Peavey T-15 - the Mississippi Mustang Part II

A little over two years ago I wrote a article on the Peavey T-15 guitar in which I called it the Mississippi Mustang. I still have the same feeling about that first T-15 if not more. I have added T-15's to my collection and have learned more about them since then. In fact I loaned one out to someone months ago that I can't seem to get ahold of and I have his equipment. What does that say.

After my first T-15 the urge for one with humbuckers kept pulling at me, but I did not want to alter the magic tone of the original. I bought one off of ebay in the natural finish and then a second one in sunburst. The natural seems to hold up better than the sunburst and painted finishes. For the humbucking pickups I chose a custom wound Seymour Duncan 78 EVH for the bridge pickup and a Seymour Duncan Alnico II ala Slash for the neck. The humbucking pickups fit perfectly in the opening for the the original Peavey Super Ferrite single coils.

After trying to rebuild the original natural ash bodied one I took it to Don Meyers at Meyers Custom Guitars for a set up. The original bridge had been replaced and Don recommended I use the sunburst one made of alder that was all original. I had him do all the work on the sunburst and the guitar sounds absolutely awesome. The humbucker equipped T-15 is a monster with incredible tone. Having chips in the sunburst finish I decided to give it a relic look and sand off the edges with light sandpaper. Since the T-15's are still inexpensive I spent more on the pickups than I did on the working guitar itself. I really bought the sunburst one just to get the original case but now it is one of the main ones. The bridge pickup sounds very brown and a switch to the neck has a creamy blues tone.

Having one with humbuckers and one with single coils really shows the possibilities to the T-15. With the short scale the humbucker equipped one opens up new possibilities, especially with a tube amp. The original Peavey Super Ferrites are not as hot but have a beautiful tone, and the neck pickup has a special thump on power chords.

After a couple of years the T-15's have become guitars that are indispensable. These rugged little American made guitars can take a lot of abuse with little maintenance. Don Meyers told me the short scale required 10's or larger for strings instead of my usual 9's. I have done that and don't break strings and they feel right. In my first article I mistook the tight grain of my first guitar to be mahogany, I must retract that, as I now know it is ash.

I have been surprised over the past two years as to the interest the original T-15 article has had. Apparently others have taken an interest in the little Mississippi Mustang. This is encouraging as the not so ugly duckling deserves respect as it is a high grade instrument. It feels good to get the word out on an American made electric guitar that is priced like a cheap import.