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It's too bad Peavey gets ZERO respect.

A portion of the Peavey basses I own -

peavey.jpg

When you say "portion" how much are we talkin in total? Nice basses by the way.
 
Well, that's not entirely true; Peavey started out a as really awful domestic brand that got *much* better. I really don't have any idea of the quality of gear they make today... but when I worked for a store selling Peavey gear about 20 years ago, it was as good as anything else out there. So they may have gone downhill, they may have stayed good. But back in *the day*, say 1977, there stuff was just awful - the taint of which has never left them.

And I think that lumping Ibanez in with Cort, Traben, etc, isn't really fair - - they have made some highly innovative instruments for many years... That they have chosen to mass produce some real third-world caca in recent years is sad, but their higher-end instruments are still pretty nice. I have yet to play a Cort or Traben that I thought was even worth my closet space...

I really don't know Peavey products at all prior to the introduction of the T-line. I suppose I don't understand why, say, Volkswagen can get around their low-budget image from their early days, and Peavey hasn't done the same. It's crazy. There are a half-dozen basses Peavey has made that I feel are better than anything Fender ever made.

I agree that Ibanez shouldn't be lumped in with those other brands. Although - with a few exceptions - the bulk of what accounts for Ibanez' bass sales in the last 20 years hasn't impressed me much.
 
Playing my brand new Peavey Zodiac DE Scorpio bass tonight. Sittin on my porch when I came home from work. So far I like it, even though the neck is a little thinner than I'm used to. Tone is powerful, finish + hardware are nice. Actions a little lower than I like right now. Very comfortable bass, nice and light.
 
I really don't know Peavey products at all prior to the introduction of the T-line. I suppose I don't understand why, say, Volkswagen can get around their low-budget image from their early days, and Peavey hasn't done the same. It's crazy. There are a half-dozen basses Peavey has made that I feel are better than anything Fender ever made.

I agree that Ibanez shouldn't be lumped in with those other brands. Although - with a few exceptions - the bulk of what accounts for Ibanez' bass sales in the last 20 years hasn't impressed me much.

The thing is - VW made *good* cheap cars... Old Peavey gear, from the '70s, was BAD cheap gear. I think that it is a given that they got much better - And those old T-basses, ugly though they might be, were not bad at all... But the amps? ICK. So bad, in fact, that the sigma has persisted, despite them signing some pretty major endorsers and some serious marketing $$$.

It seems to me that they have more or less given up on the pro market for much of their gear (Rather like Ibanez, truth be told) and sell to the lower end folks - - Nothing wrong with that, it just is what it is.
 
Who says? I found that Peavey and Yamaha are 2 safe bets when your unsure.They always are reliable so whoever says Peavey bites is just not familiar with Peavey or they bought an entry level instrument cause they have better gear if you spend more
 
That BXP is pretty. But, at $500, I don't think it's a particular bargain. Not when there are US Millenniums going in the $400 - 600 range. Like the US Mill 5 Plus that I linked above. Flamed maple top, birdseye maple neck, matching headstock. And I did the BIN on eBay this morning to get it for $600, shipped!

And G-Basses (US-made, graphite neck), in the $400 range all over the place. I guarantee you there's nothing about that BXP that would make me pick it over my G-Bass with Millennium preamp installed. Of course, others may not be as fond of black holo-flake and, thus, pick that BXP just based on cosmetics. ;)

It must have been a G-Bass I tried earlier this summer - one pickup, black and the neck was suh-weeet.

Are the BXP's the bolt-ons, and imported? Seems to me, all the US Cirrus that are bolt-ons are not 'BXP'?
 
I really don't know Peavey products at all prior to the introduction of the T-line. I suppose I don't understand why, say, Volkswagen can get around their low-budget image from their early days, and Peavey hasn't done the same. It's crazy. There are a half-dozen basses Peavey has made that I feel are better than anything Fender ever made.

I agree that Ibanez shouldn't be lumped in with those other brands. Although - with a few exceptions - the bulk of what accounts for Ibanez' bass sales in the last 20 years hasn't impressed me much.


I'm on the board of one of the largest VW clubs in the country... endorsed by the largest dealer.

The Opinion was on track...

Toyota was smart enough to develop Lexus... Honda smart enough to develop Acura...

THEN

Mazda released the Millenia.. and VW released the Pheton... both of them are superior cars .. still perceived as being one of my no heat slow bugs.

Peavey has done some offshoot names.. sitll has a marketing issue.

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My OPINION is the current lack of bass offering revolves around the Big Box store(s) dictating price points and what they'll carry.

The marketing channel has totally changed. No longer is the day that Hartley can walk through the door and find a tenured staff person who will be there in 3 years.

I owned gear from the 70s.. never had a problem with it..

The reality about much of the "perception" of the upper end amps is that many of the public has never played a BAM or MegaBass as the setups were intended..

They do something unfair.. will try a $50 practice amp and then assume that the upper end rigs are the same.

For some reason folks do not do attribute this "trashiness" with other brands (GK Backline.... Ampeg Portabass etc.. SWR practice amps)

------

Overall Mr Peavey is a smart and cautious business guy. His company may be the paramount of customer service..... I'd hate to be running a multi-million dollar company with one customer dictating pricing and terms. His company was not built around this model.... The P Gear was not in the said mega store a few years back.. they revamped and you can now see it on the shelves.

For bass offerings, I'd be confident that Fender doesn't get punk slapped the way Peavey does by the big box store.

------

That being said.. I do miss the mom and pop stores & the upper middle end quality USA gear at a gigger's price point.. In all honesty I own recording gear that I'd never be able to afford in the "good old days"
 
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I really don't know Peavey products at all prior to the introduction of the T-line. I suppose I don't understand why, say, Volkswagen can get around their low-budget image from their early days, and Peavey hasn't done the same. It's crazy. There are a half-dozen basses Peavey has made that I feel are better than anything Fender ever made.

I agree that Ibanez shouldn't be lumped in with those other brands. Although - with a few exceptions - the bulk of what accounts for Ibanez' bass sales in the last 20 years hasn't impressed me much.

so I'm curious which of your peavey's do you think sounds the best? where'd you get the blue tl5?
 
Are the BXP's the bolt-ons, and imported? Seems to me, all the US Cirrus that are bolt-ons are not 'BXP'?

All BXPs are imports.

For US Cirruses, there are neck thrus (been around a long time) and bolt-ons (came out in the last year or two). The neck thrus start around $1800. I think the bolt-ons start around $1200.
 
I had known about Peavey bass amps and cabs for a long time. Until I joined TB and heard this track, I didn't even know what s Cirrus was...



.........but I knew then and there that I HAD TO HAVE A CIRRUS!!!! Next to my Ken Smith Black Tiger 5, my Cirrus Bubinga/Walnut is the best bass that I have ever played or owned, including an Alembic Spoiler and a Warwick Thumb 5 BO that I sold to get my Smith.

A Groove is a Terrible Thing to Waste! :cool:


Bravo brah!!!! So you own the "poor man's Ken Smith" and a real one which is better in your opinion?
 
Well, that's not entirely true; Peavey started out a as really awful domestic brand that got *much* better. I really don't have any idea of the quality of gear they make today... but when I worked for a store selling Peavey gear about 20 years ago, it was as good as anything else out there. So they may have gone downhill, they may have stayed good. But back in *the day*, say 1977, there stuff was just awful - the taint of which has never left them.

And I think that lumping Ibanez in with Cort, Traben, etc, isn't really fair - - they have made some highly innovative instruments for many years... That they have chosen to mass produce some real third-world caca in recent years is sad, but their higher-end instruments are still pretty nice. I have yet to play a Cort or Traben that I thought was even worth my closet space...

Really? Some of their amps were very cool and lasted a long time from the '70's on :) The T series emerged & could be matched up against anything in their day.
 
-----------

My OPINION is the current lack of bass offering revolves around the Big Box store(s) dictating price points and what they'll carry.

The marketing channel has totally changed. No longer is the day that Hartley can walk through the door and find a tenured staff person who will be there in 3 years.

I owned gear from the 70s.. never had a problem with it..

The reality about much of the "perception" of the upper end amps is that many of the public has never played a BAM or MegaBass as the setups were intended..

They do something unfair.. will try a $50 practice amp and then assume that the upper end rigs are the same.

For some reason folks do not do attribute this "trashiness" with other brands (GK Backline.... Ampeg Portabass etc.. SWR practice amps)

------

Overall Mr Peavey is a smart and cautious business guy. His company may be the paramount of customer service..... I'd hate to be running a multi-million dollar company with one customer dictating pricing and terms. His company was not built around this model.... The P Gear was not in the said mega store a few years back.. they revamped and you can now see it on the shelves.

For bass offerings, I'd be confident that Fender doesn't get punk slapped the way Peavey does by the big box store.

------

That being said.. I do miss the mom and pop stores & the upper middle end quality USA gear at a gigger's price point.. In all honesty I own recording gear that I'd never be able to afford in the "good old days"

You hit the nail on the head about big box stores controlling price points. I think they have hurt not only Peavey, but Fender too. Poor G&L has never even been in the game.:(
 
Like most companies, (not builders, companies) they make lower level stuff and nice stuff. The cirrus is a ridiculously nice bass (although I always wanted a 5 in 19mm bridge spacing), the firebass head ROCKS and there are certainly other items that are very nice.

And when I was growing up I had a basic 50 that did the trick, a 2x15 cab with BWs that shook the house, and a t-40 that I cut my teeth on. All of this we decent gear, but it was affordable for where I was at then and I didn't have any complaints. Except the 2x15 was way too big for me.

But to the OP, I don't find the point as solid as the fact that there is always praise and ridicule on TB. As with most things in life. You have to be a lot smarter than to take what one person says as fact if you are going to get anything out of this site.

IMO, that is the truth! HA, I used truth and opinion in the same short sentence. but it's the truth..... ;)
 
I agree also, especially on the “what they’ll carry point”. I work across the parking lot from Guitar Center for years now and they never really change much. Same brands, similar models. I always want to try basses my manufacturers they carry but not the models they hang on the wall.
For example I wanted to try a couple of Schecter’s, an Ultrabass and a Model-T, yet I would have to order them just to get them in the store. They always had Omen’s hanging around but not my style.
There’s no life in the place because of it, people want “fresh” stuff or they walk around in a stupor and leave. It’s typical of big business these days, cut expenses and try to maintain some little margin while never really excelling because of short-sightedness.
:spit:
 
I played a beat up foundation in my High School jazz band whenever I forgot my Modulus. Honestly it was a dang decent bass, loved the neck. I justgot a Peavey practice amp (Max 158) and after comparing it to a bunch of stuff in that similar price/size range, it whooped the offerings from Fender, Line 6, Beringer, and Ibanez. Of course, YMMV.

The moral of the story to me is that bass and that amp did what Peavey's do. Work real well, don't cost much and are easy to find. They have made some crap in their day I am sure, but who hasn't?
 
so I'm curious which of your peavey's do you think sounds the best? where'd you get the blue tl5?

Wow, that's tough. I I absolutely had to pick one, I'd say the Cirrus, closely followed by the Palaedium. After that, the B-Quad, TL-5, Sarzo and G-bass. In that order.

I have 2 identical blue TL-5's. . One I got from craigslist, the other from a local store (Daddy's Junky Music) . Daddy's is great for bargains on Peavey gear. I bought the second because it was a good deal, but I should sell one - since I can't really justify having two.
 

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