Dean B2 vs Peavey Quad

Heath,

I've never played the Peavey, but my Dean B2 (same as your first picture) is on the way. Just play it and I'm 100% sure you'll want it. Make sure to try out the piezos (Fishman), that's what sold me on it. I've never priced the Peavey, but a fellow poster tells me it's a collector's item. I have a link to a site that has a white one for sale, let me know and I can send it to you (I imagine it will be quite pricey). For the real low-down on the differences between the two, I suggest contacting Bassica83, not only is he a B2 owner, but has played B. Bromberg's Peavey if I'm not mistaken. His only mod to his Dean was to throw in some Bart's to warm up the sound and he considers it his best sounding bass. Can't wait to get mine, I'll probably add the Bart's as well.

Later...

 

Peter,

Thanks for the heads up. Not sure where you are located, but mine is on layaway here in Southern IN and I've played it, so no worries there. In fact, unless I knew exactly what I wanted and had 100% confidence the seller knew what I wanted, I doubt I could buy one if I hadn't played it. Glad it worked out for you.

Wayne

 

wblake is right- I threw the stock pickups out. Too sterile sounding for me, so I put in a set of Bart 57J1's in it to get closer to what the USA B2 was supposed to be. I have heard that the USA may or may not go into production, so I bought a B-stock one in teal for a steal of a deal. It was B-stocked because of a headstock-body color mismatch. The headstock is a little more green than blue...big whoop. These basses are so rare around here that nobody knows the difference anyway, unless I point it out to them. The only other mod I made on mine was to take the voltage inverter out of the circuit. It's the little circuit that is in the bottom of the battery compartment that basically takes the 9v put out by the single battery and doubles it's output, rendering 18v at the power-in lug on the pre. I use two 9v's in the body cavity instead. I just changed my batteries after 13 mos, 2 weeks. The sound got a little "grainy", which is how I knew I was "on fumes", so to speak.

wblake sent me a pic of his, and from the looks of it, they may have changed the stock pickups. I would almost bet on my originals being EMG Selects, relabeled. The guys at Dean told me they were custom-designed specifically for the B2. In any case, they didn't do it for me, so I put in the Barts, and DAYUM! What a difference it made! Very smooth, detailed, warm and rich, with more bottom than the stockers put out, which is what I was after. If you want to know all the differences between the Peavey and the Dean, contact Dean and ask what improvements they made. They'll be happy to tell you.

I loved hearing wblake's initial impressions- he said that (to paraphrase) any sound you want, from in-your-face burp to smooth, mellow, to modern, scooped funk...it's all in there! I find that to be true. I get more compliments on my sound with this bass than with any other I have used in the past! Happy camper here!