The only bass I sold that I regret selling...never should have done that.
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Peavey T-40 Bass?
- Thread starter cdseverance47
- Start date
My opinion. (I had one - actually two since my first one was stolen).
Great looking basses. I mean, lots of character.
Extremely heavy but we all know that.
Nice neck, well made, quite thin yet (IIRC) it's a P-style width.
My problem with the bass is that the pickups were "meh", in my opinion. Bright but thin in single coil mode, dark and still sort of middy in dual coil mode. Pair this with the really heavy ash body, and you had very little low-mid resonance/warmth. (I personally believe that wood plays *some* role in determining tone, even though it is mostly dictated by the electronics). So this meant, to me, that it sounded a bit flat with a pick (lots of hard upper mids and treble, but kinda hollow in the lows, so it was all brash clang - I like bright basses, but I like some roundness to go with the brightness). A bit hard to make it fit into the mix, I really needed to work the EQ on my amp. I tried both rounds (steel and nickel) and flats. The E string also had a tendency to produce unpleasant overtones and sound different from the other strings, whatever strings I used. (It's something I'm very sensitive to). The pickup positioning made this somewhat worse, and I feel that I would have liked the T45 better.
Fingerstyle, it worked well - I find that most basses can work well fingerstyle, honestly - but my sound and my band's sound at the time really called for pickstyle not always, but a lot of the time, so my ideal bass should have great tone in both styles.
It is a bass I'm happy to have had, but I feel I wanted to like it more than I actually did. And these days I probably would find more use for it, since I've been playing fingerstyle more often recently.
Great looking basses. I mean, lots of character.
Extremely heavy but we all know that.
Nice neck, well made, quite thin yet (IIRC) it's a P-style width.
My problem with the bass is that the pickups were "meh", in my opinion. Bright but thin in single coil mode, dark and still sort of middy in dual coil mode. Pair this with the really heavy ash body, and you had very little low-mid resonance/warmth. (I personally believe that wood plays *some* role in determining tone, even though it is mostly dictated by the electronics). So this meant, to me, that it sounded a bit flat with a pick (lots of hard upper mids and treble, but kinda hollow in the lows, so it was all brash clang - I like bright basses, but I like some roundness to go with the brightness). A bit hard to make it fit into the mix, I really needed to work the EQ on my amp. I tried both rounds (steel and nickel) and flats. The E string also had a tendency to produce unpleasant overtones and sound different from the other strings, whatever strings I used. (It's something I'm very sensitive to). The pickup positioning made this somewhat worse, and I feel that I would have liked the T45 better.
Fingerstyle, it worked well - I find that most basses can work well fingerstyle, honestly - but my sound and my band's sound at the time really called for pickstyle not always, but a lot of the time, so my ideal bass should have great tone in both styles.
It is a bass I'm happy to have had, but I feel I wanted to like it more than I actually did. And these days I probably would find more use for it, since I've been playing fingerstyle more often recently.
Interesting basses but typically are ridiculously heavy. Balance is good (with a boat anchor for a body) and the neck is OK no better. The electronics that give the bass its versatility are quirky at best: pickups changing from single coil to humbucker depending on where you are in the rotation of the corresponding tone control, and not-particularly-intuitive phase switch implementation. I found mine to be awkward to adjust in live situations, although in a sit-down studio situation where you had time to fiddle you could get a wide range of tones. To be frank, the flexible but odd electronics here makes the G&L L-2000 switching seem simple. (In fact the L-2000 switching *is* simple and cleverly done for on-the-fly changes). Couldn't think of any good reason why the T-40 should be in my collection and so it's not anymore.
I would really love to have one made, body in mahogany, poplar or alder (or even maple) and two side-by-side splits in the T40 positions. Or Darkstars. Walnut stained.
I'll just leave this here....https://www.talkbass.com/threads/retrovibe-tt40-have-you-seen-these.1643947/
I miss mine, but sold it because it was so heavy. Did a great job aping a lot of tones.
I owned one in the late 90s/early 2000s. To me it was just a heavy, rather weird bass that I bought and sold for $250 with the case. I didn't love it, but I didn't really know how to use its unique electronics. I do wish I'd hung onto it, but really just for the resale value. I just didn't connect to it as much as other basses I've owned.
Of course I gotta share this particular T40 vid anytime the subject comes up, which is my all-time favorite gear review.
Of course I gotta share this particular T40 vid anytime the subject comes up, which is my all-time favorite gear review.
The only bass I owned that was heavier than my 12lb T-40 was a 14lb G&L LB100. Excellent P tone, but that one had to go too!
Oh, the home prices are dropping as in a Global Warming "Why are we having all these hurricanes one after the other' situation, people are walking away as the cost of living and insurance rates climb fast enough that Musk and Space X will be the only business to have instruments to track something moving that fast. On the cusp of way more supply than demand in several So Fl zip codes.
Of course, you can go ahead and move there and play Hurricane Roulette! I'd stay in the panhandle: At least you're not trapped in the long part of Florida trying to evacuate on two or three main roads, you can run North right into Bama or Mississippi on the many two lanes.
This Georgian thanks you for pointing Florida Man to Mississippi and Alabama instead of here.
My T-40 is 10.2lb and love it very much. It is built like a tank and sounds amazing.
This Georgian thanks you for pointing Florida Man to Mississippi and Alabama instead of here.
Oh man, I DO apologize ! You guys ain't put up a border fence yet?
When I was starting out in the 80s, they were the basses for people who couldn't afford fenders. I can't help but think junior high jazz band when I hear "PV T-40."
Obviously lots of folks think they're great now, but I saved up and got a fender, because that's what you did back then if you were making a serious go of it. I don't think there's anything special about them, certainly not enough to justify their current going prices. But I have an obvious bias.
Obviously lots of folks think they're great now, but I saved up and got a fender, because that's what you did back then if you were making a serious go of it. I don't think there's anything special about them, certainly not enough to justify their current going prices. But I have an obvious bias.
Getting a beautiful example in one's pick of the finishes available is wise, and not all are heavy! I have had five and kept two, one of which has a body that seems 50% lighter than the others, it is a later one and so also has the softened body contours which I also recommend. Lotsa basses out there, and I think of these T40's as the "Cadillac" of the bunch, big, and plenty of chrome : )
Now, if you want a GTO...:
I had one. I sold it because I was not playing it very much. I absolutely loved the neck. I had a little trouble getting the tone I wanted out of it, but that was more an issue with me than it was the bass. It was heavy. It had some issues with small details (like the way the truss rod cover was kind of haphazardly screwed on and the way the neck fit into the ), but that was par for the course for pretty much all production basses of that era. After WWIII, the cockroaches will play them, because they will be the only two things that survive.
When I was starting out in the 80s, they were the basses for people who couldn't afford fenders. I can't help but think junior high jazz band when I hear "PV T-40."
Obviously lots of folks think they're great now, but I saved up and got a fender, because that's what you did back then if you were making a serious go of it. I don't think there's anything special about them, certainly not enough to justify their current going prices. But I have an obvious bias.
Yeah, this was my experience coming of age in the 90s too. Peavey was what we played because we were starting out and couldn't afford something good. They're built to last for sure, but they weren't exactly tone titans.
Right now, you'll pay higher then what you'd expect to from say, 10yrs ago. Great instrumentes, I'm sure you can find a deal. Currently on goodwills website there's a white T40 for under $600 in what I'd expect condition. I've had three that had bilateral delamination on the neck, so look for that. Blade pickups in the 80s, toaster in the late 70s. Best dressed to a gig, they're winners IMHO.
I left there partly because of hurricane roulette, but also it seems that population boom is going to leave a scar on the state even after they retreat. My home town in FLA I grew up in is unrecognizable now, which is a real shame. It seemed my whole life, the area was slow to change then in 10 years it went from somewhat of a backwater destination to a Miami Beach clone.
The L1000 I bought when I sold my T-40 weighs 8.4 lbs (still does). it was noticeably lighter but I’m not sure I cared back then. I just like the way it sounded.
My limited experience with a T-40 from a while back is the same as all Peavey gear. It’s not the best stuff in the stuff in the world, but it’s no where near a piece junk either. For the money what you get is an excellent value. JMO.
