Peavey

80w solid-state amp stemming from a long line of amps, mine is from 1994, according to the serial number. 2 inputs: high/low gain Effect loop Preamp output, amp input Two channels Clean: Volume, low, mid, high, presence, bright switch Lead: volume, gain, bottom, body, edge, switch: gain, shift Reverb Pedal: Channel, reverb 55.1 lbs!!! An anvil Equipped with a Scorpion speaker recognizable due to the aluminum basket. Made in USA :) UTILIZATION Ultra classic, documentation can be downloaded from Peavey's site. Each channel has its own EQ. The bright, gain and shift switches are very useful, they deserve a place on the pedal next to the channel and reverb footswitches. The sound? It sounds great right away :) It only lacks some tubes SOUNDS This amp can do anything, especially thanks to its ultra-versatile clean channel that can sound somber or crystal-clear, depending on the settings, plus it works great with any distortion pedal. The distortion is fat, oldies-like, I use it mainly for crunch sounds, which it's great for. I play with quite a few guitars: a crystalline Fender, a detuned high-gain Washburn, it is transparent. In my view, the speaker is a great asset. You could find it as spare part not so long ago for a bit more money than a Bandit or a Celestion, which is justified. It comes to terms fine with the Metal Zone by cutting the Highs: From 6 to 5 and you get no more buzzing. OVERALL OPINION It's a very good amp. The guy who sold it to me did it when Line 6 brought out its gear, so he sacrificed it. Its looks weren't in line with the trend back then. You can certainly find better tube amps, like the 5150 or Engl Screamer I've tested, but also worse ones. I'm very happy with it!

Everything has been written in previous reviews. Mine has a rosewood fingerboard. UTILIZATION See other reviews. It is indeed quite heavy, you need a good strap. But it is perfectly comfortable to play with. The neck is thicker and rounder than the one on my Luthman, but you get used to it. SOUNDS The sound: powerful, brilliant, particularly rich in mids but the lows rock as well, the amp always asks for mercy. Imagine playing a bass equipped with the strings of a grand piano or a Hammond B3 (the real one, not a clone) ─ that's the T-40, more or less. A very full sound, very vibrant, percussive and rich in harmonics. But also very versatile, depending on the settings: With the neck pickup and a bit of EQ you easily get a huge but very muffled sound, like Jah Wobble. You can watch on Youtube a video showcasing the different sound possibilities this bass provides, and how to use it to imitate a Precision, MusicMan or Rickenbacker. That's all very interesting, but this bass always has a particular sound. That said, I don't intend to sound like Chris Squire playing with a pick, but with the "Rick" setting you come pretty darn close! I have a somewhat run-down 4*10 cab with a speaker that crackles if you play a bit loud, at least with other basses, but not with the Peavey, even at the same volume. Always that harmonic richness, I think. OVERALL OPINION I bought it right after a Yes concert where I was blown away by the sound of Chris Squire with his Rickenbacker. It had more mids and harmonics than with his other basses. Reading different forums I discovered this bass, which seems to be the closest to a Rickenbacker and it is highly praised (although there are people who don't like it...). The word "awesome" is a bit trite these days but there is no other way to define this bass. Big, beautiful, heavy, dense; the output level, the sustain and the sound: It's awesome. Compared to my Luthman Jazzette, it's like driving a Land Rover and a sport coupe. You can find it easily on Ebay, it's a great American vintage bass at the price of a secondhand Fender MIJ. The cherry on the cake: You won't go unnoticed on stage. I love my T-40!

All-tube 2U power amp (eight El 84, two 12AX7 and one 12AT7) 2x 50 W output power Contour and presence controls per channel, very musical, ideal to adapt to the acoustics of a venue. Comprehensive connection options (DI output to use the amp sound in studio, for example, slave outputs to use a second power amp, several impedance options, possibility to switch to 100W mono mode for a 4x10 stack, for example). USE It's intuitive, so it's very easy to use. SOUND Very British sound, similar to a Vox power amp, due to the El84s. However, it respects the sound of the preamp. The best sound I have ever gotten was with a Mesa Boogie V twin as preamp. It delivers a very creamy sound. OVERALL OPINION I've been using it for four years. I previously had a 3U 2x60 model, but it was too big.. It worked very well with my Triaxis back then. A similar sound to a Mesa Fifty:Fifty but with much less dynamics (and less expensive, too) Unbeatable value for money...Ideally coupled with a Mesa. The fan is a small drawback, it's annoying in a small room, but imperceptible onstage.

this amp rules.. it's extremely light to carry.. it sounds fantastic has two channels. one with excellent overdrive / distortion and killer spring reverb it's a fender Princeton.. that doesn't cost the Princeton price.. mine is of the vintage of the red stripe ones... peavey makes fantastic amps what's what else is there to say!? get one now!!! the Rage... I've been told is the same amp except for the spring reverb.. or reverb of any sort. pick one up today because they're cheap as hell and they're off the chain great they're loud they sound fantastic and they have real spring reverb... the value/sound is off the chain it just shows you that this business of you have to spend lots of money to get good tone is complete and utter horseshit . i paid like 40 bucks for it.. great deal

As a Revalver 3 & III.V user, I had long expected this update. When finally released, it was up to the expectations it had created. I personally use Revalver with Protools 10 on OSX 10.8, as well as in standalone mode to create my own presets. I use it in a signal chain that starts with either an analog DI to a Metric Halo, or a tube preamp through an AES EBU output to the Metric Halo. While getting used to it seems quite easy, installing is a bit fastidious. Associating it with a USB drive forces the user to keep his “dongle” with himif he wished to work on several machines, which is my case – I also own an MBP. This is really bothersome. The fact that you have to be connected to the store for access to available content as well as the presence of ALL amp, pedal (etc) models are present in demo mode make the whole unnecessarily heavy. It would have been much better to do without the whole of it but hey, you quickly understand that it’s all about making us buy more. ;) Soundwise, Revalver 4 is true to its predecessors and faithfully reproduces the sounds of the selected amps, with an especially noteworth 5150. However, I feel like the Rectifier sim has lost a bit in quality, but it’s likely I haven’t spent enough time to explore all models and their possibilities. As for the new speaker sim, it’s just perfect with numerous settings and a very sharp precision. The Pre and Post FX insert feature is very efficient, while the noise gate is not easy to set properly: it’s often difficult to find the best threshold. I haven’t even tried the ACT at all, I can’t see the interest of it. The biggest cons I could find to Revalver 4 is its clean sounds. I find they drastically lack dynamics, with a very flat sound no matter which amp is selected. Adding a JCM800 would have been great, I tried to modify the schematics to approach a JCM800 starting from a JCM900 but it seems plain impossible to get something really similar. EQs are to use moderately as they drastically change the sound. You’d tend to add too much mids or his and that’s the sort of things that can spoil a mix. Better be careful, then. Regarding the presets, the new interface allows to vew, add or delete presets, they’re quickly within reach and when hovering over the preset you can see the config it involves – a very nice feature. The biggest reproach I could make it is that it’s impossible to import presets from the previous versions, which is very disappointing especially as the previous version’s speaker module is included. Another minor detail that gets on my nerves is the impossibility to organize the preset list according to one’s taste as user presets will always remain at the bottom of the list. While I use a 2560x1440 screen resolution, I can’t help feeling for those using lower resolutions. The included presets are a good start to make your own, bit beware of the in & out gain settings. While we’re about it, I often notice level differences between the standalone and Protools versions, making it necessary to readjust each time you get from one to the other. All in all, It’s still a nice piece of software that has undergone a great evolution. Some points could be made better, but the expectations are met so it’s on the right way. Pros : - Interface - Overdriven sounds - Effects - Speaker models Cons : - Clean sounds - Presence of all modules in demo mode - Not-so-user-friendly preset list management - Noise gate and EQ are way too sensitive

I just picked up an old Classic 100 head with some kind of custom made boutique speaker cab for $350 U.S. on Ebay. The era of anti-Peavey snobbery is over for me. I had it inspected, cleaned and "tuned-up" for $100. Wow. This is an amazing and versatile amp! I've paid triple the price for much less amp. Beautiful clean tones and great overdrive. The nice thing with this overdrive is, you can keep the level low, and it retains the great, glassy clean tone, but adds only slight gain. Those 8 El84 tubes do serve a purpose. Full, rich tone! I have played and owned all kinds of amps, from Mesa Boogies, to Fenders, to Marshalls. This is now the amp for me. Rock, Blues, Country, Surf, Jazz. Probably not for the hardest Metal, but with the right pedals, you could pull that off, too. UTILIZATION Easy to get good sounds. Manual is acceptable. SOUNDS 70s era Les Paul. Various MIM and American Strats. This thing brings out the classic Strat and Les Paul tones out of the guitar. Also seem to help with playing dynamics. OVERALL OPINION I've been playing for over 40 years. Tried and owned all kinds of amps. I'm now selling several of my others. This one is a keeper.

The Peavey 5150II is a 120W guitar amp head. It has 6 - 12AX7s in the preamp and 4 6L6 power tubes. Includes footswitchable lead/rhythm channel select, effects loop, 3-band standard EQ for each channel, plus resonance and presence controls on each channel. Rhythm channel includes pre/post gain and bright/crunch switches. Lead channel includes pre/post gain controls only. Preamp output. Footswitch included. 4, 8, or 16 ohms. The clean.rhythm channel share EQ controls. UTILIZATION It is fairly easy to get a good metal, rock and clean sound out of this amp with minimal tweaking. The EQ controls do not have a very wide sweep and don't change the sounds a great deal. The manual is clear and gives you good information. SOUNDS I have used Gibson V's, Les Pauls and ESP KH-2 guitars with this amp and it lets the characteristic of each guitar through but also slightly colors each of them and make them sound the same due to the "Peavey mids". My favorite sounds are the metal, rock and 80’s rock sounds, which I think this amp excels at. I usually go for a nice thick Jerry Cantrell AIC tone, to use with my modern rock/metal band. This amp can get you any heavy tone you want (especially with an extra EQ in the loop) and pretty good cleans. Suits my style of music nicely. The clean tones are OK and rather plain but usable. OVERALL OPINION Overall, this is a fantastic amp, especially for what you can buy them for on the used market. The features I like the most are footswitchable clean/rhythmchannel, which makes the amp a three channel one. the great tone shaping options on each channel. The only drawback for me is the sub par clean channel. I did not need to use this channel a lot so it was ok for what I needed. This amp is a well built tone generator that can give you many tones. I have had many amps and for hard rock and metal this would be one of my top choices – especially for the used market price they go for.

Specs include: 120w of pure American voiced power 5 - 12AX7s in the preamp 4 - 6L6s in the power amp Footswitchable Lead and Rhythm (clean) channels Effects loop 3-band EQ (lows, mids, highs) Resonance and Presence controls Bright and Crunch switch on Rhythm channel 4, 8, or 16 ohms Made in the USA This amp is the same model as Peavey's current production 6505. UTILIZATION The 5150 has a simple and minimalistic layout, which is very easy to get used to. Super easy to get a great tone out of it, though the Rhythm channel can be a bit finicky with getting a good clean tone out of it. SOUNDS I have owned many, many 5150s over the years (probably somewhere close to 10). Having playing it through everything from a Strat to a Les Paul, a Tele to a Jackson, they have never let me down. Currently, I'm using it through a Soldano 2x12 with Eminence V12 Legends and a Parker Fly Stealth, mainly in Drop C. Mostly, I play metal, and while this amp isn't necessarily the most versatile amp on the market, it is certainly the best I've heard in its price range for the genre (and trust me, I have owned pretty much EVERY high gain amp there is to own in the sub-$2000 range). This amp has a very strong mid-range presence, and it is almost impossible to achieve a "scooped" sound with it, unless you're using an external EQ in the loop. This amp will cut through a live mix like a knife, with your mids at 3, and is quite possibly the best sounding amp I've used for recording (maybe tied with a 2 Channel Mesa Dual Rectifier). A lot of people complain about this amp not truly having a "clean" tone on it, and personally, I think they're nuts. While I can see not being able to achieve a shimmering clean tone out of the 5150 with super high output pickups, pickups similar in output to the Duncan JB are more than capable of getting an entirely passable clean tone out of this amp, you just need to spend some time learning how the EQ controls and Bright/Crunch switches work on the channel. The Lead channel is capable of the heaviest of heavy, with a tight, super-cutting tone. The secret to the clearest distorted tone out of this amp, however, is using an overdrive pedal (I use a Maxon OD-808) over the Rhythm channel with the Crunch setting engaged, the pre-gain set a bit low on the channel and the overdrive pedal with the drive set at 0 and the volume all the way up. While it might not pack quite the saturated punch that the Lead channel does, it's one of the clearest high gain tones you will find on ANY amp (even more so than my Diezel Herbert). However, perhaps the biggest increase in tone that can be made with the 5150, is the addition of the "bias mod" circuit. This adds an adjustable bias pot, which allows you to run the tubes at the correct voltage (they come biased very cold from the factory), and get rid of nasty cross-over distortion. Not only does this mod open the amp up quite a bit and reduces the sterileness of it, but in some cases also gives it more saturation and gain (like it needs extra gain as it is! :P ) OVERALL OPINION I have been recommending these amps to people for years, and for good reason. You can get them dirt cheap on the used market and they sound GREAT! I keep buying more expensive amps to try them out, and keep coming back to the 5150. With this amp and a 2 Channel Mesa Dual Recto, you're able to nail just about every high gain tone ever recorded. While the more expensive amps sound great, having tried nearly all of them, I've yet to find one that is really worth the extra cash over these two amps. While I own a Diezel Herbert, and it sounds AMAZING, would I pay that much money for one again? Definitely not. Am I going to sell it anytime soon? Definitely not. I honestly can't say enough good things about the 5150... While this may not be the perfect practice amp (it's a bit buzzy at super low volumes, but has a great Master Volume once you get it past 1.5 or so), it's an awesome head that I would recommend to anyone playing heavier music, whether their budget is $500 or $5000. Unless some revolutionary new amp comes out that really blows me away, this amp won't be going anywhere, or be traded for anything.

This was another one of those guitars I drooled over for many years before actually pulling the trigger on. I should preface by saying that I'm a HUGE Van Halen freak, so when the opportunity to get a top of the line Wolfgang Standard Deluxe last April, I jumped at the chance. Mine was a very early model (1997) Patent Pending Standard Deluxe. It had a basswood body with a maple top, an oil finished maple neck with 22 frets, a Peavey designed double locking tremolo system and a pair of Peavey humbuckers designed specifically for the Wolfie by Ed himself. It has a very cross-set of features that is somewhat like a cross between a Les Paul and some sort of superstrat (IE: Charvel, Kramer, etc.) and as a result I figured that, being primarily a Les Paul player at that time, the Wolfie would be very appealing to me. The neck had an extremely easy to play feel, due in no small part to two things. The oil/satin finish that was applied to the maple neck and fretboard, as well as the VERY comfortable asymmetrical neck profile of Ed's own design. The neck was definitely the high point of the guitar's features... as it was very comfortable to hold and play, and made it very easy to glide up and down the fretboard at warp speed for those fast and slide-y Van Halen esque runs. UTILIZATION As stated above, the Wolfgang is almost like a cross-breed between two guitars that Ed loves... the Les Paul, and the LA superstrat (Charvel, Kramer, etc.) At its core I found it to be more like the former (albeit with a longer scale length and a tremolo) in terms of its feel and the tones that it offered. Surprisingly enough, I found that the guitar was not very ergonomic in its design. It was definitely on the heavier side weight wise and lacked the contouring to really feel like a fast, sleek guitar. Mind you, mine had an arched top which helped somewhat... but it still was nowhere near what I'd have expected from an EVH designed guitar. The upper fret access was definitely decent. I was able to reach the top 22nd fret without issue. This was probably helped quite a bit by the neck's oil finish and the really nice asymmetrical profile. The biggest caveat I have with the layout and setup of the guitar as far as features go is that I would have preferred a 24.75 scale length (IE:Gibson) because that is what I was more used to at the time, and I felt that it might have made some of the wide interval runs that I was doing a little easier on the hands and fingers. However, that's more of a personal thing than an issue with the guitar... as I didn't find my playing was at all hindered on the Wolfie... it just could have been made better with a shorter scale length. However it's VH's guitar, not mine. SOUNDS When I got the guitar, I knew that it would nail one thing very well... Van Halen's trademark rock tone. It definitely does do that well, but what shocked me is that it really did nothing else beyond that very well. Definitely a letdown for me. I was using a plethora of different amps at the time I had the guitar (Genz Benz El Diablo 60C, Peavey Vypyr Tube 60 combo, Peavey Classic 50 2x12, etc) and I just could not get any tones that I liked aside from the Van Halen rock tone. Mind you, like I said I'm a huge Van Halen fan, so that's not a BIG disappointment but it was still a bit of a letdown. The neck pickup was definitely not my cup of tea. It was far too bassy and flubby with not enough note definition. Clean tones just sounded rather muffled with that pickup, and the distortion tones had a very booming quality that I just could not get along with. The bridge pickup was great for that Van Halen vibe for sure... but I didn't find that it could do anything else very well. I guess Ed likes a pickup that lacks midrange (according to how this one sounds anyway.) Unfortunately, I'm the antithesis of that. I find a midrange tone absolutely essential to my style, and I found that unless I was playing VH... I just found myself shaking my head. To cap it off, I found that the volume and tone controls had possibly the worst taper I've ever seen (they may as well have been on/off switches.) Volume swells or doing the "roll back your volumes for rhythms, bring it up for leads" trick wasn't going to work with this guitar... Perhaps it was just my specific Wolfie... but all in all the sounds were mostly a disappointment. I love EVH... but a guitar that costs as much as a Wolfie does should be capable of SOME other sounds. The newer EVH branded Wolfgangs seem to have addressed this to a degree... as the pickups are much livelier and more response to clean and low gain settings. I found that I could get it to sound very good through a modeling rig... but as soon as I brought a tube amp into the equation... it just did not deliever. Ah well. C'est le vie I suppose. OVERALL OPINION All in all, I felt that (my) Wolfgang was definitely a mixed bag. I loved certain aspects of the feel and tone, but many of the others just fell completely short of my expectations. I got on really well with the factors that made me play/sound more like Eddie... but any time I tried to branch out and try to get another sound it just wasn't happening. I'd played numerous Wolfgang's years before and waited a long time to get one... so my feelings were understandable. The guitar itself played very favourably, with a good low action and a slick feel... but unless I felt like playing Van Halen... I would always reach for another guitar before this one. There were certain features that I thought were interesting and useful like the D-Tuna dropped D tuner or the reversed pickup switch... but in the end it really didn't matter too much as I was basically left with a one trick pony. Granted, it's one of the best one trick ponies out there... but only if you like Van Halen. I would be willing to give the Wolfgang another shot... but this time I'd go into it knowing exactly what I would use it for and how I would use it. I guess considering the design (LP meets superstrat) I really expected more. Oh well... there's always more guitars out there!

The Peavey Rage 158 is a fairly typical practice amplifier from Peavey's venerable line of amps. It's a 15 watt solid state amp featuring Peavey's "Transtube" technology. This is supposed to ape not only the tone and harmonics/overtones that a tube amp offers, but also that unmistakable feel that you get when playing through a true tube amp. It's got two channels, clean and drive. The layout is very simple, featuring a single volume for the clean channel and separate gain (pre) and volume (post) controls for the drive channel. Other than that, both channels share an equalization control set of bass, middle and treble controls. The only other features of note on this amp are a 1/4" headphone jack for silent practice as well as a 1/4" auxiliary input for plugging in a CD player or other external device. It features a single 8" Peavey Blue Marvel speaker to cap everything off. All in all it's a decent feature-set considering the amp's then street price of around $100. UTILIZATION When I first got the amplifier, I was about 6 years old and it was the first amp I got that was my own. It is very simple and easy to use, so even at that young age, I was able to dial in reasonable tones that I liked. Even up to the present day. There aren't many features to wrap your head around so that leaves room to just play guitar. The clean channel has a nice set of tones. I've used it as a rehearsal amp for a jazz project for the last year and it works well enough for that, despite being old and only 15 SS watts. There is some pretty horrendous speaker buzz from age, so that limits me from turning the amplifier up too loudly in these settings. The drive channel is really impressive for a solid state practice amp. Its specialty seems to be a surprisingly killer 80s/90s rock tone that has lots of midrange and a really punchy attack overall. SOUNDS I've had this amp since new when I was 6. At that time, I was using various Squier, Yamaha, and Epiphone guitars with both single coil and humbucking pickups. At that time I was playing blues and rock music, most often on my own. On occasion I did use this amp for gigs/television appearances, and in those instances the amplifier would be mic'd. Even today I still use this amp for rehearsals and as a beater, and though it is aged and worn it still sounds great. The Transtube system does have a great sound and though it's not going to ever replace a proper tube amp, it does sound great for what it is. I love the overdrive tones especially and find myself playing lots of 80s riffage and lead based stuff when I'm plugged into the Rage. The amp gives me a wonderful inspiration to play because it sounds good. Most practice amps don't put a smile on my face but this one does. OVERALL OPINION All in all I feel that this is a great amp for the young guitarist or someone who just needs a small amp to use as a beater/practice amp. I've been using mine for over ten years and it still works very well and sounds great. I've tried the newer versions of the Rage (the one with the red stripe as well as the newer 258 model) and I was not nearly as impressed with those as I was with my 2000 model Rage which the silver stripe. These amps can be picked up cheaply on the used market, so if you are looking for a small, simple, yet great sounding amp on a budget, give the Rage a try. You might be surprised...

Peavey has always had a reputation for building gear that could practically withstand an atomic bomb blast. The first offered opinion of Peavey by most experienced users is "It's built like a tank!". The 300-watt, 412MS Mono-Stereo guitar cabinet is indeed built to last. It weighs in at a hefty 97lbs with speakers loaded, and features metal-reinforced corners, black metal speaker grille, and a combination MDF/Plywood construction covered in durable black tolex. Recessed heavy-duty handles allow the cab to be moved by hand, or it can be rolled using the included casters. At nearly 100lbs, most users would rather just roll it! The cab is switchable from mono to stereo operation, and is rated for 16 ohms mono, or 8 ohms per-side stereo. It comes loaded with Peavey Sheffield 1290 speakers, which are Peavey's take on Celestion G12-75T's. Size-wise, the 412MS is somewhere between a Marshall 1960, and a Mesa Oversized 4X12. The speakers are front-loaded, to maximize cab seal, which benefits low-end response. I wasn't particularly a fan of the Sheffield 1290's, although they weren't bad speakers at all. But they were very unforgiving in the mid range. As a result, amps sounded more aggressive, and sometimes boxy. I found they responded best at super high volumes, which obviously isn't always an option, even in the largest of venues. Swapping them out for my favorite Celestion Vintage 30's made this cab the perfect 4x12 for metal and hard rock. Those who favor more classic tones would favor loading it with Greenback-style speakers. If you already have 4 speakers of choice to load into the 412MS, then purchasing one is an excellent value, as they go used for well under $200 in some cases. An unloaded Avatar 4x12 goes for twice that. The input jack assembly is also well made, with two input jacks and sliding mono-stereo switch. The assembly is mounted to the rear panel with 4 heavy screws. The speakers themselves are mounted with 4 screws each into metal T-inserts in the front baffle. Additional screws can be added at your discretion. All-in-all, the Peavey 412MS is an incredible value for those that want a 4x12 Speaker cabinet that is built to last and can be upgraded.

The Peavey Wolfgang Special was a slightly lower priced version of the top of the line archtop Wolfgang Standard. It was still made in the USA and offered the same core shape and tones, but it didn't have the arched maple cap, and certain parts were of slightly lower tier (IE: cheaper tuners, regular rock maple neck instead of birdseye maple, etc). It featured a basswood body, a maple neck with 22 frets, standard tuners, a Peavey licensed locking tremolo with EVH's own D Tuna onboard and a pair of EVH designed Peavey humbuckers wired to a single volume control and a 3 way toggle switch. Simple, yet effective. UTILIZATION The design of the Wolfie Special is quite ergonomic. I found it to be quite light and the shape felt like an old friend when I strapped it on. The neck is one of my favourite profiles in a guitar. It has a nice baseball bat sort of feel, but is not quite as wide, and is also asymmetrical as well. This combined with the tung oil neck finish on raw maple feels ridiculously good and allows for some extremely fast and precise playing. The upper fret access is great because the heel is actually contoured out a bit on the back to allow the whole hand to slide up a bit further than on a typical Strat or Tele. Getting a good sound is reasonably easy. There aren't a lot of switching options on this guitar but if you're using a great amp you can get some killer tones, both clean and distorted. SOUNDS This guitar may appear as a bit of a one trick pony, and it more or less is intended to play mainly hard rock styles, but using the right combination of amps and effects can be quite rewarded for versatility's sake. Through a nice clean amp with a bit of reverb, the guitar has some nice jazzy or bluesy tones, especially using the neck pickup only. I found the bridge pickup a little bit too high output to do any real pristine clean tones myself. Switching to drive tones brings you into rock city. The neck pickup is very fluid and clear, great for rock or shred lead work, and the bridge pickup is pure Van Halen. It's quite biting and aggressive, but has a nice vintage feel to it at its core a-la an old PAF being overloaded into a hot rodded amp. It works great for rock riffage or really harmonically driven lead work. OVERALL OPINION All in all I think the Peavey Wolfgang Special is a great buy for someone who wants a great EVH guitar for under $1000, or even just a great hard rock guitar with the best of both worlds between a Les Paul and a Superstrat. They can be had used for about $600 which is a great deal considering you're getting a high quality USA made instrument that will stand the test of time. It's not the most versatile instrument out there, but if you're looking for a killer rock n' roll ax, this is one for the books.