Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

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Esesh
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Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by Esesh » Fri May 04, 2018 12:17 pm

So, after a long and exhaustive review of some older posts regarding the HP Signature model guitars, I have found that the information posted about the USA made HP Signatures to be inconclusive and inconsistent. Many years have rolled past these posts and I wondered if there is some final information from experienced users about what differentiates the USA built guitars from their Asian counterparts? One USA made sign is the lack of serial stamped on back of headstock. I got just yesterday from Peavey customer service that serials are on the back of the headstock on the USA models. I don’t trust that information based on what I have read. What is true?
I have reduced that USA HP Signatures have recessed routings around the controls, no serial stamp, dot and trap inlays, and pearloid tuner knobs. Am I missing anything? I would just like to see if we can finalize the information and misinformation on these great guitars. Word up if you have solid information. Cheers!

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Scooterx2
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Re: Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by Scooterx2 » Sat May 05, 2018 6:06 pm

My hp sig is 2009 from custom shop and it has the serial # stamped on the back of the head stock Birdseye maple neck recessed controls etc.
If you give peavey customer service the serial number they should be able to give you some info on the guitar if it’s from US
Hope this helps
Cheers
Scott
Jesus, Family, Peavey, & Duct tape in that order !:)>

Esesh
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Re: Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by Esesh » Sat May 05, 2018 11:32 pm

My HP Signature does not have the serial stamped in the back of the headstock. Really, I have not seen any with the serial stamped on the back of the headstock. The serial number supposedly was printed on a sticker affixed to the control cavity cover but has been removed prior to my purchase. It has recessed control knob routing which supposedly is a major clue that it is a USA made guitar. Supposedly, the Asian HPs are flat at the control knob holes. It also has tiger striped maple cap and not a quilt top with a dot inlay rosewood fretboard. The cap and fretboard are different from the typical HP Signature USA, but the recessed control knob holes are almost a sure sign. Does anybody know if this is true?

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studiodtk5
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Re: Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by studiodtk5 » Sun May 06, 2018 8:48 pm

Esech, you are correct. The HP Signature has a sticker on the back of the control cavity cover with the serial number. Some people remove them, and then there is no serial number.

Scooter, pretty sure you have an HP Special. Yours has a bolt on neck, right? The HP Siganture is a set neck.
Darren
ITOC: 08-00190

Peavey stuff I have: Masterpiece 50, Custom Shop 212, Stereo Chorus 212, T-60, T-40, Signature Select, Odyssey II Prototype, Generation Custom EXP, Firenza P90-ACM, VB-2, Stomp Boxes, Radial Pro 1000, lots of mics, etc...

Esesh
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Re: Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by Esesh » Mon May 07, 2018 10:49 pm

More things I have found about HP Signature USA:

Natural binding showing the maple top cap. Asian models have white binding.
Pickups have the partial covers, like they have the center cut out. Asian models have standard covered pickups.
No serial markings anywhere except sticker on control plate. Asian have handcrafted in Korea and serial on the back of headstock.
Recessed control holes. Asian flush with top of body.
Faux Alligator case vs plastic case on the Asian.
Maple binding on the ebony fretboard and no binding on the rosewood fretboard USA. White fretboard binding on Asian models.
Dot rosewood inlays and trapezoidal on ebony fretboard USA. Unbound ebony with trapezoidal inlays Asian models.
Pearloid knobs on the Schaller tuners on USA. Asian models have gold Grovers.
Peavey Costomer Service doesn’t know about these differences. Told me there was a serial on back of headstock. LOL!

Am I missing anything else?

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Scooterx2
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Re: Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by Scooterx2 » Tue May 08, 2018 6:06 pm

Yes your correct studio mine is a hp special! Don’t know what I thinking
Jesus, Family, Peavey, & Duct tape in that order !:)>

Esesh
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Re: Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by Esesh » Tue May 15, 2018 12:22 pm

So, all this guessing about origins and models, and I found out that the previous owner of my blue flame maple top HP Signature Select Custom removed the serial sticker and put it under the coltrols plate. I called Costomer Service again with my newly found information about my guitar and was told that it was 1 of a couple blue flame maple cap Signature Slects that the Custon Shop made specifically for the Dallas Guitar Show in 2006 (since it was made in 2005). All of the other Signature Selects had quilted tops in Tiger Eye or Sunburst. Kinda cool. That explained a lot. I have not seen another blue flame top Select which confused me about the origin. I guess I’ll call it Blue Dart. 😆

My collected information above is a blend of Signature USA and Signature Select Custom information. To separate these models down I can start with their common origin. They seem to be USA built. The Signature Select models usually have mahogany tops in red and darker stain. They have rosewood fretboards with dot inlays. Mine has a 3 piece mahogany back with a 3 piece neck. Signature USA models have a one piece back with stain to show the wood. The three piece back also confused me about the origin of my guitar because three piece backs are found in the Asian models. It also has a dark blue painted back which easily concealed the three piece back. My guess is that they use three piece wood on painted back models.

All of this info is a result of not having a stamped serial number on the headstock which in my opinion was a poor decision. I hope this information proves useful for someone looking for verification of their cool guitar that is missing that crappy sticker.

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studiodtk5
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Re: Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by studiodtk5 » Sat May 19, 2018 7:46 am

I have two of these guitars. One is red and one a sunburst. Both excellent guitars. Near to being my favorite guitars. They play excellent. I don’t think I have a guitar that plays any better. They are super comfortable to play. Easy access to the upper neck, if you play all those notes.

Both of mine are the USA models. I have never played an import version. So I am not certain what those are like.

I would recommend anyone get one of these guitars, no questions.

Just an FYI, I own Gibson, Fender, G&L, Hamer, Jackson, Ibanez, Godin, Danolectro, and Gretsch guitars. So, I have direct access to play almost anything. The Peavey guitars are always top of my list and the HP Signature the top of that.
Darren
ITOC: 08-00190

Peavey stuff I have: Masterpiece 50, Custom Shop 212, Stereo Chorus 212, T-60, T-40, Signature Select, Odyssey II Prototype, Generation Custom EXP, Firenza P90-ACM, VB-2, Stomp Boxes, Radial Pro 1000, lots of mics, etc...

ooglybong
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Re: Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by ooglybong » Wed Jun 06, 2018 1:47 pm

Great job on all the valuable research there, Esesh! I think I knew most of this stuff, but it's so GREAT to have it all collected now in one spot. Thanks for your reporting!

Yeah, that 'invisible' sticker hidden away on yours was probably a decent solution by the previous owner when dealing with a possibly curling plastic film. IMO. Why not tape it on the inside, right? Still, I simply cannot fathom why Peavey ever displayed it that way -vs- on the headstock like an HP Special. (My own Sig's sticker is still there on the rear cover, quite intact, nice and flat, dating it from 2005, and my HP Specials and Wolfgangs don't have a sticker but rather a rear headstock imprint.)

These HP Sigs are GREAT guitars. Neat story... I had gotten mine on eBay several years ago, managed to play it for 30 minutes just to check it was OK, nothing amiss, etc.... and then my *utterly supportive* wife stole it away to hide it under the bed as my upcoming Christmas present. (She does that a lot around the Holidays! lol) Anyway, a friend was over for dinner, and he had brought along his Gustavsson Bluesmaster Custom '59 to show me (it's an LP-ish guitar in general), and of course, I got to play it for a nice while. He had paid over $10K for it, and not surprisingly, it was very, very nice. Now, I'd never even seen one of those before, but it also somehow felt and sounded rather, er, "familiar", so within a few minutes of my friend leaving, I had managed to talk my wife into "lending" me back my soon-to-be present HP Sig for an immediate comparison (I got another 20 minutes of it, lol), and... wow, it sounded and felt—playability and response—an awful lot like that Gustavson (really, really close actually. IMO)—and a lot more than any of my many other guitars (and believe me, I checked some of those, too). FWIW. Yup, these HP Sigs are *really* great.

Hey Esesh... I would LOVE to see some photos of your blue HP Sig. I'd never even heard they were made, so that was indeed a wonderful find for you!

Again, thanks for all the great research!
Last edited by ooglybong on Mon Jun 11, 2018 12:43 am, edited 2 times in total.

ooglybong
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Re: Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by ooglybong » Wed Jun 06, 2018 3:31 pm

Since the HP Sig topic came up (and I did ask Esesh for some photos of his new blue one), I did a search, and there's apparently never been a thread here to share our own Sigs via photos. So I figured, why not include them right here? So, here's my 2005. (And please do post your own, too!)
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Esesh
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Re: Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by Esesh » Fri Jun 08, 2018 11:11 pm

That thing is sweet! How do you like the neck?

Esesh
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Re: Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by Esesh » Fri Jun 08, 2018 11:19 pm

So here it is. Plays great. It has sort of a lower end growl to it but not too dark. The neck pickup cleans up to an awesome jazzy tone. Very happy with the pickups and tones I am able to get out of it.
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Esesh
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Re: Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by Esesh » Sat Jun 09, 2018 11:08 pm

ooglybong wrote:
Wed Jun 06, 2018 3:31 pm
Since the HP Sig topic came up (and I did ask Esesh for some photos of his new blue one), I did a search, and there's apparently never been a thread here to share our own Sigs via photos. So I figured, why not include them right here? So, here's my 2005. (And please do post your own, too!)
That is the purpose of this post. I had a hard time finding good reliable information about the HP Signatures. Information that I needed to help identify my guitar since it was not done well at the factory. I read a post on this Forum that said that due to a flimsy sticker, there will be a lot of unidentifiable Signature guitars. That may be the case, not a lot of people know about them and no one is talking about them. Well, except a few of us.

ooglybong
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Re: Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by ooglybong » Thu Jun 28, 2018 9:12 pm

Esesh wrote:
Fri Jun 08, 2018 11:11 pm
That thing is sweet! How do you like the neck?
I love the neck. I find it to be somewhat slightly unique amongst all the guitars I own (which is way too many). Feels kind of wide-ish, and maybe a bit 'flat' on the back... Just different (nothing like my HP Specials or Wolfgangs). No problem at all cuz I tend to adapt really easily (and that's actually part of the fun for me).

Heck, they're great guitars, period. Nothing I'd change about them.... Er, OK, I did change one thing: I had the neck and bridge Volume controls swapped around because I use the bridge 95% of the time, and I also do a LOT of adjustments on the fly, including swells via that control. IMHO, it's how the guitar (and yes, Les Pauls, too) should have been designed in the first place. But, hey, that's just me. YMMV.

ooglybong
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Re: Peavey HP Signature USA-Revisited

Post by ooglybong » Tue Aug 28, 2018 2:16 pm

PSA: There are two gorgeous mint NOS Peavey Signatures for sale right now at Reverb (and probably going for about what they originally sold for, IIRC). Whatever, it's definitely worth the trip to do a search there just to see them, and at least one is a one-of-a-kind, AFAIK. Drool-worthy, IMO. :)

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