IN TUNE checks out the latest models from the Mississippi masters

VORTEX 2 GUITAR

RRP £516.35

Say what you like about the relatively uninspiring looks of the original Peavey T Series guitars, you have to hand it to this maker that the crop of new models first seen at the British Music Fair looked hot enough to set fire to Olympia's concrete floor. Whatever (or whoever) it is that has revitalised Peavey's guitar design department, it's pretty obvious that molten metal runs in their veins. Gone are the staid natural wood finishes and the orthodox shapes - in their place come burning fluorescent reds, pinks and shimmering pearl whites, great new shapes, the latest in hot hardware (including all-black Kahler trems) and newly wrought pickups with enough power to launch satellites. Peavey's guitars have undergone a renaissance - and how!

The Vortex 2 guitar is the perfect case in point. It's one of two identically priced but differently shaped Vortexes (Vortices?), both aimed straight at the heart of the heavy metal guitar market. Whereas the T Series Peaveys were plain boring in their finishes, the Vortex model we tested arrived in the searing fluorescent pink colour option. The perfect colour for a ted's socks, you'd either love it or hate it, but under stage lights this outrageous colouring is going to be more obscene than Jim Morrison ever was! Fortunately there are alternatives - jet black, fluorescent red and pearl white.

With a solid maple body and neck, the Vortex 2 (despite its unusual shape) balances perfectly and has a good, substantial body weight. Maple is a sensible choice for this guitar, as it delivers a good toppy edge and helps induce sustain which in other ways the Vortex might lack on account of its bolt-on neck. While this feature doesn't provide the absolute ease of access to top frets of either a straight-through or a deeply carved glued joint, the Peavey system is still easy on the hands, and reaching right up to the top (22nd) fret could hardly be called awkward - no more so than on a Strat, for example.

Getting down to fundamentals, the Peavey has a 25 1/2" scale and the fingerboard bears a 12" radius. This gives a fingerboard profile identical to that on a Strat, and, as you'd expect, the Vortex's neck has a very Strat-like feel to it. While the scale is also identical to a Strat's, though, the extra fret helps if you're one of those players who goes in for 'death or glory' top fret solos.

One thing about the neck that might throw you, however (at least, it might if you read the details before trying the guitar), is Peavey's use of a phenolic resin 'Polyglide' fingerboard. We say before trying it, because the feel and looks of this material are so close to rosewood that an initial try is unlikely to reveal that the fingerboard is 'plastic' rather than wood. Despite extensive use, we didn't find any problems with it, and if there are any disadvantages in its use we've yet to hear of them. In fact the Vortex 2's fretboard felt perfect to all our testers, the fat frets extremely well finished and perfectly smooth beneath our fingers, aiding bends and, no doubt, sustain.

The Vortex's hardware represents the current 'most desired' fitments for many (most?) of today's Rock players. The all-black collection includes small enclosed machines, each of which was nicely tight, a perfectly cut and set synthetic nut with a three Allen screw fastening Kahler nut lock and - down at the bridge end - the obligatory all-black Kahler being its usual exemplary self. We have our reservations about nut locks (as regular readers will know) in that they prevent rapid on-stage string changes, but there's no escaping the fact that, once locked, the Kahler nut-lock/floating trem system certainly does allow the most savage and extreme tremolo use without any more losses in tuning stability other than those caused by normal string stretching - and that factor is easily taken care of with the bridge mounted tuners. Assuming you like the relatively light feel of the Kahler, and can live with the way it slows you down when changing strings, then you'll appreciate the fitment of it on the Vortex.

The Vortex 2 uses a pair of Peavey's own P-12 adjustable pole piece humbuckers. These are linked to one of the clumsiest (although it is, at least, silent operating) three-way selector switches around, plus just two rotary pots, one volume and a tone. Nothing clever, no actives, coil taps, phase switches - just a simple, straightahead soloist's set-up, and none the worse for that.

The Peavey handles very much as you'd hope. The neck is slim and blindingly fast (a lot like a good Strat), and all the modem stylistic solo tricks come easily to hand. The Kahler has all the potential for extravagant use that this type affords, and overall the new Peavey feels like a thoroughly well designed and developed heavy guitarist's instrument.

Soundwise, the P-12 humbuckers deliver bags of sustain and poke, overdriving even cheap transistor guitar combos with ease. Arguably there may be a lack of top for some tastes, and it might be useful if Peavey considered fitting a coil tap to allow single coil use at some stage in the future. Nevertheless, used with a decent amp and good speakers, the Peavey has a sound as hot as its colour. Sustain, sheer power and a gut-wrenching drive are the hallmarks of this instrument, and if that makes it seem unsuitable for Pop, Jazz, Reggae, Country and Folk playing that's just fine - because this guitar has obviously been designed as a fire-breathing monster. As such it works exceptionally well and will appeal to any guitarist working in this field. It isn't meant to be a subtle guitar, which is just as well because it's about as delicate and genteel as an afternoon on the assault course with the SAS!

Peavey may have some initial problems convincing players who've previously ignored their guitars to even try the Vortex 1 or 2, but don't let prejudice stop you - for its destined purpose this is a great guitar. Our only reservation about the Vortex, in fact, is the price. Initially, £516 didn't seem so much for an American instrument, especially taking the Kahler into account, but on reflection we feel that the full RRP may be too close to the price of better known U.S., guitars and - worse - some of the custom made alternatives. Given the ministrations of the discounters, however, the Vortex could look like a cast iron prospect for the dedicated metallurgist.

DYNA BASS

RRP £730.25

Where Peavey's Vortex 2 is the modern heavy metal player's guitar, their equally new Dyna bass is a much more traditional instrument. So conventional is the Dyna that you could well look on it as a direct alternative to, say, a Fender Jazz or top Yamaha - it's in that conceptual family. An all maple body is mated to a maple neck via another of Peavey's easy-access bolted joints. The fingerboard is made of rosewood (not phenolic resin) and bears the familiar 21 frets, of a medium/fat gauge, on its 34" scale and 8" radius neck.

Interestingly, the neck comes in two versions; either Standard (1 11/16") or Narrow (1 1/2"). This compares with Fender's typical 1 3/4" for a Precision and 1 1/2" for a Jazz - pretty similar, in fact, Peavey U.K. supplied us with the narrow necked version of their Dyna bass for this review, but curiously (especially as the 'office bass' is a rather nice Tokai Jazz and we're all pretty familiar with its dimensions) there was general agreement that the Peavey felt a bit too slim for our tastes; so, unless you have either tiny fingers or Lilliputian leanings, we reckon you'd be well advised to stick to the Standard option.

Colour schemes for the Dyna include some really beautiful shades, including jet black or metallic charcoal (as per our sample), both with black hardware, and sunfire red or pearl white, both with gold metalwork. Before getting down to our views on the bass's sound and feel, the rest of the hardware was as follows. The machines comprised four heavy duty kinds, each functioning perfectly. As with the neck width, two bridge options are offered - a standard Schaller (possibly our favourite 'off the shelf' bridge currently, so no problems there) or, if you prefer (and are feeling really adventurous!) the Dyna bass can come fitted with a bass Kahler tremolo, as did ours. More of that later.

Pickups on the Dyna are active powered, a single 9 volt PP3 being internally fitted, and controlled by two large rotaries (volume and tone) and three smaller ones used to provide treble, middle and bass. No figures are quoted for the active cut and boost levels obtainable, but, subjectively at least, a very satisfactory tonal range is obtainable from the bass. The Peavey doesn't have the tonal span of, say, a Jaydee or Manson active, but given the need for a regular gigging bass, you're unlikely to notice any serious deficiency in the range of sounds provided. Particularly nice is the fact that the circuitry appears to be almost entirely hiss free.

The Dyna bass, as indeed it should for such a costly instrument, both balances and plays extremely well. The maple body is comfortably contoured and the neck (notwithstanding what we said about the Narrow version being maybe too slim) is ideal in its depth for fast playing. The rosewood fingerboard feels good, too, and the medium/fat frets complement the overall shaping and dimensions to provide a strain-free action, enabling players to handle long sets with ease. Whatever style of bass you personally play (from traditional 'thump' to slap and tickle) you're unlikely to find any fault with the Peavey's handling qualities.

Our sample, as we've said, came with the new Kahler bass tremolo system, and this really is to our minds a major step forward for bass players. It isn't the first bass trem (Gordon Smith basses had their own design on offer several years ago), but it certainly does work very well indeed. From its appearance, the Kahler bass unit looks quite a lot less complex than the guitar version - but that undoubtedly belies what goes on beneath the black chrome surface. The Kahler seems a perfect combination of sturdiness and ease of use. Huge saddles with rollers allow for maximum sustain transmission, frictionless trem action and ease of individual intonation adjustment. Unlike the guitar Kahlers, it thankfully doesn't have (nor does it appear to need) a nut lock; neither has it any right hand tuners, bass strings being less likely to be thrown out of tune by tremolo use than guitar strings. In fact - and this isn't the sort of use you'd be likely to put it to - the Kahler/Peavey combination allowed full 'flapping' of the strings against the fingerboard, returning perfectly to pitch, despite the absence of a nut lock. The extra long screw-in arm delivers a fine amount of control over an ultrasmooth action which, whilst we couldn't make any comparisons, felt superb. Obviously, finding a use for the bass Kahler will entail a fair degree of experimentation (and it's not something likely to appeal to those who believe that slap and pull is all there is to bass playing), but it's going to be fun finding out what you can do with it, and its appearance will quite probably lead to some revolutionary approaches to the bass, given the application of sufficient patience and creativity. Overall, the Peavey Dyna bass is fast handling and comfortable with a good range of sounds. It's a functional instrument, very much suited to the player who is less of a flash soloist than a traditional stylist. Add the Kahler, however, and you can step up front with the Peavey and play your heart out - providing you can find a musical role for it, of course!

The Kahler equipped Dyna isn't cheap - but you must consider the high price of that trem system, and the extra premium that a Kahler would add to any other bass. Without the trem, it competes head-on with some of the lower-end British actives, and competes on very equal terms. With the possible exception of a Yamaha or two, it also competes with some of the more pretentious Japanese models, and trounces most that we can think of for tone, playability, feel and sheer class. Fans of more straightforward basses are going to like this one.

More details from Peavey U.K. Ltd., (Contact Details).