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Several years ago I found a couple of Peavey Patriot guitars in local pawnshops. They were inexpensive despite being USA made, and they had 24" scales. Very nice guitars. Peavey's hardware is up to military spec, or so I've read elsewhere, and the pickup/tone circuitry is innovative. I regret selling them on eBay. They still turn up in pawnshops and if I find one at the right price I'll buy one again, and this time KEEP IT!

Okay.

I feel that if I ever played one of these, I might catch something that I might be ashamed of.

The model/range name, Patriot - is it un-American to play anything other than a Patriot? Were they referring to the patchy performance of the Patriot anti-Scud-missile defence system?

What does a military spec guitar bridge look like? What are those folks doing with them that we don't

They were made so they could sit in pawn shops and not go bad while everyone else buys fenders.

For real though, hope you find another one OP.

Here is mine.

IMG_6492 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

With said electronics.

IMG_6490 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

I also have a Patriot Bass. I dig Peaveys. They are solid and pretty cool. Nice to be able to get USA made stuff for under a couple hundred bucks. I learned guitar on my Patriot, so I am fond of their necks. I also think the center seam maple neck is pretty cool.

I've only played the T-60 and it was so heavy, it probably weighed 12 pounds. How's heavy are these?

Probably heavier than a strat because of all that military spec technology.

Well, if the wiring is Low Smoke and Fume, at least it's not going to poison me when i squirt lighter fuel on it and set it alight on stage

I think that means the solder and wiring and pots and other components are extra heavy duty. Maybe they are also radiation resistant! It's nice to think that my guitar would survive a nuclear blast with only minor damage...

Remember the myth about the old Sovtek muff being 'military spec' or 'made of old tank parts'? That was utter guff too.

timhulio wrote:Remember the myth about the old Sovtek muff being 'military spec' or 'made of old tank parts'? That was utter guff too.

I have that very same version of the Sovtek muff and the paint sure as hell isn't mil-spec!!! Best sounding one that I've ever had, but the paint is almost completely gone.

71Smallbox wrote:I've only played the T-60 and it was so heavy, it probably weighed 12 pounds.

Well, the T-60 is mil. spec.

Many people confuse "mil-spec" with "built like a tank or black hawk" but it's a parts certifcation; the idea of a guitar's bridge being military spec doesn't even make sense since they don't actually make the stuff they use anyway. Why would the military sanction offbrand Strat trems? Too many let-downs with serviceman Jaguar bridges jamming in the bush, innit.

I service '40s-'90s mil-spec aviation lights for a living and shits still made with pot metal and Switchcraft/Alpha shit, guys. It's also still all incandescent lamps because a complete LED conversion for all the ancient vehicles they still use would be impractical, though such upgrades do exist and would provide infinitely more durability and cost-effectiveness over time. The "stock paint" is usually just zinc phosphate primer as most of the external parts are to regularly be repainted once on the vehicle. These aren't Air Force use, more like the army's people movers and search planes, which are well-maintained relics basically.

Mil-spec is a certification, part of the procedural requisites for parts acquisition, but not a mark of end-all durability. There's a diagram somewhere and if you're servicing a C-130 plane for the government you have to follow everything on it to the letter. If you find the exact same part somewhere but it doesn't have mil-spec and FAA certs the gov't will not buy it. If you send them something with insulated wires stripped a half inch from the end when the official parts diagram says they're stripped a half inch from the end and tinned with solder, they'll send it back (despite the fact they're going to cut over a foot off the wire and re-strip it when installing in most cases).

1950s Gibson and Fender wiring/components was up to par with any vintage mil-spec passive circuit I've ever seen... black and gold cloth insulated wire, CRL and CTS, etc... so even if a guitar or pedal was built to the same standard as mil-spec equipment, you wouldn't notice/would break it just as easily.