Peavey T-40 Club Part 2

[Giffro]

Thanks, yeah looks like I may have to go OEM. I tried cases for Precision, Jazz, Stingray and Rickenbacker for kicks. The T-40 is just so wide and long.

As you can see above Craig the case I ordered was for a 5 string bass size but the Peavey T-40 fit snuggly and quite well..so a 5 string bass case probably would be best to look at..anyway the case dimensions may help you..measure your T-40 length, width at widest part of the "beam" etc..it all helps when looking for a case.

 

[Craig T Vector]

@Craig T Vector
I bought my hard case for the T-40 from an Australian company called Swamp Industries for approx $100AUD. It fits perfectly too. The info is below but the shipping cost would be prohibitive most likely..have a look anyway. You may find a similar seller in the USA. The case dimensions are below..I measured the bass first and queried Swamp Ind. as to the case size and they included the dimensions..so yes the T-40 fit well.
BASS GUITAR HARD CASE - ABS STYLE
RS-BC-501
SWAMP Bass Guitar Hard Case - ABS Style
View attachment 4363641
I left this review on their website...
"As is known in the world of bass guitars, the Peavey T-40 bass guitar is one of the heaviest 4 string basses ever made. The width of the bottom half of the body is quite wide and requires a case to suit it's dimensions. As these vintage basses were produced between 1978-1987 and are quite old, you will often find them for sale without their original cases. My 1979 T-40 fits nicely inside one of these Swamp ABS style 5 string hard bass guitar cases. If the bass guitar was 1" longer or wider it would not have fit, but sits snugly inside the Swamp case. The case is very well made with plush interior, solid construction, excellent hinges, 4 good catches (1 lockable with keys) and a good sturdy handle. The exterior cases ribbing on front and rear gives the case a firm solid feel and the newer styled RS-BC-501 case with it's aluminium edging on both body and lid gives it a modern sleek look. Overall it is a solid, well built bass guitar case, made for large 5 string basses or in my situation it suits my wide beam 4 string 1979 Peavey T-40 bass guitar. Good valued case for around the $100 mark. Thanks Swamp. 5 Stars. Giff."

This is great, thank you!

 

[Sequimite]

Just picked up a 1980 T40 today. The body has very little finish left, none on the back. After I get the stickers off I'll need to remove any remaining finish and redo. Also need a phase switch and some rewiring. The neck has the finish worn off on the outer fretboard and side, not sure what to do about that, and needs the truss rod adjusted. It's a project.

 

[Giffro]

T-40 60 Wiring Schematic Original.pdf

 

[Eilif]

Wow that is quite a project.
Nothing insurmountable but you'll have to find or fashion some pickup rings.

 

[kingforaday]

Nice! It’ll be a fun project I’m sure and very rewarding when you see and play the finished product. Good luck with it

 

[Peeved T-40]

I've been loving my T-40 but the one thing I'm having a bit of trouble getting over is the neck. I'm a fan of skinny necks and I prefer a rosewood fret bored. How easy or hard would it be to put a new neck on one of these?

 

[lug]

I've been loving my T-40 but the one thing I'm having a bit of trouble getting over is the neck. I'm a fan of skinny necks and I prefer a rosewood fret bored. How easy or hard would it be to put a new neck on one of these?

T40 has a square heel so it may be difficult to find a direct replacement that fits. (almost all fender-style necks have a rounded heel).

 

[Peeved T-40]

T40 has a square heel so it may be difficult to find a direct replacement that fits. (almost all fender-style necks have a rounded heel).

yeah, that was my concern

 

[JEDI BASS]

Peavey T series basses have narrower heels than most other necks out there too. Most try to use other Peavey necks on their T-40s. But, it’s hard finding any with just 20 frets.

 

[lug]

The T40 bridge might have enough extention for a 21 fret neck, but it's an expensive experiment to find out! The other square heeled, small nut bass's I know are G&L's and Musicman Sterling. Finding a spare neck would be even more difficult from those 2.

 

[nickpc]

Possibly dumb question - can't you cut down a 21-fret neck? Even leave the last bit of the fretboard, but wouldn't that allow you to get the square heel to fit the pocket but not impact the scale length?

 

[lug]

Possibly dumb question - can't you cut down a 21-fret neck? Even leave the last bit of the fretboard, but wouldn't that allow you to get the square heel to fit the pocket but not impact the scale length?

That would mainly depend on the trussrod location. If it's heel adjusted, obviously no. I have no idea how you would tell where it ends in a head adjusted one.

 

[nickpc]

That would mainly depend on the trussrod location. If it's heel adjusted, obviously no. I have no idea how you would tell where it ends in a head adjusted one.

And that's why I prefaced with "Possibly dumb question" - I completely forgot about the trussrod. It's probably possible to find out where the heel end is for a headstock adjusted trussrod (an old magnetic stud-finder may do it) but that could require testing out a lot of necks to find the right one.

 

[Charley Umbria]

A good friend of mine put a Fender jazz bass neck on his T-40. Other than some shaping of the heel of the neck, it bolted right in. There was a little bit of overhang from the fretboard, but it set up and intonated just fine.

 

[Eilif]

A good friend of mine put a Fender jazz bass neck on his T-40. Other than some shaping of the heel of the neck, it bolted right in. There was a little bit of overhang from the fretboard, but it set up and intonated just fine.

That makes sense. A standard fender neck is about the right length and fret number. If you can reshape the heel it should fit.

Did your friend mention if the width of the heel was right?

You will lose the neck tilt adjustment feature though. Don't tighten that tilt screw past gently snug on any neck that doesn't have a metal slug on the neck under the screw..

 

[shnapper]

I’m not sure how to join a club? Post with pic of proof?

Well this has been seen and talked about quite a bit over the last 2-3 days in my “NBD” thread. My inexpensive find, 1979 T-40.

I’ve worked on making it super clean the last 72 hours. New strings are on way which leads me to my first question. The through body stringing requires extra long or super long scale strings yes? I cannot find very many choices. I prefer nickel and would like to hear what people are using?
I have daddario sl light gauge(45-100)arriving today.

 

[lug]

I use D'Addario Super Long Scale on mine.

 

[Eilif]

IIRC, I used a regular set of Fender Original Pure Nickel.

I don't think I had any trouble with length. It's been a while, maybe I had to cut the silk back a bit? The through body holes are right under the bridge saddles so I don't think there is a tremendous difference in string length.

 

[Charley Umbria]

That makes sense. A standard fender neck is about the right length and fret number. If you can reshape the heel it should fit.

Did your friend mention if the width of the heel was right?

You will lose the neck tilt adjustment feature though. Don't tighten that tilt screw past gently snug on any neck that doesn't have a metal slug on the neck under the screw..

I believe the width needed to be adjusted a bit, but it was pretty close.