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U.S. Peavey Club

#23,321
Thanks guys for all the info
1984 and Rose Pearl. I was unsure what color to call it lol. I will see what I can do about the cavity. I looks to be in great condition for its age frets need to be cleaned they are a little grimy needs a good setup. Any suggestions on strings I have heard it's not a good idea to put heavy gauge strings on these?
 
#23,322
VinnyC said:
Thanks guys for all the info
1984 and Rose Pearl. I was unsure what color to call it lol. I will see what I can do about the cavity. I looks to be in great condition for its age frets need to be cleaned they are a little grimy needs a good setup. Any suggestions on strings I have heard it's not a good idea to put heavy gauge strings on these?
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That's how the cavities were. Yours is bone stock. That is a correct factory Peavey bass, 99% likely it's never been molested, in the true sense of the word.
As far as strings go, I don't know if light or heavy makes a difference in performance. The worst outcome would be a turn of the truss rod to accommodate the stress of the strings. It's what you like. With passive pickups, I have no idea what the suggestion is for nickel, steel, alloy, etc.
 
#23,325
mb94952 said:
After this week of getting and returning 4 basses, which is a lot more than usual, makes me want a Ric-Riot more than anything, now ! I want that Peavey feel with the sound and command of a Ric.
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I was playing mine earlier this week. That extra pickup really adds a lot to the sound!

VinnyC said:
Thanks guys for all the info
1984 and Rose Pearl. I was unsure what color to call it lol. I will see what I can do about the cavity. I looks to be in great condition for its age frets need to be cleaned they are a little grimy needs a good setup. Any suggestions on strings I have heard it's not a good idea to put heavy gauge strings on these?
Click to expand...
Great score! I have 3 Foundations with the following strings: 50-105 Chromes, 45-105 D'Addario XT and 40-100 D'Addario XL. All sound great, are perfectly stable and have no issues with string type or gauge.
 
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#23,327
Those two single coil SF pickups I'm pretty sure led SOMEBODY to do something about shielding . . . . but I don't think Reynolds Wrap is the right solution. At least this one doesn't have a big PC Board wedged in it, and using real copper foil or conductive paint would not be that big a job with three pots and a jack.

I had Dyna Basses from that same time period, and I would advise against heavy strings. Try the usual 45-105 or thereabouts set and see where you're at. One of my Dyna's had a neck I could bend a half-step by pushing on the head while I had it on a strap !
 
#23,329
I have TI flats on my Forum. They sound great and are low tension.
IMG-3424.jpg


IMG-3426-1.jpg
 
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#23,333
JW56789 said:
Those two single coil SF pickups I'm pretty sure led SOMEBODY to do something about shielding . . . . but I don't think Reynolds Wrap is the right solution. At least this one doesn't have a big PC Board wedged in it, and using real copper foil or conductive paint would not be that big a job with three pots and a jack.

I had Dyna Basses from that same time period, and I would advise against heavy strings. Try the usual 45-105 or thereabouts set and see where you're at. One of my Dyna's had a neck I could bend a half-step by pushing on the head while I had it on a strap !
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Yeah, all the old USA Peavey's had the heavy duty Reynold's Wrap. I usually would replace mine with copper foil tape if the Reynold's Wrap was deteriorating. I know the later ones had black shielding paint.

What is considered heavy strings then ? When one of you said stay away from heavy strings I "assumed" you meant 45-105's as being heavy and 40-90 (or 40-95) as being light. Other than the Steve Harris 110's, I don't know of any heavier E string ?
 
#23,334
Chuck M said:
I have TI flats on my Forum. They sound great and are low tension. View attachment 4457834

View attachment 4457835
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I made a trade for a bass that has TI rounds on it. They are really nice strings. I still haven't tried the TI flats. But, I might put them on my fretless G Bass when it's done. I'm also considering the GHS pressure wound bronze, which I love the feel of on my ABG, but haven't tried on an electric.
 
#23,335
VinnyC said:
All you Peavey Aficionado's
Need your help. Today I was fortunate enough to buy this Foundation want to know if anyone can help out with dialing in the year.View attachment 4457309
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I do have a warning light going off. Nothing major at all, it's like seeing one of the tires on the car with low pressure.
Do your pickups hum cancel and have a full low end tone/in phase when used together? The reason I ask is that this is wired with the red wires of both pickups going to hot and black to ground. I see this often when someone does some work under the hood and rewires the bass following pickup wiring convention, vs Super Ferrite idiosyncrasy.

Typically, from the factory, basses with 2 SF pickups have one pickup that is magnetically N up and the other is S up (this is easily tested with a simple, magnetic compass). The two opposite polarities of pickups are also wound in opposite directions, giving a reverse wind/reverse polarity hum cancelling effect when both pickups are set at the same volume. The thing is that Peavey (as well as early 80s era Ibanez made pickups) didn't change the wire colors to reflect the proper 'in phase' positive/negative orientation. Therefore, one pickup has red as hot, the other black as hot to sound in phase and hum cancel. It doesn't matter which pickup is red hot and black hot, just that they are opposing.

IF your pickups sound in phase, but don't hum cancel, then one of the pickups has been replaced or Peavey didn't have the opposite polarity pickups on hand and put two of the same in your bass. Again, this is not a big deal, just something I noticed. If anything sounds off, just switch the red and black on one pickup/ volume pot. :)

You can see the reversed wire colors in this factory diagram.
foundation-factory-tapped-humbucker-1-jpg.jpg
 
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#23,336
mb94952 said:
Yeah, all the old USA Peavey's had the heavy duty Reynold's Wrap. I usually would replace mine with copper foil tape if the Reynold's Wrap was deteriorating. I know the later ones had black shielding paint.

What is considered heavy strings then ? When one of you said stay away from heavy strings I "assumed" you meant 45-105's as being heavy and 40-90 (or 40-95) as being light. Other than the Steve Harris 110's, I don't know of any heavier E string ?
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I have secured the foil better with a little adhesive, then I would apply metallic tape or shielding paint to the back of the control cover, too. FWIW, I find the thick foil or copper tape to work the best, shielding paint usually requires 2-3 coats to be as effective.

Seems heavy strings may be the 55-110 sets (like old school flats). The 50-105 Chromes on my 84 Foundation have not posed a problem at all. I put those on it in 2014.
However, 45-105 Cobalt flats are a favorite, they are more equally balanced for tension, brighter sounding and take longer to break in/get thumpy, but they do get there eventually.
 
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