Peavey basses; Most desirable to Least desirable.

[TOOL460002]

Always wanted to play with one of those MIDI Basses. So my answer is based of intrigue. Only touched one once and I couldn't really tell you how it played. Very long time ago.

 

[kesslari]

Top: B-Quad and TL-5. Love them both.

 

[TrustRod]

My T40 had a nice neck, there was nothing else I liked about it.

My Foundation 2000 5 string is however awesome. I prefer a passive 5 so that narrows things down a lot. Mine is very light, has what appears to be a millennium shaped body of poplar. A metallic blue finish and rosewood board.

They make more impressive basses than my Foundation but that one is perfect for me. So the T40 and the Foundation are my most and least desirable Peaveys.

 

[Kawai2g4b]

I am going to buck the trend a little bit here. From top to bottom:

1. B-Quad (by reputation)
2. TL-6 (with passive/active switch)
3. Sarzo
4. T-40 (weight doesn't bother me)
5. Cirrus (USA)
5. Foundation
6. Millennium
7. lesser T-Series (the necks...sheesh)
8. Palaedium (characterless)

 

[Mastodon2]

Most desirable would be the Palaedium and the B-Quad for me.

 

[lbbc]

I've only owned 2...Sarzo and T40. Wish I had kept both but the Sarzo was my favorite!

 

[Bonafide]

2nd Gen TL5 is just super fantastic on any list of basses.

 

[Bass V]

when the lowest rung Peavey is still a very viable bass then everything else is whip cream.

 

[dcr]

I'm partial to my GV and US Millennium. Ive gotten to where the GV is my main player, even over my Nordys.



dcr

 

[350125g0]

Has anyone ever played a Zodiac? I've heard those are good bang-for-your-buck Precision clones for people who like a skinny neck...

 

[kodiakblair]

Peavey Forum- my only US peavey, I had the one with the singe super ferrite. Very well built, but kinda beefy neck (odd for a Peavey.) sold this for a move, without truly understanding what I had.

Forums came in a few formats. Original was a passive PJ then they added the Forum Plus which was an active PJ.
2 years later the Forum was changed to again,this time to a single humbucker with 2 band EQ. Followed up with the Forum AX.

At no time did the Forum have Super Ferrites, they were being phased out by the time of it's release.

The only Peaveys with a single Ferrite were

1st gen Fury (middle one here)

Patriot (on the left)

And the T-20 (natural on the left)

Has anyone ever played a Zodiac? I've heard those are good bang-for-your-buck Precision clones for people who like a skinny neck...

Decent P-bass for very little cash, I later swapped the neck for a wider 1 3/4" one.

There's an older Milestone P-bass, same as US 2nd & 3rd gen Furys but half the price

 

[Hadriker]

I love my late 80s Dyna-Bass Unity Series. Best 80 bucks I ever spent.

I will be looking to get a Fury soon. I played a friends ages ago and loved it but have never owned one myself.

 

[Dr. Keebs]

Have owned many Peaveys. Not the models that are most desirable to me, but regardless:
1) B Quad
2) US Cirrus
3) Sarzo
4) G bass

Have owned:
5) 90s Midibase
6) 90s Fury P
7) Zodiac Dave Ellefson
8) Early 2000s 4 and 6 string Furies with soaps
9) 90s Foundation 5

 

[CallMeAl]

Forums came in a few formats. Original was a passive PJ then they added the Forum Plus which was an active PJ.
2 years later the Forum was changed to again,this time to a single humbucker with 2 band EQ. Followed up with the Forum AX.

At no time did the Forum have Super Ferrites, they were being phased out by the time of it's release.

The only Peaveys with a single Ferrite were

Hey, thanks for the info! The bass was in my possession PT (pre-talkbass) when I payed waaaay less attention to details. For a while I thought it was the PJ, until I found one old photo of it, and realized it was the single pickup (apparently the humbucker)

 

[kodiakblair]

@CallMeAl

The world of Peavey basses is confusing enough today never mind pre-internet days

The Forum was an ill-fated thing. 3 years after they remodeled it with an active single humbucker Peavey dropped the model altogether. The active Forum humbucker wound up in the G-bass. When the parts dept reported pickup stocks running low, the G-bass dropped

 

[Warpeg]

My top three....

Cirrus: very nice if you can abide a thin neck and narrow nut width (I personally can't).
Sarzo: best overall for my preferences, but a rare find these days.
T-40: extreme tonal versatility, but most are uncomfortably heavy and I find them a tad bit ergonomically challenged.

Never cared for the Fury or Foundation - too thin and flimsy feeling in the neck department.

I don't have experience with any of the others.

Wow, I was about to start typing my response to this thread when I saw this one. This is precisely the list and order I was going to submit.

 

[Stax63]

i once bought two peavey furys (fretted and fretless) at the same time for a project i was in (both white!) and i thought the fretless was pretty good ---and it was fun to play with a nice slim neck. i've played other peavey models (friends) and i thought all of them were pretty good but they were set up for someone else's gig so none of them were 'perfect' for me. i'm definitely in the group who thinks that peaveys are often underrated and that they usually present as a great bang-for-buck option.

per the OP: even though they're at the bottom of the food chain, i voted "fury."

I love my Foundation! The slim neck and action is incredible.

 

[B-Mac]

No mention of the Palaedium in 37 posts?

 

[Green Knight]

I want a B-Quad just for the neck. A Modulus neck with a 1.45 nut? Sounds like Music to my pre-arthritic left hand.

 

[Kawai2g4b]

No mention of the Palaedium in 37 posts?

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I happen to believe this one to be very overrated. It just has a generic sound that all of Jeff Berlin's basses seem to have and doesn't really stick out to me. I would put it among the least desirable of the Peavey basses, especially given the price of them now.