NBD - Early Ash/Super Ferrite Peavey Fury

[Runnerman]

Happy to be the proud new owner of an early Ash body Super Ferrite Peavey Fury. This bass dates to 1984 and is the older brother to my 1994 white split-P Fury. I knew there were some cosmetic differences between these two basses but I was unaware how deep the differences went. So much more than pickups and knobs changed in these basses in a 10 year period. Here is a pic of the bass from the original ad. The intonation was way out of whack but other than that it was a real gem. Some minor bumps and bruises from 30 years of what appears to be a gentle life but nothing too serious.

It's a real nice bass and plays well now that I have fixed the intonation and added a set of Chromes.
Since I have both of these basses I thought I would do a detailed comparison of the two. What I found was some very surprising differences between these two generations of Furys. First the details and then I'll post some comparison pics detailing what I found.

Ash Fury - Made in USA
S/N 01855883 - dates to 1984
Weight 9.0 lbs
Gloss neck and headstock/satin or oiled finish body
Truss Rod Cover
2 piece solid neck, no board, maple
Width at nut = 43 mm
Width at 12th fret =56 mm
Width at 22nd fret = 62 mm
String spacing at bridge = 19 mm
Beefier tuners – 2 screws on back, nut over post on front
Tapered tuning posts
1 screw mounted triangular string tree (D and G strings)
Larger diameter saddles - fully adjustable
3 ply pickguard - different shape
More angular body and headstock shape
Body approx 1 inch longer
Blended elbow cut back
2 mm thicker neck through entire taper - C shape
Custom Peavey knobs

White Fury - Crafted in USA
SN 07654738 - dates to 1994
Weight 9.0 lbs
Satin neck and headstock with gloss board
No truss rod cover
Single piece neck with board - maple
Width at nut = 38 mm
Width at 12th fret = 55 mm
Width at 22nd fret = 61 mm
String spacing at bridge = 19 mm
Lighter tuners - 4 screws on back
Straight tuning posts
2 screw mounted cylinder string tree (A, D and G strings)
Medium mass bridge with 5 smaller mounting screws
Smaller diameter saddles - fully adjustable
Single ply pickguard - different shape
Smoother body and headstock shape
Body approx. 1 inch shorter
Angular elbow cut back
2 mm thinner neck through entire taper - D shape
Standard knurled P knobs

I'll highlight some of the more interesting differences in pics to come.
Clearly the later version has been affected by some cost cutting measures but both instruments play extremely well and are keepers. But if I was forced to sell one, the white one would go first.

 

[mark beem]

Nice!!!

 

[Runnerman]

First off, here is a front and back pic of the brothers together....

Easy to see some of the differences in the body shapes and also you can see the overall length difference. It fooled me at first because I thought the scales were slightly different but you can see that the neck pocket in the Ash fury is about an inch further towards the headstock. Likewise the bridge position is further toward the headstock as well. Also obvious is the difference in the width at the nut between these two basses. The width at the 22nd fret is almost identical and the string spacing at the bridge is identical. The newer white Fury just has a much more tapered neck. The upper pic also shows the difference between the two pickguards....pretty substantial.

 

[Runnerman]

Now the tuning machines. The older Ash Fury has much beefier and well build tuning machines. The post is tapered and domed on top whereas the White Fury has straight posts with flat tops. Significant differences in the way they mount to the headstock as well. First two pics are the older Ash Fury. Second two are the newer White Fury.

 

[Runnerman]

Here are the two bridges. They appear to be the same guage steel but the Ash Fury clearly has a larger amount of material, some curves and much larger mounting screws. Also easy to see the differences in the saddle diameter.

 

[WoodyG3]

Congrats on the new/old Fury. I'm sure you will get a lot of fun playing time out of that beauty!

 

[OldDirtyBassist]

I don't know where Peavey got their ash wood, but it's nicer than most. Congrats!

 

[Runnerman]

Finally, what I felt to be the most surprising and interesting difference between these two basses, the neck construction.
The older Ash Fury neck does not have a separate fret board. It is made of two pieces of maple joined, presumably a half truss rod hole is routed in each piece before joining. You can clearly see the two distinct pieces of wood in the first pic. The second pic is a side view of the neck where you can see that there is no board. The final pic is the side view of the newer White Fury clearly showing the top board. Harder to see in the pics is the thickness difference....the older Ash Fury being about 2 mm thicker through the complete taper. I know a lot of this minutia may be boring for some but hopefully the US Peavey guys will enjoy it.

 

[Runnerman]

Thanks guys, at the end of the day I am finding that these are really two distinctly different basses that share the same name.
Both worthy of owning though.

This is my first experience with the super ferrite pup and it is quite nice. Cops the P sound pretty well but maybe a bit wider frequency response and a bit cleaner when digging in. I like.

 

[Kenova]

Yes, you were totaly right, this is very interesting for us USA Peavey fans, I have Peavey Patriot so some things are similar. Very nice comparison. Thank you and enjoy playing those beautiful instruments.

 

[kodiakblair]

Very nice Runnerman.

Was waiting till this week to see how my new job panned out before buying a T 40 and hearing those super pups myself.
Course life has bit me again job's good,work colleagues pass seller's city ( about 300 miles from me) so seller increases
price by 50%.

Ash Fury just screams " I mean Business " . You're a lucky guy Runnerman

 

[DavidEdenAria]

Nice! I dig Peavey basses but my only one is a 1985 Foundation.....after a neck adjustment and sanding & filling dings with superglue it plays like butter, very solid and warm and fat sounding thru my Eden Metro.

Now I just need to play around with different strings......oh yeah and always on the lookout for a lightweight USA Peavey bass.

 

[wave rider]

The ash Fury is a direct descendant of the T-20? Looks great!

=wr=

 

[Runnerman]

Here's some information from a Vintage Guitar Magazine artlcle on the T20

"By the latter part of 1984, the T-20 was gone… or was t? The T-40 and T-45 remained on a November ’84 price list, along with several similar guitars, under a heading titled “Technology Series.” There was also a “Contemporary” series of three guitars, and an “Impact Series” of seven guitars and five basses.

The first bass listed in the Impact Series was the Fury. Not only did the Fury itself look familiar, its description was almost identical to the T-20, but literature also referred to the Fury’s “select hardwood Naturalite body design” and “Graphlon top nut.” This time, the pickguard was noted as a black/white/black laminate, which is what the T-20 shown here has. Even more finishes, including Black, Burgundy, and Inca Gold, were available on the ’84 Fury, and the case was now priced separately.

A close perusal of a first edition Fury indicates that differences between that model and a T-20 include the nut, an even-sleeker body shape (cutaway horns that are more pointed), a narrower pickguard that conforms to the body silhouette, and a trapezoid-shaped bridge, as found on Foundation and Patriot basses (also members of the Impact Series).

The T-20ish configuration of the Fury would last until sometime in 1986. The Fury moniker would be resurrected in 1987, on an instrument that resembled a Fender Precision Bass."

Here is a T-20 pic from that article:

Pretty damn close. Slightly different bridge?

 

[Basstovsky]

I was bidding on a blue/black/maple T-20 like that on ebay once last year, it was beautiful. It even had the best tuners ever, Grover Titans as seen on many great USA Peaveys. Sadly the seller pulled the auction without explanation and I've never seen the combination again, of the great tuners and the beautiful color.

Also @OP nice comparison of Furies, digging that ash model, looks real clean for its age!

 

[wild4oldcars]

Wow, that is some pretty grain. I really wish my slant fury was natural, but mine is the same blue as the T20 above. I think I overpaid on mine (like 250ish) but it has some tone to if for sure. It probably needs some fretwork, because the action is a tad too high before it starts fretting out at the dusty end of the board. It also has a giant shim in the neck to get the action where it is, but anyway, I love it, warts and all. Here's an action shot of me with it last year at WGI Percussion World Finals

Oh, and OP... Rock the hell out of that thing!

 

[Runnerman]

Thanks....love that blue!

 

[Rosebud]

Yeah totally thought it was a T-20 at first congrats!

 

[JustForSport]

A real find- and catch: thanks for sharing.

 

[eldoryder]

STUNNING! I would love to catch an early Fury like yours to go along with the rest of the "natural"-bodied T-series Peaveys I presently own. I agree with the above review....yours is a transitional model Fury with MANY T-20 attributes. The neck construction, the quality of the body wood, the pickguard, the knobs, etc. Great find!

'78 T40, '85 Patriot & '82 T20