Peavey Grind Pup replacement?

[Sgt Baker]

Yo dudes, I'm sure someone's asked this before. But with PEavey's weird pickup size, is there any replacement for the Grind? I'm lookin into 5 strings, and I'd love to active-ize a Grind 5. Any wisdom?

[abstractart06]

The Peavey Grind is a good bass to upgrade to active, being neck through with Peavey's quality construction. I was in a music store recently and a guy was playing a Grind that he had put a Bartolini preamp in. The sound was impressive to say the least. He kept the original Peavey pickups, and it sounded like a high end bass.

I just bought a Peavey RSB that was upgraded with an Audere 4 Band preamp and stock pickups witch are the same as the ones in the Cirrus. I am very pleased with it. Peavey has made some great pickups over the years, so you may get good results with just installing a pre.

[Sgt Baker]

Awesome! I think Ill try that, but this 'high-end' tone you speak of. Think it could cut through a mix, Im really goin for that hi-fi modern sound. Think I could achieve that?

[abstractart06]

Yes definitely! The Grind this guy was playing sounded like a Cirrus, only with more bottom end. And he mentioned the fact that it was at a fraction of the cost of a high end bass.

And don't forget to try different strings for the sound you're after. I'm learning that the right strings can really bring out the character in a bass.

[StuartV]

Originally Posted by abstractart06

The Grind this guy was playing sounded like a Cirrus, only with more bottom end.

This statement does not compute. Cirrus have a huge bottom end. Maybe his Grind had the Bass knob on the EQ cranked and you're comparing it to a Cirrus with the Bass knob turned down?

[StuartV]

Oh, and by the time you buy a Grind and put a nice preamp in it, you could probably just buy a nice (used) Peavey TL-Five or Millennium (MIA, not BXP) and have a better bass all around...

[abstractart06]

Ok, I have a USA Millennium Plus, and would buy another in a heartbeat. The ones I see for sale lately are in the $700. range. A TL-5 goes for about $600 or so. You can find a Grind for $300. or less. I have seen them going for about $250. If you can get a used preamp it makes sense.

The sound this guy got from a Grind gave me new respect for that bass. And I have a lot of respect for Peaveys in general.

All I am saying is that a Grind is a good bass to mod. I have played a Cirrus or two, and I can only go by my experience. Maybe I should have said it sounded as good as a Cirrus to my ears.

[Modulus1906]

Originally Posted by StuartV

This statement does not compute. Cirrus have a huge bottom end. Maybe his Grind had the Bass knob on the EQ cranked and you're comparing it to a Cirrus with the Bass knob turned down?

The statement computes in terms of my experience with both basses. I can easily see the Grind bass sounding as good or better than a Cirrus with some upgrades. I have two Grind basses and intend to mod both of them. Alternatively, I could have bought a Cirrus but opted to mod the Grinds instead. One will be outfitted with EMG TWs with an EMG BQC pre and the other will be outfitted with Delanos with a Glockenklang pre. I expect huge results based on the stock tone of the Grind basses.

[abstractart06]

Originally Posted by Modulus1906

The statement computes in terms of my experience with both basses. I can easily see the Grind bass sounding as good or better than a Cirrus with some upgrades. I have two Grind basses and intend to mod both of them. Alternatively, I could have bought a Cirrus but opted to mod the Grinds instead. One will be outfitted with EMG TWs with an EMG BQC pre and the other will be outfitted with Delanos with a Glockenklang pre. I expect huge results based on the stock tone of the Grind basses.

I would love to hear about your results with both basses. I am really loving the modded RSB that I just got. The stock pickups with the Audere preamp is a great match. It has lots of bottom without sounding boomy. And I can get a very full, mellow tone with flats. The thing about Peaveys is you start out with a quality instrument.

[Gabriel51]

I have two 5r's and like them just as they came, really nice B string.

[MarkA]

Originally Posted by Modulus1906

The statement computes in terms of my experience with both basses. I can easily see the Grind bass sounding as good or better than a Cirrus with some upgrades. I have two Grind basses and intend to mod both of them. Alternatively, I could have bought a Cirrus but opted to mod the Grinds instead. One will be outfitted with EMG TWs with an EMG BQC pre and the other will be outfitted with Delanos with a Glockenklang pre. I expect huge results based on the stock tone of the Grind basses.

Here's another request for an update, if you did these mods! I have a 4 string Grind. The balance and upper fret access are great -- a lot of higher-end basses could take a cue from Peavey here -- and, properly set-up, it plays really nicely (doesn't have quite the "bounce" slapped of my maple-necked Fender, but it's still nice). Plugged into my Markbass combo, it hints at a nice, grindy, funky tone both fingerstyle and slapped. I say "hints" because the stock setup, whether the pups, pots and wiring, or a combination thereof is simultaneously noisy and muffled. I know that the bass has a lot more to give.

Curious as to your results tonally and as to whether you had any gaps around the pups or they dropped cleanly into the routes.

Thanks!
-Mark

P.S. Are your Grinds 4, 5, or 6 strings?

[M.R. Ogle]

Hmmmm... A Grind with an added internal Pre-Amp... THAT'S a good idea!
Makes a lot of sense, has all the right elements, and is a reasonably inexpensive, easy mod. I might have to try that.

[5 Wire]

As a Grind 5 player I have looked into this also - including custom pups. The odd size makes it difficult. I decided not to mess with it.

I also play active basses but, for most types of music I love love love the tone of my passive Grind. Thick doesn't begin to describe it.

[MarkA]

Originally Posted by 5 Wire

As a Grind 5 player I have looked into this also - including custom pups. The odd size makes it difficult. I decided not to mess with it.

I also play active basses but, for most types of music I love love love the tone of my passive Grind. Thick doesn't begin to describe it.

I've had two 4-string Grinds. One I had briefly was of the older design, with a slap cutaway under the D and G strings on the top and a deep cutaway for the thumb at the heel of the neck. This one was heavy and had a nice tone. It also had a willowy neck with a bit of warp to it around the 17th fret.

The one I have now is of the newer design. It's a bit lighter (not by design, but just because of the wood used in this bass), doesn't have the slap cutaway and has a more gradual transition from neck to body -- the area where the neck joins the body is substantially beefier. Access to the top frets is still easy, but not as unrestricted as the previous design. The neck is also just a hair deeper than the previous bass -- again, don't know if this is by design or just variation between individual instruments, but the neck feels noticeably more solid than the previous Grind.

The pups, however, are noticeably weaker and noisier. Took it to a tech to check the wiring, but that's the way it is. Based on what it can do acoustically, I know that the bass is being poorly represented by its electronics. Either the pups in mine just aren't well suited to passive operation (and I am a passive fan), are fluke bad ones, or the wiring and pots are crap and bleeding signal.

I feel like I wrote a Grind mini-review.

I measure the pickups in my 4-string at 105 mm x 39 mm (about 4-1/8th inch x 1-1/2 inch), by the way. I take it from the comments here that that's a pretty non-standard size.

One other thing I want to mention -- I played my Grind through my Markbass combo amp for the first time this week. For whatever reason, the Markbass really matches up well with the Grind. Enhances its strengths, covers up its weaknesses. A nice symbiosis. Best I've heard that bass sound.