• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

U.S. Peavey Club

#2,061
Basstovsky,

You can get so many tones out of this bass it's unreal. It's not the greatest "looking" bass out there, but that's not what I look for in an instrument.

I laugh when I see posts on the "for sale" thread where people shy away from an instrument that has some finish flaws. I could care less what the bass looks like as long as it suits me and what I'm playing. Might just be me though.

Super-ferrites ARE single-coil pickups on steroids. Forget humbuckers, these pickups kick major f'ing ass. I beg you to try a Peavey with these pickups...doesn't matter if it's a Foundation, Patriot, T-20, Dyna....whatever. I'm certain you'll be impressed, my friend.
 
#2,062
Basstovsky said:
How would you compare the Patriot sound to a P-bass? I have 3 P-basses and its getting a bit ridiculous, and I REALLY miss having a USA peavey bass (still have the old analog head tho :D ) so I've been looking over at these to get a little variety, perhaps sell a P to get a Patriot while the prices are still low. Super ferrites are single coils are they not? Every single coil style pickup I've played has sounded thin and boring to me, I like to get some nice fat mid bump without any treble above the high mids. Any insights?
Click to expand...


Pbass.. before I go all rantish in this.. I own a stable of fenders.. they all sound different and are inconsistent on both sound and feel (rantish stuff over).

Biggest issue I've found with Patriots is that they have a single pickup. This isn't bad..

The issue becomes that the potential sounds can be altered VERY minutely... it's almost telecasterish.

Note there are different Patriot eras.. they are not all the same.

If you're comparing to a Fender, you may want to consider a 2nd Generation Fury

I've found that a Patriot can be fine tuned by swapping caps and/or pots (there are tons of thereads on the tonality differences)

======

That being said..
I own tons of active basses. In reality, most of us find a workable tone and DO NOT alter it .. we change the volume and leave it dialed in.

I've found that amps, preamps and strings affect tone more than the actual bass.

I always suggest to students to find a comfortable bass first -- then dial in the tone.

Hope this helps.
 
#2,063
Scott ..

You just made my day..

Your bass had been stored for a long time (good when it's a naked mahogany body)...

It was kind of stubborn getting dialed in and setup.

I'm super happy for you..

You're welcome.

Timmy



Scottpro1969 said:
Well since my last reply wouldn't have been read on pg 2 of this thread, I must add it here:

Ok, I just got through playing my "new" 198something Peavey Patriot that Tim (MNAirhead) set up for me. This is going to be lengthy so please bear with me.

First of all, the set-up that Tim did is wonderful. Intonation perfect, action nice and low, couldn't be more perfect for my style of playing.

Tim, the volume/tone pots don't scratch at all. This bass does everything I want it to do, but not without some tweaking, obviously.

It's amazing how a bass can sound so good at home practicing but when you add actual guitar and drums, it sounds like ****. That was my dilemma tonight. As a matter of fact, I/we were getting so frustrated because I couldn't get THE sound I wanted that they asked me to switch to another bass. But, I persisted. Tweaking is the key.

I FINALLY found the sweet spot "sonically" on this bass. The Patriot seems to have a lot more treble than my old Foundation (which I kick myself for selling...and it's for sale here right now....I have no extra $$ or else I'd snatch it back).

We play everything from Green Day-Foo Fighters-Linkin Park-Papa Roach-The Stabilizers(anyone ever heard of them?)-Muck and the Mires-Rush-Breaking Benjamin-to Paul McCartney-The Beatles...etc. You get the idea. Once I got this bass dialed in we looked at each other with raised eyebrows and said, "yeah, that's it." I didn't have to touch it again...no matter what we played.

I only wish that I could have played it before it got to Tim so that I could feel the difference between what I got compared to what he did. Tim is the REAL DEAL. He knows how to set up Peaveys. This bass plays flawlessly. Perfect intonation and the neck is awesome up-and-down the board.

I'm not kidding when I said the neck is thinner than a Fender Geddy. Tim, can you give any insight? You've owned a zillion Peaveys. It's pencil thin, and perfect (to me).

This is my go-to bass, regardless of price....and I've owned several Peavey T-40's, a Dyna, Foundation(my next fav), T-20, T-45. For my money, the super-ferrites and Tim's set-up are the way to go. I'm sure I'm forgetting something but I'm rambling so I'll cut it here.

THANK YOU SO MUCH TIM!!
Click to expand...
 
#2,065
lfbassguy
Registered User


endorsing artist: peavey Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: texas

i'll get in on this one. i am a big fan of u.s.a. peavey's. my favorite. in fact all i play are u.s.a. millennium plus's. is it me or has peavey really gone down hill in the bass market? look at there website. not much to offer there for u.s.a. made bass stuff. not interested in the bxp stuff. im sure its great but not for me. all they have for us cirrus 5 string is the bolt on. no more neck through. wth? and in the tour series amps the only cabs there offering is the 8x10. no 4x10, 2x10, 1x15 or 2x15. you can get a tvx but it wont handle the tour700. seems like there not what they used to be. maybe its the economy? peavey's are my favorite basses and honestly i think they have the best tone but it seems to me that they don't care too much for us bass players anymore.
Click to expand...


Opinion Cheap Gear Market

I blame this on musicians --- not manufacturers.

Many of us forget that 20 years ago we were going bonkers over Mars and Guitar Center. They were basically publicly traded companies (with mail order divisions) who locked up the retail market.

They drove the anticipated prices of music gear down --- vendors were then dictated at what the vendor's purchase cost would be (yes I've verified this for a fact).

The USA companies had some VERY tough decisions to make. They had to drive down costs. I firmly believe there would be no Highway 1 or cheap Nitrose Gibsons if it weren't for this trend.

This being said.. cheap gear today is NOWHERE as bad as it was in the 50s/60s/70s/80s

The real issue is VERY FEW of us have a local place that we can play true quality mid and upper end gear... the price houses will not carry it - there are not a ton of botiquish (used to be) who would dare.

=====

Opinion --- Peavey

Starting at the top... Hartley has done a great job of keeping his company one of the few family run joints that has a guy ultimately in charge.

They're kind of victim of their own sin. They created mass production of musical instruments.. this created the wave that we now see of Asian imports. Someone had to pioneer this.. it was under Hartley's management this happened.

The offshoot were Fender, Schecter etc imports.

BXP and "International" are not bad compared to many basses... sheesh I commonly gig a $60 international bass and leave my $$$$$$$$ stuff at home. They had a high point when stuff was made in indonesia and korea.

Peavey isn't dumb. They and most USA based companies were really struggling around 2000 to figure out how to survive.

----

Opinion --- Quality Future Direction

The bright side is that I firmly believe we have hit the bottom and are getting better.

Much of this was evidenced in 2008 when Fender revamped the line and drove consistency.

Peavey is still working on a niche. I do miss the "rock solid band mix gear days"

I'm confident that insiders have noticed used Peavey USA gear is now gaining a cult. I'm sure that many of us have noticed models that were once laughed at are now being setup and compared to legendary basses.

The question they must be asking is "how much would you be willing to pay to have a USA made bass -- in the market where Korean, Japanese and many Chineese instruments are no longer considered inferior" I've owned BXP and USA Cirrus played/gigged them side by side (indonesian model). I'm not certain that folks would say the USA model is truely $1000 more valueable.

-----

I'm still put down my freak and botiques to the 85-2000 basses. I still hoard them like a cat lady.

These are the golden years for starting your Peavey USA collection. --- PM me if I can help narrow down a model for you.

Timmy

PS - the email box is always open to all for valueations, IDs and questions --- I dig the USA questions.
 
#2,069
Tim, you mentioned before that you know of a method to get the discoloration off of basses from Peavey cases where the foam had deteriorated. I can see it for painted guitars but how about my mahogany? It doesn't bother me but if I can remove it then I will. I'm going to use the lemon oil on the body but wanted to see if I could remove the stains beforehand.
 
#2,072
MNAirHead said:
Knife..

Pix.. or description... including era
Click to expand...

It's the second generation without the SF pups. I found it on eBay. It plays like melted Land O Lakes Buttahhhhhhhh :D I posted it in the previous thread and hate to show it off but..........what the heck :o :D

It really has a nice tigerstripe pattern on the body which doesn't come through in the pics at all :hmm:
 

Attachments

  • TL5e.jpg
    TL5e.jpg
    89.9 KB · Views: 224
  • TL5b.jpg
    TL5b.jpg
    79.2 KB · Views: 121
#2,074
MNAirHead said:
Pbass.. before I go all rantish in this.. I own a stable of fenders.. they all sound different and are inconsistent on both sound and feel (rantish stuff over).

Biggest issue I've found with Patriots is that they have a single pickup. This isn't bad..

The issue becomes that the potential sounds can be altered VERY minutely... it's almost telecasterish.

Note there are different Patriot eras.. they are not all the same.

If you're comparing to a Fender, you may want to consider a 2nd Generation Fury

I've found that a Patriot can be fine tuned by swapping caps and/or pots (there are tons of thereads on the tonality differences)

======

That being said..
I own tons of active basses. In reality, most of us find a workable tone and DO NOT alter it .. we change the volume and leave it dialed in.

I've found that amps, preamps and strings affect tone more than the actual bass.

I always suggest to students to find a comfortable bass first -- then dial in the tone.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

None of my P-basses are Fenders, but they have one P-bass pickup and look somewhat similar to the Fender (One is an 80s Cort, the other 2 are frankenbasses I have built, one modern style with rounds one vintage style with flats) so I call them P-basses. They all sound at least somewhat similar, they get a nice mid bump with plenty of lows, and by rolling the tone knob off all the ugly treble goes away without taking away my high mids (amp has a 4-band EQ so thats how I judge the difference between high mids and treble) I am fine with swapping caps, I experimented with a varitone switch to check out how different cap values sound. The only Furies (Fury's?) I have seen look just like any other P-bass, and I'm looking to swap one of my 3 P's for something a little bit different, but still close to what I know I love, one pickup in the sweet spot in the middle that has some good mids and bass response.

Yeah I'm being a bit too specific :D Also I prefer the schaller style tuners like I had on my '79 T-40, so what era of patriots had those? That would be more towards what I am leaning to.

Most single coil pickups I have encountered lack bass and have too much treble for my liking. This is the only reason I have not already picked up a Patriot, there is a GORGEOUS mind condition red+black one with the schaller tuners on ebay right now that is testing my resolve (fortunately my dwindling bank account it keeping me from it anyways) sorry to make such a huge post just trying to figure out if I could make better use of a Patriot than I did with my former T-40 :hmm:
 
#2,077
MNAirHead said:
First generation patriots had the higher end hardware.

you can always put a preamp in a passive bass.. there are tons of them out there that work.

It would be dishonest for me to compare an unknown bass to a production model. Blindly I'd suggest the variability of a Foundation for what you're descibing

Tim
Click to expand...

I'm not a big fan of actives in general I don't really switch sounds while playing I just get what I want and stick with it, my only active is a millennium 5er I put an aguilar in, and that one i just set it and forget about it.

So foundations have more mids than the patriot, or the patriot is lacking in bass? Regardless of which one I could probably swap caps till I get the right amount of treble rolloff, its just with single coil pickups I fear there isn't much bass to be had. The one reason I leaned to the patriot is due to pickup placement, its right smack in the middle, with one volume and one tone, no fooling around. I tend to stay away from 2-pickup basses, or if I use one I re-wire it with a switch instead of a second volume pot, it drives me crazy to be without a master volume since I prefer that to a volume pedal.
 
#2,078
Basstovsky said:
I'm not a big fan of actives in general I don't really switch sounds while playing I just get what I want and stick with it, my only active is a millennium 5er I put an aguilar in, and that one i just set it and forget about it.

So foundations have more mids than the patriot, or the patriot is lacking in bass? Regardless of which one I could probably swap caps till I get the right amount of treble rolloff, its just with single coil pickups I fear there isn't much bass to be had. The one reason I leaned to the patriot is due to pickup placement, its right smack in the middle, with one volume and one tone, no fooling around. I tend to stay away from 2-pickup basses, or if I use one I re-wire it with a switch instead of a second volume pot, it drives me crazy to be without a master volume since I prefer that to a volume pedal.
Click to expand...


Millenium...
Is your Millenium a standard or plus or the funky p/j?

Please check your PM box.. have a private question (and no... nothing is wrong)


Foundation
Please remember this is JUST a personal opinion

I find it easier/faster do dial in sounds on a dual pickup bass.... need some bite? Roll on some bridge.. need some low end.. roll on some neck. It's my opinion that minute changes on a single pickup bass make more of a difference and compensate less than dual pickups.

The other notation (in the manual below) is that if you combine 2 ferrites on a foundation they become a fatter humbucker.

Invalid Link Removed

Patriot
One of the guys I trade gear with (we swap expensive basses back and fourth for months at a time) will not send back his patriot. He's a more "aggressive" player he enjoys that he can dial in "Geddy or Squire tones"

When playing around with single pickup basses they do not all sound the same. Much of this has to do with where exactly the pickup is placed. A passive Musicman does not sound like a passive Pbass does not sound like a passive G&L (all the same concept designer)...

Smarter guys have taught me that this has to do with where along the string's harmmonic range the pickup is placed.

Overall Opinion 1 - Comfort and Band Mix
I have yet to own a quality bass that I couldn't dial in a useable tone. (That being said I don't believe a bass tone can be dialed in without a complete band spectrum mix from 30 feet).. my opinion is to find a comfortable neck (patriot and foundation necks had different profiles - even on the same model) and then spend a few minutes to find a useable tone that works with an amp (each bass and amp need to be mated to the strings, touch, room etc).

Overall, I find it faster to dial in a Foundation.. it's not a better bass, I'm just lazier.

Overall Opinion 2 - Pickguard
You may be a person who would enjoy a bass with a pickguard. This gives you the option to manipulate the bass.

Please don't be offended.. I have a hunch you would eventually modifiy any bass you have. A 2nd gereration Fury opens up your easier options to different pickups (standard pbass size pickups).. heck you may be an early HiA Bart customer (if you can find one)....with some barts you may be able to dial in your desired tone and eliminate the tone knob (Linc does this)

Please note neck profiles are very consistent, but did change within the models (normally at a generation)

I'd love to hear your opinion.

Tim

PS.. :crying:You'd hate my stable.. I have more knobs and switches than a russian submarine.. the bass I received friday has 2 barts, SIX kobs and a switch....Or worse yet.. a BQuad has 2 independent pickup systems..each string can be routed to either output jack --- funny huh

Now that being said.. I commonly gig a Milestone with tapes to keep things simple :o
 
#2,079
Tim, quick question ...

any chance your stable includes a 93ish foundation 4?

i'm looking at finishing mine up when i get a little spare cash (with a 3 year old about to turn 4 and a stay at home mom, it might take a while ...)

my biggest hurdle right now, is finding a replacement cavity cover. i'm thinking it might be easier to get a 3 layer pickguard blank and cut my own ... with limited space and tools, it might be easier if someone had an original a template could be drawn from ...

any thoughts?
 
#2,080
Yes I do.. (please send a PM -- I'd hate to have you waiting for something I've forgotten)

I've actually been thinking I should trace all of the covers etc.

Heck.. I'll donate a chunk of dove grey plastic you can use

Please post a pix of the front of your bass... (with how consistent these things are, I think of them more in eras/generations vs years)

Timmy
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back