Peavey’s Backstage® II and Raptor®: the Amp-Guitar Combo to Rock Your Holiday Socks

Musicians know the true magic of the holiday season. It’s the time of year when the gear they’ve been looking for is within reach. And what’s an amp without a guitar, and vice-versa? Cookies and milk, chocolate and wine, socks and underwear! That’s right: Peavey’s Backstage® II guitar amp and Raptor® electric guitar are the newly appointed “dynamic duo” of the holiday season.

Let’s take a closer look at what makes this rugged amp and reliable guitar a solid pairing.

Backstage II Guitar Amplifier

For every player

The Backstage II is an ideal amplifier for any player who demands portability and performance.

Based off of our legendary TransTube® technology, the Backstage II guitar amplifier emulates the sound, warmth and “push back” of tube amplifiers for unmatched performance at this price point. Weighing in at just under 10 pounds, the amp punches way above its weight class.

With a 6" custom designed speaker delivering 10 watts of power, this combo amp is perfect for practicing anywhere the music might take you. An aux input allows you to play along with the tracks of your choice and a headphone out jack lets you play without disrupting the neighbors. Add in 2-band EQ and separate volume and overdrive controls and you have the ultimate little weapon in your practicing arsenal.

But what’s an amp without a guitar? Peavey has the perfect companion...

Raptor Series Electric Guitar

Solid, classic, and oh-so-stylish

Peavey has a rich history of guitar making and pushed the industry to better manufacturing standards back in the 1970s. Today, Raptor guitars stay true to this tradition. They have an old soul, inspired by vintage instruments from the Golden Age of guitar building. Each guitar is crafted to inspire the player, delivering tone and sustain that will bring out their creativity and transport them to another time and place.

The Raptor Series emerged in the mid-1990s as part of the Peavey International Series, based on traditional solid-body designs. The Raptor starts with solid-body basswood construction and ergonomically balanced styling. Classic and sturdy, the maple neck offers a rosewood fingerboard with white dot inlays to guide hand positioning. The Raptor’s bridge pickup is a dual-coil humbucker while the neck and middle pickups have single coils. The single-coil pickups offer a wide top pole piece, allowing for a bigger string window with more focus.

Players will appreciate the versatility of the Raptor’s five-way pickup selector, offering hum canceling in the second and fourth positions. They’ll also take note of the fulcrum tremolo bridge and Peavey’s six-in-a-line headstock with straight string pull, which helps to reinforce the Raptor’s ergonomics and balance.

A Series standout is the Raptor Custom. This model is unique not only for its eye-catching finish, but also for its exclusive PowerPlate™, an innovation from Peavey that’s mounted on the back of the headstock using the machine heads. It effectively increases volume and sustain while virtually eliminating dead spots on the fretboard. Meanwhile, this model’s steel bridge increases the amount of string energy transmitted into the body, further improving resonance and sustain.

The Raptor Series proves that a good guitar is so much more than the wood, finish, and parts. These models prove that a good guitar doesn’t have to carry a boutique price tag. A good guitar is about how it makes players feel as well as how it makes them sound.

Whether you’re looking to practice and play at home, or looking for affordable gear that can hold its own in a live setting, the VYPYR X2 amp and Raptor electric guitar are a feature-packed combo at an affordable price point.

Happy Holidays from the Peavey Electronics team!