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New Peavey Cirrus comes out in October
- Thread starter Bluestar
- Start date
Are there any Peavey dealers left? The ones i knew about in the 70s thru 90s located in the midwest have dropped Peavey.
Peavey got themselves some bad publicity with Eddie Van Halen when he went to Mississippi and threw a fit over quality control in the 90s...I know for a fact he regretted the endorsement with Peavey even though the 5150 amps were solid.
Peavey was known for amps and cabinets for guitar, bass and PA mostly...solid stuff overall.
What do they have in the bass amp/cabinet line these days? You would briefly see a big artist play a Peavey bass but with way too many models it was always confusing for a buyer.
I think the bargain in Peavey used was the 80s Foundations, Fury types...you could see on the forums that folks were buying these up for absolutely cheap here and there.
As for the Cirrus, the few ive seen were very high quality including the imports but its a modern tone...its linked to the 90's mostly and Peavey made their bones with some country and southern rock acts.
Without a solid dealer network and a great bass amp line i cant see how this works out for Peavey....they dont have the history of the Leo brands or Gibson and the market is flooded with nice imports...good luck but i wouldnt bet on them.
Peavey got themselves some bad publicity with Eddie Van Halen when he went to Mississippi and threw a fit over quality control in the 90s...I know for a fact he regretted the endorsement with Peavey even though the 5150 amps were solid.
Peavey was known for amps and cabinets for guitar, bass and PA mostly...solid stuff overall.
What do they have in the bass amp/cabinet line these days? You would briefly see a big artist play a Peavey bass but with way too many models it was always confusing for a buyer.
I think the bargain in Peavey used was the 80s Foundations, Fury types...you could see on the forums that folks were buying these up for absolutely cheap here and there.
As for the Cirrus, the few ive seen were very high quality including the imports but its a modern tone...its linked to the 90's mostly and Peavey made their bones with some country and southern rock acts.
Without a solid dealer network and a great bass amp line i cant see how this works out for Peavey....they dont have the history of the Leo brands or Gibson and the market is flooded with nice imports...good luck but i wouldnt bet on them.
I think this will only appeal to the hardest-core Cirrus fans, and can't see this as being successful. Peavey exited the high end bass market, what...20 years ago? Since then they have just made entry-level junk for the most part, and as such no longer have the reputation to be able to command this price.
I have no doubts this is a nice bass, but if it was an Ibanez it would cost $1500. You can get a Stingray Special 5HH for less than this, and that bass is made in California. You could get into a poverty-spec Canadian Dingwall for about what the 6 string is gonna cost. Sire is going to start selling essentially a Fodera next year for $1700 as well.
Love your channel, bud! Look forward to more of your work. I had a USA Peavey Cirrus Tigereye that was legit one of the best basses I've ever owned but it was the totality of what it was. One of the selling points of the new Cirrus (Cirri?) is that the pickup dimensions are no longer proprietary ( The original USA cirrus pickups were bangin). I don't know if this is to appeal to modders or that they're acknowledging that their design doesn't illicit the confidence that a $3000 bass should have. I really couldn't imagine a Cirrus with Bartolini , Nordstrand or EMG pickups in the same way I hesitate swapping the MEC pickups out of my 2000's Warwick thumb …. There's something about the parts making the whole.
The tone plate has apparently been researched and provides value but seems like a marketing gimmick. Honestly, if these hold a candle to the older USA ones I'll be looking or hope that, at least, they drive down the market for the older USA ones. Skeptical but hopeful.
It is a gimmick, one they've been using for 10 - 14 years.
I don't know if you're old enough to remember the 'Fat Head' ? It was a brass plate you bolted to 4 in line pegheads, meant to lessen the dead spot effect. Patent expired decades ago allowing Peavey to tweak the idea and file for a patent.
I could understand when they started fitting them to the Milestone IV, those have skinny 4 in line pegheads. Called shenanigans when they appeared on the 2+2/3+2 Grinds.
If this reissue takes off or rekindles interest in the Cirrus, folks will start looking for cheaper options. Sellers with original US and BXP models will happily meet the rising interest with increasing prices
Bummed that there is no 6 string, Millennium preamp, and they changed to flat pickups. I built my right hand technique around radiused pickups. I consider them better than a ramp since they're adjustable and you still have the open space between pickups. Peavey, Kubicki, my Conklin, the old Tobias basses, etc. I also feel that the mid frequency on the previous pickups didn't add much versatility.
Peavey has always been between a rock and a hard place with expectations and price. You simply couldn't buy a better bass for the money than the USA Peaveys. People still wanted the price knocked down significantly.
On a side note, WOW gear prices are climbing. I realize I'm old and aware of inflation. Imports are a lot more than what I was paying for store brand US stuff.
Peavey has always been between a rock and a hard place with expectations and price. You simply couldn't buy a better bass for the money than the USA Peaveys. People still wanted the price knocked down significantly.
On a side note, WOW gear prices are climbing. I realize I'm old and aware of inflation. Imports are a lot more than what I was paying for store brand US stuff.
Yea...they could do better by redesigning lower end stuff to compete...if they could come up with cool designs that could sit in dealer floors alongside amps/cabinets it would be a start at least...add in some cool pedals etc...PA stuff worked well for them before.
Used gear prices are high and much of it sits....Peavey better be listening to customers before they finalize the Cirrus!
3k makes me a bit sad. I really wanted one.
I wonder if that price will impede sales. I hope not, but suspect it will.
I wonder if that price will impede sales. I hope not, but suspect it will.
Peavey is not a brand that can command 3K prices, IMO of course. You can regularly find US made Cirrus basses that are really great for quite a bit less. Saw a used one at Sweetwater recently that was really good for 1100.00.
I'm sure the new Cirrus will be worth the asking price, but I know that $3K+ is beyond my budget by a good bit.
There was a Tiger Eye 6 that I saw recently. The prices made my eyes bug out a bit. The proposed new prices were about the same. The inherent problem is that there aren't a lot of alternatives at the moment without going custom. I can lust for the stuff, but probably not a wise move to drop that kind of coin.
Also, used prices are crazy these days! Some used stuff seems to be about the same price or sometimes more than new. Sure, send some stranger MORE money for something used.....
Also, used prices are crazy these days! Some used stuff seems to be about the same price or sometimes more than new. Sure, send some stranger MORE money for something used.....
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I loved my Indonesian 5 string before the neck developed a nasty twist. $3k for a new one? Without a 6 string and fretless option that'll be a hard pass. I'd have preferred a Richlite fingerboard too.
I own a Czech made Clover Avenger 4 string, and it quickly climbed to my go to bass. It has an offset swamp ash body, hard rock maple neck and an ebony fingerboard. It plays awesome, sounds sweet and doesn't weigh a ton. It came factory with Nordstrand pups and pre, and Gotoh tuners, and a solid proprietary bridge. When I peeked inside the control cavity, I almost soiled myself. I have never seen a more cleanly wired, mass produced, instrument, and the cavity cover screws are machine thread, fitting neatly into brass inserts. All that with a logo hardshell for a smidge over $800, brand new. I couldn't buy the pups and pre amp for that! I have read that European hardwood stores are stocked to the brim with good tone woods, so maybe this will all translate to an awesome, affordable reissue of the mighty Cirrus.
The foundation. They were everywhere and in every variation: matching head stocks, rosewood fretboard options, nice colors, thin necks, nice bridges, nice shapes
The earlier single coil super ferrite versions had nicely finished glossy necks. The later VFL humbucking pickups at a different sound and the body was a smaller.
Fender was offering nothing even remotely similar in quality at the time.
I lean towards Foundation as well but 2nd gen Fury with the slant SF and beautiful ash body is nice.
Fender Japan basses and guitars were excellent in the 80s as well as many Japan brands and continue to be.
When Peavey took on EVH the guitar was a MM type and 5150 amp was a Soldano type and the guitars soon ran into problems in quality.
I agree; I have several '80s Electra basses. I guess I meant that despite the difference in current values, fender was nothing special compared to Peavey.
I thought the fury with the single slant pickup was first generation?
I think you're right, though given how it's essentially a reshaped T-20, I can see how someone would think of it as a second generation something. To my knowledge, they're the only two models with a single super ferrite slanted in the approximate Precision position.
