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U.S. Peavey Club

#20,603
NBD ! Got a '90's Peavey Forum P/J today from San Francisco Craigslist. Active EMG's. It sounds AMAZING. Not modern at all, just classic, and super warm. Open up the tone all the way and it sounds full. Simple VVT layout with passive characteristics and benefits of zero 60 cycle hum with the active. Photos or it didn't happen :)
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#20,606
kodiakblair said:
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
View attachment 4200696

Rest of the bass was vert different :thumbsup:

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That's great info. Makes perfect sense. I thought that the manufacturing tolerances on those MIJ instruments, despite the ultra-high Japanese build quality was a little too tight for their price point for the time, even with the dollar to yen exchange rate. Also makes sense as to why those same instruments were roughly half the price of the US Gibson/Fender equivalent, much like Peavey...
Outside of 80s US Peavey, I love 83-86 Fuji-gen and Terada built Ibanez, as well as Electra/Westone and Aria Matsumoko instruments from 82-87.
 
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#20,607
bigtone23 said:
That's great info. Makes perfect sense. I thought that the manufacturing tolerances on those MIJ instruments, despite the ultra-high Japanese build quality was a little too tight for their price point for the time, even with the dollar to yen exchange rate.
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A large part of the process was still done by hand, their machines were mostly doing the rough cuts. Final shaping, fretting/radius the board etc that was the workforce.

Peavey's method went a bit further. Wiring looms were hand soldered but for the instruments, outside of a light sanding before the spray shop and applying decals, there was very little hands-on work. Attach hardware, fit tuners/string trees etc then combine the loaded necks/bodies.

I'd hazard a guess that Peavey's method outstripped Japan production numbers :thumbsup:
 
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#20,608
kodiakblair said:
A large part of the process was still done by hand, their machines were mostly doing the rough cuts. Final shaping, fretting/radius the board etc that was the workforce.

Peavey's method went a bit further. Wiring looms were hand soldered but for the instruments, outside of a light sanding before the spray shop and applying decals, there was very little hands-on work. Attach hardware, fit tuners/string trees etc then combine the loaded necks/bodies.

I'd hazard a guess that Peavey's method outstripped Japan production numbers :thumbsup:
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And the pay scale in Mississippi was a lot lower than at Fender in California too, we were very aware of that all the years I was in the guitar/mic/speaker/PA snake cable business in New York state competing with a Jackson Mississippi company.
It's interesting how tight and perfect the neck pocket tolerances have gotten on some instruments coming out of China (Warwick) and Indonesia (G&L and others) and Korea (PRS and others) and wherever they choose to make a given Yamaha.
I have not seen a Mexican Fender as tight and I'm not sure I've seen a USA Fender as tight as the Chinese Warwick I had.
The wiring at Peavey was interesting, some I have here are nice and clean and some are awful, and the foil shielding inside the control cavity were sometimes super duper amateur but shielding is better than no shielding.
 
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#20,612
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#20,614
Thundar said:
Thank you my friend (enabler)... I could not resist! I have always wanted an Axcelerator 5..and this baby is gonna get a nice new paint job ;)
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Sweet !!! Glad I could help a friend :) Plus, even the BIN price was ridiculous ! (In a good way !)
I LOVE my Axcelerator ! I did two of our songs on our CD with it. Like all active Peavey's, they record like a dream.
 
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#20,615
mb94952 said:
Sweet !!! Glad I could help a friend :) Plus, even the BIN price was ridiculous ! (In a good way !)
I LOVE my Axcelerator ! I did two of our songs on our CD with it. Like all active Peavey's, they record like a dream.
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I played one waaaaay back when they first came out, it was purple and I loved it. As much as I'd like to paint this one purple too, I think Im gonna paint it metallic silver and still stay within the original finishes. What color is yours?
 
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#20,616
Thundar said:
I played one waaaaay back when they first came out, it was purple and I loved it. As much as I'd like to paint this one purple too, I think I'm gonna paint it metallic silver and still stay within the original finishes. What color is yours?
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Cool , sounds good ! I LOVE the purple ones. Mine is black. It had the hang tags and all when I got it. 2-TEK bridge, etc. It's sweet. They're such great basses ! I love all the 90's Peavey active basses.
 
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#20,617
Just snagged this gen 1 fury body (mostly stripped) with a bridge for just under $60 shipped. I don't know if I *needed* either that bad, but I'm sure I could move either and make up most of the cost to keep the other. The bridge might make it onto my Foundation FL in lieu of the horrendous Badass I it came to me with.
 
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#20,618
wild4oldcars said:
Just snagged this gen 1 fury body (mostly stripped) with a bridge for just under $60 shipped. I don't know if I *needed* either that bad, but I'm sure I could move either and make up most of the cost to keep the other. The bridge might make it onto my Foundation FL in lieu of the horrendous Badass I it came to me with.
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I'd like to find a good Gen 1 Fury Neck to go on my ash Gen 1 that wears an '87 Fury neck....just to find out if I would like it better in stock form than the way it is now.
But I love a 1987 Peavey Fury neck, so if it doesn't happen, that fine.
 
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#20,619
58kites said:
I'd like to find a good Gen 1 Fury Neck to go on my ash Gen 1 that wears an '87 Fury neck....just to find out if I would like it better in stock form than the way it is now.
But I love a 1987 Peavey Fury neck, so if it doesn't happen, that fine.
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Mine feels pretty similar to my t-40's, if thats any point of reference. I definitely prefer the slimmer necks on peavey's offerings.
 
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#20,620
wild4oldcars said:
Mine feels pretty similar to my t-40's, if thats any point of reference. I definitely prefer the slimmer necks on peavey's offerings.
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I have not had a T40/45/20 neck in my hands, so not a point of reference for me.
So, maybe I should stop keeping an eye out for a Gen 1 neck, sounds like old Mech did me a favor by making it a mutt.
 

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