The FIRENZA Thread!

This forum is for talking about all kinds of Peavey electric and acoustic guitars.
friendofpugs
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by friendofpugs » Mon May 15, 2017 7:21 pm

Thanks, it's certainly turned creamy with age, pretty cool. :mrgreen:

Rodip
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by Rodip » Sat Mar 13, 2021 7:20 pm

Firenza P90 incoming.
So, this will be my first Peavey guitar. Never considered one before recently, and honestly, there are things about this model that are not my thing. Bolt on P 90s, huh? Maple neck on a hog body? 25" scale? The treble horn? This thing is my worst possible mashup of stuff I do jot like.
Great intro huh? I pretty much hate this thing on specs and looks. However, there are many cool things for me too, made in USA, Gotoh hardware, and low wind P90s at a very reasonable cost. Besides the treble horn, it looks really nice, and two things really got me. The headstock is great, and the bolt on looks great, reminds me of my Hamer Cruise bass with 2Tek bridge.
I love P90s and will have 3 P90 guitars, Hamer Artist (soon getting a new set of pickups) hog 90, and my Shishkov jr. I am expecting the Firenza to get some good play time.
I am excited by this.
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Rodip
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by Rodip » Wed Mar 17, 2021 5:47 am

Very looking forward to getting my first Peavey guitar, you guessed, a Firenz P90 will be coming into the Hamer hut of my collection.
I love P90s! This will be the third P90 guitar I have.
I couldn't say no to this even though there were some (for me) issues. Bolt on with P90s (big no no in my book, can't explain!), Maple neck with Mahogany body, 25" scale. The treble horn, or visually, the trouble horn (It's me, it's the picture, I am sure in person it will look better!)
Surprisingly there was some stuff to love including the pickups (low wind), how the neck attaches to the body reminds me of my Cruise Bass, looks very nice! White Pickup covers, wow, it looks like something else! The headstock is great too! Also, I am assured that it's a great player too!

I'm gonna give it a big shot, I can't help but think it will be great

Rodip
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by Rodip » Fri Mar 19, 2021 8:46 am

So I found the user manuals online, they look good. I have done one better and imposed them for printing as a little booklet. I have done the Leaksville models only. Hit me up if you would like a copy (if that is permissible).

My Firenza is on it's way. I love guitars that punch out of their weight class. I am currently awaiting my second custom build from Shishkov guitars USA (Formerly of Hamer fame), but something really intrigues me on this P90 Firenza.


Thanks!

Rodip
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by Rodip » Sun Mar 21, 2021 10:03 am

BPSUL wrote:
Thu Sep 02, 2010 2:37 pm
Cream appointments added. Original knobs in storage, and not for sale lol.

Image

Image
This may be my incoming one!

Rodip
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by Rodip » Tue Mar 23, 2021 7:46 pm

It is a keeper!
Better looking in person
Sounds great.
Love the middle toggle.
Great case too.
Lots of pluses on this guitar.
Perfectly balanced.
Did get a little wrist tatigue as the neck is wider/slimmer than my other guitars, but I may need to adjust my strap.
I love the vol / tone knobs, very cool!

jreising326
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by jreising326 » Sat May 01, 2021 8:09 pm

Ok so I'm a newbie/lurker and joined the forum after buying a Peavey Predator for $109 about 6 weeks ago. I was following this thread and today literally walked into a Firenza and bought it in the local shop.

It was on consignment so I made an offer and 10 minutes later they called me back and accepted it. The guitar is in very good shape, there is a nick/ding inside the back edge of the bottom of 1 horn that is nearly impossible to see. I thought it was a speck of dirt. The back panel was missing, and the only other "issue" is it looks like the previous owner upgraded the Bridge to a Dimarzio NX2 Pickup. The "Born On Date" in the Neck Pocket says 8-24-99 and I believe it's a Solid Body.

Now the guy at the shop said it's an AX and it does have locking Tuners, but the switch is just a 3 way. I'm not sure if the previous owner converted it when he changed the Bridge Pickup or if this might be some kind of One Off?

jreising326
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by jreising326 » Tue May 04, 2021 6:44 pm

Photos Attached of my "new" Firenza. I've concluded the previous owner removed the Superswitch and Peavey Pickups and I intend to try to return it to it's original state. I tried to contact Peavey Parts as I also need a Tremolo Arm but I haven't been able to reach them.

Any suggestions on how to identify the Neck Pup and why the previous owner might have made these changes. The Bridge Pickup I guess could be an upgrade and is the X2N (not N2X as in my first post), but I'm not sure what the Neck. It seems the previous owner may have just moved the original HW to a preferred guitar. I guess I may never know, but I don't regret my purchase in anyway, it is a nice upgrade from my 94 Predator, which I also like very much.
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Classic30inCincy
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by Classic30inCincy » Tue May 04, 2021 7:42 pm

ME LIKEY YOUR PICKUP COMBINATION <----------> :!: 8) :!: :wink: :!:

I believe their "KEEPERS" <------> Pickups AND Bridge :D 8) :D :wink: :D

Should be a "TONE MONSTER"...... :!: :D :!: :D :!:

Consider PUSH/PULL pots on volume control.

PUSH/PULL will allow single coil AND humbuckers.

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jreising326
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by jreising326 » Tue May 04, 2021 8:20 pm

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm a total newbie and that suggestion wouldn't be something I'd have thought of without your comment! Also simpler and less costly that what I was considering.

Thanks!

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JamesPaul
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by JamesPaul » Thu May 06, 2021 12:19 am

jreising326 wrote:
Tue May 04, 2021 6:44 pm
Photos Attached of my "new" Firenza. I've concluded the previous owner removed the Superswitch and Peavey Pickups and I intend to try to return it to it's original state. I tried to contact Peavey Parts as I also need a Tremolo Arm but I haven't been able to reach them.

Any suggestions on how to identify the Neck Pup and why the previous owner might have made these changes. The Bridge Pickup I guess could be an upgrade and is the X2N (not N2X as in my first post), but I'm not sure what the Neck. It seems the previous owner may have just moved the original HW to a preferred guitar. I guess I may never know, but I don't regret my purchase in anyway, it is a nice upgrade from my 94 Predator, which I also like very much.
The next time you change strings, unscrew the neck pickup ring. You should be able to lift it far enough to check the pickup baseplate for stampings or labels. If no luck, you can check the colors of the neck pickup wires soldered to components in the control cavity. This may help narrow down the pickup manufacturer.

https://guitarelectronics.com/guitar-wi ... lor-codes/

I would expect the previous owner to also have put a DiMarzio in the neck.
Enzo wrote:I find if the amp is working, that is a good point to stop fixing it.
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jreising326
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by jreising326 » Thu May 06, 2021 11:48 am

Thanks for the tip(s). I did pull the pickup and take a pic when changing the strings on Saturday. That's how I confirmed the Bridge Pickup but I couldn't identify the Neck Pickup. I didn't think about the wire colors though. Now if I'm looking at this correctly it looks like the Neck Pickup only has 2 wires, one is Bare, the other is White. The bare wire has clear shrink tubing on it in the cavity but it is bare coming out of the black cladding that held both wires. The wires are on the upper end of the cavity photo attached. You can see the white wire in the photo but the clear shrink is a little harder to make out. It is soldered to the upper Pot. The wires from that pickup are also slightly heavier gauge than the X2N wires.

I guess this is a PAF Pickup?

Not being able to identify the Neck Pickup and finding a 3 way instead of 5 way switch is what made me wonder if these changes were an upgrade or simply a preferred change, or worse the previous owner removed the original pickups and switch before trying to sell the guitar. The strings that came on it were really old/corroded and it looked as if the guitar sat in case and wasn't played for years, but that's just a guess. It did not come with a case.
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JamesPaul
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by JamesPaul » Thu May 06, 2021 3:48 pm

The neck is a single conductor pickup and may be the stock neck pickup. I'll wait for one of the Peavey guitar gurus to chime in on this. You won't be able to split it or put the coils in parallel as is.

If you have a meter you can get the DC Resistance of the neck pickup which *might* confirm your PAF output level theory. Here's a how-to YouTube video.

https://youtu.be/e68QGkcJVxI

PAF DCR is typically somewhere between 7000 and 9000 ohms, but that's not an absolute. Keep in mind a lot of other factors can affect pickup output.

If you check DCR on the X2N, it should be around 15,830 ohms (15.83k ohms). This should confirm the neck pickup reading will be in the ballpark for accuracy as well.
Enzo wrote:I find if the amp is working, that is a good point to stop fixing it.
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jreising326
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by jreising326 » Thu May 06, 2021 10:09 pm

Your estimates were very close to what I measured with my DMM for both pickups. According to the manual this guitar should have a 5-way Superswitch and 2 Zebra Humbuckers, so I don't think the Neck is stock. I suspect it's just what the previous owner preferred.

I'm also curious if an Guru's weigh in on whether I should try to buy the original pickups, used ones go for around $50, assuming they really are the original ones from a Firenza AX. At some point I will want to put a 4 Conductor Pickup in the neck and split it. It was one of the desired features in the AX I thought I was getting, but it's not a disappointment in anyway. The guitar is in mint condition and the price I paid was a real deal.

Any stock Firenza AX owners care to weigh in on Stock vs. Aftermarket Pickups on this guitar? I also need a Trem Arm and Backplate if anyone knows what else might fit. I haven't been able to reach anyone at Peavey Parts this week so I"m guessing they don't have these parts anymore.

rizarefaldi
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Re: The FIRENZA Thread!

Post by rizarefaldi » Tue Jun 01, 2021 8:51 am

it's certainly turned creamy with age, pretty cool

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