Peavey T-40 Club Part 2

[lug]

Very nice!
Not sure if I'm seeing things or what but the body on yours seems to have more rounded outside edges than mine does?
View attachment 5451036

Maybe @kodiakblair or @Giffro or @Eilif can chime in?

I've read that later T40's have more contour but don't know what year this happened.

 

[ZachM]

I have never explicitly measured but anecdotally all three of my T-40s (a 1980, 1982 and my current 1979 bass) have had basically the same roundover on the edges of the body, so if I had to guess they changed it post 1982.

All three also had a slight radius on the top, where the outer edges are slightly thinner. Where they did differ was the contouring - the ‘82 however had a belly cut and arm contouring, but the older ones are just slabs, not counting the overall radiusing.

 

[Eilif]

I agree with all that. I didn't believe we nailed down exactly when, but IIRC, there was more contouring sometime after 82.

 

[Bassi5t]

Mine is an ‘83…

 

[UNICORN BASS]

My white 83' has a lot of contouring compared to my much missed 1st year T40.

 

[ZachM]

I've been thinking about mounting a Hipshot Xtender on my T-40 for a little while now, but it seems like the "correct" option - the ones using the Schaller M4 footprint - have been discontinued. Does anyone know which of Hipshot's current offerings will potentially fit?

 

[tombowlus]

I've been thinking about mounting a Hipshot Xtender on my T-40 for a little while now, but it seems like the "correct" option - the ones using the Schaller M4 footprint - have been discontinued. Does anyone know which of Hipshot's current offerings will potentially fit?

You may be able to remove the tuner, and send it to Hipshot to add the X-tender to it. I did this with my Pedulla MVP - and great idea, I might do it with one of my T-40's or T-45's!

 

[ZachM]

You may be able to remove the tuner, and send it to Hipshot to add the X-tender to it.

That's actually a great idea, I'll reach out and see about that!

 

[Justyn Brando]

That's actually a great idea, I'll reach out and see about that!

Let us know what their response is! I would love to do this to my T-40s as well!

 

[Riff Ranger]

What do you think about getting my 1980 T-40 pickups re-wound? Mine seems noticeably lower output than my other passive instruments (which have P or PJ configurations), and somehow both very midrange-y yet excessively polite. It doesn’t sound bad, but it doesn’t sound great either, and any instrument of mine really should thump pretty hard.

I don’t remember if I’ve posted mine in this thread before, so here we are just about a year ago, both made in the USA in 1980

 

[Snert]

What do you think about getting my 1980 T-40 pickups re-wound?

Sounds like a dumb idea.

Get something else that fits that you like the tone of and sell the originals to me.

 

[Riff Ranger]

Sounds like a dumb idea.

Get something else that fits that you like the tone of and sell the originals to me.

Hmm. I think what I really want to know is whether there’s something wrong with mine, in which case you wouldn’t want them if this is just how they are, I’ll just live with them and try EQing more aggressively.

 

[ardgedee]

Hmm. I think what I really want to know is whether there’s something wrong with mine, in which case you wouldn’t want them if this is just how they are, I’ll just live with them and try EQing more aggressively.

Are both coils in each humbucker working? That would reduce output and those pickups are known for wire breaks.

 

[Snert]

Hmm. I think what I really want to know is whether there’s something wrong with mine, in which case you wouldn’t want them

Surely measuring the DCR of the 4 coils than confirming the values are roughly correct would be first step to determining if there is some internal fault in the coils.

 

[UNICORN BASS]

My 1st year T40 was the exact opposite to what you describe. I fitted tape strings to tame it a little bit.

 

[lug]

The first version of the pickups (toasters) are lower output compared to the rails that came after. No way to know if your's are "normal" without A/Bing them. The only thing that sounds off to me is they being very "midrange-y". That's not how I would describe mine. Make sure the phase switch is opperating correctly.here is a Lobster vid you can try to compare to...

 

[Justyn Brando]

My project over the weekend.
Installed push/pull split setup and fully shielded cavity

 

[ZachM]

Another option is to get a set of these Stonewall pickups,

What do you think about getting my 1980 T-40 pickups re-wound? Mine seems noticeably lower output than my other passive instruments (which have P or PJ configurations), and somehow both very midrange-y yet excessively polite. It doesn’t sound bad, but it doesn’t sound great either, and any instrument of mine really should thump pretty hard.

Hmm, some of this sounds normal and some doesn't.

Regarding the output volume: I've had three T-40's, two of which were the toaster pickups like yours and one which had the blades. The blades are definitely louder, probably about on par with my loudest passive instruments. The toasters are lower resistance, and they're actually fairly quiet - I don't think they're wound with a high resistance. I do know that they're noticeably quieter than my JMJ Mustang, but not enough that it would seem like a problem. Overall, if your other instruments are mostly high output, I think you will perceive the T-40 as somewhat quieter, but it shouldn't feel weak.

It does seem a bit weird to me that you'd describe the toaster pickups as being excessively midrangey. The toaster pickups are IME very broad sounding, fairly mellow and bassy, and with a somewhat compressed attack and decay profile. I felt that the blade style are definitely midrangey (which tracks because IIRC the higher resistance a pickup, the more midrange emphasis it tends to have), and the attack profile is noticeably more sharp due to the exposed blade.

I'd suggest playing around with your pickup height(s), which do play a big role in the tonal profile. The coils in T-40 pickups aren't wound extremely hot but these are some very large magnets. If your bridge pickup is too high relative to the neck, or both pickups are too close to the strings, that would definitely shift your tone in a midrangey direction.

If you do all that and it still doesn't work, Stonewall makes some T-40 pickups which seem to be excellent quality, although a bit on the spendy side:

Store

Stonewall Pickups - innovative, boutique, handwound guitar and bass pickups. Humbuckers, P90s, Strat, Tele, offset guitar pickups, Jazzmaster, Jaguar, bass humbuckers, P-bass, Jazz Bass, bass P90s

www.stonewallpickups.com

 

[UNICORN BASS]

Nice! Never seen a blue one.

 

[filler83]

What do you think about getting my 1980 T-40 pickups re-wound? Mine seems noticeably lower output than my other passive instruments (which have P or PJ configurations), and somehow both very midrange-y yet excessively polite. It doesn’t sound bad, but it doesn’t sound great either, and any instrument of mine really should thump pretty hard.

I don’t remember if I’ve posted mine in this thread before, so here we are just about a year ago, both made in the USA in 1980

View attachment 7020744

I felt like mine was like that, too. I thought it was normal. Mine was polite, dark, and slightly lower output compared to other basses. Bright steel strings helped.