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Peavey basses - why no higher end?

#21
@songwriter21
I still haven't had the chance,it's been 6 months since Sweetwater had them for pre-order and not 1 European distributor has them. Massive oversight by Peavey. The few Americans who'd buy a Peavey sure won't buy an Indonesian Peavey just on principal alone.When they finally do stock them folks will google for reviews, see the American folks mostly saying " not as good as USA" then buy a more expensive Ibanez instead.

My on thoughts on "why no high end " is they don't need to. Peavey got into the guitar/bass market in reaction to Fender dealerships rules. Stores were told " You want to sell Fender guitars then you gotta stock Fender amps !! ",they could'nt stock everything so Peavey gave their dealers guitars too. Despite years of trying and costly innovation they never really made their mark so stuck with proven products. Those BXP may not be held in high regard in the USA but they sell big numbers elsewhere.
 
#23
kodiakblair said:
@songwriter21
I still haven't had the chance,it's been 6 months since Sweetwater had them for pre-order and not 1 European distributor has them. Massive oversight by Peavey. The few Americans who'd buy a Peavey sure won't buy an Indonesian Peavey just on principal alone.When they finally do stock them folks will google for reviews, see the American folks mostly saying " not as good as USA" then buy a more expensive Ibanez instead.
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Or a less/similarly-expesnive Ibanez. At $800-1000 there's a HUGE selection of great instruments, some at even lower price points and you can still find used USA models for just a bit more and sometimes less. Additionally, even though the new ones are better, there's still various used Cirrus BXP imports muddying the waters.

You can still find these BXP5 instruments for 3-400 or less (my dad bought the same model this year for a bit under 3 bills.).

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I'm curious to see if these Indo-Cirri take off, but there's alot stacked against them.
 
#24
Eilif said:
Or a less/similarly-expesnive Ibanez. At $800-1000 there's a HUGE selection of great instruments, some at even lower price points and you can still find used USA models for just a bit more and sometimes less. Additionally, even though the new ones are better, there's still various used Cirrus BXP imports muddying the waters.

You can still find these BXP5 instruments for 3-400 or less (my dad bought the same model this year for a bit under 3 bills.).

View attachment 1188768

I'm curious to see if these Indo-Cirri take off, but there's alot stacked against them.
Click to expand...

To their credit, they are sweet-looking basses. They definitely would catch the eye of a hard-rocker looking for his next axe. But you are correct about the odds not being in their favor. Why get one of these when you could get a sweet Ibanez Prestige or a Carvin? We'll find out I guess.
 
#25
I'd really like to see peavey go back to making more basses, guitars, and higher level Amps in the states. Our guitarists has an old 5150 and a USA 6505. I had one of the early 90s peavey fury p copies and enjoyed it. We've never liked the import stuff. I think a big problem for peavey is they moved production overseas to save cost but everyone stopped buying their stuff new and started really looking for the older stuff made in the states. I know our guitarist weighed the options when he bought his 6505. The new import or a used made in America. He bought the MIA
 
#26
Nephilymbass said:
I'd really like to see peavey go back to making more basses, guitars, and higher level Amps in the states. Our guitarists has an old 5150 and a USA 6505. I had one of the early 90s peavey fury p copies and enjoyed it. We've never liked the import stuff. I think a big problem for peavey is they moved production overseas to save cost but everyone stopped buying their stuff new and started really looking for the older stuff made in the states
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Dude you are so right. While looking for a new bass, I totally skipped over any of the new Peavey Milleniums being offered. You can get a classic MIA for the same price, sometimes a few bucks cheaper.
 
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#30
They don't currently make any USA made high end basses. If you look around you can find many used basses for sale. Peavey had a good run and made many different models of very well made USA made basses. Top of the line were the Cirrus and Millenium and Rudy Sarzo sig. Other models were the T-40, TL's, Dyna Bass, Cyber Bass, G Bass, Midi Bass & B-Quad. There were other less expensive but well made and great sounding basses. They can be found if you really want one. See below for full list.

Bass guitars
  • Axcelerator Series (made in USA)
    • 4 String (discontinued)
    • 5 String (discontinued)
    • 6 String (discontinued)
    • Axcelerator 2-T (discontinued)
  • B-Quad (Brian Bromberg's signature, necks made by Modulus Guitars) (made in USA)
    • 4 String (discontinued)
    • 5 String (discontinued)
  • BXP Series (made in Vietnam)
  • Cirrus Series (made in USA)
    • 4 String (discontinued)
    • 5 String (discontinued)
    • 6 String (discontinued)
  • Cyberbass
    • 4 String (discontinued)
    • 5 String (discontinued)
  • TL (Tim Landers's Signature Series (made in USA)
    • TL-5 5 String (discontinued)
    • TL-6 String (discontinued)
  • Dyna-Bass Series (made in USA with design help from Tim Landers)
    • 4 String (discontinued)
    • 5 String (discontinued)
  • Foundation Series (made in USA)
    • Foundation S P/J Schaller Pickups (discontinued)Script Logo
    • Foundation 4 String VFL Pickups (discontinued)Block logo
    • Foundation 5 String VFL Pickups(discontinued)Block logo
    • Foundation 2000 (discontinued)Block Logo
  • Fury Series 4 string (Made in USA)
    • 1st Generation Super Ferrite (discontinued )Script Logo
    • 2nd Generation Split P Bass Pickup (discontinued) Block Logo
    • 3rd Generation Split P bass Pickup (discontinued) Block Logo
    • Forum P/J Version of 3rd Generation Fury (discontinued) Block Logo
  • Fury Series (made in Korea)
    • 4 String (discontinued)
    • 5 String (discontinued)
    • 6 String (discontinued)
  • G-Bass (discontinued, made in USA)
  • Grind Bass USA (made in USA)
    • 4 String P/J (discontinued)
    • 5 String J/J (discontinued)
  • Grind Series (made in Vietnam/China)
    • 4 String
    • 5 String
    • 6 String
  • Jack Daniel's USA
  • Midibase
    • 4 String (discontinued)
  • Milestone Series (made in Korea)
    • 4 String (discontinued)
    • 5 String (discontinued)
  • Millennium & Millennium Plus USA
    • 4 String JJ (discontinued)
    • 5 String JJ (discontinued)
    • 4 String J/MM (discontinued)
    • 5 String J/MM (discontinued)
  • Millennium International Series (made in Korea or Indonesia)
    • 4 String Passive (pictured)(discontinued)
    • 4 String Active (discontinued)
    • 5 String Passive (discontinued)
    • 5 String Active (discontinued)
  • Patriot (made in USA - discontinued)
  • RJ IV Randy Jackson Signature (U.S.A.) (discontinued)
  • Sarzo Bass Rudy Sarzo Signature Model (U.S.A) (discontinued)
  • T-Series (made in USA) (discontinued)
    • T-20 (discontinued)
    • T-40 (1978)(discontinued)
    • T-45 (discontinued)
  • Unity Passive (1990)(Made in USA - discontinued)
  • Unity Series (1991)(Made in USA - discontinued)
  • Unity Series Koa (1991)(Made in USA - discontinued)
  • Zodiac Series (discontinued)
    • Zodiac BXP (discontinued)
    • Zodiac DE Scorpio (discontinued)
 
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#31
@DWBass
There's a few missing from that list.
Palaedium - Jeff Berlin model
RSB - 2nd Sarzo bass with bolt on neck
Tragic PXD - Kind metal looking neck thru bass with Cirrus preamp
Void PXD - Another metal bass with 9V preamp.
Zephyr or C series - European release neck thru,similar to Grind.

Another is the plain International. A quilted top ,2 humbucker passive bolt on. Similar body to Fury IV.
 
#32
Where is that list from? I've never seen a Grind Bass that was USA. But yeah, there's a huge variety of USA made Peavey basses out there. The early Fury's and Foundations get the best press, but there's alot of other great ones too.

Anyone know when Peavey first started selling imported instruments? I'm fairly sure that it had to be late 90's or even early ''00's
 
#37
kodiakblair said:
Here's my 5 string JJ, it's a nice looking bass but personally I don't view it as one of Peavey's better basses.The JJ's are kinda lacking character and neck's quite bland.I'll reach for the BXP 4 string long before the fiver.
View attachment 1189576
Click to expand...
Very interesting.
Were all the USA versions solid paint? Are the J-pups standard sizes? Maybe it'd be a good candidate for some new pups-n-guts?
 
#38
@Eilif
The only ones I've saw have been the same metallic orange as mine. As to swapping stuff ? When my time comes I forsee the family having enough trouble shifting the collection as it stands without adding modded stuff.
Besides the European Zephyr 5 got new pups-n-guts,it's a killer bass :D
Aurora Reds 3.jpg
 
#40
I have two USA made Peavey basses. The first is a later model Foundation fretless that just kills. I paid $180 for it and it is a much better bass than either of the Fender Jaco basses I owned. The fingerboard on the Peavey is just perfect. The minimal electronics sound great...but there is the single coil pickup hum to deal with. My second Peavey is a Cirrus 6 string. It is a very nice bass with wonderful fretwork and playability. The tone is good, however, the B string is not very good. It lacks the punch and clear tone of the other strings. I only paid about $900 for the Cirrus so it is still a great bass for what I paid and I use it in church weekly.
 

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