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Peavey T40's

B

bass_drum

Feb 13, 2005
809
0
33
Alberta,Canada
#1
Hey guys! I've read alot of posts saying people love their T-40's, but never really say why. Is it the tone, balance, feel,variety of sounds? Let me know what you think of your T40s and why!



Also, do you think the T-40 could get a really cutting , bright sound like on "When I come Around" by Green Day?

Thanks!
~Justin~
 
#6
bass_drum said:
What kind of tone would you say it has? Mellow Pbass-ish or growly ric-ish or what?
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Both, if you're willing to play around with the knobs and different strings for a few weeks. It tends to have a bit more thump than just about anything else though; it's just too massive not too.

I was in a punk band for several years with my T-40, and once you learn the vagaries of it's tone controls you can get a bunch of the traditional punk sounds from it (especially if you play with a pick, though I never liked the feel of a pick). I see in your profile you're 13 though, keep in mind that this is a heavy bass. I'm 6'1" and weigh a fairly muscular 220-230ish, and it still starts to tire me around after about two hours. If you haven't had your adolescent growth spurt yet, watch out for that.

I believe the first two MxPx albums featured a T-40 on a number of tracks, if you want a sample of how it fits into a pop-punk context. I have a terrible-quality mp3 sample of my old high school punk band, but talkbass isn't letting me upload it right now.
 
#7
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Two very different sounds I got out of my T-40. The first is what I'd call "standard T-40" the second is with brand new D.Addario ProSteels. They are strung-thru and have a great sounding open E. I've had mine since they were introduced and it's still one of my go-to basses.
 
#9
Pajama_Bottoms said:
Both, if you're willing to play around with the knobs and different strings for a few weeks. It tends to have a bit more thump than just about anything else though; it's just too massive not too.

I was in a punk band for several years with my T-40, and once you learn the vagaries of it's tone controls you can get a bunch of the traditional punk sounds from it (especially if you play with a pick, though I never liked the feel of a pick). I see in your profile you're 13 though, keep in mind that this is a heavy bass. I'm 6'1" and weigh a fairly muscular 220-230ish, and it still starts to tire me around after about two hours. If you haven't had your adolescent growth spurt yet, watch out for that.

I believe the first two MxPx albums featured a T-40 on a number of tracks, if you want a sample of how it fits into a pop-punk context. I have a terrible-quality mp3 sample of my old high school punk band, but talkbass isn't letting me upload it right now.
Click to expand...

Yeah that has been worrying me. Im about 5'8"-9" and about 130 pounds. But I own a 10 pound bc rich beast bass that I gig with frequently, and it has a thin leather strap, and thats bearable for me. How much do the T40's weigh on average?
 
#10
lug said:
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Two very different sounds I got out of my T-40. The first is what I'd call "standard T-40" the second is with brand new D.Addario ProSteels. They are strung-thru and have a great sounding open E. I've had mine since they were introduced and it's still one of my go-to basses.
Click to expand...

The second sounds kind of like what im looking for. An agressive almost clangy bright sound (just like on "When I come around"). What aettings where you using with those clips? do you have any clips where you're playing fingerstyle or with a pick? Thanks!
 
#11
It's hard to pin down the tone of a T-40 because it is so versatile. It can be bright and "ric-esque" or low and thumpy. I love it because it does a fair aproxiation of two of my favorite basses: a Ric,(T-40 with both pups on and bright) and a neck humbucker tele bass ( t-40 with neck humbucker soled).

I think it definatley makes the Fender tele bass unnecessary. As for the Ric sound, it's a nice cheap alternative, but nothing sounds quite like a Ric.

As for comfort, it is very heavy, but I find the neck to be quite comfortable, and with the incredible stability of the bilaminate neck and the neck tilt feature, I can dial in quite a low action.

Oh yeah, you shoud definately do a search, there is tons written about T-40's on this site.
 
#12
Yeah, well I'm not looking for something that can relpace a rick, or do everything either really, just something that can go mellow for my jazz band, and a little "agressive punk-ish" if you will:smug: for my rock band.

I am a little confused though, you guys all say the T-40 is so heavy, but I found one thats only about 10 pounds and that isnt that bad.
 
#13
bass_drum said:
The second sounds kind of like what im looking for. An agressive almost clangy bright sound (just like on "When I come around"). What aettings where you using with those clips? do you have any clips where you're playing fingerstyle or with a pick? Thanks!
Click to expand...


The second is fingerstyle, mostly chording with both tones full up (anything over about "7" puts the pups in single coil mode) and slightly favoring the bridge pup. The first is the neck pup only and strung BEAD. I find that this bass can come the closest of all basses to duping my Rick's sound.
 
#14
bass_drum said:
Yeah, well I'm not looking for something that can relpace a rick, or do everything either really, just something that can go mellow for my jazz band, and a little "agressive punk-ish" if you will:smug: for my rock band.

I am a little confused though, you guys all say the T-40 is so heavy, but I found one thats only about 10 pounds and that isnt that bad.
Click to expand...

Most T-40's are heavy (Northern Ash Bodies, Mine exceeds 12 lbs.) but the solid ones are usually either Alder or Poplar and rarely some of the Ash ones are lighter. I'm just guessing these are Swamp Ash which weighs less than Northern Ash when dried.
 
#17
Pennydreadful said:
T-40s are magical and can get any tone you can imagine. It's also voice activated. What you do is you say, 'T-40, SHOWTIME!' True story.
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They are also known to up the player's testosterone levels with repeated exposure. The Bearded Lady in the circus was a well known T-40 player.
 
#20
heck, it's true.

anyway, I ahve two. An older solid 13+ lbs one and a newer , much LOUDER black one which goes maybe 10.5 lbs.

While the newer one is the loudest passive bass Iv;e ever heard, I;m keeping my older natural ( read furniture looking) one.

The range of tones is most awesome, although the older one is quiet and I use a Demeter Optical COmpressor with it.

The "new" one is posted for sale here. Great bass. But one passive 4 is all I need.

My default position is both tone controls just off single-coil mode at around 7 on the dial, volumes wide open. Sounds great. Near MM like with nice roundwound strings.
 

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