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U.S. Peavey Club

#7,821
58kites said:
Templar-
I still say the bridge is not an appropriate bridge saddle size for the neck and pocket size/position/height combination.
I like how Peavey was going for burly big.. but the saddles on this just cause it to have to use too much tilt.
Don't like to use the micro tilt system unless it is used for very small adjustment.
I like a shim better and a small shim is no big deal, with a small shim it makes a nice solid connection.
I have USA Fury, Foundation, G Bass, and also a Foundation S body with a Forum neck, necks are all great
The only one that does not do what it is supposed to do with the neck screwed down flat is the Foundation with that bridge with the large saddles.
I changed out the saddles and backed the tilt out and the neck is sitting nice and snug and flat in the pocket (the way a screw on bass neck should be IMO) and the bass plays just as well now as the other Peavey's here.
Click to expand...

I suspect there is something wrong with your particular Foundation if you're having this much trouble with the saddle height. What you're describing sounds like you have an "outlier" situation, where maybe something wasn't built to spec at the factory. Wouldn't be the first time.

Peavey used this bridge design successfully for almost a decade. The tall saddles and the neck pocket depth are engineered to work together, along with the pickup height, which is partly determined by the fixed-position collars that surround the pickups.

"Grinding down" OEM saddles or replacing them with non-spec smaller ones are extreme measures IMO. The indication is that something is horribly out of whack (glad it's not my bass!). Good luck.
 
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#7,822
While Mech agrees with me on the bridge and saddles, you may be right. :thumbsup:
It is a Foundation S body and a Forum neck, but I've been told a half dozen times that the neck heel depth and fretboard thickness on the Forum neck was the same as the Foundations.
I don't need luck and I'm not having "this much trouble" ....the bass is really fine the way it is, as soon as normal saddles went on the bridge-plate, the neck needed not one bit of tilt-o-matic nonsense and the measured set up dimensions fell perfectly in place.
I did not grind my saddles down, did not want to change the original bridge in a way that cannot be put back to original if I decided to part out that bass.
Throwing different saddles on was as easy as finding saddles that fit perfectly side to side, and now my neck sits down in the pocket the way a bolt on neck should.
I don't want a bass that needs anything more than a small shim to make it right, this has zero shim/tilt now and it sits perfectly.
So, nothing is "horribly out of whack" ....no such drama at all ...it's an inexpensive USA made bass, and it's just nifty. ;)
 
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#7,823
58kites said:
It is a Foundation S body and a Forum neck, but I've been told a half dozen times that the neck heel depth and fretboard thickness on the Forum neck was the same as the Foundations.
Click to expand...

Ah, okay. I figured something was askew. Swapping a neck from a different model bass could very well explain why smaller saddles are the answer to the issue in your case. A slight difference in neck thickness at the butt could wreak havoc.

We agree that the micro-tilt system is BS, basically an unnecessary gimmick. When misused it can cause all sorts of problems. I never use it, not on Peavey's or G&L's either. Never needed a shim, either. Old Fenders.....different story. :thumbsup:
 
#7,824
Really?...more problems with old Fenders than your Peavey's or G&L's?
Very interesting, I was not aware that happened more to Fender that these cheapie Peavey's that get no respect! :D
My Foundation-Forum was like that when I got it in a trade deal.
At some point, I might just take it apart and sell the parts off because I have a Fury and a Foundation and don't really care about a P/J type bass.
The Forum neck is nice though!
Maybe I will get a Foundation neck and pull the Forum neck off but I bet I would pay as much for a neck as the bass cost me.
 
#7,825
58kites said:
Really?...more problems with old Fenders than your Peavey's or G&L's?
Very interesting, I was not aware that happened more to Fender that these cheapie Peavey's that get no respect! :D
My Foundation-Forum was like that when I got it in a trade deal.
At some point, I might just take it apart and sell the parts off because I have a Fury and a Foundation and don't really care about a P/J type bass.
The Forum neck is nice though!
Maybe I will get a Foundation neck and pull the Forum neck off but I bet I would pay as much for a neck as the bass cost me.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say "problems", factory neck shims on old Fenders were common.
 
#7,828
Iridescentone said:
I wouldn't say "problems", factory neck shims on old Fenders were common.
Click to expand...
So, things have gotten better and more precise over the years.
My Fury is a 1993, and my Foundation is a 1993, both inexpensive basses when new, yes?
I guess by 1993 things had gotten more precise, the necks are great on both of them, is it because they are bi-laminated?
But I am shocked by how tight the neck pockets are on the new stuff from China/Indonesia/Korea, how precise the wood work is.
 
#7,829
Just picked this up over the weekend.
 

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#7,831
Thanx!! It's a redwood/alder one. I got it from a friend in the local circuit. I had played it a few years back, and said "if you ever want to sell". It needs a bit of TLC. Some of the bridge adjustment screws are frozen up. I was able to get it set up to normal human being LOW action, but I like "how the hell do you play this thing" low action. Once I get it cleaned up, i'll post pics. I'm calling Peavey this morning to see about a millennium preamp for it. I really like that swept mid on those.
 
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#7,834
I played rehearsal last week and 2 gigs over the weekend with my Fury. I've been playing only 6-strings for the last 10 months or so. I love the Fury! But, by the time I finished yesterday, I was driving home and noticing some real pain in my left hand. Deep down in the middle of the base of my hand, near my wrist. Clearly, I am way out of practice playing a four-banger!
 
#7,835
58kites said:
So, things have gotten better and more precise over the years.
My Fury is a 1993, and my Foundation is a 1993, both inexpensive basses when new, yes?
I guess by 1993 things had gotten more precise, the necks are great on both of them, is it because they are bi-laminated?
But I am shocked by how tight the neck pockets are on the new stuff from China/Indonesia/Korea, how precise the wood work is.
Click to expand...

I have Gen1 Fury (in my avatar) and Gen 3 fury. So the early neck is two piece/no board and the later neck is one piece/board. Both necks are stable and I've never touched the micro-tilt on either. If anything the newer neck is a bit less stable but it is much thinner to start with. Both basses appeared to be taken care of well before they came into my hands.

I guess my point is that I really believe that the way the bass is treated and it's environment over the years have way more to do with the neck's current condition than it's design. I'm very careful to keep all my basses cased and in a stable temp/humidity environment and I rarely have to make a truss rod adjustment. Usually only when new to get my preferred setup and that is all. The Gen1 Fury rod has never been touched btw....even when I switched to flats.
 
#7,836
I've done some searching on the Dyna Basses vs. the Foundation/etc - but I'm still a little stumped. Can anyone talk a little about the tone of the Dynas vs. a Foundation - say both 1990's models with the VFL pickups. Are the pups the same - with the Dyna adding the preamp, or are there other differences? Is the Dyna 5 considered to be more 'modern' sounding bass than a Foundation? Thanks in advance! (yes, my US Peavey GAS is in FULL swing.....)
 
#7,837
richntiff said:
Can anyone talk a little about the tone of the Dynas vs. a Foundation
Click to expand...

A Dyna Bass and a Foundation of the same year will have the same pickups and sound the same in passive mode (if available). The preamp is the difference. It's the same bass but the Dyna Bass has a preamp, different colors, painted neck, nicer hardware. Later model Dynas had active PUs and I don't think the Foundations did. Don't know when that started.
 
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#7,840
So, I did a little poking around and I'm pretty sure the dimensions of the VFL Plus pickup are the same as that of the Bartolini W4 bucker and the Warwick MEC bucker (on their Streamer).
I think the length and width are right, not sure of the corner radius matching or not.
Can anybody confirm or deny??
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