The Peavey Tracer

This was actually my first guitar and I will admit I am a bit partial to it. Since then I have owned many more guitars and played countless others. I have played many for several weeks and then either traded or sold them. This has been a mainstay of my playing though. I have had mine since Christmas 1990 and it has never failed me yet. The one I bought was the standard model with one humbucker and a non-locking tremolo. I had a locking tremolo put on it and other than that it's totally stock.

Peavey began production of the Tracer in 1988 and ended it in 1994. At that time they ran anywhere from $250 to $500 brand new with a hard shell case. These guitars were built for hard rock and heavy metal. They were had a light weight and were easy to play live. They also featured stock high output humbucker pickups to bring out that sound when you play. You can often find these used on eBay for around $100-$400. I would say you could often find a nice used one for like $220. These blow away any guitar currently on the market for under $400 and hold their own against much more expensive guitars.

There were nine incarnations of the Peavey Tracer. Many features were shared by all models. Others had variations in type of tremolo, number of frets, number of pickups, and type of fret board. There was a model available with a reverse headstock. The body wood on all of them was poplar. There are reports of models available in alder wood, but I have never seen any of those. The necks were all made from hard maple and featured either a maple or rosewood fret board with either 22 or 24 frets. The pickup configurations were available with a bridge humbucker, a humbucker with one or two single coils, and two humbucker pickups. I personally never used any pickup in a guitar except the bridge so this was a non-issue for me. The tremolos there were available were either a locking or non locking tremolo system.

I cannot stress enough the value you receive for the money with these guitars. You will pay about $200 average and get a guitar with features that are often found on $550 plus guitars. I recommend the Peavey Tracer to both beginning guitarists as an affordable starter guitar as well as seasoned pros. They make a great back up or main stage instrument. I personally use mine to whenever I record. It also is always on the road with me when I play live.

Sources and to purchase.

Years of playing.

www.ebay.com

www.musicgoround.com