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1983 T20FL

T

T20FL1983

Sep 12, 2011
3
0
#1
Hey everybody! I have been reading for a bit, but still haven't found anything about my ol' gal, so I thought I'd suck it up and ask!

I have a 1983 T20 FL. I can find information about the T20 all day long, but there seems to be a lack of information regarding the fretless. I found her sitting alone in a pawn shop with a price of $499. I traded my faithful Squier and a busted practice amp along with a $100 bill and brought her home, and thus my affections for Peavey began. I have three Peaveys now, and a Schecter Diamond series. Of all of them, this T20FL is my favorite, and the only one I can't find anything about.

Any help is appreciated, I don't even know if I got ripped off or not. I guess I would say "not" because I love the guitar!
 
#2
What information is it that you want to know about it, exactly? Aside from the fingerboard, there's really not much difference between the fretted and fretless versions. I almost bought a barely-used T20FL for $150 in about 1983 (nice bass, but it turned out I needed to pay for textbooks with that financial aid money), but I'm not sure what the prices are like now.

Mike
 
#3
Looking for any help on the electronics. I took it to Guitar Center to have the knobs checked due to a finicky volume knob, and the repair guy kept saying he'd never seen anything like it. It doesn't have an active pickup but it has capacitors. He was able to get the knob to function properly. Who knew dust could get inside a guitar? :)
 
#4
T20FL1983 said:
Looking for any help on the electronics. I took it to Guitar Center to have the knobs checked due to a finicky volume knob, and the repair guy kept saying he'd never seen anything like it. It doesn't have an active pickup but it has capacitors. He was able to get the knob to function properly. Who knew dust could get inside a guitar? :)
Click to expand...

Every passive guitar has capacitors unless you like not being able to control your treble level.... EQ's replace capacitors in active basses.
 
#5
T20FL1983 said:
Looking for any help on the electronics. I took it to Guitar Center to have the knobs checked due to a finicky volume knob, and the repair guy kept saying he'd never seen anything like it. It doesn't have an active pickup but it has capacitors. He was able to get the knob to function properly. Who knew dust could get inside a guitar? :)
Click to expand...

It has two caps in it. One is the typical cap that makes the tone (treble cut) work. The other is on the volume control to shunt highs to the output as you turn the volume down. It's a way to counteract the effect passive volume controls have on tone as you turn down the volume. That was common on Peavey instruments at the time.

The T-20 was a great bass at the right price. Nice solid neck that wasn't too skinny nor too wide, one really good sounding pickup, solid bridge. And that very very cool pickup mount that had a thumb rest built into it- genius!

John
 

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