Peavey Cirrus Bass Value & Questions?
 

I saw a Peavey Cirrus bass advertised for sale locally that by the photos and description looks to be in great condition. They're asking $225. including a hard shell case.

The owner isn't exactly sure of the manufacture date, but said it appears to be a 1989 model made in Indonesia based on the serial number code. I know USA Cirrus basses are much better.

I'm just wanting to know what these usually sell for and what they're worth?

When did Peavey stop building them in the USA?

What are the pluses and minuses of these pre BXP version Indonesian Cirrus basses? Thanks Much! :bassist:

Sorry price quotes are for supporting members only. Do some market research, check ebay and tb classifieds. I personally would offer much less.

I cannot tell you that much about Peavey production and when they switched anything.

I had an Indonesian Cirrus, second-nicest bass I ever had. These are strange beasts, Jeff, and need to be understood. They have a uniquely rich and deep tone and I found that they really do respond best to Peavey's own Cirrus strings...no other string I tried sounded quite as good. IMO this is a boutique bass at an assembly-line price...the Indonesians are very nicely made for non Japan/Korea Asian product. The scale and design make for a solid B bottom (very little brappiness), I found little deadness anywhere on the neck, and the sustain was excellent. I bought this when shopping for a Millennium BXP because it showed up locally at killer price when I was shopping...VERY glad I didn't get the Millennium! The tone is somewhat similar to the Millennium but much richer and better articulated with the unusual pickup design of the VLF pups. It is, IMO, a KILLER rock/pop bass...the 18v preamp system produces a thundering bottom so heavy that I had to dial it well back when recording and the most vivid and well-defined top end of any bass I've owned...seriously, for the hard rock stuff I was doing last month, I got the best, thickest, most well-positioned neck-pickup tone on this bass with ALL THREE BANDS dialed back to 0. I almost think the pickups might be built something like thin, short lipstick tubes, one coil per string, with the preamp voiced in a way that makes them sound extremely powerful. (There's relatively little magnetic pull on the pickups, so there couldn't be much actual voltage coming from the un-amplified pickup.) The top end of these pickups was VERY hard to tame...so hard, in fact, that I couldn't gig this bass. (I am an amputee, and must play pick-style.) It really is a whole level beyond the Millennium BXP. And at that price (probably gone by now), I'd have done my best to beat you to the deal. I'm hoping to replace my "one-that-got-away" Cirrus for under $450. (I don't think this kind of opinion violates policy; I suppose I'll find out soon enough.)

Playability wasn't the best IMO...I like a narrower neck. But the neck was relatively thin, and the string spacing really worked for my ability...I still tend to flop the B over the edge of the fingerboard on my Ibanez SR405QM. It always felt like a quality instrument. Comfort was a definite step down from my Ibanez SR405QM...it feels much more like a Stingray, and I wished it had a chamfer.

I think the Indonesians were only discontinued last year; I saw a PILE of clearout Cirruses on ebay after Christmas last year. Since then, I see post after post suggesting that this bass is a future classic. I don't think it's as versatile as a lot of the above-$500 basses, but what it does, it does VERY well. And while writing this, it occured to me what I could have done to make my old one worth keeping: change to a less-bright string! OUCH. (I got mine 6 years old with the Peavey strings that came on the bass when new. Those strings, even at that age, sounded better than the NEW RotoSound reds, D'Addario XLs and Sfarzo Alloys that I tried afterward.)

Perhaps the most telling statement on this bass is that Peavey still sells an American-made version, same engineering and hardware apparently, for *several* multiples of the one you saw.

I think the verboten price talk is related to a non-supporting member asking the value of an instrument he has that he intends to sell. Asking a price question regarding an item you are intending to buy isn't frowned upon, as far as I know.


Indonesian Cirrus' are the best of the BXP line, and $225 is an excellent price for one of those.

There's a 4-string on Ebay with a reserve of $350, supposedly brand new. I love mine, and it sounds amazing with a set of D'Addario Chrome Flats, takes the harshness right off the top and makes it sound so, I don't know, smooth? Just an awesome tone with the flats. I paid $240 with case and shipping for mine.