Congrats on a great score, man. Beautiful color and as has been said it's rare.
The switches are probably original. The blade pickup models mostly came with the large bat handle switches.
mech
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Peavey T-40 Club Part 2
- Thread starter Bryan R. Tyler
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Congrats on a great score, man. Beautiful color and as has been said it's rare.
The switches are probably original. The blade pickup models mostly came with the large bat handle switches.
mech
I just spent time this morning reading the WHOLE "New Gibson EB-1" thread, and I came away with this main thought:
"What in the WORLD is it going to take for Peavey to make a 'Classic Re-Issue T-40'?"
Will it take the death of the intransigent Harley Peavey? I have seen him constantly answer ANY query about the possibility of bringing back a T-40 with "That would be going BACKWARDS....we are a FORWARD-thinking company". Well, that's a load of cr*p.
Just ask Ford how they're doing while producing hybrids and the Mustang simultaneously.
Ask GM how Chevy is doing with making a Volt and Camaro at the same time.
Back to the bass.....all the talk about "new humbuckers", "coil-tapping", "swamp ash", on the EB-1. I guess that might be innovative for Gibson, but we T-40 fans take that for granted. It's what makes our T-40s, T-40s, right?
Now...if Gibson can make an EB-1 in the USA, and bring it out WITH A HARD CASE for $1,000.00, how hard would it be to do the same thing in Meriden, Mississippi? What's the average wage scale in the Peavey plant? Did they close down facilities when they moved all bass manufacture offshore?
As to the viability of such a project, I don't think it would be remaking the wheel. What's the biggest knock against our classic T-40s? WEIGHT. How hard would it be to redesign the classic body shape with a little more arm and belly relief, after cutting the body width by about 5/16"? Why couldn't a AVRI T-40 be as thin as a Cirrus? For that matter, why not see the Gibson EB-1, and call it with a set neck?
All this drama from Gibson fans about a $1,000.00 made in USA bass with OHSC. I grind my teeth wishing for what has not happened with Peavey, and probably never will, as long as Hartley Peavey has anything to say about it.
I am checkbook ready to give Peavey my money for an AVRI Peavey T-40.
Can I get a witness? Anyone?
"What in the WORLD is it going to take for Peavey to make a 'Classic Re-Issue T-40'?"
Will it take the death of the intransigent Harley Peavey? I have seen him constantly answer ANY query about the possibility of bringing back a T-40 with "That would be going BACKWARDS....we are a FORWARD-thinking company". Well, that's a load of cr*p.
Just ask Ford how they're doing while producing hybrids and the Mustang simultaneously.
Ask GM how Chevy is doing with making a Volt and Camaro at the same time.
Back to the bass.....all the talk about "new humbuckers", "coil-tapping", "swamp ash", on the EB-1. I guess that might be innovative for Gibson, but we T-40 fans take that for granted. It's what makes our T-40s, T-40s, right?
Now...if Gibson can make an EB-1 in the USA, and bring it out WITH A HARD CASE for $1,000.00, how hard would it be to do the same thing in Meriden, Mississippi? What's the average wage scale in the Peavey plant? Did they close down facilities when they moved all bass manufacture offshore?
As to the viability of such a project, I don't think it would be remaking the wheel. What's the biggest knock against our classic T-40s? WEIGHT. How hard would it be to redesign the classic body shape with a little more arm and belly relief, after cutting the body width by about 5/16"? Why couldn't a AVRI T-40 be as thin as a Cirrus? For that matter, why not see the Gibson EB-1, and call it with a set neck?
All this drama from Gibson fans about a $1,000.00 made in USA bass with OHSC. I grind my teeth wishing for what has not happened with Peavey, and probably never will, as long as Hartley Peavey has anything to say about it.
I am checkbook ready to give Peavey my money for an AVRI Peavey T-40.
Can I get a witness? Anyone?
Thank you for that amen. I can only dream that someone from Peavey would ever pay any attention to us here on TB.
With how cheap and available they are used, who cares about getting a reissue?
Gibson holds a larger part of the market. They have relatively few models (SG, EB, T-birds, some hollow bodies, that ugly new shape), and they're Gibson... their popularity has been very high for their entire career. Peavey has a smaller part of the market.
Realistically, you could find someone out there willing to wind a set of hum buckers that could do what Peavey's do. And then you just need to source pots (Seymour Duncan offers diagrams for 'Spin a Split' wiring, which does exactly what T-40 wiring does). Then, put that stuff in any body/ neck you want.
I highly doubt Peavey could manufacture basses in the US again for the same kind of money that Gibson can.
Gibson holds a larger part of the market. They have relatively few models (SG, EB, T-birds, some hollow bodies, that ugly new shape), and they're Gibson... their popularity has been very high for their entire career. Peavey has a smaller part of the market.
Realistically, you could find someone out there willing to wind a set of hum buckers that could do what Peavey's do. And then you just need to source pots (Seymour Duncan offers diagrams for 'Spin a Split' wiring, which does exactly what T-40 wiring does). Then, put that stuff in any body/ neck you want.
I highly doubt Peavey could manufacture basses in the US again for the same kind of money that Gibson can.
I'd love to, but I can't do it.
For me, one of the charm's of the "vintage" T-40 is that it's ALOT of bass for the $350 that they seem to go for these days. I love my T-40 more than almost any other bass, but at the 1000+ dollars each it would take to get it back into production, I think there are other bases I'd look at first.
That the Bridge, pickups and knobs are not standard off-the-shelf components is going to keep the price up there and without those elements it just wouldn't be the same.
However, I would be interested in an affordable imported Peavey T-40 inspired instrument that put two humbucking style (even generic ones) pickups on a slab-body with a T-40 like pickguard and a T-40 size neck. I've liked the 90's USA Fury P-bases and Foundations and even the import Zodiac's, but their skinny Jass bass necks have always been a dealbreaker.
The T-40's P-ish-but-different neck width and shape is a thing of beauty and an affordable bass with that neck would defintiely tempt me.
To show how much I love the T-40 neck, I guess it's been long enough since I showed PeavenDecaDarkStar monster off:
Even has the neck Tilt assembly!
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/my-new-t-40-wal-decadeish-frankenbass-525364/
"I highly doubt Peavey could manufacture basses in the US again for the same kind of money that Gibson can."
OK, this may be a valid point (although I'm still unsure of the average pay scale in Mississippi!) after all. If not $1,000.00, then why not somewhere in the Fender American Dimension IV price territory? They'd both be made in America, ash bodies, dual humbuckers, etc.
The difference would be the "Prestige" value of a classic (and in Peavey's case, HISTORIC, since it was the first bass they built) reissue Peavey. For the first time, Peavey would be revisiting the model that launched their bass business. And even at their scale, versus Fender, I think there would be enough demand to justify the cost of a new model.
As for the argument against because "plenty of existing T-40s are available and inexpensive", well that's relative. I paid $250.00 for mine with a hard case not even a year ago. I'd really like to see anyone find one for that price today! The average selling price (NOT asking price) on eBay has been steadily rising, with no end in sight.
I don't know about you, but I have no intention of putting my '78 "8MXXXXXXX" model into serious daily use. Sure I love it, and it plays great. But I would no more likely want to wear out or seriously damage an original T-40 than I would a pre-CBS Fender.
I still want a daily player that is built for that purpose, and ready to come out of the box and see heavy daily use. This is precisely why I want a NEW AVRI Peavey T-40. A new model would give me the flavor and looks of my original T-40, along with the "not a Fender" contrariness that makes it so much fun to show off a Peavey bass in public!
I am assuming that all the years of development of their basses and pickups would deliver unique tone from an AVRI T-40 that could stand against any comparable twin-pickup design.
Buy another existing classic T-40? Sure, why not? It's not like we're going to be given any OTHER choice in the matter, are we?
So it goes.
OK, this may be a valid point (although I'm still unsure of the average pay scale in Mississippi!) after all. If not $1,000.00, then why not somewhere in the Fender American Dimension IV price territory? They'd both be made in America, ash bodies, dual humbuckers, etc.
The difference would be the "Prestige" value of a classic (and in Peavey's case, HISTORIC, since it was the first bass they built) reissue Peavey. For the first time, Peavey would be revisiting the model that launched their bass business. And even at their scale, versus Fender, I think there would be enough demand to justify the cost of a new model.
As for the argument against because "plenty of existing T-40s are available and inexpensive", well that's relative. I paid $250.00 for mine with a hard case not even a year ago. I'd really like to see anyone find one for that price today! The average selling price (NOT asking price) on eBay has been steadily rising, with no end in sight.
I don't know about you, but I have no intention of putting my '78 "8MXXXXXXX" model into serious daily use. Sure I love it, and it plays great. But I would no more likely want to wear out or seriously damage an original T-40 than I would a pre-CBS Fender.
I still want a daily player that is built for that purpose, and ready to come out of the box and see heavy daily use. This is precisely why I want a NEW AVRI Peavey T-40. A new model would give me the flavor and looks of my original T-40, along with the "not a Fender" contrariness that makes it so much fun to show off a Peavey bass in public!
I am assuming that all the years of development of their basses and pickups would deliver unique tone from an AVRI T-40 that could stand against any comparable twin-pickup design.
Buy another existing classic T-40? Sure, why not? It's not like we're going to be given any OTHER choice in the matter, are we?
So it goes.
Eilif- Nice job, and it looks beautiful! I'm willing to bet that it sounds great, weighs less, and is a joy to play!
My only question is....what part of this bass still resembles a T-40 except the name on the headstock? If you taped off the headstock, I doubt that 1 in 100 bass players would guess "Peavey" as the original manufacturer.
I remember back in the 60s when all the "hot rod" teenagers were chopping up and customizing '55 Chevies because they were cheap, available and easy to modify. One look at what original, undisturbed '55 Chevies are worth at a Mecum auction today probably makes those now-grown kids lose sleep!
I'm not saying that I'm putting my T-40 into a hyperbaric chamber to keep it in flawless condition, but that's a few steps farther than I'd be willing to take mine. Maybe if I found one with a cracked body, or some similar flaw that would keep it from ever being "original" again, I might like to "hot rod" a T-40.
But I can't really picture myself doing something like this today.
My only question is....what part of this bass still resembles a T-40 except the name on the headstock? If you taped off the headstock, I doubt that 1 in 100 bass players would guess "Peavey" as the original manufacturer.
I remember back in the 60s when all the "hot rod" teenagers were chopping up and customizing '55 Chevies because they were cheap, available and easy to modify. One look at what original, undisturbed '55 Chevies are worth at a Mecum auction today probably makes those now-grown kids lose sleep!
I'm not saying that I'm putting my T-40 into a hyperbaric chamber to keep it in flawless condition, but that's a few steps farther than I'd be willing to take mine. Maybe if I found one with a cracked body, or some similar flaw that would keep it from ever being "original" again, I might like to "hot rod" a T-40.
But I can't really picture myself doing something like this today.
Eh, the to-play-or-not-to-play-it-out debate goes back and forth on all bases, but I'm pretty much in the "put it on stage" camp. I've got a '79 T-40 that was mint (even had the pickguard label on it) when I picked it up about 8 years ago. I've taken good care of it, and treat it a tiny bit better than some of my other bases, but it was never going to be a wall hanger. It's been on stage many times, has a few dings, some buckle rash and will no doubt get more.
If really worried about dinging up your t-40, there's plenty of well worn examples out there today. I just don't see any company deciding to reissue of a bass where originals currently sell for 1/3 the price that the reissue would. There's a reason that the instruments Fender reissues are the models where originals are fetching as more (often several times more) than the reissues.
Thanks! It's clearly not a T-40 anymore. I just posted my brown bomber bass just to show that I love the T-40 neck so much that when it was time to make my own dream bass I chose to use a T-40 neck.
As for the hot-rodding issue. It's not hard to do it without tearing apart a T-40. Lots of T-40's have met with bad ends and their parts show up on Ebay with some regularity. This particular bass has an interesting history, none of which involved messing with a top-condition t-40
-Wademeister63 bought a beat-up T40 and used the pickups to build a futuristic ric'ish bass, the "Peavenbacker"
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f57/build-peavenbacker-297320/
-I contacted him to see if he could sell me the neck and body to house a set of darkstars I had purchased. He agreed.
-I put it together and ended up trying to lighten the body by removing wood from under the pickguard. Sounded good but it didn't take much weight away from the instrument.http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/completed-t-40-darkstars-added-band-practice-report-327397/
-I decided to have a new body built to house the darkstars and the T-40 neck, and had the metal nut replaced.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f57/new-body-my-darkstarred-t-40-a-490145/
-The result was the bass above.
-After I finished building the new bass, Wademeister bought back the leftover body, pickguard and bridge to go with a T-40 neck he had acquired!
So it goes...
The T40 circle of life...
Eilif! FASCINATING story, and congratulations on your skills! You have obviously WORLDS more experience than I do with T-40s and what they can become. I apologize if what I wrote came off as me sounding like a scold. I'm really not like that, I'm just completely "eat up" with love for all things "T-Series" since coming to them just recently.
AND, I guess I'm in the "recent convert" mode...it doesn't matter what the subject is...religion, cars, politics, sports.......sometimes the most recent converts come off as the most zealous. As I obviously have. Dumb. Embarrassing.
I am delighted to hear that all the parts circulating in your project had a good end. I wonder sometimes when I look at FeeBay just how many of those parts represent one more T-40 taken out of circulation. For sure, that didn't happen in your case. I wonder if anyone ever dreamed that the metal knobs from a T-40 would one day bring $30.00 each in an international selling medium!
I also agree that it makes no economic sense for Peavey to issue a $1300.00 instrument if possible buyers can acquire decent used examples for 1/3 that price or less. It didn't dawn on me that the original Fenders price spikes were what was driving the manufacture of AVRI models. That makes sense to me.
Just when I think that 60 years on the planet have taught me something, I get schooled in a reality check! Obviously, I didn't get an MBA along the way. I think I'll just quietly enjoy my mini-collection of "T-Series" Peaveys and stop pontificating about things I really don't know much about. UPS should be delivering my new-to-me T-20FL today, and I've been jumping up every time I think I hear the doorbell.
I DO hope that I live long enough to see original T-40s fetching $1,000.00 and up, though!
AND, I guess I'm in the "recent convert" mode...it doesn't matter what the subject is...religion, cars, politics, sports.......sometimes the most recent converts come off as the most zealous. As I obviously have. Dumb. Embarrassing.
I am delighted to hear that all the parts circulating in your project had a good end. I wonder sometimes when I look at FeeBay just how many of those parts represent one more T-40 taken out of circulation. For sure, that didn't happen in your case. I wonder if anyone ever dreamed that the metal knobs from a T-40 would one day bring $30.00 each in an international selling medium!
I also agree that it makes no economic sense for Peavey to issue a $1300.00 instrument if possible buyers can acquire decent used examples for 1/3 that price or less. It didn't dawn on me that the original Fenders price spikes were what was driving the manufacture of AVRI models. That makes sense to me.
Just when I think that 60 years on the planet have taught me something, I get schooled in a reality check! Obviously, I didn't get an MBA along the way. I think I'll just quietly enjoy my mini-collection of "T-Series" Peaveys and stop pontificating about things I really don't know much about. UPS should be delivering my new-to-me T-20FL today, and I've been jumping up every time I think I hear the doorbell.
I DO hope that I live long enough to see original T-40s fetching $1,000.00 and up, though!
Don't be so hard on yourself man, T-40's are definitely worth being converted to and zealous about. Nothing wrong with babying your t-40. It's yours after all, and "I need a backup/beater/stage to keep my clean t-40 clean" is an excellent justification for buying another one! Enjoy your mini-collection, but don't feel that you have to be quiet about it.
And be sure to post some pics of the 20FL I've never seen one of those.
As for where the ebay T-40 parts come from, Some are probably bases that met with a bad end like the one that used to appear on ebay every so often with the top 1/3 of the body sawn off. That one always made me sad. My assumption is that since T-40's use alot of non-standard and non-in-production parts most available parts are the result of having something break on a T-40 that wasn't worth fixing. I'm sure there are a few that unfortunately were parted out just to make a buck, but probably not too many now that they have increased in price a bit.
And be sure to post some pics of the 20FL I've never seen one of those.
As for where the ebay T-40 parts come from, Some are probably bases that met with a bad end like the one that used to appear on ebay every so often with the top 1/3 of the body sawn off. That one always made me sad. My assumption is that since T-40's use alot of non-standard and non-in-production parts most available parts are the result of having something break on a T-40 that wasn't worth fixing. I'm sure there are a few that unfortunately were parted out just to make a buck, but probably not too many now that they have increased in price a bit.
Eilif- Here's a few quick shots of the T20FL, shortly after removing the rusty strings:
The wood on the headstock looks almost "flamey" to me! This next shot shows the fretboard, which appears to have very little wear:
I'm really looking forward to stringing it up with some Fender 9050CL SS flats, and checking out that wonderful "thumpy" Super Ferrite tone! My fretted T-20 has always given me the impression that the SF pickup is a real "Precision-Killer"! They are real sleepers, and I can't wait to try my hand at fretless for the first time.
I should probably turn this into a separate "NBD" post.
The wood on the headstock looks almost "flamey" to me! This next shot shows the fretboard, which appears to have very little wear:
I'm really looking forward to stringing it up with some Fender 9050CL SS flats, and checking out that wonderful "thumpy" Super Ferrite tone! My fretted T-20 has always given me the impression that the SF pickup is a real "Precision-Killer"! They are real sleepers, and I can't wait to try my hand at fretless for the first time.
I should probably turn this into a separate "NBD" post.
Very nice! I've been wanting T-45 and T-20 bases for some time now, but just can't seem to find the right combination of available bass and disposable cash. How's the weight on that one, and does it have a metal nut?
I've noticed that they didn't seem to take as much care matching the grains on the body pieces of the T-20's as they did on the T-40's. The 20's are still nice bases, but I wonder why that was the case.
I've noticed that they didn't seem to take as much care matching the grains on the body pieces of the T-20's as they did on the T-40's. The 20's are still nice bases, but I wonder why that was the case.
Eilif- Unfortuneately, the T-20 has a plastic nut. I haven't weighed it yet, but it is a true lightweight compared to the T-40 or T-45. I'm guessing 8.5-9 lbs.
I think the T-20 was introduced as the "budget" bass for their lineup, which would explain the less-than-flawless grain matching. It is my understanding that Peavey considered the T-45 to be an equivalent model to the T-40, as evidenced by their nearly same original MSRP. The pickup was the same on both, but the T-45 had it placed in the "sweet spot", and the T-40 had two of them split (much like a jazz).
While budgetary concerns probably were responsible for the less-than-ideal grain matching, I think Peavey more than made up for that with the outstanding Super Ferrite pickup!
I think the T-20 was introduced as the "budget" bass for their lineup, which would explain the less-than-flawless grain matching. It is my understanding that Peavey considered the T-45 to be an equivalent model to the T-40, as evidenced by their nearly same original MSRP. The pickup was the same on both, but the T-45 had it placed in the "sweet spot", and the T-40 had two of them split (much like a jazz).
While budgetary concerns probably were responsible for the less-than-ideal grain matching, I think Peavey more than made up for that with the outstanding Super Ferrite pickup!
If anybody wants to hear some clips of my 5 string t50 in action, here's a short video of our gig on friday
