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NGD: Early 1993 Peavey Foundation Project - PICS!

ToneMaven

ToneMaven

Dec 22, 2018
187
291
#1
I was looking for a new project bass/guitar and this one decided to follow me home. It's an Early 1993 Peavey Foundation, serial 0609XXXX. Neck is straight although the relief is way too high, truss rod seems good. Intonation is way off from looking at the bridge, even the strings are rusted. Pups work but the three pots are wobbly, one turns beyond the stops so it's loose and the jack sounds like rice krispies. All easy fixes that I'll quick-fix today so I can play it. I'll rewire the whole thing with new pots a bit later. I do have some questions for all the Foundation owners:
  1. Graphlon Nut: Is this a good nut? I usually replace plastic nuts with a TUSQ nut but I know nothing of this Graphlon thing. Suggestions?
  2. Finish Cracks: There are tiny, long, straight ridges that I think are cracks that follow the grain of the wood on the front and back. I don't see this as checking like on a nitro finish. I've never seen this and would like to know if anyone has experience with it. I will probably refinish the body, but they are not that bad, only visible when you catch the light so, I may leave it alone(see pic below). Your thoughts?
All in all, not a bad deal with a Peavey hardshell case for $60 bucks. I only have P-Basses so, this is my first venture into the world of dual pickup basses. I suppose it will sound like a J-Bass. It also has a very thin, J-Bass style neck with a smooth satin finish. I was surprised to find a satin neck, I thought that was a more recent thing.
Peavey Foundation Bass 1.jpeg
Peavey Foundation Bass 3.jpeg
Peavey Foundation Bass 2.jpeg
 
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#3
Nice score. Fairly rare with a rosewood board, most were maple.
I would not worry about the finish cracks unless you want a different color.
Graphlon nut is fine, standard on all Peaveys of that era, wouldn't' worry about changing it unless you have a specific desire for a brass nut or something.

Super ferrite pickups are great, they can be aggressive sounding. These foundations cop a Jazz tone very well. I have Chromes on mine which tames the SF pups somewhat but keeps their character.

90's versions for the most part have the single piece neck with fretboard (even on maple boards) although there are some with the old style 2 piece neck like mine. Hard to tell from the pics but yours is likely one piece.
 
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#6
Adjusted the truss rod to get rid of the ski jump and all went well(sort of, the truss rod cover was cracked and broke on disassembly). One business card of relief now.

Fixed the electrics. Had an intermittent short in the jack and the wire from the tone to the bridge pup had broken off at the solder joint. Cheap pots and wires(see below). They must of been cutting costs in early 1993. They will definitely get upgrades to CTS pots and cloth covered wire as well as a shielded cavity.

The pups sound spectacular, even with these dead strings. Now that I know the pups are fine, this baby is getting a new paint job!

As I was playing I heard a disturbing rattle that resonated throughout the instrument. I thought for sure the truss rod was broken. Nope. The A and G tuners were rattling up a storm. I messaged one of the members here that knows a superglue trick to ask where to add the glue. If it doesn't work, new tuners are not that expensive.
Peavey Foundation Bass 4.jpeg
 
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#9
Big thanks to @BassikLee for helping me identify where my tuners were actually rattling. I didn't realize the cloverleaf was actually rattling against the post, I thought the post itself was rattling. A touch of superglue at the joint fixed the three offenders.
 
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#11
Nice score! $60 usually gets you ONE Super Ferrite pickup or a Peavey case.
I love my 84 Foundation (and I have also owned a 93 and 85 fretless) and the Super Ferrite has become my favorite pickup-it can get a J tone, but since it's a touch more aggressive, it also cops the Ric HiGain tone when placed in the Ric spots (as done on my Patriot). With a little roll off of the tone, it's more P sounding in the neck position vs a traditional J pickup.
I have no issues with the Graphlon nut. Something to look out for is ski jump. People often overextended the neck tilt screw and that caused the jump over time. It's pretty easy to make a new truss rod cover with pickguard material and a 45 second shot of hot air from a hair dryer to soften it for the bend.
I find that Peavey saved $$ in the 90s on their lower lines by using cheaper hardware and pots, doing the matte finished necks and kind of rushing the production, as fit and finish isn't quite as tight as the 80s versions. I also suspect they imported finished bodies from Asia (Korea?), too, as I have seen some suspiciously Korean silver part # stickers under the neck plate and suspicious stamps in the neck pocket on a few models from this era. That's a whole 'nother thread and really doesn't matter in the long run.

This Foundation still has the cool and classic 2 piece neck and the slamming Super Ferrites, so upgrade away! I love J basses, but Foundations (to me) are even better. If I didn't already have a cool stable of Super Ferrited basses (Foundation, Patriot and Dyna Bass), I would throw SFs on a J bass.
 
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#14
bigtone23 said:
Nice score!...Something to look out for is ski jump. People often overextended the neck tilt screw and that caused the jump over time... It's pretty easy to make a new truss rod cover
Click to expand...

Thanks, the more I play it, the more unbelievable I scored it that cheap. It had a bit of a ski jump at the nut side, but that was all about having way too much relief. Now with the relief set properly it looks fine. Luckily, no one messed with the neck tilt(that I can tell) in 26 years. Looks like someone tried to at one point since the access hole is a little deformed, but from the 16th fret to the 21st, it is parallel with the body. I ordered a knock off Gibson cover(pic below) from eBay for 75 cents, shipped. Of course, it will take a month to arrive. It's tall enough that I can trim it to the right shape for this bass.

Gibson cover.JPG
 
#16
BassikLee said:
The few I have fixed don't seem to have the issue again.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I was hoping to keep them original if possible. I did order a set of Squier type tuners from Amazon for $16 bucks before I tried the superglue. I have a heavily modded Squier and the stock tuners work fine. They won't have a matching screw hole pattern, but they will work. I'll hold on to them, I'm sure some future project will need them :thumbsup:

Here's the link if anyone is looking for some: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G738RPR/
 
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#17
Those tuners I ordered came in yesterday. Frankly, I am quite impressed by them. They are definitely different than the Squier tuners, although they look very similar. The tuning ratio is better than the Squiers. They feel mechanically solid and the chrome is very well done. That's a killer deal for $16. Bolt pattern is identical to Squiers so, they will not match up exactly with the Foundation tuners. If you use these, expect to drill new holes and fill the old ones with a toothpick and some wood glue. The original tuners are still working with no issues after the "superglue trick" so, no need to change them yet.
Tuner 1.jpeg
Tuner 2.jpeg
 
#20
bigtone23 said:
I have never seen a factory 80s/early 90s Foundation with anything but a Jazz width nut.
I have owned a few Foundations. My 84 has a 1.5" nut, the thinnest was my 93 which was 1.4" at the nut!
Click to expand...
This one is 1.465" at the nut. My Squier P is 1.625" and my American Special P is 1.640". On paper, this doesn't seem like much. In my left hand, it's the difference between a baseball bat and a chicken bone.
 

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