Why are old Peaveys so cheap?

[smcd]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

Never said that.



I didn't say that either.

You didn't?? I dunno. I re-read your post, and nowhere there did you say you ever owned a Foundation.

Originally Posted by Bongolation

I got the bug to pick up a Foundation about two years back, figuring for a hundred bucks or so, it'd be interesting. But all the ones I saw on CL had some kind of problem or something missing or something added and I was turned off by reports here of problems with the trussrods from ham-fisted owners trying to adjust them without the proper tools, or whatever, and I just didn't need that...nor twenty years of fretwear from cheap stainless rounds and all the forty or so other things you encounter in the CL world, which is basically hell at its best.

What finished me was realizing that I had lots of better basses and I had already regrettably cluttered my life up with a couple of dozen others that weren't as good and for which I had no use. I just bought them because they were cheap and I was curious. A Peavey would only have fallen into that sad category, "basses I regret."

Sorry you had an accident, but I still don't see how you can be sure you'd regret buying a bass you never had any experience with.









Here's the real problem -

Originally Posted by Bongolation

Anyway, as I said, I really don't have a compelling need for an entry-level Peavey, especially not these days when I can't play much.

A Peavey Foundation is not an "entry level" instrument. Unless you feel that a Jazz and a Precision would be entry level instruments, too. A Peavey Foundation is a 100% pro-level instrument, by every definition. Disagree? Tell me why. I'm dying to know.

[nukes_da_bass]

Originally Posted by dickfitts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3yUniSTH1w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaYwqbdz4vo

'Nuff Respect...enjoy all!

Those two videos made my day thanks!

P.S. I'm so old I never heard or saw "metal tapping" like that! It was like Stanley Jordan got into prof metal bass! Friggin awesome!

[lbbc]

I love my older Peavey RSB and have GAS for a T-40. Of course, I own other basses....but this one is always on my stand in my music room

[Jeffcollins]

I'm sure it's been mentioned more than a few times on here, but I was turned off from Peavey due to using really bad amps they made. I assumed that all of their products were bad.. Then one day, I saw a T-40 at a local shop and picked it up. Great bass, amazing weight, and it felt perfect. I've given them a second look since then.

Like one person said though, it doesn't say Fender on the hs.

[Harpo61]

I remember back in 2004 Sam Ash in Clearwater had a Millennium
it was has the best neck it sat there for years they ended blowing it out a few years later for 600 bucks I should bought it.

[bumperbass]

"The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about". -- Wayne Dyer

Peavey's biggest mistake was pricing their stuff reasonably. They should have jacked the price way up on all their stuff. Then maybe they'd get some respect.
I worked on Peavey gear (as well as everything else) for many, many years and it was superbly engineered stuff. Customer service is still the best there is. For those of you who say their bass amps sucked, I don't get it. If you can't get a decent tone out of an amp that gives you paramid, equalizer, bass/treble, and clean headroom with as much power available in their time period, you have bigger problems. I still have my Mark IV and my Centurion. They still work and I can call Peavey tomorrow and get parts.

[smcd]

Originally Posted by Harpo61

I remember back in 2004 Sam Ash in Clearwater had a Millennium
it was has the best neck it sat there for years they ended blowing it out a few years later for 600 bucks I should bought it.

You'll be happy to know that you can get that same bass today for $400 or less.

[Templar]

A few years ago the Peavey deals/steals were even better than now. Check out this NOS Millenium Plus4 I scored for $400. An awful lotta bass for the money, almost ludicrous really.

[puremusic]

Please close this thread I currently have a Bubinga/Walunt Cirrus 5 and I am looking to add a Maple topped and fretted cirrus 5 next. That will be followed by a US Millennium 5+, G-V and lastly a TL5 possibly a foundation or 2 so please end this thread.

[smcd]

Beautiful Millennium!

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by smcd

A Peavey Foundation is not an "entry level" instrument.

Not an expert on Peavey, but have read repeatedly that this was expressly what the "Foundation" name meant to suggest in their marketing, a decent no-frills bass for beginners at an attractive price point, and I seem to remember Peavey print ads to that effect (now of course, Peavey has some Chinese stuff for that end of the market).

A lot of such instruments are functionally fine (especially with some bench time), but I have better ones that are more nicely built and certainly more attractive, especially considering that the Foundation was more or less a Jazz, which is not my favorite configuration in any case. I have better MIA Fender Jazzes if I need that. Thus, any old low-end bass with twenty-five years or more of use and abuse with some known maintenance pitfalls and no chance of significant appreciation in my lifetime pretty much defines a regrettable buy for me, personally. I need more room and less clutter in my life. This would just be more clutter.

For some bucks-down kid who wants a good bass and has the time to scout a local market that actually has a few of these and knew enough to avoid the worn-out and damaged ones, it'd be a really great bass for $100-$150 -- absolutely. A decent one is a fine dollar value for what it actually is, and you're certainly not wasting any money on brand equity.

[Misty Mountain]

By the above definition, every P bass ever made is an entry-level instrument. Known maintenance pitfalls? Not aware of anything particular to any US produced Peavey basses in general. I've played plenty of Ps and Js, and I'd rather play my Patriot.

[smcd]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

Not an expert on Peavey, but have read repeatedly that this was expressly what the "Foundation" name meant to suggest in their marketing, a decent no-frills bass for beginners at an attractive price point, and I seem to remember Peavey print ads to that effect (now of course, Peavey has some Chinese stuff for that end of the market).

A lot of such instruments are functionally fine (especially with some bench time), but I have better ones that are more nicely built and certainly more attractive, especially considering that the Foundation was more or less a Jazz, which is not my favorite configuration in any case. I have better MIA Fender Jazzes if I need that. Thus, any old low-end bass with twenty-five years or more of use and abuse with some known maintenance pitfalls and no chance of significant appreciation in my lifetime pretty much defines a regrettable buy for me, personally. I need more room and less clutter in my life. This would just be more clutter.

For some bucks-down kid who wants a good bass and has the time to scout a local market that actually has a few of these and knew enough to avoid the worn-out and damaged ones, it'd be a really great bass for $100-$150 -- absolutely. A decent one is a fine dollar value for what it actually is, and you're certainly not wasting any money on brand equity.

The Patriot was an entry level instrument. The Foundation was not. I'd like to see those ads that touted the Foundy as such. Never seen nor heard of such a thing.


As I now own several Fender basses, both Jazz and Precisions, I can tell you for an absolute unequivocal fact that the Foundation is every bit the bass those models are, and more. The quality of construction, hardware, electronics and materials in a Foundation is equal to, often superior to, a Fender Jazz or Precision of the same era. I've never seen a Foundation with the build quality issues I've seen on many Fender products. Furthermore, many consider the Peavey Super Ferrite pickups to be superior to the sc pickups used in Fender Jazz basses.

Once again you mention owner use and abuse. Seriously - where do you live that people vandalize Peavey instruments. You should move. I can tell you that I myself have seen FAR more used and abused Fenders than Peaveys. Certainly, when I saw those chewed up Fenders, I didnt' think "Wow... Fender products are junk". Logically that thought process is absurd. Either way, whether a previous owner has abused and instrument has nothing to do with the quality of the instrument. I'm not sure how you're drawing the opposite conclusion.

[tonybassman]

Love my Foundations!

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by smcd

The quality of construction, hardware, electronics and materials in a Foundation is equal to, often superior to, a Fender Jazz or Precision of the same era.

The same era is irrelevant. I'm talking about my new models from the past few years. I don't have to handicap myself. I'm only comparing them to what I have now, because that's all that matters. I have nicer basses here and now.

I mean, you're just not going to find anyone who wants to trade a new American Standard or a EBMM or a new Rickenbacker (which I'm currently hunting) for a thirty-year old CraigsList Peavey. Get over it.

I've never seen a Foundation with the build quality issues I've seen on many Fender products.

Sure. It's a much simpler design with simpler production with less to screw up, which is always a help [see comparative Gibson models for a frank demo of that concept ].

And if you're trying to get me to defend FMIC QC, you obviously haven't been paying attention.

Furthermore, many consider the Peavey Super Ferrite pickups to be superior to the sc pickups used in Fender Jazz
basses.

That in itself is meaningless. It's just an arbitrary preference issue, and subject to a lot of wishful thinking, TB peer pressure among the fanboys and about a dozen other variables. Personally, I've never encountered a ferrite bass pickup I liked for the sort of stuff I play, but I imagine a lot of people here like them for the sort of stuff they may do, but that has nothing to do with me.

Once again you mention owner use and abuse. Seriously - where do you live that people vandalize Peavey instruments. You should move. I can tell you that I myself have seen FAR more used and abused Fenders than Peaveys. Certainly, when I saw those chewed up Fenders, I didnt' think "Wow... Fender products are junk". Logically that thought process is absurd.

Only if you're leaving out the relevant point, which is that due to screwy design, these required uncommon wrenches to adjust the trussrods with predictable bubba results. As a Peavey maven, you must have seen many mentions of trussrod problems in the Peavey threads here, along with complaints from people who bought ones with damaged trussrods, what substitute and improvised tools people used for the unobtainium originals, etc., etc. That was the thing I was told to be on the lookout for when I was fooling around trying to find one, a screwed-up trussrod. Whether the trussrods were deficient in themselves in addition to that seemed to be another train of thought...but I don't have any data on that because I've never touched one.

So, this is hardly an imaginary problem local to me.

[Believe me, after working on owner-vandalized gear for decades, I've seen it all with wrecked trussrods and I just don't want to screw with that in my retirement, thanks.]

That's the whole point -- I don't normally buy used gear because I get new stuff for less than market used price and I don't have to waste time and knuckle skin un****ing some halfwit's butterknife-and-clawhammer maintenance wreckage, even on stuff without known problems.

If I actually wanted one of these things, which I don't, I'd have to deal with exactly the kind of hassle I want to avoid by default -- dealing with CL creeps, picking through old cruddy instruments trying to find one that's a good deal without hidden problems. I'm not poor enough to put myself through that degradation.

I'm not sure how you're drawing the opposite conclusion.

Well, see above. It's the Peavey fans who were telling me all this, so beef to them about it, not me. I never got that far in my search. Like I said, I didn't have much to see, only three non-starter examples that didn't warrant a look-see.

I'm not saying the old Peavey Foundations were bad basses. What they were were butt-ugly, spartan, low-cost instruments that were built reasonably well and did the job, and they had the misfortune to bear a name that at the time was -- at least regionally -- the most disrespected and hostilely-received on the market. Now they're all that plus being twenty or thirty years old, long out of production and with zero vintage or collector value.

That makes the ones still in good shape great deals for budget players.

They just have nothing persuasive to offer me. I have nicer gear. I don't see why you find that so hard to understand.

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

The same era is irrelevant. I'm talking about my new models from the past few years. I don't have to handicap myself. I'm only comparing them to what I have now, because that's all that matters. I have nicer basses here and now.

I mean, you're just not going to find anyone who wants to trade a new American Standard or a EBMM or a new Rickenbacker (which I'm currently hunting) for a thirty-year old CraigsList Peavey. Get over it.

Sure. It's a much simpler design with simpler production with less to screw up, which is always a help [see comparative Gibson models for a frank demo of that concept ].

And if you're trying to get me to defend FMIC QC, you obviously haven't been paying attention.

That in itself is meaningless. It's just an arbitrary preference issue, and subject to a lot of wishful thinking, TB peer pressure among the fanboys and about a dozen other variables. Personally, I've never encountered a ferrite bass pickup I liked for the sort of stuff I play, but I imagine a lot of people here like them for the sort of stuff they may do, but that has nothing to do with me.


Only if you're leaving out the relevant point, which is that due to screwy design, these required uncommon wrenches to adjust the trussrods with predictable bubba results. As a Peavey maven, you must have seen many mentions of trussrod problems in the Peavey threads here, along with complaints from people who bought ones with damaged trussrods, what substitute and improvised tools people used for the unobtainium originals, etc., etc. That was the thing I was told to be on the lookout for when I was fooling around trying to find one, a screwed-up trussrod. Whether the trussrods were deficient in themselves in addition to that seemed to be another train of thought...but I don't have any data on that because I've never touched one.

So, this is hardly an imaginary problem local to me.

[Believe me, after working on owner-vandalized gear for decades, I've seen it all with wrecked trussrods and I just don't want to screw with that in my retirement, thanks.]

That's the whole point -- I don't normally buy used gear because I get new stuff for less than market used price and I don't have to waste time and knuckle skin un****ing some halfwit's butterknife-and-clawhammer maintenance wreckage, even on stuff without known problems.

If I actually wanted one of these things, which I don't, I'd have to deal with exactly the kind of hassle I want to avoid by default -- dealing with CL creeps, picking through old cruddy instruments trying to find one that's a good deal without hidden problems. I'm not poor enough to put myself through that degradation.


Well, see above. It's the Peavey fans who were telling me all this, so beef to them about it, not me. I never got that far in my search. Like I said, I didn't have much to see, only three non-starter examples that didn't warrant a look-see.

I'm not saying the old Peavey Foundations were bad basses. What they were were butt-ugly, spartan, low-cost instruments that were built reasonably well and did the job, and they had the misfortune to bear a name that at the time was -- at least regionally -- the most disrespected and hostilely-received on the market. Now they're all that plus being twenty or thirty years old, long out of production and with zero vintage or collector value.

That makes the ones still in good shape great deals for budget players.

They just have nothing persuasive to offer me. I have nicer gear. I don't see why you find that so hard to understand.

I have owned more old Peaveys than I can count, and I have played even more. I have seen exactly one, a Millenium J/J with a stuck trussrod.

The biggest problem with older Peaveys is that they require a wrench similar to a Gibson for trussrod adjustments. It's not hard to get a wrench.

I've been playing bass long enough to trust my judgement. I like Peaveys. I like their build quality, their ability to take a great setup, I like the way they sound.

[gard0300]

I have several US made Peaveys and all trusses work just fine. It goes to mention three of then have three different truss wrenches. Like a previous post. One uses the Gibson Style, another standard hex and the last a short return or angled hex.

[mystic38]

The reason old peaveys are cheap $ is that new peaveys are cheap $, and there is no particular reason for them to be more attractive on the used market than a herd of other manufacturers.

[kellyrojo]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

The same era is irrelevant. I'm talking about my new models from the past few years. I don't have to handicap myself. I'm only comparing them to what I have now, because that's all that matters. I have nicer basses here and now.

I mean, you're just not going to find anyone who wants to trade a new American Standard or a EBMM or a new Rickenbacker (which I'm currently hunting) for a thirty-year old CraigsList Peavey. Get over it.

Sure. It's a much simpler design with simpler production with less to screw up, which is always a help [see comparative Gibson models for a frank demo of that concept ].

And if you're trying to get me to defend FMIC QC, you obviously haven't been paying attention.

That in itself is meaningless. It's just an arbitrary preference issue, and subject to a lot of wishful thinking, TB peer pressure among the fanboys and about a dozen other variables. Personally, I've never encountered a ferrite bass pickup I liked for the sort of stuff I play, but I imagine a lot of people here like them for the sort of stuff they may do, but that has nothing to do with me.


Only if you're leaving out the relevant point, which is that due to screwy design, these required uncommon wrenches to adjust the trussrods with predictable bubba results. As a Peavey maven, you must have seen many mentions of trussrod problems in the Peavey threads here, along with complaints from people who bought ones with damaged trussrods, what substitute and improvised tools people used for the unobtainium originals, etc., etc. That was the thing I was told to be on the lookout for when I was fooling around trying to find one, a screwed-up trussrod. Whether the trussrods were deficient in themselves in addition to that seemed to be another train of thought...but I don't have any data on that because I've never touched one.

So, this is hardly an imaginary problem local to me.

[Believe me, after working on owner-vandalized gear for decades, I've seen it all with wrecked trussrods and I just don't want to screw with that in my retirement, thanks.]

That's the whole point -- I don't normally buy used gear because I get new stuff for less than market used price and I don't have to waste time and knuckle skin un****ing some halfwit's butterknife-and-clawhammer maintenance wreckage, even on stuff without known problems.

If I actually wanted one of these things, which I don't, I'd have to deal with exactly the kind of hassle I want to avoid by default -- dealing with CL creeps, picking through old cruddy instruments trying to find one that's a good deal without hidden problems. I'm not poor enough to put myself through that degradation.


Well, see above. It's the Peavey fans who were telling me all this, so beef to them about it, not me. I never got that far in my search. Like I said, I didn't have much to see, only three non-starter examples that didn't warrant a look-see.

I'm not saying the old Peavey Foundations were bad basses. What they were were butt-ugly, spartan, low-cost instruments that were built reasonably well and did the job, and they had the misfortune to bear a name that at the time was -- at least regionally -- the most disrespected and hostilely-received on the market. Now they're all that plus being twenty or thirty years old, long out of production and with zero vintage or collector value.

That makes the ones still in good shape great deals for budget players.

They just have nothing persuasive to offer me. I have nicer gear. I don't see why you find that so hard to understand.

I dont see a problem with anything that is said here---and I like Peavey basses. Your points are relevant.

[mb94952]

Wow, this thread has certainly struck a nerve. It's a week old and has over 6,000 views. I bet the OP didn't expect "War and Peace" ... metaphorically and literally !!

Given - We are all Gear Geeks. That means passion and opinions. Very cool.

Second, (jokingly, well kind of kind of not) - I wouldn't argue with Dr. Cheese. He's an elder spokesman here on TB and I trust his opinions.

I HATE the truss rod adjuster on Foundations. Why couldn't they have used an allen wrench like every other normal bass uses ?

I don't see how a Foundation is "ugly". On the surface it looks like a jazz bass, so ergo a jazz bass is then ugly.

Finally (ugh) if a Foundation (or fill in the blank Peavey bass ) is an entry level bass, well so be it. I consider a Squier Classic Vibe to be an entry level bass, BUT I can tell you that every Classic Vibe I have taken apart and rebuilt (because the set ups suck on them) have played, looked, and sounded better than any Fender. Ironically or not, the Classic Vibe was made to mimic 1980's made in Japan Fenders, not USA's and Squier did a FANTASTIC job of it. They feel just like MIJ basses, and those were the best, in my opinion.

So, my point is that maybe Peavey set out for the Foundation to be an entry level bass, but like the Classic Vibe (which has an equally passionate fan bass as we Peavey's do) it turned out to be an under promised over delivered bass. I am fine with that !!