U.S. Peavey Club

[gregoire1]

Has Peavey stopped making electric bass guitars? The only bass left on their website is the Milestone.

 

[TinIndian]

I don't know the T40 bass, never played one.
It's just too big/heavy/crazy bridge, too much going on with the controls.
I like the necks on the Gen 2 and 3 Fury, Patriot, Axcelerator, RSB, Foundation, Foundation S, Dyna, G Bass, RJIV.
Don't know the T40, T45, T20, Cirrus, Millenium, Sarzo necks.
I would like to try a Gen 1 Fury neck, mine has a 1987 Fury neck on it which is awesome but having a fully stock Gen 1 ash Fury would be nice.

Been so long since I played a T-40 I don't remember the fretboard edges.

 

[TinIndian]

Has Peavey stopped making electric bass guitars? The only bass left on their website is the Milestone.

Well US manufacturing ceased some time ago, but I think there was an announcement recently that they are producing new Cirrus basses in Czechoslovakia. Same factory where they make the Spector Euro models. If the quality is the same as my Euro 4 they will be very nice.

 

[Raw N Low]

T-40 is the bass of masochists Hartley tells a tale that they knew heavy timber = tone was bunk but the market forced their hand . It's Hartley's tale that's bunk !!

Stripped one last week for an overhaul, it's off to Germany.

6lb with all the OTT hardware off. They took an average weight bass and loaded it down with excessive machined parts.

Boy, did I get flak from the bedroom T-40 fanbois for putting that little point out

"mine's is 12lbs", "11.8lbs over here"

What do these folks want , a medal ?

The "secret sounds" are another bugbear of mine. Forget about pickup placement or DCR,magnet type or active preamps. There's a photo claims the T-40 can mimic about 8 basses.

The Secret is suggestion reinforced by ignorance and wishful thinking.

Fully expecting bombs in the mail for airing my views on that topic recently

They're great basses and unique to themselves. Are they worth the hype? Well, they definitely serve a purpose like most other instruments. Sure they're heavy but that's the price we pay for CNC machines of the day. Love'em or hate'em -- they put Peavey on the map for bass gear.

Probably a moot point since most of us are scraping the barrel for what's left of quality American made Peavey's.

 

[JEDI BASS]

Some of us play hard on low action and like that fret sizzle. Nekkid it might sound harsh but in a mix it helps to add character and cut.

I get it. I have some buzz on my main players, due to practically zero relief and low action. But, nothing that bad! All of Flea’s stuff sounds like that with maybe a couple exceptions in his 4 decades of music. But, if you’re gonna tell me a bass’ pickups are lacking when none of the notes can blossom, because they’re getting choked away with fret buzz.... I’m gonna call BS. Buzz away in your band and in the mix. But, when reviewing a bass, and being critical of it’s sound, you gotta lighten up your attack, or give the neck some relief. All his review is good for is analyzing the fretwire’s affect at muting the strings.... in my opinion... which means diddly.

 

[JEDI BASS]

Yeah Ive noticed a lot of players, even big names, don't pay attention to the strings rattling off the frets...listen to Geddy's old isolated bass tracks, Sheehan too....I cringe but most folks don't even notice. My band told me they couldn't tell any difference when I stopped worrying about my technique and let 'em flop. I worried about this for far too many years, it appears.

Like I said in my other reply, I too have played with buzz. It was part of my live and recorded sound for decades, just not as bad as the reviewers. My taste has changed in the last year and a half, thanks to Covid. I gave flats a thorough try while in isolation, and I grew to love them. That’s after hating them for 31 years LOL. So, now I’m in a phase where I like a super fat and clean sound. I’ll still grab my Stingray with steel rounds when I want to play the two Flea songs we cover though.

 

[JEDI BASS]

T-40 is the bass of masochists Hartley tells a tale that they knew heavy timber = tone was bunk but the market forced their hand . It's Hartley's tale that's bunk !!

Stripped one last week for an overhaul, it's off to Germany.

6lb with all the OTT hardware off. They took an average weight bass and loaded it down with excessive machined parts.

Boy, did I get flak from the bedroom T-40 fanbois for putting that little point out

"mine's is 12lbs", "11.8lbs over here"

What do these folks want , a medal ?

The "secret sounds" are another bugbear of mine. Forget about pickup placement or DCR,magnet type or active preamps. There's a photo claims the T-40 can mimic about 8 basses.

The Secret is suggestion reinforced by ignorance and wishful thinking.

Fully expecting bombs in the mail for airing my views on that topic recently

Stop pulling your punches and tell us what you really think! As my hero Nacho would say...

 

[JEDI BASS]

T-40 is the bass of masochists

I too have grown tired of the “T-40 is heavier than a black hole’s gravity” bull. But, I really like the sounds they offer. But, like you said, they’re loaded down with pot metal that isn’t needed. I still plan to strip one down and get it weighing less than 9 pounds. Heck, I might be able to get one below 8 if I hand pick some body wood, cut my own body, and use aluminum and resin hardware.

 

[JEDI BASS]

The biggest pet peave I had back then and a huge deciding factor was how the edge of the fretboard felt. I hated feeling like it cut into my hand. The Peavey did have a smooth more comfortable edge with a radius. They may not have called it rolled edges back then but thats what it was.

Yeah, I almost sent back my latest Warmoth neck. It’s got a beautiful blocked and bound fretboard (see my avatar pic). The binding is pearl like the blocks and pickguard. But the edge was painful! I said screw it and took my refretting tools to it. I have a file that shaves off fret ends at an angle. I used it to put a better angle on the frets and also shave away the sharp edge on the binding. Then I used sandpaper and fret erasers to really round over the edges, and I reshaped ever fret end with files. It’s so comfy now!

 

[ajkula66]

Well US manufacturing ceased some time ago, but I think there was an announcement recently that they are producing new Cirrus basses in Czechoslovakia.

I don't believe that anyone is building instruments in the country that seized to exist in 1993...

The factory is in Czech Republic, and a lot of nice instruments have come from it including some higher-end Epiphones from the turn of this century, along with a few others. I'd love to see Peaveys built over there, I'm sure they would be fine instruments.

 

[58kites]

T-40 is the bass of masochists Hartley tells a tale that they knew heavy timber = tone was bunk but the market forced their hand . It's Hartley's tale that's bunk !!

Stripped one last week for an overhaul, it's off to Germany.

6lb with all the OTT hardware off. They took an average weight bass and loaded it down with excessive machined parts.

Boy, did I get flak from the bedroom T-40 fanbois for putting that little point out

"mine's is 12lbs", "11.8lbs over here"

What do these folks want , a medal ?

The "secret sounds" are another bugbear of mine. Forget about pickup placement or DCR,magnet type or active preamps. There's a photo claims the T-40 can mimic about 8 basses.

The Secret is suggestion reinforced by ignorance and wishful thinking.

Fully expecting bombs in the mail for airing my views on that topic recently

Here's my two cents on all that.
Don't know why Hartley chose such a big body, I love the ash, hate the huge body.
The bridge was just a really dumb idea, but the T20 bridge was not great either and the trapezoidal bridge has big dumb saddles that force you to use the micro-tilt.
I know companies have gotten wise to light weight, but even when the T40 was first made folks knew 12 pound basses were too heavy.
I don't know why Fender keeps putting heavy brass chromed knobs on basses other than nostalgia.
Big heavy tuners are dumb but lots of companies keep putting them on basses for nostalgia.
A Precision bass body is as big as a bass body needs to be, the Jazz bass is too big and the T40/T45/T20 are way too big.
Fury bodies are great, Patriot bodies are great, Foundation bodies are great, the Guild Pilot had everything right.
Peavey figured out how to make some very good sounding pickups and has made a lot of great necks.
I don't need all the do-dads on a complicated bass, most simple passive one pickup basses are my preference (except a Stingray).
I like light basic bent plate bridges, and the small 3/8" tuners, and smaller bodies made of good wood.

 

[kodiakblair]

I still plan to strip one down and get it weighing less than 9 pounds.

Easy.
Pickups weigh 1/2lb each so thats 7lb when attached to the body/neck.

Ditch the bridge. Buy the 3D printed knobs. Lightweight tuners. Mini pots.

Might not get under 8lb but you'll get under 9lb no problem.

Stop pulling your punches and tell us what you really think!

I was being gentle

 

[bigtone23]

My T45 neck feels half-rounded on the edges-and slightly more rounded on the treble side. Not sure if it's factory, from 38 years of moderate play, or something that happened before I got it. I know I didn't do any rounding or fret sprout work on it. Most of my other Peaveys have much softer edges, some from my rounding, others were like that already.
Most instruments I get need some fret sprout remediation done at some point in their 1st year living here. I take care of that and round the edges over in one fell swoop.

 

[redstrand]

My T45 is 12lbs of glorious tone. I have a wide strap for it. Went through 5 T40s before realizing I just needed the one pickup.
The neck on mine is almost rolled, smooth and easy to play.

 

[JEDI BASS]

Here's my two cents on all that.
Don't know why Hartley chose such a big body, I love the ash, hate the huge body.
The bridge was just a really dumb idea, but the T20 bridge was not great either and the trapezoidal bridge has big dumb saddles that force you to use the micro-tilt.
I know companies have gotten wise to light weight, but even when the T40 was first made folks knew 12 pound basses were too heavy.
I don't know why Fender keeps putting heavy brass chromed knobs on basses other than nostalgia.
Big heavy tuners are dumb but lots of companies keep putting them on basses for nostalgia.
A Precision bass body is as big as a bass body needs to be, the Jazz bass is too big and the T40/T45/T20 are way too big.
Fury bodies are great, Patriot bodies are great, Foundation bodies are great, the Guild Pilot had everything right.
Peavey figured out how to make some very good sounding pickups and has made a lot of great necks.
I don't need all the do-dads on a complicated bass, most simple passive one pickup basses are my preference (except a Stingray).
I like light basic bent plate bridges, and the small 3/8" tuners, and smaller bodies made of good wood.

Something to remember about heavy tuners is that they come in handy when you have a neck with a deadspot. I’ve swapped heavy tuners for lightweight, only to have to go back to heavy after the appearance of the dreaded dead notes, on the G string. Heavier bridges can help as well.

But, if the neck is good w/ no deadspots, there’s no reason for the added weight.

 

[JEDI BASS]

My T45 neck feels half-rounded on the edges-and slightly more rounded on the treble side. Not sure if it's factory, from 38 years of moderate play, or something that happened before I got it. I know I didn't do any rounding or fret sprout work on it. Most of my other Peaveys have much softer edges, some from my rounding, others were like that already.
Most instruments I get need some fret sprout remediation done at some point in their 1st year living here. I take care of that and round the edges over in one fell swoop.

The sharp fret tang along the edge of fretboards is something I can’t stand! Even the best of basses will have some periodic fretboard shrinkage and, all of the sudden, your neck feels like a barbed wire fence.

I’m going to be clipping the tangs (with fret nippers) on every neck I build or refret, from now on. A simple quick step that remedies an annoying (often reoccurring) problem.

 

[Runnerman]

I believe most of my 80's basses (and I don't have T series) are rolled edges. 90's seem a little sharper but still very comfortable.

 

[Shawn Luckman]

I doubt it.
Rolled edges on bass are a fairly recent migration from the guitar world. Was "rolled frets" even a term in the 80's ?

Would have been an easy thing to do. Can't recall the machine's nickname but Peavey had a machine cut/shape and sand their necks. Same machine also did the fretboard radius, cut the fret slots/ installed the frets and nipped off the fret ends.

All they needed to do was an extra process involving a roller.

Hello mate here was a video I watched were Hartley mentions the machines, used to make the necks & bodies

This was a sadder video to watch

 

[kodiakblair]

Hello mate here was a video I watched were Hartley mentions the machines, used to make the necks & bodies

Yeah , signed in and watched that one live last year.

Hartley loves to talk

Always surprises me he was unaware Japanese factories like Matsumuko, FGN, Tokai-Gakki etc were using CNC machines before Peavey.
A businessman like him strikes me as being quite switched on regarding what the competition were up to.

It wouldn't have been a closely guarded secret since factory visits , under the guise of awarding contract work, were common.

BTW.
Interesting peghead on this 1978 Kawai

Rest of the bass was vert different

 

[Bleecker]

Interesting posts lately, learning a lot! I can't wait to check out those videos, never even occurred to search for Peavey interviews and such!...

Can someone please tell me is this bass and finish stock? Also how are the foundy 2000s, anyone have one?

Cheers.
Peavey Foundation 2000 American Flag 5-string 2000 White/American Flag

Edit: The reason for my inquiry is I don't have a five string Peavey...good reason for some GAS..