1. Peavey Serial Number Decoder
2. Peavey Guitar Serial Number Lookup
3. Peavey Guitar Serial Number Search
4. Peavey Patriot Guitar Serial Number Lookup
5. Peavey Guitar Serial Number Dating

Hello, I am interested in buying a Peavey Bandit 112 Red Stripe from someone local, he said he does not know what model year it is so I asked him to send me a picture of the serial # plate on the back of the amp, I had a Peavey Bandit 65 and remember the serial # was 1 number which was the year in the decade it was made then 1 letter the a dash and 8 more #’s, then at the bottom right corner. The ones I have had and used since way back in the early 90's have a larger 'Peavey' decal on the front of the headstock, with the word 'Predator' under it. (shown in the below picture). One the back of the headstock you will see the serial number stamped into the wood, and it will have 'US Patent Number XXXXX and XXXXX', and 'Handcrafted In. USA-built Peavey Wolfgangs typically had serial numbers that started with '91' followed by six more digits. Late-run USA Wolfgangs had serial numbers that started with '50' or '51'. A very few prototype models had serial numbers that started with '1'.

The Peavey EVH Wolfgangguitar series is the result of the collaboration between guitarist Edward Van Halen and Hartley Peavey's company, Peavey Electronics.

1. If you look on the Peavey forums, they have a list of all the serial numbers and how to read them, after (IIRC) 1977 or so. If yours has a dot-matrix printed serial number and say a barcode, it's definitely recent enough to be in the database.
2. How Can I Tell From the Serial Number What Year My Peavey Amp Was Made? By Staff Writer Last Updated Mar 26, 2020 6:48:11 AM ET If an amplifier contains only its original parts, it is possible to identify when the amp was made either online, through an expert or by using the Blue Book of Guitar Amplifiers.

Peavey included the following endorsement in their advertising: 'For as long as I've been playing guitar, I've always been searching for a certain feel and tone...I've experimented by tearing apart and reassembling hundreds of guitars in different ways searching for these qualities. Although I've ruined a lot of great guitars by having done this, I have learned what it takes to make a truly great guitar. The Wolfgang, after years of trial and error, (for me) is that guitar. Our collective efforts in designing the Wolfgang guitar have resulted in a versatile, quality-crafted guitar that feels great, sounds great and is truly inspiring to play. I've already put mine to the test in the studio and on tour and now it's your turn.'^[1]

The EVH stands for 'Edward Van Halen' while Wolfgang is the name of Edward Van Halen's son (born in 1991).

History[edit]

Since the late 1970s, when Van Halen regularly performed on the Pasadena club scene, and with the release of Van Halen's self-titled debut album, Edward Van Halen's guitar tone—nicknamed the 'Brown Sound' for being full yet distinctively aggressive and articulate—had been widely acclaimed. It immediately set a standard for guitarists all over the world.

To achieve the legendary 'Brown Sound', Edward Van Halen employed a variac to limit the voltage of his Marshall guitar amplifier while still allowing the volume to be at its maximum. He also used a custom-assembled strat-like guitar with a PAFhumbucker (taken from a Gibson ES-335) mounted directly to the guitar's body. Van Halen's infamous Frankenstein (a.k.a. the 'Frankenstrat') guitar laid the groundwork for most of the custom guitars he played throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Prior to working with Peavey, Van Halen had worked with and endorsed Charvel, Kramer and Ernie Ball Music Man.

Production of the Peavey EVH Wolfgang began in late 1996 (after a year-long development process) and lasted until 2004, when Edward Van Halen and Peavey parted amicably.^[2] Production of the Wolfgang guitar (along with other Peavey models) occurred in a dedicated Leakesville, MS plant but was moved to Meridian, MS in early 2003. Van Halen had also developed three amplifiers with Peavey, starting in 1991.

In 2009, Edward Van Halen announced the release of a new Wolfgang guitar built by Fender but only carrying his own 'EVH' brand label. The newer Wolfgang retains many of exactly the same attributes as its Peavey-built predecessor.

Models and specification[edit]

In some sense, the Peavey EVH Wolfgang guitar picked up where the Ernie Ball Music Man EVH model left off, with the prototype design being made by Jim DeCola (an amber quilted top model which still didn't have the Wolfgang headstock shape, but rather a Peavey classic one). The body was made of basswood and often had (like its predecessor) a maple cap. This combination is considered by some, such as renowned luthier John Suhr, 'the Holy Grail of tone.'^[3] The Ernie Ball model, however, used a 1/8' figured maple cap, which is itself less likely to change the overall effect of the tonewood. Peavey Wolfgangs had maple caps ranging from 1/4' to 5/8'.

Many Peavey Wolfgang owners have incorrectly adopted the terms 'Standard' and 'Deluxe' and applied them to their guitars. Though common, these terms were never officially used by Peavey. Wolfgang owners were simply seeking a way to distinguish between arch top and flat top model Wolfgangs and maple cap and solid basswood model Wolfgangs. The word 'Deluxe' was used by Peavey, but only to describe Custom Shop models.

The guitar specifications ^[4] are:

• Solid (usually 2-piece) basswood body
• Carved maple top (1/4' to 5/8' thick) on selected models (translucent finishes); no top on the Special models
• Bolt-on construction with contoured neck heel, no neck plate
• Unique offset cutaway design
• Birdseye maple neck and fingerboard, oil-finished
• Dual graphite reinforcements and adjustable torsion rod
• 25 1/2' scale length
• 22 jumbo frets
• 15' fingerboard radius
• Locking nut, string retainer bar
• Straight headstock with 3+3 tuning machine configuration
• Precision die-cast tuning machines (based on the Schaller M6L)
• Two custom-wound Peavey humbucking pickups
• Master volume control (500 kΩ, long split shaft, logarithmic)
• Master tone control (500 kΩ, long split shaft, logarithmic)
• Switchcraft® 3-way toggle switch and output jack
• Peavey/Floyd Rose® licensed, double-locking tremolo assembly
• D-Tuna device (allows instant drop of low E string to D)
• Chrome-plated hardware finish

Peavey EVH Wolfgang[edit]

The original and top-of-the-line model. Made in the USA. It featured an arched (carved) top, body binding, two knobs (volume and tone), three-way pickup toggle switch, two Peavey/EVH-designed humbucker pickups, oil-finished bird's eye maple neck and fingerboard with dual graphite reinforcement rods, ten-degree tilt headstock, and Schaller mini M6 tuners (with either pearloid or ivory colored buttons). Two base versions were offered: a solid basswood model and a solid basswood/maple cap model. (The maple cap was 5/8' before carving.) Each version could come with either a licensed Floyd Rose tremolo with D-Tuna (d-tuner device) or a tune-o-matic bridge and hard tail piece. Solid basswood Wolfgangs were offered in gloss ivory and gloss black; solid basswood/maple cap Wolfgangs were offered in various transparent figured maple finishes (sunburst, amber, red, purple, blue, green, cherryburst, and black cherryburst) as well as vintage gold and seafoam green. Very occasionally a rejected maple top was painted either gloss black or gloss ivory.

Peavey EVH Wolfgang Special[edit]

Peavey and Edward Van Halen's attempt to make a 'budget' version of the Wolfgang that didn't compromise quality in parts or craftsmanship. Made in the USA in 1998. It featured a flat top, one knob (volume), three-way pickup toggle switch, two Peavey/EVH-designed humbucker pickups, licensed Floyd Rose tremolo with D-Tuna (d-tuner device), oil-finished hard rock maple neck and fingerboard with dual graphite reinforcement rods, straight headstock, and chrome tuners. Two base versions were offered: a solid basswood model and a solid basswood/maple cap model. (The maple cap was 1/4'.) Each version could come with either a licensed Floyd Rose tremolo with D-Tuna (d-tuner device) or a tune-o-matic bridge and hard tail piece. Solid basswood Wolfgang Specials were offered in gloss ivory, gloss black, vintage gold, gloss purple, and sunburst; solid basswood/maple cap Wolfgangs were offered in various transparent figured maple finishes (amber, red, purple, green, sunburst, and black cherryburst). Very occasionally a rejected maple top was painted gloss black.

Peavey EVH Wolfgang & Wolfgang Special Deluxe (Custom Shop)[edit]

The Peavey EVH Wolfgang Custom Shop operated from January 2002 to December 2004. It was run by four highly talented craftsman, each with a different area of specialty. The Custom Shop launched with a contest held via Van Halen's official website. Twelve unique Wolfgangs were given away throughout 2002—one every month.

Approximately 285 Custom Shop guitars were produced in Leakesville, of which 92 of these were made to fill specific orders while the rest were built for the 'Wolfgang Vault'.

Another 130 specific customer orders were produced in Meridian after mid-2003 as well as another 70 guitars, many of which are not really true Customs as they were using up remaining materials inventory. Some guitars where the only upgrade is a rosewood fretboard is technically called a Custom Shop, but most really are not. Edward didn't want the production guitars to have rosewood fretboards so the only way they could produce them like this was to call them Custom Shop guitars.

Thus, approximately 500 Custom Shop guitars were built from 2002 through 2004, some 220 of them being specific customer orders (Approximately 50 of those were ordered and/or purchased by guitar collector Geoff Knapp. These and many more are pictured at his website, Rock'N Roll Weekend).

Peavey had an area at their website for people to 'build' (and order) their own Custom Shop guitars. The basic options that anyone could select were; the body wood: top wood; fretboard wood; fretboard inlays; bridge type; hardware color; top color or graphic and matching/standard headstock. The body wood options were basswood (standard), alder, ash, mahogany, and even koa or korina which weren't standard options. Bridge options were a stop tail bridge or a Floyd Rose Tremolo system in chrome (standard), gold or black. The Special models came with the birdseye (not hard rock) maple neck, which was an upgrade from a production special. For the fretboard you could select Birdseye (standard), Rosewood or Ebony. For the inlays they had pearl or black dots (standard), EVH Blocks, Tribal Flames, Skulls or no inlays at all. For the top you could select flame maple (standard), quilted maple, koa or none (solid body construction). There were about 30 colors to choose from including graphics and a custom graphic option.^[5]

Peavey EVH Wolfgang Special EXP[edit]

Offered from 2002 to 2004, the Peavey EVH Wolfgang Special EXP was a Korean-made version of the Wolfgang. It contained no markings to differentiate it from USA models, but there were several deviations. The Wolfgang Special EXP had a 1/20' quilt maple veneer top and came in four transparent colors: amber, maroon, blue, and sunburst. The body was made of solid basswood and had a masked 'faux' binding. Like the USA Wolfgang Special it featured a flat top, one knob (volume), three-way pickup toggle switch, Peavey/EVH-designed humbucker pickups like USA models, licensed Floyd Rose tremolo with D-Tuna (d-tuner device), hard rock maple neck and fingerboard, straight headstock, and Grover mini tuners (a feature unique to this model). Some aspects of the Wolfgang Special EXP were different to its USA counterparts: the neck had no graphite reinforcement rods and was finished with a satin poly. A hard tail version was not offered.

Specifications details and singularities (pickups, switching, vibrato unit, colours)[edit]

The pickups on the US-made guitars were manufactured by Peavey and, due to the fact that they used different enamel wire types, the neck pickup actually had a higher impedance than the bridge one (approximately 16.22 kΩ on the neck and 13.87 kΩ on the bridge one), which is uncommon.The EXP models (made in Korea) had pickups made to these specs, but not made in the US.

The 3-way switch works in an unconventional way, to the preference of Eddie Van Halen (similar to rotating a Les Paul switch 180 degrees), who mentioned needing to faster switch to the bridge position for soloing. Hence, the 'up' position enables the bridge pickup whereas the 'down' position enables the neck pickup; the middle position enables both pickups connected in parallel.

The vibrato unit was made by Ping to the specifications given by Peavey (string spacing: 10.8mm, string spread: 54mm or 2 7/8', stud spacing: 74mm or 2 15/16', post insert size: 8mm, radius 355mm or 14', brass block depth: 33mm).On the EXP models, a low-budget version built in Korea was installed, more similar to a Schaller unit.

Peavey Serial Number Decoder

Two solid finishes which had maple tops (seafoam green and solid gold) on the Standard models gained some preference due to their exquisite looks. In Jim DeCola's words: 'The first batch of gold guitars had a different shade of gold than most others as the paint vendor changed. Maybe the first 50 or so. The finishing department blamed a mistake on the paint vendor who supplied the gold and consequently changed the supplier after about 50 or so guitars. The original gold had a warmer, more Gibson bronze cast compared to the following production gold guitars.'

There are a few prototype colours on serial production guitars, with as low as 1 guitar with a certain colour, experiments that Peavey made while in production. One of the examples of this is a dark gloss oxblood finish with a black binding, now owned by an Austin guitar dealer (bearing the patent number but no serial). Some of these had black or gold hardware.

Serial numbers[edit]

USA-built Peavey Wolfgangs typically had serial numbers that started with '91' followed by six more digits. Late-run USA Wolfgangs had serial numbers that started with '50' or '51'. A very few prototype models had serial numbers that started with '1'. Though Peavey Wolfgang owners have often sought to find a corroboration in the serial numbers of their guitars and the year in which each was built (similar to the system Gibson uses), there was no such information contained in the serial numbers. There was also no code specific to Custom Shop models.

Peavey Wolfgang serial numbers were stamped on the back of the headstock between the tuners. Edward Van Halen's signature and the headstock patent number were both branded just below the serial number. Early Wolfgang models (1996–1998) contained the term 'Pat. Pend.' in place of the patent number. Korean model EXP Wolfgang Specials had serial numbers printed in black on the back of the headstock.

Peavey HP Special[edit]

Shortly after the split with Eddie Van Halen, Peavey released the HP Special model (HP stands for Hartley Peavey) in 2005, with both American and Asian versions, a guitar that encompassed many of the characteristics of the Wolfgang (basswood body with optional contoured maple top, bolt-on maple neck with maple fingerboard, etc.), but was somewhat of a departure from the collaboration with the guitarist - an H-S-H pickup configuration option, a 5-bolt neck joint, and the headstock shape change, even if the Wolfgang headstock patent remained with Peavey.

Work with Fender - the Charvel Art Series and the EVH brand[edit]

In his last times with Peavey, Edward Van Halen began working with Charvel to produce replicas of three of his striped guitar models, the Charvel EVH Art Series, in black and white, yellow and black, and also the most common red, white, and black color scheme.During the Van Halen 2004 Tour, the guitarist played a different custom striped Charvel Art Series in a few songs of each concert, later autographing and auctioning them on eBay.

In 2007, under the supervision of master-builder Chip Ellis, a single run of 300 official replicas of his original Frankenstein guitar were made available by Fender under the EVH brand, in strict collaboration with Edward Van Halen. The guitars were priced at $25,000, having a massive demand upon their arrival to the market.

After the 2007-08 Tour, and once again under the supervision of Chip Ellis, the evolution of the Wolfgang within the Fender group became available to the public, with the EVH Wolfgang® (in 2008) and the EVH Wolfgang® Special (in 2010), both sporting the 'bottle opener' shape^[6], which is owned by Edward Van Halen, unlike the old Peavey headstock.The guitar inherits many of the Peavey characteristics, namely the woods, overall design, and pickups. Regarding these, Jim DeCola added: 'I worked at Fender (Nashville) for 11 years after Peavey (...). They picked my brain a little before I realized they were trying to lure EVH away. I already discussed what I did with the pickups casually to coworkers. After the guitar was released, I got copies of the pickup specs and blueprints. They are the same specs.'.

An amplifier series - the EVH 5150 III - and several instrument accessories and merchandise soon followed, all under the EVH brand.

Peavey HP2[edit]

In July 2017, during the Summer NAMM Show^[7] in Nashville, Peavey announced the release of the HP2^[8] model, an instrument which has exactly the same appearance and specifications as the discontinued Wolfgang, with minor differences such as the inclusion of a push/pull switch in the Tone knob (for a split-coil connection), the removal of the EVH Wolfgang inscription as well as the D-Tuna device, and the announcement of left-handed models as soon as production begins; the company also hinted at Special and Custom Shop models.

References[edit]

1. ^[1] 'Van Halen @ Olho Nu (Edward Van Halen guitars)'
2. ^[2] 'EDDIE VAN HALEN And PEAVEY End Long-Term Partnership - Dec. 21, 2004'
3. ^[3] 'Suhr Guitars Information on Wood - Expanding the Experience of Tone!'
4. ^[4] 'Peavey EVH Wolfgang Special manual'
5. ^[5] 'Van Halen Peavey Custom Shop Wolfgang Guitars at Rock'N Roll Weekend'
6. ^[6] 'Patent USD388117 - Guitar peghead'
7. ^[7] 'Summer NAMM 2017'
8. ^[8] 'Peavey Builds Legacy of Innovation with USA Made HP™2 Guitar'

External links[edit]

• EVH Brand Guitars, Amps and Musical Products.

O.k. this post should probably be called Godin guitar serial numbers rather than Seagull guitar serial numbers – because it applies to all guitars under the Godin umbrella (Seagull, Art & Lutherie, Simon & Patrick, Norman and La Patrie) but it certainly applies to Seagull guitars.

Get your concentrating hat on because they haven’t made this simple!

What you can Find out from your serial number?

Your Godin serial number will tell you different things depending on the time period. There are 3 distinct time periods for Godin serial numbers.

• Pre-1993
• 1993 to 2007
• 2008 to present

Note: Seagull starts their year on August 1. So if the year is 2005, then it starts August 1 2004 and ends July 31 2005.

Pre-1993

You can’t really tell anything from this serial number. You’ll need to contact Godin and tell them your serial number and they can tell you when the guitar was made.

Peavey Guitar Serial Number Lookup

1993 to 2007

1. The year the guitar was made;
2. The week of the year it was made;
3. The day of the week it was made; and
4. The unit number of the guitar

I’ll go into more detail about how you can decipher this in a bit.

2008 to present

1. The model number
2. Whether your guitar is a factory second or not
3. What number of that particular model yours is

I’ll go into more detail about how you can decipher this in a bit.

How to Decode Your Serial Number

Again how you decode your serial number depends on the time period.

Pre-1993

This is simply a matter of contacting Godin, telling them your serial number and asking them about it. There is no secret code in these numbers!

1993 to 2007

O.K. now we get into some secret code ?

Between 1993 and 2007 Godin used an 8 digit serial number. This serial number is broken up into 4 different parts.

Let’s use an example serial number to illustrate this. We’ll use – 05034148

Digits 1 & 2

The first 2 digits represent the year that the guitar was built. But this is not the calendar year. Godin’s year runs from August 1^st to July 31^st. So the first 2 digits, technically represent the “year ended”.

In our example we have 05 as the first 2 digits.

• 05034148

What this determines is that the guitar was built sometime in the year from August 1^st, 2004 and July 31^st 2005.

The next 2 digits will narrow this down further.

Digits 3 & 4

Digits 3 & 4 represent the week of the year that the guitar was built – remember that the Godin year is August 1^st to July 31^st. So week 1 is the first week of August.

In our example the week is 03.

• 05034148

This means it was built in the 3^rd week of the year ended July 31^st, 2005. So it was the 3^rd week of August 2004.

So the guitar with this serial number was actually built in 2004 even though the first 2 digits are 05. With me so far?

Digit 5

The 5^th digit represents the day of the week that the guitar was built, starting from Monday.

1 = Monday

2 = Tuesday

3 = Wednesday

4 = Thursday

5 = Friday

6 = Saturday

7 = Sunday

So in our example we have a 4 so the guitar with this serial number was built on a Thursday.

Peavey Guitar Serial Number Search

• 05034148

The last 3 digits

The last 3 digits represents the order in which this guitar was produced in that week.

So, in our example, it was the 148^th guitar built that week.

• 05034148

So, overall we can tell that this guitar was the 148^th guitar built in the 3^rd week of August in 2004 and it was built on a Thursday. So we can work out that it was built on Thursday the 19^th of August, 2004.

This a bit complicated but usually people only want to know the year that their guitar was built – so you can work that out a bit easier.

Extra Info

If there’s an “AA” or “AAA” in the serial number this represents the grade of wood. Not all serial numbers have this – I think it’s just for maple top guitars.

If there is an “F” in the serial number, this signifies that the guitar is “B-Stock”.

2008 to present

In late 2007 Godin switched to a 12 digit serial number.

The present system doesn’t actually tell you anything about when the guitar was built, which is a bit of a pain, as working out the year of your guitar is often the only thing people want to know from their serial number.

Anyway, this is what the serial number tells you.

I mean I guess serial numbers are really meant for internal purposes for Seagull and for anti-theft measures but sometimes you want to be able to find out the year of production. I imagine if you were to contact Godin they would have this information.

Let’s use another example serial number – 029396000123

First 6 digits

This represents the model of your guitar. You probably already know this but if you’re not sure for whatever reason you can find out.

In our example the first 6 digits are 029396 – this is the model number of the Seagull S6 Original.

• 029396000123

If you follow this link – Seagull S6 Original – it will take you to the S6 Original on the Seagull website. Underneath the title you will see “SKU: 029396”. If you want to find the model number for your guitar go through the models until you find the number that matches your guitar. You should be able to narrow this down reasonably quickly as you should know at least which series your guitar is from.

7^th Digit

This digit represents whether this guitar is a “Factory Second” or not.

A “0” represents that it’s not a factory second and a “9” represents a factory second. Note that a “Factory Second” does not mean that the guitar has a functional defect – rather that it just has a cosmetic flaw. These guitars are usually priced a little bit lower and if you can find one you should be able to get a good deal on an otherwise perfectly fine guitar.

In our example the guitar is not a factory second.

• 029396000123

The last 5 digits

The last 5 digits represent the number of that particular model built since switching to 12 digit serial numbers.

In our example the serial number represents the 123^rd S6 Original built since Godin changed to 12 digit serial numbers.

• 029396000123

So, overall from our example serial number we can tell that the serial number belongs to an S6 Original that is not a factory second and that it was the 123^rd S6 Original to be shipped since Godin began their 12 digit serial number system.

Final Thoughts

This is definitely the most complicated serial number system I have come across so far (I have previous to this written serial number posts explaining Martin’s and Taylor’s serial number systems).

But as I said earlier, it is perhaps the fact that serial numbers are mainly for internal company purposes and for identifying stolen property. But, it would be nice to be able to quickly tell what year your guitar was built from the serial number as well.

Peavey Patriot Guitar Serial Number Lookup

This information was compiled from the following – Godin don’t post information about their serial numbers:

Photo Credits

Peavey Guitar Serial Number Dating

By Jason (Flickr: Mina & Guitar III) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons