studio-pro-amp-1980-s-made-in-the-usa
Sweet vid! My first rig was a 70’s teisco SG or maybe a Kawai with no amp in 1984. Then went to drums until about five years ago. Now 30 plus years later my first rig was a 80’s hatchet neck Kramer and a 1967 Alamo challenger.
My first guitar was an Ovation Preacher Deluxe 1283 model. This guitar takes 18 volts to power the 50w pre amp and has 24 frets with and ebony fret board, all mohagony body/neck and mini humbuckers. This was a gift after i had taken lessons for a year on a Les Paul copy. The first i spent my money on was a 1985-1986 (My senior year of high school) Fender MIJ Stratocaster 3 tone burst with the system one trem. That is too bad that you went the route of removing the System One from your guitar, as i find it to be the best trem i have played. These are more often than not blocked off or replaced with the lesser six hole screw down vintage type trem, of which i find limiting and less likely to remain in tune.
you lucky dog ! when I picked up the guitar in 1968, I had a Fender Duo-Sonic that sukked, a Guild amp that sukked even worse that was after graduating from an acoustic Harmony that was damm near unplayable
Very cool video! I remember my first band back in 1964 (Lincoln & the Continentals). My setup was a black hollow body Silvertone with Bigsby, and a Silvertone Twin Twelve amp.
I used that amp and a strat while teaching at local music studio in my early twenties. The moment you played the clean tone it brought back a lot of memories, never thought it had a signature sound but it does! I also had a teenage p/u replacement debacle with some gen 1 lace sensors...hated them but couldn’t afford to replace them. 😂
1986 I scored my first decent guitar, a Japanese Squier Bullet along with a 30 watt Marshall solid state combo. The amp eventually died and I sold the guitar to a friend around 1990. I attempted to buy it back some years later but he'd sold it off by then. It was a respectable first rig.
When Bob Bradshaw setups became common (if you could even afford them) I packed it in for a while because of the ridiculous assumption that one needed a refrigerator sized setup to be taken seriously at least in Los Angeles. Guys would talk about their "cartage services" then as if you didn't have enough gear to necessitate such as service then you couldn't be a REAL player. I used a variety of cheaper amps during the 80s since they were widely available in music stores and pawn shops since everyone abandoned them in favor of stacks in addition to the BB racks. I wound up using a long defunct Dean Markley amp which had something of a harsh sound but I somehow made it work. I progressed through a Fender Twin onto a 50 watt Marshall head which was plenty even if it was visually underwhelming when compared to the setups of the 80s glam guys. As far as guitars, everyone was going for the Jacksons, Hamers, and Ibanezes and the Van Halen styled strats. For this reason I picked up some (then) cheap Les Pauls. Some time later, as Slash got popular, the prices for LP shot up and have remained high since. Hard to believe that there was a time that you could go into a music store with reasonably priced LPs that just sat there collecting dust.
I had SO many Peaveys over the years, and loved 1/2 of them. I am still gas-ing for a Peavey XXL Solid State head with TransTube.....THAT is MY "holy grail" amp. Speakers don't really matter that much ATM since it will be recording only! Love that channel, keep it up!
Very cool RJ. I have the same guitar (Metallic Blue Strat with a maple fretboard) that I had recently redone to "Fix my mistakes". Very cool trip through history.
I'm going to really enjoy this series! Just work up the ladder to your next guitar & amp combo.. I started off with a 74 Strat "blackie", in 75 it was 375 bucks & a Yamaha 100 4x10 solid state amp because the salesman talked my parents out of the Fender Super Reverb, I was pissed because the Fender was like 40 bucks higher!!
@@JohnBrown-z2u Yes 40 bucks was a lot but if I'd been able to get the Fender Super Reverb, I would still have it! You might say that not getting it made my quest for the amp sound in my mind would have been a shorter journey. Since then I've owned Marshall 50 & 100 watt half stacks, a Fender Tremolux head purchased at Charlie's guitar shop where I was guided to buy a late 70's sunburst black guard 3 tone sunburst Strat! I've got a Splawn now which is a hand built amp that's like a hot rodded Marshall
If you were 11 in August of '87, you're just a few months younger than I am. I remember that issue of Guitar Player, and may even have it boxed up at my mom's house. My first electric guitar was a Peavey T-60, which is a great guitar. I still have it. Whoever had it before me added a single coil in the middle. My first amp was a Peavey keyboard amp with a 15" speaker. It had reverb, but no gain knob and it was the cleanest amp ever. I never got it to break up at all so I went to the local pawn shop and got the only distortion pedal they had. It was a terrible Washburn branded POS, but I was on my way. I'd like to hear your weirdest guitar, whatever that may be.
That was fun to watch. I've been in that store. A lot of fine guitar players came out of the Detroit area. I repair guitar amps and know Peaveys are built like tanks. I bet your first amp still runs.
My very first rig was a crate with those multi fx built in and an Ibanez gio super strat style...after a summer of saving I picked up the rig I carried for nearly the next decade, a prs Santana SE (first year they came out and also since I saw it in GuitarWorld magazine) and a used first year fender hot rod deluxe. Still have both
Cool Remember covering GNR and Poison with high school friends in the late 80’s. ( this was in Honolulu ... 98 rock and MTV’s Headbangers ball + 120 minutes, were influential)
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Hey y'all I hope you are enjoying this video. It's amazing to hear about all of your first rigs, we all seem to have very similar stories. Peavey & Crate FTW! Lol .........* What guitar would you like to see featured next?! (ALSO, did anyone watch till the very end? Can you name that tune?)
No Peavey or Crate here. Gorilla amp with Tube Stack engaged all the way!
Sadly, my first guitar was a vintage Gibson Melody Maker that I traded away for a BC Rich Gunslinger..hey, it was the 80s. I've always kicked myself for being a stupid teenager and trading away that guitar.
Not fair, you know way too much.
@Theresa M Ronquillo ...
...ok ...
So... @Theresa M Ronquillo & RJ ,
I didnt pay attention to the last song at all , but does she remember that luv seat @ 5:05 (ish) RJ ???
I saw that & said , Hey !!!
We had the exact same ones , ( couch too) , but looks like your side , (& perhaps) the back cushions were missing ...
♡♡♡ this shizz, & Thank You Sir , May We Have Another !?!!???
Amazing story man. You grew up around my Time. I was drumming seriously at 11. On base in San Antonio Tx. Then moved to PC Florida. Eventually met Brad with my Uncle Clyde in Biloxi MS. Pat n Nick's sharing many beers and sessions with 3 doors down. Hahaha. Brad you owe me a Ludwig SpeedKing. Original. You asshole. Hahaha Anyway ....I'm learning more about guitar today. Keys and writing. 48 next month. Time Is sneaky. But my son I taught young too. He had been taught at 10 and hes way way way amazing today. Probably more like you. Check out Disareyan on iTunes Gplay. That is if you like neoclassical Metal. Hah peace man.
Do the SG next!!!
I've been playing for six months, same amp, new guitar as of Christmas lol
Iive 5 minutes away from that Marshall's in Allen park lol
I bought a Fender Strat in 1978 and the hum bugged the crap out of me too. So in the early eighties, I went to the local music store and they put active EMG pickups in. Years later, I put the humfree Kinman’s in and went from muddy soup back to chime.
My main Strat is still a Fender Japanese Contemporary Strat just like that but in Candy Apple Red. I actually love the trem, I just removed the behind the nut locking system and the fine tuners, works great. I added string trees and swapped the pickguard for tortoise shell. Same pick ups in it and its solid as can be. The volume knob is super fast and has ruined be for a lot of other guitars, its the only guitar that I can do volume swells the way I want.
Growing up in Meridian, MS of course one of my first amps was a Peavey Bandit 1x12. I kind of miss that amp but I have a couple of old Peavey amps still and really dig the "Saturation circuit" on the old ones.
I'm a late bloomer and learned to play the guitar at 20. My first rig was a Jackson with a Floyd Rose that I traded in after a week when I broke a string by trying to tune it with the locking nut on. So I ended up with a Marathon brand Les Paul copy and played it with a DOD Metal X and Classic Fuzz thru a 15 watt Washburn amp. My dad got me all this back in 1995 at a Braun Peretti music store in Bonn when I visited him in Germany. I remember being into Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins and even saw Green Day live in Cologne during that time. Later I formed a sucky band with some college friends called "Acid Tone", not quite as catchy as "The Plague". Awesome memories!
Holy, that color on the guitar is so clean, I've always wanted a blue strat like this
I live 3 blocks from that Marshall music in AP. Sadly, they cater more to school band instruments these days and hardly have any guitar stuff in there anymore. Walked in there last summer to get strings and they had a couple squier strats and a fender champion 40 in the "amp room" lol.
I started with a Morris Melody Maker and a SF Vibro Champ.
@sbjkd These amps are nowaday ridiculous expensive also in Europe , it sells around 600€.
Love this story. Reminds me of when I started in the 80s and had to discover by trial and error how to get rid of hum, and how to even get distortion. Love it, keep them coming.
I chuckled when you were messing with the amp. I had that exact same amp as my first amp in the 80s. Now supposedly some of the high end Peavey amps today are good. But I will never try one just cause I remember that thing so well. I remember when I got my first rock guitar teacher too lol he had a full Marshall stack. Then me with my little Peavy.
Peavey Bandits were always good little amps.
In 1989 at age 13 (looks like we're about the same age), my first rig was a cort effector and sears LGA amplifer (which was terrible - it was solid state and a combi amp for keyboards or clean guitar, and the only "distortion" you could get out of it was diming it so that the speaker would be overloaded).
Replaced a year later (after my guitar teacher lectured my parents) with a fender princeton chorus and an ibanez musician. Sounds like antique stuff now, but 30 years ago, it was a pretty good second set.
Marshall stack and Gibson les paul or SG standard were way out of the budget for what I could get out of my parents, and I was too young for a job at the time. Gigged through high school with the musician and princeton chorus, and then gave up pretty much. Back to it now, but never intend to "Get good", and scratch building guitars along with playing them.
My first electric is the same as yours. My mom bought it for me after finished high school. Mine is white. I had a hard time to keep it staying in tune. So I sold it. After college, I grabbed myself a Fender MIJ Foto Flame. I’m in love with this guitar. I should have kept my Squier system 1 and did some modifications like yours. ‘Cause the wood and other staffs seemed to be well built. Well, I’m glad I found you on UA-cam. Your VDO and guitar knowledge are amazing. Thanks, cheer!!!
Cool u still hav it , like the color. Those peaveys were ss but were pretty decent at the time.They were all over the Grand Ole Opry for long time.
My first amp was a Gm-05, a trashy kit amp that peaked at loud volumes, but I love that it kept me inspired to play even when I couldn’t play punk because of bad distortion
This amp was a very common rig for high schoolers in 78-79 when I got started in the 10th grade. All the guys I played with had Peavey Bandits 50 and 100 watt versions. I think the 100 had chorus. Everyone had MXR distortion. I played bass through a Yamaha 50 watt combo and later through a Basssman 50 and a 2x15 cab. We didnt see Squiers until 82 I think. The Fenders at the time were not well liked with their hit or miss quality and goofy large headstocks. The Squiers were almost as good and under $100.
I actually really like my 2017 Squire Bullet HSS hardtail strat. It was my first guitar. So far I've replaced the nut and string trees with Tusq, sanded down the rough fret ends, and changed out the tuners for Fender locking ones.
I also picked out my first electric with my dad. At JB music (Philippines). There was this sole "Suzuki" HSS strat that had an orange burst, which we bought for 10,000php in 2005. Sometime later, a Zoom 606. Then a fancy classmate bought an Ibanez (that had the check logo), and upgraded his pickups. I bought those old pickups and put them on my Suzuki strat! So the bridge was crunchy, the neck was swanky, but the middle dropped out in volume. Great times..
The first guitar I learned on was my dad’s 1977 Guild acoustic guitar. It was in mint condition at the time and sounded great. Hard to play but great acoustic tones. He played in bands in the 1960’s and owned all types of cool guards and amps.
My first real rig was a Gibson Les Paul Studio, 1994 model, white with black and gold hardware and an ebony fretboard. My amp was a Fender Princeton Chorus w/ 2x10 Fender speakers. a solid state amp but actually can produce some good tones. Really great clean tones actually and the chorus is pretty cool. My first pedal was a Vox Wah and then I picked up a giant old Big Muff and a Boss SD-1. When I went to music school and started gigging I switched to 50th anniversary Stratocaster which I feel in love with. Man I miss that Marshall rig tho haha.
That was cool story! Brings back memories. I worked for a year and made payments on red charvette by charvel , and an old 64 fender blackface deluxe that was given to me, had a 6 inch non original speaker with bailing wire to hold the speaker in place. It sounder horrible. I still have both still. Good ole days. Thanks buddy!!! Love the videos
That blue and White fits perfectly my custom Shelby AC Cobra inspired cabinets: blue tolex with 2 White stripes. First rig is a 1980 Black Gibson Les Paul standard with a Red knob Fender eighty five. 500$ canadian dollars total.
I have an 88 Squier that is metallic blue...this was my first Strat. And my first amp was the...Backstage 30! About a 1977 vintage, and it had no AC plug on it. The guy had to plug the wires into the wall to test it for me. And that store is still open today! Hasn't burned down or anything. I didn't have the SuperSat, though, so I bought a couple of distortion pedals (an HM-2 and a Rat). Still have 'em! This video took me back, very cool. Thanks, RJ. I subscribed as well.
Dude... Can't figure the last tune but I love it! Had a "Marlboro" head from sears and a Burgundy no name Les Paul shape back in 83. Man, I really miss that guitar... Memories bro... Thanks so much... Truly.
Around the same time, my first guitar was a MIJ Squier from Wonderland Music in Dearborn. First amp was a Peavey Backstage Plus from Pyramid Guitars in Redford. Second amp was a Backstage 50. I still have the Squier, and it's still my main guitar.
I bought a Peavey PA system from Wonderland. Always loved their commercials.
Great vid! I remember that Strat issue of Guitar Player magazine. I threw them all out when I moved back in 2001, only keeping the ones with tabs (like GFTPM, Guitar One, etc). My first electric was an Aria 510T semihollow with a Supro amp. Still have the guitar....wish I still had the amp.
I've been buying all the 80's issues on ebay. They are in better condition than mine were.
Perfect for those 50's tones actually! And the Cream too
Wish I still had my first guitar. Sears - Cherry Sunburst LP copy. I was 12 and RR was my hero.
That was fun-makes me think of my first rig too. I had some no name used white strat copy that was $99 and a crate amp. Eventually upgraded to an early used korean epiphone les paul and peavey amp. Love that you still have your first amp, and even bought a replacement for your amp. Good times. Riffs at end, sunshine of y our love, obviously La Bamba (also a huge movie influence on me as well as Crossroads), and Talk Dirty to me. Who couldn't love Poison in late 80's.
I started in late 70s, with a black les paul copy. They judiciously replaced the mahogany with premium ply, and the carved maple with a piece of bent plastic. It was surprisingly effective, as it made it semi-hollow. The previous owner had put an uncontrollable distortion unit in the back, which was usually broken. I still miss my amp, a 6 watt ss with normal and bright inputs, which was never knowingly unclean. Someone lost it for me, and I've never found one since. I think it was by Mighty Mite, but have contacted the company, and their records don't go back that far. I think you should do the whole of La Bamba for us!
Wish I could get my first rig back. In 84 traded my dads 64 strat and 64 vibroverb for a new charvel and new laney half stack. Had to get those metal tones. 😳
Oh noooo
NOOOOOO!
You mean get your dads old rig back? Boy, I hope you son trades your butt rock stuff for a hello kitty guitar, high heels and lip gloss. You know metal tones!
My first guitar was a Hondo Les Paul copy. 1983. The selling feature were the two double coil Dimarzio Super Distortion pickups🤘🏻 Wished I still had it😢. Not worth anything, but it sure we be cool to have it back.
The eighties MIJ Strats have great necks! Love them!
I’m first!
Enjoying the vid, RJ :)
My 1st guitar amp was a Peavey Bandit 65...it even had push/pull knobs!
Happy days!
I love that blue strat! I bought my first good guitar and amp in 1963 with my Navy re-enlistment bonus: a '62 Fender Strat in desert gold and a '63 Fender Deluxe Reverb. I could actually play better back then than I can now. Of course, since I seem to be an idiot, I managed to trade off a fabulous combo for something else and let my practice go idle. So there, a cautionary tale for you all. I'm re-learning to play as an old creaky geezer and enjoying UA-cam lessons and vlogs from folks like R.J. Thanks, R.J.!
Great video! Makes me reflect on my early years. I had a new '92 Mexi Strat in black. A Chandler tube driver pedal. Then I found a 1968 Fender Princeton Reverb amp in the local buy and sell for $200.
Matches by first rig. A Hohner ST special and the Backstage 50. Plus I had a tubescreamer that at the time went for about $10 seconds hand
You and I are almost the same exact age, I think! Influenced by the same movies even.. LaBamba, especially! My first rig was a Cort Strat copy, red with white pickguard.. and a small solid state Crate amp. Good times! The one I regret NOT buying was a Tokai Love Rock! Good stuff man!
I had a Peavey Decade and a Peavey Backstage in 1983 that i used to stack together...lol
Then I finally graduated to a Peavey Renown with a few cabinets. We all had Peavey gear in the 80's.
Fun vid once again R.J.
My first guitar was a used $100 black Strat that had been modified with a les Paul type bridge and stop tail piece with a piece of pickguard covering the bridge body hole. It had a thin Jackson maple neck. I got a cheap Stone practice amp a few months later which was terrible and then upgraded to a Peavey Backstage 50 just like the one in your video. I have gave it away about 5 years ago as I didn’t use it anymore since I had a half stack and head.
Subbed. Love hearing people's guitar stories x that strat is still lush
Got my first Peavey Bandit amp at Music Villa in Livonia Michigan
My first set up (after the technical first LP copy that was horrible and almost unplayable) was a 1984 Carvin V220T and a Peavey Classic 65w 2x12. I saved up allowance and lunch money to buy the Carvin and my parents bought the amp. I still have both.
So awesome. I recently found my first guitar after being in storage for over 30 years. It is a blue Cimar Stratocaster copy that has now faded to a nice seafoam green. Thanks for the video.
And, hell, yes, the sound is in the player's fingers ! You can make every gear sound good R.J. ...
Cool. you still have it and it's in great shape and it's a MIJ strat which is even better. Those are great guitars. That old 80's Peavey is still killin it. Man you are so fortunate to have vids of you playing back when you were a kid. I got nothing from when I was a kid.
Mine was a dixon strat copy with one humbucker and a peavy bass amp haha then I decided to "upgrade" to a line 6 spider. Much happier with my rig now fender 62 reissue strat and a fender deluxe reverb.
My childhood is kind of similar to yours. I remember I really loved La Bamba and it was the first song I played with the first band I’ve ever formed. It was the only song we played, but we had fun. I got a Blue Squier Strat and a Fender Bullet amp. I got some really good Ritchie Valens tones from the two.
My first amp was a fender frontman 10g and my first guitar was an aria tele. I've now upgraded to a Marshall mg15cfx and a hagstrom d2f.
La Bamba was my first guitar song as well. Love your channel.
This was fun RJ! Wow, we have similar influences...Walk Don't Run, La Bamba, etc...right down to the blue Strat (though mine was stolen just before Christmas 20 years ago (: I got over it. Sort of :)
My first Strat was an '86 too. I had a black American one that unfortunately was stolen ... I still miss that guitar. And a Peavey Backstage ... weird.
la bamba was very influential in my starting guitar as well. I'm with you bro it was awesome!
My first amp was a 10 watt Peavey Decade. Last week, I bought one off of Ebay and it sounds pretty good in the Normal channel. It has more punch than the Tweed Fender Champ I built. I've heard that older Peaveys are starting to get collectible... because of the memories.
So cool that you kept the guitar after all these years.
Back in the 80's I sold soooo many Peavey amps! Bandit 65's were the big sellers in Minneapolis. I owned a hybrid Peavey Encore 65. Sold a bunch of those too. I actually spoke with Hartley Peavey during that time. He recognized my name and said ... "You're the guy in Minnesota who's selling all the Encore's!" Wow, you've got me tripping memory lane!
Wow R.J. I had virtually the same rig in High School. I started with an Aria Pro II strat copy but traded up to an 87-88 Japanese strat. Same color blue but a Kahler locking trem and Peavey Studio Pro 40. Just had a time machine moment seeing that blue strat and and the Peavey combo in a 2019 UA-cam video.
My first start was a blue one too.....sold but the same one ! 1991 model
my first guitar rig was a Gorilla amp and a Epiphone LP Custom with Dimarzios, my bass rig was a pawn shop Epi explorer frankystien bass and a Crate amp. When you was starting I was in the "big leagoes" and had a nice Gibson Ripper and Fender jazz bass with Ampeg stack, glad I still had a small 50 W bass amp so my college roomies would'nt kill me! LOL
Pretty cool story man. I wish I still had my 1st rig, from the mid sixties. Japanese powder blue Tiesco Del Ray and crappy solid state amp w/8"
speaker. Whatever guitar you choose to demo, I'm sure it'll be an interesting story. Thanks for sharing.
Man... My first rig was a second-hand Paul Beuscher Les Paul replica (very cheap but very reliable guitar... that I still own), and my brothers hi-fi as an amp. I didn't have any money so I couldn't buy an amp for maybe two or three months so I plugged the guitar to the microphone input of the hi-fi. It was the cleanest sound i got from aplification. It didn't matter how loud the volume was... the tone was always clean.
So when I got a little money I bought the first second-hand solid state amp I could afford because I was hungry for some distortion. As it tuned out, and I didn't know it at the time... it was a bass amp. Most of my friends that were into guitar playing had these nice strats (mostly Squiers), Yamahas and Ibanezes that they played trough Fender, Marshall and Peavey amps and I was a bit ashamed of my budget rig. But when they first heard the tone of my cheap guitar trough my cheap bass amp they freaked out. The sound was very different from anything they could do with their rigs. Those were the early years of grunge in Europe and for highschool kids without money in a God Forsaken Town in the northeast of Portugal it was difficult to replicate that kind of tone ... except for me. I was probably the worst guitar player among my friends... but because of my rig I became the most popular for awile. LOL
My first guitar at 9yrs was a dark purple/maroon Johnson model (strat copy) by Axl guitars. I still have it and the amp it came with that had no gain channel. I ended up not getting into playing until 13-14 and bought myself an Arbor LP copy and a DigiTech Rp box to plug into my amp for more sounds than just clean.
Awesome! Lol. Thanks for sharing! My first amp was a Peavey Backstage 30. I think I bought mine in 1984. It's long gone as well, but I did see one online at a GC a few months back and luck myself for not buying it then.
That's so cool! I started off with the same Japanese stratocaster, only mine is metallic red. I left the original tremolo system with the string lock installed though. Still have the guitar, took it around the world so some of the fine tuner screws are broken off. My first amp is also a peavey, a 'studio pro'. A little bit older than yours I guess, because it says 'saturation' instead of the newer 'supersat' system. I always liked les Paul type guitars, but a real Gibson was not affordable for me in those days so I bought an Ibanez les Paul custom, which was probably as good a the real thing. Still have that one as well.
I really enjoyed this video RJ and your other videos as well. Thanks a lot!
I had a Peavey Studio Pro from the 80s. It was given in trade to a friend who didn't play guitar(?). He later gave it to me. I gave to a friend about 2 yrs ago. It's still going! 💪 reverb.com/item/929748-peavey-studio-pro-amp-1980-s-made-in-the-usa
HA! A Peavey Backstage 50 was my first amp! And the guitar was a "Harmony" I believe...purchased from Sears! lol
im 15 and i love that shadows riff u played so much :D im also a little kid playing 50s music in 2019
Glad you mentioned LaBamba. I remember you playing LaBamba with Mr. Ski's band at the school dance when we were in 6th grade.
My first rig was a Kramer Striker, Silverface Fender Champ, and a Boss DS1 Distortion. All passed down to me from my dad
Sweet vid! My first rig was a 70’s teisco SG or maybe a Kawai with no amp in 1984. Then went to drums until about five years ago. Now 30 plus years later my first rig was a 80’s hatchet neck Kramer and a 1967 Alamo challenger.
I used to own that very same guitar but in candy apple red. I actually miss it. The neck was great.
Loved it. I wish I had my first guitar. it was a rental from the local music store. A Lotus LP copy with a bolt-on neck.. Thanks for sharing..
Robert Martin lotus les Paul has great tone at least mine does 80 dollar guitar
My first guitar was an Ovation Preacher Deluxe 1283 model. This guitar takes 18 volts to power the 50w pre amp and has 24 frets with and ebony fret board, all mohagony body/neck and mini humbuckers. This was a gift after i had taken lessons for a year on a Les Paul copy. The first i spent my money on was a 1985-1986 (My senior year of high school) Fender MIJ Stratocaster 3 tone burst with the system one trem.
That is too bad that you went the route of removing the System One from your guitar, as i find it to be the best trem i have played. These are more often than not blocked off or replaced with the lesser six hole screw down vintage type trem, of which i find limiting and less likely to remain in tune.
you lucky dog !
when I picked up the guitar in 1968, I had a Fender Duo-Sonic that sukked, a Guild amp that sukked even worse
that was after graduating from an acoustic Harmony that was damm near unplayable
My first new guitar, a LP Goldtop..
was $210.00 in 1971
Embree Smith Spoiler much?! LoL!!
Very cool video! I remember my first band back in 1964 (Lincoln & the Continentals). My setup was a black hollow body Silvertone with Bigsby, and a Silvertone Twin Twelve amp.
I used that amp and a strat while teaching at local music studio in my early twenties. The moment you played the clean tone it brought back a lot of memories, never thought it had a signature sound but it does! I also had a teenage p/u replacement debacle with some gen 1 lace sensors...hated them but couldn’t afford to replace them. 😂
Please share any recordings you may have of The Plague! I’ll bet it would honestly blow us away! Great vid RJ!
1986 I scored my first decent guitar, a Japanese Squier Bullet along with a 30 watt Marshall solid state combo. The amp eventually died and I sold the guitar to a friend around 1990. I attempted to buy it back some years later but he'd sold it off by then. It was a respectable first rig.
Awesome, please give us more of some 50s rock n roll!
When Bob Bradshaw setups became common (if you could even afford them) I packed it in for a while because of the ridiculous assumption that one needed a refrigerator sized setup to be taken seriously at least in Los Angeles. Guys would talk about their "cartage services" then as if you didn't have enough gear to necessitate such as service then you couldn't be a REAL player. I used a variety of cheaper amps during the 80s since they were widely available in music stores and pawn shops since everyone abandoned them in favor of stacks in addition to the BB racks. I wound up using a long defunct Dean Markley amp which had something of a harsh sound but I somehow made it work.
I progressed through a Fender Twin onto a 50 watt Marshall head which was plenty even if it was visually underwhelming when compared to the setups of the 80s glam guys. As far as guitars, everyone was going for the Jacksons, Hamers, and Ibanezes and the Van Halen styled strats. For this reason I picked up some (then) cheap Les Pauls. Some time later, as Slash got popular, the prices for LP shot up and have remained high since. Hard to believe that there was a time that you could go into a music store with reasonably priced LPs that just sat there collecting dust.
Wow, for a kid with his first guitar, you kept it in amazing shape, looks brand new!
I had SO many Peaveys over the years, and loved 1/2 of them. I am still gas-ing for a Peavey XXL Solid State head with TransTube.....THAT is MY "holy grail" amp. Speakers don't really matter that much ATM since it will be recording only!
Love that channel, keep it up!
Very cool RJ. I have the same guitar (Metallic Blue Strat with a maple fretboard) that I had recently redone to "Fix my mistakes". Very cool trip through history.
Nice!
Took me 11 years to finally find a strat I liked.
Unlike many modern SS amps, That amp DOESNT suck that much 😂
I'm going to really enjoy this series! Just work up the ladder to your next guitar & amp combo.. I started off with a 74 Strat "blackie", in 75 it was 375 bucks & a Yamaha 100 4x10 solid state amp because the salesman talked my parents out of the Fender Super Reverb, I was pissed because the Fender was like 40 bucks higher!!
$40 in 1975 was quite a bit of money.
@@JohnBrown-z2u Yes 40 bucks was a lot but if I'd been able to get the Fender Super Reverb, I would still have it! You might say that not getting it made my quest for the amp sound in my mind would have been a shorter journey. Since then I've owned Marshall 50 & 100 watt half stacks, a Fender Tremolux head purchased at Charlie's guitar shop where I was guided to buy a late 70's sunburst black guard 3 tone sunburst Strat! I've got a Splawn now which is a hand built amp that's like a hot rodded Marshall
If you were 11 in August of '87, you're just a few months younger than I am. I remember that issue of Guitar Player, and may even have it boxed up at my mom's house. My first electric guitar was a Peavey T-60, which is a great guitar. I still have it. Whoever had it before me added a single coil in the middle. My first amp was a Peavey keyboard amp with a 15" speaker. It had reverb, but no gain knob and it was the cleanest amp ever. I never got it to break up at all so I went to the local pawn shop and got the only distortion pedal they had. It was a terrible Washburn branded POS, but I was on my way.
I'd like to hear your weirdest guitar, whatever that may be.
Cool. Mine was a black squire bullet with the fake Floyd Rose and a Peavey rage 108. Same era. Mid 80's . I was 12 . Still playing.
That was fun to watch. I've been in that store. A lot of fine guitar players came out of the Detroit area. I repair guitar amps and know Peaveys are built like tanks. I bet your first amp still runs.
My very first rig was a crate with those multi fx built in and an Ibanez gio super strat style...after a summer of saving I picked up the rig I carried for nearly the next decade, a prs Santana SE (first year they came out and also since I saw it in GuitarWorld magazine) and a used first year fender hot rod deluxe. Still have both
I started with a Univox Black Les Paul Custom and a Stage 25 amp. The Crate 212 came next.
Man this was so cool. I had a Peavey and a Les Paul copy plus a Boss Heavy Metal pedal as my first “rig.”
Man ... You clearly take care of your gear respect!
Great Vid! My first rig was a 90’s Mexi Strat, a Line 6 Spider 4 and a Boss Overdrive Pedal. Fun times!
"The Plague!" I got a belly laugh. The name of our first band: "Electric Coffin." Yes, I was thirteen and had pimples.
Our first band was called „the third nipples“ 🙃
I had the same Univox amp when I was a kid. It brings back bad memories.
Cool
Remember covering GNR and Poison with high school friends in the late 80’s.
( this was in Honolulu ... 98 rock and MTV’s Headbangers ball + 120 minutes, were influential)
Played a Martin (Stingray?) electric bass, while my friend played a Charvel or Jackson guitar through a Crate amp.
Fun times...
Those '80s PV's are good amps. My 1st actual guitar amp($99.00 at Guitar Center in 1988) was a Fender Sidekick 15 that sounded really good, actually.
This was far more enjoyable than i thought it was going to be
My first electric was a 1981 Aria Pro 2 Inazuma and a JMF 125 SS amp. I still have them...
I wish I still had my very first guitar. It was a Squier I got back in 1994 or 1995 right before I started high school.
Some great stories in this video - thanks for sharing. (Love that you played with the pickup selector in the middle position for ever :-) )
Hahaha !
Man I wish I would have started that young. 42 and been playing for 3 years. FML