peavey foundation, later with soapbars?

[mech]

....The bottom of the headstock looks like it was used to hit cymbals.

Whoever played it was on the drummers right. One reason I prefer to be to their left. Keeps the neck/peghead away from all those sharp edged things.

 

[ubernator]

Whoever played it was on the drummers right. One reason I prefer to be to their left. Keeps the neck/peghead away from all those sharp edged things.

I think it was intentional, I have been guilty of that a few times myself, with american fenders mind you. Someone once said, it isn't a fender without a chip on the headstock.

I just wish I had more range on the truss rod.

 

[mech]

I just wish I had more range on the truss rod.

With the nut slacked off the only real choice is strings that need slightly higher tension. Each piece of wood is an individual that can have different characteristics from others from the same tree. I'd rather have the problem you have by a long shot rather than the opposite. This is the reason dual acting truss rods were invented but I would bet that adding forward bow is a extremely small percentage of how they are used.

 

[CGremlin]

Rumor is they are left overs from the Rosco Beck fours and the basses they were in were to built use up spare parts Fender had. They do that stuff. Note the unique "between the strings " pole pieces. I had never heard of such a thing.

I wonder if that's the case. I have a 5-string MP, and the pickups have six pole pieces, again with the strings running in between just like the Roscoe Beck 5'ers. The MPs did see a pickup change when they introduced the 5-string version. Prior to that, the 4-strings had what looked like paired Jazz pickups, with 8 pole pieces per bobbin instead of 5, so maybe they were trying to dump some stock.

 

[RED J]

I wonder if that's the case. I have a 5-string MP, and the pickups have six pole pieces, again with the strings running in between just like the Roscoe Beck 5'ers. The MPs did see a pickup change when they introduced the 5-string version. Prior to that, the 4-strings had what looked like paired Jazz pickups, with 8 pole pieces per bobbin instead of 5, so maybe they were trying to dump some stock.

Yes, the fours went that way too. I have seen pics with the double J too, maybe left over from Blacktops ? I can't remember the source, but I was just so dumbfounded by the design, I did some research. Seems someone said they were a Lawrence design for the RB basses.
Good pickups, at any rate.

 

[CGremlin]

Good pickups, at any rate.

Yeah, I've been very pleased with them in my MP.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

40 bux!?
Score!

VFLs are great.
Add a preamp and you are closer to a Cirrus.

Any change you make to the neck is subject to be
a little different after a couple of days.
Wood dosen't move all at once.
Like me, it takes it's time.

 

[Eilif]

I have been messing with this bass for hours, there was a huge amount of fret buzz, the action was low so I figured I could tame it. I loosend the truss rod a 1/4 which lessened the buzz at the low frets, but the high frets were horrible. I tried to add more relief, and discovered the truss was "min'd" out, that was as loose as it could get. Even with higher action it would buzz on the A unless it was at max height at the saddle. I couldn't see any obvious high frets and it was more an issue for the a and d than the e and G (a distinct small radius on this one)

I took the neck off to confirm what looked like a micro tilt adjustment was such, and it was, looked like it was set for a small amount of tilt, maybe .75mm or so. I tried using more tilt and less relief, I am not really liking the truss rod on this particular neck. I went back and forth playing whack a mole with the action, relief (with what tiny amount of adjustment was available) and tilt and finally got it to not buzz, yet not be incregiously high action. It is a little higher than my fenders, but not terrible. I do tend to favor higher action because I really dig in. I lost track of my calipers when I moved, so I can't verify the guage of strings, I might want to go slightly more tension to add some relief. The good news is they seem to be elixirs with plenty of life left, so I probably won't change the strings anytime soon (or maybe move them to another bass that isn't string through).

The bass also shows signs of being crushed while in the case. The case is deformed a bit, the inside looks like it was pressed hard against the bass, and there are indentations from the strings at the end of the fretboard. The bottom of the headstock looks like it was used to hit cymbals. This really was someones beater. But hey, $40 with case.

As you seem to have discovered, Peavey's with the neck tilt adjustment were intended to be setup a bit differently than other instruments. They can still be setup as normal, but IIRC, the intent was that you would setup the neck to be as flat as possible and then adjust the angle of the neck and saddles.

Along with this I agree that it's a good idea that if you have to have more relief -and have just min'ed out the rod- to let it sit for a day or so and see if it gives you a bit more relief. Have you checked to see if the neck is warped and if you have any high frets? Also, is the nut in good condition (not too low?)?

Beater or not, at $40 you got a heck of a deal. Even if the neck is completely shot, you can probably -with a supporting membership- sell it here and get your money back for the body and parts. I have a suspicion that it's not beyond saving. Those old peavey's are hardy beasts.

 

[mech]

Here's how I use the neck tilt. I like to use the neck PU as a thumb rest/hand locator. On a Peavey bass that's new to me that needs set up I set the neck relief first and neck pickup height second for what I need for my thumb. Then use neck tilt/saddle height to set the string height above the pickup and action height at the 12th fret. There's some back and forth but it's not as complicated as it sounds while I type.

 

[ubernator]

Yeah, I went through the whole back and forth whack a mole with it again. I ended up putting the elixirs on my jazz (the fact that a $40 bass came with strings worth almost that, that seem to be pretty fresh, makes it an even better deal), the 170xls 50-70-85-105 set on the jazz I cleaned up best I could with alcohol and put them on the peavey for the extra pull from the 50-70 strings. The neck isn't arrow straight or anything, there is some relief. I am probably driving the wood crazy going back and forth. Since there is limited range on the bridge I can't really put all that much tilt in the neck, and wound up going almost back to normal. I also don't feel comfortable totally cranking down the rod more than a couple turns, it starts to get tight and I don't want to break it. I have to say this is not my favorite truss rod situation. I am more comfortable with it at the minimum end than I am trying to get it arrow straight with a tilted neck. I am not a huge fan of the bridge, which was the same on my fury way back when.

Perhaps the fact that this bass had to have been seriously compressed in its case at some point, might have affected the neck relief vs truss rod? Not only is there evidence on the case itself, and the string indentations at the end of the fretboard (no they are not slap scars), but both of the pickups have marks from strings being crushed against them too.

I can totally play it as it is though, and I dig the sound of the pickups so far, it really is jazz like but a tad more hi fi sounding. Not much room in the cavity with the pots and wiring as is, but if the pots don't improve after a cleaning (my d5 is in a box in storage after a move, good luck finding it), I may consider a rewire with smaller pots and an stc-2c-bo preamp, if the cavity is deep enough, it might not be. Either way, it is a cool sound as it is stock, which serves a purpose I wanted to serve, a backup for my mia jazz bass since I don't subject my first run geddy to regular gigging anymore (stays in storage, I'm on a boat). I will try it on my main amp on Tuesday, but the drummer didn't want to practice on erection day (intended word replacement), so it won't be a full volume test. Will bring both peaveys. If the novelty of the milestone II was not still there, I would bring my jazz and the foundation. Maybe next time. I am not bringing 3 or 4 basses, 2 is my max.

Had I not snagged this foundation, I might have grabbed an $80 VM jazz that just popped up on Craigslist, the poor mans geddy. If I wasn't so broke I would snag it as well, but personally, I would rather be seen on stage with a peavey than a squier, and yes I know that is shallow, but a picture could end up somewhere right? I do love jazz basses though, and a foundation does not "look" like a jazz.

They should make non adhesive fender stickers designed to temporarily cover the squier logo for people in heavily biased anti squier markets, like southern California the capital of shallowness. I am not a fan of the extremes of sanding off logos, or the permanent deception of water slide decals.

That means, hey lurkers, go snag that $80 squier VM 70s jazz off Craigslist in the Los angeles area, so I don't remain tempted by it on my cheap bass binge. Also ignore the $50 foundation (same pics I OP) I bought it right before seller was being picked up by her friends for a weekend getaway, and the ad didn't get taken down yet. Bonus info for the non "tl dr" people

If this neck wasn't going me such a headache, I would be considering unloading my ibanez sr500 to maybe buy a couple more cheap USA peaveys, but I don't think I am going to jump that bandwagon just yet. I played my jazz bass for a bit when swapping strings, and it is still #1. $104.79 invested in 2 peavey basses, one with dunlop strap locks and this one with an abused but useable hard case, was the reason, it was too cheap not to try, and I needed backups and didn't really have money for them. (But another $40-60 offering I might jump on of course)

 

[ubernator]

Here's how I use the neck tilt. I like to use the neck PU as a thumb rest/hand locator. On a Peavey bass that's new to me that needs set up I set the neck relief first and neck pickup height second for what I need for my thumb. Then use neck tilt/saddle height to set the string height above the pickup and action height at the 12th fret. There's some back and forth but it's not as complicated as it sounds while I type.

Unfortunately, these pickups dont seem to be very height adjustable. Possibly due to the crushing episode. I may take them out and inspect sometime, but man those screws are hard to turn. Initially the pickups were way too high, so when I added relief (what little there was to add), then raised the action to get rid of the buzz, it became a better relative pickup height. I was able to raise the bridge pickup a tiny bit before running out of spring or padding, whatever they use, to try to get a better balance with the neck.

Yet another thing I need to eventually "fix" on this bass if it is fixable.

I anchor on the pickup a lot too, but I seem to just adapt to each bass, I never felt the need to adjust the height for the purposes of a thumb rest, appropriate height for enough output but no string clacks or magnetic choking, never posed any issues with the thumb rest application.

 

[mech]

Unfortunately, these pickups dont seem to be very height adjustable.......those screws are hard to turn.

When you get the screws out drill 1/16" pilot holes. Take some good measurements and mark the depth on the drill bit to make sure you don't drill through the back (body thickness - pocket depth - 1/4" = drill depth). Using candle wax on the screws as a lube is a good thing, too. Heat the pointy end of the screws with a BIC lighter for a few seconds and press them in the wax. Repeat as necessary. May be a good idea to get new screws and replace the foam, too, while you're in there. Sometimes the screws are run in at a slight angle and limit movement due to the length of the holes in the PUs. I've mostly run into this on P-Bass typs that have to be at a relatively large angle. The mounting holes in the PUs can be drilled out one bit size larger for some relief. Drill from the bottom.

 

[mech]

I also don't feel comfortable totally cranking down the rod more than a couple turns, it starts to get tight and I don't want to break it.

Take the nut off and lube the inside threads and seating surface with a dab of Vaseline. Don't put any on the rod. When you put the nut back on the excess will be forced out the top of the nut and can be wiped off. You might be amazed at how smooth and easy it turns. There's probably some rust on the truss rod threads after 25 years and that increases friction.

 

[ubernator]

After sitting a whole day unplayed, i picked it up tonight and the action felt really high... Looks like some more relief came in, time plus the heavier d g strings perhaps. Yay, I was able to get the action pretty decent, similar to how I usually.have my other basses set up for my heavy digging in. I might be able to get it even lower without buzzing, but I think I will stop here for now, it is playing pretty nice now.