“Hey Tom, this is Steam Music in Missoula.  I have a guitar here you might be interested in.”  It was September 22, 1978.  “Peavey is doing a test market on a new guitar they just came out with.  It’s pretty cool.  You should come over and check it out.”

The next Saturday I was on the road.  200 miles over MacDonald Pass, but hey – it’s Montana.  If you don’t drive, you don’t live.

It was love at first sight.  Kinda looked like a Strat, but smoother.  The neck is crazy thin.  Beautiful natural ash finish.  And those pickups?  Are they single coil or humbuckers?  BOTH?  How do they do that?

Geez this thing is heavy, but it’s balanced.  Feels good in your hands.  I’ll take it.  Here’s a check.

40 years later, I am still playing my Peavey T60.  I have tried every Fender, Gibson, Guild, Gretsch, PRS, ever made, and many more.  I love all of them for different reasons, but none of them feels like my T60.

Mine was one of the first 50 made, according to Chip Todd, Peavey God and designer of the T60.  “We didn’t have computers back then.  It was hard to keep track of serial numbers.  But yours doesn’t have any zeroes on it, so it had to be part of the initial test market we did in ’78.”  Peavey sent one guitar to each of their authorized amplifier dealers just to see what the reaction would be.  My reaction was, let’s say, positive.

Peavey wanted to make a premium quality guitar that was affordable for the average musician.  A guitar that would compete with the Telecaster, Stratocaster, SG and Les Paul.  Chip Todd made this possible by applying CNC router technology, which cut every part perfectly.  And that was only one of many T60 ground-breaking innovations.  The T60 featured a unique wiring system that allows the player to roll his pickups from humbucker to single-coil, providing the best of both worlds: the powerful, high-sustain Gibson humbucker sound or the crisp Fender single-coil bite.

Yeah, it’s complicated, and after playing the thing for almost 40 years, I still don’t claim to have it mastered.   There is also a “phase” switch that reverses the polarity of the pickups to make a hollow, funky sound perfect for country “chicken pickin'” or disco delight like “Play that funky music, white boy!”

The T60 was manufactured from 1978 through 1987 and was overlooked for years in the used axe market.  But they are now in demand as a quality American made original guitar, with prices on the up and up.

Next time you see a Caution! Blind Driver gig, come on up and ask me about my prized Peavey T60.  It will make my day!