Peavey Basses

[kodiakblair]

thanks for the clarification.

Appreciated, like I said Peavey and mis-truths, half-truths go hand in hand.

Folks still claim the G-Bass and GV-Bass had Modulus necks. The Quads did but for the G Series Peavey sent a gunstock outfit under sized maple necks to get a carbon wrap. Their "First CNC guitar factory" is BS, Hartley didn't start thinking about guitar production until 1975/76 and wasn't ready until 1978. Matsumoku in Japan had their CNC running in 1974.

Just tip of the iceberg

 

[Brandon Shea]

One of these just popped up at a shop near me... I think I might have to stop by to try it out! The price seems too good to be true.

I had a chance to try the Peavey Fury today. Looks to be an '88 model. I absolutely don't need another four string bass, but if anyone does, this one's a keeper: Invalid Link Removed

Why in the world are these so cheap? The price seems insane for something made in the USA.

 

[JIO]

Appreciated, like I said Peavey and mis-truths, half-truths go hand in hand.

Folks still claim the G-Bass and GV-Bass had Modulus necks. The Quads did but for the G Series Peavey sent a gunstock outfit under sized maple necks to get a carbon wrap. Their "First CNC guitar factory" is BS, Hartley didn't start thinking about guitar production until 1975/76 and wasn't ready until 1978. Matsumoku in Japan had their CNC running in 1974.

Just tip of the iceberg

Funny, I was going to state the B-Quad had a Modulas neck but wasn't sure so I didn't. It was the best part of that bass - it very much reminded me of a '63-'65 T-bird neck profile (I own a '64 II) but w/24 frets. One came up for sale a couple years ago on eBay but I couldn't justify the asking price. Oh well...

 

[woodyng2]

T-40/T-45 buckers rock -

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From the praise I’ve read over the years for the sounds of the t-40 pickups and electronics, I’ve oftened wondered about putting the entire ensemble into a more svelte body. I picked up a t40 in a shop back in the 80’s (ish) and couldn’t put it back down fast enough.
These both look awesome.

 

[kodiakblair]

From the praise I’ve read over the years for the sounds of the t-40 pickups and electronics,

Do you mean the "Secret Sounds" ?

Mostly those are nonsense, combination of suggestion and folks listening with their eyes.

One need only spot the inclusion of Stingray settings as evidence. Stingray has a fairly hot humbucker, tamed by parallel wiring, placed in a specific "sweet" spot and paired with active EQ; T-40 meets none of those conditions, certainly not with the suggestion of just using the bridge pickup and placing it in single coil mode

It's rather poor at EB-3 or 70's Telecaster bass despite having a humbucker up by the neck. Gibson stuck a 30k ohm humbucker up there, Fender's WRHB was in the high 20's; the T-40 humbucker is about 6.7k ohm. Pickup positions are well out from coping a P-bass tone, even if you physically rotate the pickups. Then there's the fact, in no universe does a 51 single coil P-bass sound the same as a split coil P-bass.

It does manage a jazz bass style tone, which in turn means it can cop a Ric style tone (in the right circumstances). That's pretty much it.

Might appear I'm being overtly critical regards Peavey. I'm not, I'm critical of the myths

 

[woodyng2]

Well then, just as well I never followed my muse about doing that!
Yeah, somewhere I saw a diagram that showed all the different bass guitar sounds that could be copped by the t-40.
Hype, I suppose.

 

[kodiakblair]

Hype, I suppose.

That, add a dollop of suggestion, sprinkle with wishful thinking then present to a herd mentality.

Perfect recipe snake oil salesmen have been pushing for couple of 100 years

Can never get my head around the fact nobody called it out, OK I have a good few times but the myth persists


Anyways I'm digressing. Owned a power of Peavey basses, 50+ US models and 20 odd overseas; none of them released after 2010. Numbers are down now by 50%

Standouts for me were.

The humble Patriot, cheapest US model they ever made. It's a simple P-bass-ish thing. Just a ceramic single coil, Vol/Tone. Single coil isn't in a P-bass position, it's at an imaginary 24th fret; same as the Ric bridge single coil. Makes for a subtle change to the P-bass

Mine on the left here.




Another was the Zephyr/C-Series. Passive Cirrus style bass, Korean production and only sold in Europe. Predated the later neck through Grind model by 5 years.

 

[JIO]

From the praise I’ve read over the years for the sounds of the t-40 pickups and electronics, I’ve oftened wondered about putting the entire ensemble into a more svelte body. I picked up a t40 in a shop back in the 80’s (ish) and couldn’t put it back down fast enough.
These both look awesome.

Thanks! The Gilaxis is very light - 7lbs/11oz and so very unlike a T-40! (the single pu one is also light) With the help of fellow Luthiers Corner @cdlynch determining the switchable wiring - the two pu's with individually splittable coils offered 15 different combinations. Check out this beautiful illustration that Chris whipped up!

Here's my LC thread on it if interested - Gildaxe Gilaxis - space is the place

 

[JIO]

Just saw all the responses about Peavey's T-40 'secret sounds' - never owning a Peavey T-40 or knowing exactly what the electronics offered, my intent for the many options the Galaxies offered (using T-40 pu's) was only to give its owner as many options as were available with two splittable-coil hum-bucking pu's. No secrets there, as in - not claiming to sound like this or that bass... just offering tonal choices that were all different, even if subtly. I sold it many years ago and the new owner loved it. At the end of the day I enjoyed creating it and the owner loved owning/playing it - that's all that mattered to me.

I'm usually in the camp of keeping things simple with basses/amps so the Gilaxis was more of a fun experiment as a builder, to try something because it could be done.

 

[woodyng2]

I’ve had a few modded Rick 4004 basses with 2 coil-short-able hb pickups. Quite a lot of interesting tonal variety right there.

 

[kodiakblair]

was only to give its owner as many options as were available

That's exactly what Peavey were doing.

With the T-60 guitar they hoped it would appeal to those who were broke and wanted a Strat, Tele or Les Paul. That's the reason they used Red Rhoads' circuit. To streamline production, and avoid the need for a separate circuit, the T-60 circuit also went in the T-40; only difference between the two is the treble bleed cap value, 0.001 for the T-60/ 0.01 for the T-40.


All the "Secret Sounds" nonsense came years later, from folk unconnected with Peavey. AFAIK there was no guitar player version claiming "it's a Strat or Les Paul", they just say humbuckers can be tapped and leave it at that.

 

[JIO]

I had a chance to try the Peavey Fury today. Looks to be an '88 model. I absolutely don't need another four string bass, but if anyone does, this one's a keeper: Invalid Link Removed

Why in the world are these so cheap? The price seems insane for something made in the USA.

I think it comes down to what famous players play. I always liked guitarist Earl Slick who played w/Bowie in the '90s - he played Peavey's or ESP's, great brands/guitars but not Fender or Gibson. There's a lot of great basses flying under the radar and for those of us who play them - it's best kept a secret.

 

[JIO]

That's exactly what Peavey were doing.

With the T-60 guitar they hoped it would appeal to those who were broke and wanted a Strat, Tele or Les Paul. That's the reason they used Red Rhoads' circuit. To streamline production, and avoid the need for a separate circuit, the T-60 circuit also went in the T-40; only difference between the two is the treble bleed cap value, 0.001 for the T-60/ 0.01 for the T-40.


All the "Secret Sounds" nonsense came years later, from folk unconnected with Peavey. AFAIK there was no guitar player version claiming "it's a Strat or Les Paul", they just say humbuckers can be tapped and leave it at that.

Got it - thanks!

 

[Giffro]

That's exactly what Peavey were doing.

With the T-60 guitar they hoped it would appeal to those who were broke and wanted a Strat, Tele or Les Paul. That's the reason they used Red Rhoads' circuit. To streamline production, and avoid the need for a separate circuit, the T-60 circuit also went in the T-40; only difference between the two is the treble bleed cap value, 0.001 for the T-60/ 0.01 for the T-40.


All the "Secret Sounds" nonsense came years later, from folk unconnected with Peavey. AFAIK there was no guitar player version claiming "it's a Strat or Les Paul", they just say humbuckers can be tapped and leave it at that.

I know you have a huge selection of Peavey basses @kodiakblair and just wondered if you had a Dyna Bass with a wammy bar like this example?

 

[kodiakblair]

just wondered if you had a Dyna Bass with a wammy bar like this example?

Nope.

Spoke with a guy, Seth Baylor, has one but never saw one in RL.

 

[RBC64]

I have a grind 6 and an axcelerator fretless, love them both. The Axe to me was highly underrated.

 

[crazycloud]

A Kahler's not hard to add if you really want one.

 

[jglunt]

Week before last, I bought this Korean-built (I'm told) 2001 Fury V, and I have to echo the question from @Brandon Shea, "Why are these so cheap?" I gigged this bass the weekend after I bought it, and I love everything about it. I am in what seems to be the minority of bass players who prefer an active bass, and this one has active pickups and an active preamp. It's beautiful, it plays great, it sounds great, and it weighs just under 9 lbs. What's not to love? I will probably need to replace the tuners at some point fairly soon, but other than that, It's damn near perfect. Adapting to an all-boost set of tonal controls takes a little adjustment, but I was happy to hear that the preamp is nice and quiet. I'm still experimenting with strings on this. The seller installed a new set of Ernie Ball Cobalt roundwounds, and they sound good but have lots of finger noise. I'm thinking of trying a set of GHS Pressurewounds. If any among you have one of these basses. feel free to chime in with string recommendations.

 

[tim gueguen]

Part of Peavey basses lack of popularity is that they don't have a bass hero strongly attached to them to make them popular. Ross Valory of Journey played a T40 a lot, but he's always been overshadowed by the other stuff going on with Journey. John Taylor has played Peaveys a lot, but this came after Duran Duran's big hit days, and people tend to associate him with his Aria Pro II SB1000. Teddy Gentry of Alabama presumably played something Peavey onstage in the '80s, as they had a Peavey endorsement at the time. Then there's Jeff Berlin.

 

[MNAirHead]

What am I missing about Peavey basses? They have some really dirt cheap ones and then insanely expensive ones. Nothing in between.

There are in between prices. Search for an Axcellerator... they're cool... the necks sometimes are dorked... they can sound and play incredible after hours of setup.

The T-40 weighs a lot, but is a Swiss Army Knife of tones due to it's rather unique wiring. When I say heavy, I have had two. One was just under 14 pounds, and the other was 12 pounds on the nose. The bodies are DENSE. But, they sound incredible, and there is even this that someone did up that illustrates what I mean by Swiss Army Knife of tones.

Respectfully... the t40 misfire release was expecting the same magic of a t60. T60 in the right hands is magic... t40 is not the same delivery.

Peavey B-Quad ... the electronics were, shall we say... over the top? But otherwise it had a great feeling/playing carbon-fiber neck and balanced well.

I'll sound cranky today... I own a Bquad... the lower horn is not "great feeling" when sitting down.

Appreciated, like I said Peavey and mis-truths, half-truths go hand in hand.

Folks still claim the G-Bass and GV-Bass had Modulus necks.

Dang it dude... if I could only have an "GV vs Modulus Flea out of context" internet eraser. I will always own this comment being twisted out of context of the reply.

I had a chance to try the Peavey Fury today. Looks to be an '88 model. I absolutely don't need another four string bass, but if anyone does, this one's a keeper: Invalid Link Removed

Why in the world are these so cheap? The price seems insane for something made in the USA.

Why? They were sold for about $225 to kids. They included a tool set that kids used to over dork the truss rod, raise the action and put misfit stickers on them. IF they were cared for, they are equal to my USA P (yes, own both)... this is one of the models I'd need to buy in person.

That's exactly what Peavey were doing.

With the T-60 guitar they hoped it would appeal to those who were broke and wanted a Strat, Tele or Les Paul.

All the "Secret Sounds" nonsense came years later, from folk unconnected with Peavey. AFAIK there was no guitar player version claiming "it's a Strat or Les Paul", they just say humbuckers can be tapped and leave it at that.

The affect on the t40 is not the same (compared to the t60).... T60 in the right hands is magic... t40 is just bulky, clunky and slow.

Week before last, I bought this Korean-built (I'm told) 2001 Fury V, and I have to echo the question from @Brandon Shea, "Why are these so cheap?"

Why... once big box stores tried to force the company to build cheap guitars... price was the first priority. Peavey messed up by reusing names vs creating a new name.

Some Fury are on par with quality USA Fenders... some are import turds with cheap electronics. Why? They made a strategic decision to recycle an existing name and deliver a lower quality. On the used market, someone will play a messed up import and group the USA version with it.

Same thing happened with Millenium (I own 3 USA and an import) the import was early... everything except the electronics get a pass. I successfully have put about $300 into a $100 shell to create a $150 bass that nobody would really want.

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My biggest observation is that during the 90s, they did not hire a marketing person to do a spin off "lexus" or "acura" premium branding. They just tested creating high end guitars for a market that perceived them as Fury, Foundation and T40.

Then insert the idea that Guitar Center could sell price first. Peavey kind of invented USA engineer repopped by foreign plants at lower wages.

To add to the failed marketing, the name recycling devalued the brand to the point where they basically stopped making quality basses (with a few misfire restarts).

There was some very cool models that the market never really paid attention to until recently. Some of the obscure 90s models still do not have a following.

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All that being said... I own arrogant botiques and customs. I gig a few of the premium USA models.

It's tough to find the holy grail ones, as like grannies/stray kitties --- we snap up 5+ each.

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There is a very cool group of peavey nerds. Hundreds of pages of notes and tech stuff.

I sincerely hope this helps someone.