NBD - Peavey Foundation: Right up front, I do not need another bass, but there it is, GAS is strong at times and must be satisfied.
A few weeks back I was visiting a small Mom & Pop music store about 20 miles from my home. I have watched their business grow over the last few years, and have seen their stock morph from entry level instruments to mid and pro level items. I am a semi-pro player and am always on the lookout for that one item; bass, guitar, or mandolin that is both a good deal and one that my collection lacks. On that visit I spotted a Peavey Foundation; I played it thru an amp and it sounded great, and felt great in my hands. Additionally, the bass looks to be a closet queen with very little playing time on it. It has a few small nicks, like it may have been stored without a case for years, but remains in excellent condition.
On that visit I left it there, telling myself that my GAS was under control and I had no need for another bass. I have a variety of basses in my collection including two other Peavey's; a T-40, and a Milestone 4. As the weeks went by I kept thinking about that Foundation. So yesterday I called the shop to see if they still had the bass I had seen a few weeks ago. I thought it was a possibility, because in my area Peavey guitars and basses are often overlooked and tend to stay on the shelf longer than the Fenders and Squiers. The store still had the Foundation so I went to check it out again. I remembered the price they had on it from my previous visit, and hoped to be able to bargain a little with them.
When I got there I found that they had raised the price by $60, probably after my phone call when I told them I was coming to take another look. I decided that I was not willing to pay the increased price and told the owner that I remembered a lower price, and that the current price was more than I was willing to pay. So while looking around at other items the owner eventually called me to the counter and said he checked his records and found that the price I remembered was correct, and he had raised it because he did some cosmetic work on the unit. But if I was interested he would accept the price he had marked on it earlier.
So I bought it after trying it out again. Using a more critical eye this time I found the volume and tone pots to be scratchy, and the output jack to be loose fitting with regard to the plug. Also the tuning pegs are a bit sloppy. Hopefully I can resolve these issues without too much trouble. According to the serial number it's a 1987 model, and there's an exact duplicate on Reverb right now for a good bit more than I paid. I generally scout the local pawn shops when I have identified a model that I want, and I have done that with the Foundation basses. They just don't seem to show up very often in my area, in fact this was the first one I had seen in quite a while. I suspect that I paid more for it than I would have at a Pawn shop, but the stock at my local pawn shops is pretty low since the Covid business started. So I have vowed again that this is my last purchase unless I start the "one in, one out" policy, which isn't likely. I also have a lot of Peavey sound gear, which is proof that I am a Peavey true believer.
Photos to follow:
Thump on.
One_Dude
