Peavey Raptor Plus EXP Guitarchaeology
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- Welcome back to Guitarchaeology w/ Pinetop Jackson! I recently picked up a cheap used guitar...it's modeled after a Strat, as many of them are...this is a Peavey Raptor!
Peavey was founded in 1965, and for several decades all their guitars & amps were made here in the U.S. in Meridian, Mississippi.
In the early '90s, Peavey started selling budget Strat & Tele copies, called the Predator and the Reactor, respectively. The necks for these were still made in Mississippi, but the bodies were Asian imports.
By the end of the '90s, the Predator & Reactor were completely made overseas and called the "International Series."
The Raptor came out sometime in the mid-to-late 1990's. They were initially made in Korea. Referencing some photos from Reverb of a Raptor I, we see the quasi-harpoon-style headstock with the block-style Peavey logo, and we see that the Raptor was part of the International Series, like the Predator before it. It was competing directly with the Squier Strat. Looking at the body, we see the upper horn is more full than the current Raptor bodies. Also the pickguard is shaped a little differently, there's 3 knobs instead of 2, and it used the Fender-style input jack, instead of down on the side where it's currently located. Also notice the truss rod adjustment is at the heel of the neck.
The Raptor I was followed by the Raptor II, Raptor III, then the Raptor Plus, and finally what we have here, the Raptor Plus EXP.
They were made in various Asian factories...Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, and now...China.
There's a list you can find online to help figure out the date of the older, American-made Peavey guitars. The serial numbers they used correlate not to the manufacture date, but to the shipping date...so this list is not gonna be pinpoint accurate, but it'll get you close enough.
It's not gonna help us with this Raptor though...the import models were not serialized by year.
0JAJG201747
There's more letters in this serial number than I'm used to seeing...there's gotta be some indicator here telling when & where in China it was made. Records of these overseas-built guitars are hardly ever kept with an accuracy. Here's a theory...and it's JUST a theory...it's likely that the letters OJAJG hold clues to the Chinese factory that built it...the numbers 2017 are right in the middle of the serial number, I think that could indicate the year it was made. And further we could guess a meaning of the last two digits 47 and say that it was made April 7, 2017.
HOWEVER...this would leave no room for batch or product numbers...another theory is that the very first letter is not the letter O but the number zero, indicating 2010. A letter J could mean January, June or July...OR...J is the 10th letter of the English alphabet, and it could indicate the 10th month, October.
As you can tell, I'm just guessing here...if anyone knows how I can interpret that serial number and date this Peavey Raptor Plus EXP, please leave a comment below!
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Huge thanks to Joe from the Phantom Geist channel...he put together the sweet drone footage I use as an outro...be sure to check out his channel / @phantomgeist.
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my first electric guitar was a Peavey later when I joined a band we bought Peavey sound equipment I still have 4 of their amps 2 are recording amps that sounds amazing all are still original bought in the 70s
Awesome! Wish I would've picked up a T-series guitar or bass back in the day... they're out of my price range now 😆
@@PinetopJackson my last purchase was the Patriot a solid mahogany body that I smoothed the body out in the original cardboard type case sounds way different than yours it has ceramic magnets made in USA also bought my son a Raptor in the late 9os wish I could have got him the cream color but only black was available
What's up Pinetop Jackson. great history lesson for a classic brand that demands documenting. another thorough well spoken video. great video!
Thanks Bob! I'd love to do a video on a Peavey T-60...but man I couldn't pay what they're going for now lol
@@PinetopJackson yeah it's amazing what people will pay for something that looks like a piece of furniture
@@RJsCave well it IS a beautiful piece of furniture lol!
@@PinetopJackson that it is
I've got a Korean one. Got it for$80. Clean. Can't help but think I'm lucky it's not Chinese but Korean. It's a great guitar better than a fender MIM.
Ah sweet man, you got an older one!
I found this guitar on Facebook today on my lunch break. 100.00 and it comes w a small peavey amp too. Thing looks brand new... even had some of the plastic still on the pick guard. Excited to sit down and plug this thing up.
Funny coincidence, I'm here in Mississippi. I'm about 45 minutes from that Peavey plant in Meridian Ms
Down at the pawnshop! 👍🎸 good job
Thanks Brian...just remember that it's flesh & bone!
Pawn shop guitars make the best guitars
@@PinetopJackson yess! 🤣
I had a buddy when I was in foster care he had the original raptor in black and was a good player but only played Metallica he knew every song by them but nothing original lol Rock On Brotha awesome video!!
It’s a piece of nylon pallet strapping, they use them overseas for neck shims. Squire used to use them too (I found one on mine too)
Well I'm happy to see it being reused, even if only a fraction of an inch!
awesome info..i love this guitar , i have a used one 2 years ago ,wondering should i buy a new one will it be also well built and just has good
..thks
I do that whole excess string to get old string out thing all the time!
Great minds thinking alike!
Was NOT expecting you to start playing pawn shop!! R.I.P Bradley
rest in peace
dont see a serial no. on mine im in canada..bought used??
I just bought an 90’s raptor exp plus for 40 bucks. I cleaned it up and lemon oiled the fretboard. It’s a nice guitar. It has real wood body. You can see the grain. Not sure what wood it is. Neck is perfectly straight. It’s solid. Doesn’t feel cheap. It’s a very nice guitar.
Peavey Raptor is an good guitar!
My Peavey Raptor Plus has the "EXP" separate at the TOP of head stock .... Took a picture , but guess we can't post pictures on here for everyone ..... but mine is different ..... My EXP is not all in the same title row on the head stock ....
Hi sir!! I have a Peavey Raptor EXP sunburst (no plus) whose serial number is 00533310, which according to the official Peavey website tells me that it was PRODUCED in 1980. My question is, if it was produced in 1980, were they manufactured in the USA that year??
I looked up my serial number on their website and it said it's a 2021 but its features make me think it could be older
My Raptor Plus EXP has a serial number where that "2017" part on yours says "2028", so I don't think it's the year.
Ahhh my first guitar. Still have the little shred machine. The Korean exp (the older version) is a solid guitar. Hands down beats squire. Not saying it’s better than an actual strat. But for the price of these it’s the best mod platform.
Still here watching. Kinda jealous your neck pickup route is routed for a mini humbucker sized pickup. And I’m not sure why but that tin sound has to do with the pots that come in these. I swapped them for ones I took outta an epiphone and it helped.
Good and cool
I just got the raptor 1 for free kinda rusted but alil cleaning and new pickups and tremolo it's not bad
Awesome man, that's the best price!
I have a Peavey Raptor Plus Exp too, bought in 2011-2012
-Serial number is 201991, so I think it's not the year
-It has a better quality control (no bridge problem)
-I modded a lot (electronics, tuners, pickups, etc)
thats what these are made for to be honest, i got mine cheap, in the box at a pawn shop, some new pickups, and if i have to a new neck should have it sounding the way i want it to.
good information thanks for your video,I sjnscribed btw
That is a real guitar and you are playing it, but China wanted the original hidden because it is a play on the Jimi Hendrix's Experience, and a right handed guitar, which Jimi never played.
2 point fulcrum?
I don't have the guitar anymore. I had to re-watch the video...I did said 2 point, but I must've misspoke...at 1:50 you can clearly see the 6 screws attaching it to the body. So it's a 6 screw tremolo, not a 2 point. Good catch!
plus what?
Not a two point fulcrum.
Feel the pickups are too high
My guitar is the original. I'll sell it for one hundred thousand.
Fake. Seriously.
Don't give up your day job lol
Right on man
they are horrible
Not at all. Yours must have not been set up right. Mine is perfectly good. I have much better and this is a fine guitar.