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Dyna Bass Project

T

TheWiFiRouter

May 10, 2026
2
1
#1
Hi guys,

I’m new to this forum but figured this is the perfect place to ask for some advice. I just picked up an old gutted Peavy Dyna Bass, one of the 4 string neck thru Koa models (no electronics, bridge, nut etc.), and I’m looking to turn it into something playable.

Anyone have any suggestions on where to find replacement parts, original or modern doesn’t matter to me. I’m also uncertain how to post photos for you all to see, but if I can figure it out I’ll upload some.

Thanks!
 
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#3
TheWiFiRouter said:
Hi guys,

I’m new to this forum but figured this is the perfect place to ask for some advice. I just picked up an old gutted Peavy Dyna Bass, one of the 4 string neck thru Koa models (no electronics, bridge, nut etc.), and I’m looking to turn it into something playable.

Anyone have any suggestions on where to find replacement parts, original or modern doesn’t matter to me. I’m also uncertain how to post photos for you all to see, but if I can figure it out I’ll upload some.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Before I converted to Fender I had several Peavey basses. I loved the slim necks, even on the Dyna fiver I had. Unfortunately, Fender put out a redesigned Jazz in the early 90's. It had a dinky body, slim as hell neck, and a Kubiki licensed preamp; and Peavey was on shaky ground so I took a chance and it's been mostly monogamous since. I've tried a lot of other basses and even bought a couple of used Peavey's but parts that were available were spendy and depending on model, can be very scarce. In one instance I needed a single black machine head and the only stockers I could find went as a set only, and it was north of $150 for the four, and based on the pics I'd put them at a solid 6 on a scale of 0~10. Regarding electronics, if you find them too rare or made of unobtanium, I set out to get an MIM standard J in the ball park sound wise to my old Dyna bass . While I never got to perfection, I wound up with a set of DiMarzio Ultra J pickups in one MIM and a set of DiMarzio Model J pickups in another one. If I was only going to keep one, it would be the Ultra J. Between that and screwing with the tone cap, I was more than happy with the result as far as kinda sorta close to to the Dyna. AFAIK, DiMarzio is the only company that offers split coil humbuckers rather than stacked coil buckers. Having tried both styles, I much prefer the splits over stacked, but again, strictly personal preference.
Sorry, didn't mean to geek out, but even though I was able to transition to the Jazz Plus without too much angst, I still have a personal hope that one day I'm going to walk into the right pawn shop or mom and pop music mart and there will be a pristine closet queen Dyna fiver hanging on the wall, and priced so I won't have to mortgage my place to buy it.
Seriously though, American Peaveys were the poopie for me until they went out of production and became waaaay overpriced.
 
#4
TheWiFiRouter said:
Anyone have any suggestions on where to find replacement parts, original or modern doesn’t matter to me.
Click to expand...
Original bridge was the Schaller 3D, they are still in production so easy to get 👍 Tuning pegs were copies of Schallers but you can just fit the real deal 👍

Most split coil and jazz bass bridge pickups will fit, I've Duncan QPs in one of my DynaBass Unitys.

Nut is 1 5/8ths wide. Tusq by GraphTech will have one that fits.

Original DynaBass PCBs are 40 years old so I'd be tempted to fit a Tone Monster SBK 3A-DT as a cost effective replacement.

It's a 5 knob unit with a Hi/Lo Mid switch you could use to fill the hole left by the old DynaBass active/passive switch.
 
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#5
Welcome to the forum.

TheWiFiRouter said:
I just picked up an old gutted Peavy Dyna Bass, one of the 4 string neck thru Koa models (no electronics, bridge, nut etc.), and I’m looking to turn it into something playable.
Click to expand...
Does it look like this?
Peavey Dyna-Bass Unity full.jpg


If so, then the bridge is a black Schaller roller unit, the tuners are Schaller or clones (I think - mine's not in arms reach to check) and the PUs are Dimarzio looking at least. Preamp is vol, bal, B/M/T with a bypass so there are plenty of units that will fit.

PS: The Schaller tuners are really heavy, so I'd not bother with replacing them with stock items, rather I'd put in some Hipshot U/Ls. If the original holes are too big, spacers are available for another $10 or so.
 
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#6
That Koa Dyna Bass you have is wide open offering you the chance to go wherever your heart desires. You can load about any P J setup that will for your needs and go passive or active. As far as hardware goes you can drive yourself mad looking for OEM rweplacments or use whatever you like. As mentioned the OEM hardware was Schaller and quite robust.

I have a Dyna Bass Unity LTD that I have done a good bit with including having Seymour Duncan pickups and passive wiring and switched the mismatched & worn out gold with all black hardware. I went with a black Kramer branded Schaller bridge and Guyker tuners. Sunshine on Midnight Lady.jpg
 
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#8
kodiakblair said:
That looks a damn sight better than mine, doubt the folks in the factory could have found more mis-matched timbers if the bosses were offering a bonus :confused:

View attachment 7492043
Click to expand...
Sorry, but I'm laughing at how bad that is. Not to be mean but because my first T40 had a 5 piece body with really strong ash grain and all the pieces arranged to give maximum contrast - I put it down to being made late Friday afternoon and the worker just wanting to get to the bar. My current one is 2 piece and you really need to get it in the light to pick the join, and the Unity looks really nice like the one I posted earlier.
 
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#12
kodiakblair said:
That looks a damn sight better than mine, doubt the folks in the factory could have found more mis-matched timbers if the bosses were offering a bonus :confused:

View attachment 7492043
Click to expand...
Peavey did all too often just dash pieces of woods together regardless of character or grain. My Peavey Foundation FL is almost book matched if the light and angle are just right, a complete accident. A buddy at Peavey went thru a full run and picked this one out for me for weight and tone, it just sings. FWIW those strings went on the bass when it was new and are that many years old, still sound good. This was the first run I saw with speed knobs.


Koa is my soul wood every piece tells a different story plus I love the warmth. I looked for a while for one of thiose Peavey Koa basses but everyone I came across had serious issues i didn't want to tackle.
 

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#13
A word of caution:

IF this Koa Dyna is as you've described, the parts and hardware can be got, but I wouldn't THINK of spending a cent on it until I made sure the truss rod works and the neck is going to be playable.

I would pass a free Alembic if it was unstrung, unstrung basses give me the willies: The neck has had who knows how long to take a set who knows where, and maybe it can be reeled back in . . . . or maybe not which would cancel any forward progress on the spot. And often, it may have a big enough relief problem the truss rod will not reel it back in, they're only designed to hold a narrow range of relief.

IF it were me:

I'd have it evaluated by an experienced repair person to check the above.

Or . . .

I'd see if the truss rod turns. If it's totally locked or spins like it's not connected to anything, it's over right there.

On the other hand, if it moves and seems to work on the neck, I'd back it off to loose, and then carefully clamp the neck straight with a couple of padded C-clamps and a straight edge longer than the fingerboard, and back one end up to the nut. Come back tomorrow.

Tomorrow, snug up the truss rod to where it will 'catch' the neck where it is and remove the clamps. Check that it's still straight. If it will hold that, then I'd go ahead and start your recondition.

If it's the active version, for me, the short versions would be a replacement Schaller roller bridge, some version of the Schaller half-enclosed keys (these two items were OEM on these), and losing the Peavey PC board electronics would be a pleasant surprise. I'd go back with an EMG PJ set and a EMG B30EQ or B64EQ system which would fill five holes. I'd simply fill or wire a kill switch where the active/passive switch used to live.
 
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#15
kodiakblair said:
Original bridge was the Schaller 3D, they are still in production so easy to get 👍 Tuning pegs were copies of Schallers but you can just fit the real deal 👍

Most split coil and jazz bass bridge pickups will fit, I've Duncan QPs in one of my DynaBass Unitys.

Nut is 1 5/8ths wide. Tusq by GraphTech will have one that fits.

Original DynaBass PCBs are 40 years old so I'd be tempted to fit a Tone Monster SBK 3A-DT as a cost effective replacement.

It's a 5 knob unit with a Hi/Lo Mid switch you could use to fill the hole left by the old DynaBass active/passive switch.
Click to expand...
I put Wilde P46 and J45 pickups (I am a fan of Bill Lawrence and his pickups) in my Dyna Unity Koa along with a Tone Monster SEB3-ABPA & MT and have been very pleased with the setup. @kodiakblair recommended the preamp. It was good advice.

Kim
 

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#16
J Wilson said:
A word of caution:

IF this Koa Dyna is as you've described, the parts and hardware can be got, but I wouldn't THINK of spending a cent on it until I made sure the truss rod works and the neck is going to be playable.

I would pass a free Alembic if it was unstrung, unstrung basses give me the willies: The neck has had who knows how long to take a set who knows where, and maybe it can be reeled back in . . . . or maybe not which would cancel any forward progress on the spot. And often, it may have a big enough relief problem the truss rod will not reel it back in, they're only designed to hold a narrow range of relief.

IF it were me:

I'd have it evaluated by an experienced repair person to check the above.

Or . . .

I'd see if the truss rod turns. If it's totally locked or spins like it's not connected to anything, it's over right there.

On the other hand, if it moves and seems to work on the neck, I'd back it off to loose, and then carefully clamp the neck straight with a couple of padded C-clamps and a straight edge longer than the fingerboard, and back one end up to the nut. Come back tomorrow.

Tomorrow, snug up the truss rod to where it will 'catch' the neck where it is and remove the clamps. Check that it's still straight. If it will hold that, then I'd go ahead and start your recondition.

If it's the active version, for me, the short versions would be a replacement Schaller roller bridge, some version of the Schaller half-enclosed keys (these two items were OEM on these), and losing the Peavey PC board electronics would be a pleasant surprise. I'd go back with an EMG PJ set and a EMG B30EQ or B64EQ system which would fill five holes. I'd simply fill or wire a kill switch where the active/passive switch used to live.
Click to expand...
I would string it up and see what happens before getting out the clamps 😄
 
#19
Thank you guys for all the replies, they’ve been super helpful. I’ve been busy all week so I apologize for getting back so late, but I finally figured out how to post on mobile so here’s a photo of the bass:
image.jpg


Haven’t gotten a chance to check if the truss rod is messed up; I’ll be checking that today
 

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