Build and features

With a rim depth of 65mm, the Peavey is the meatiest of the guitars on test and is almost in Gibson Byrdland/ES-350 territory for sheer cubic volume. The laminated maple body sports an unusual yet eyecatching trans purple finish and there’s even a reasonably generous strip of abalone binding to boot.

The finishing is a little untidy, but this is more than made up for by the traditional layout of the controls, with a master volume nestling on the lower cutaway as a complement to the two independent pickup volumes and the master tone.

As we’ve said, the look is vital in rockabilly styles, and we applaud Peavey’s efforts to ensure that the design of the two humbuckers are close to the appearance of the classic Gretsch Filter’Tron. A Bigsby B60 is available for wobble duties, alongside a floating tune-o-matic-style bridge fitted with traditional sharp saddles.

The Rockingham comes out of the box strung with flatwound strings, which are certainly an acquired taste to a certain extent, and we did re-string with roundwounds to level the pitch in terms of sound.

Next: Peavey Rockingham B6 sounds, pros and cons