U.S. Peavey Club

[jmlee]

If you will notice, the tone control grounds the mid-point of the two coils (red wire at 10) and gradually lifts the ground and rolls off highs (7). When the mid-point is fully grounded (10) one coil (red/black) is at ground on both ends and will not work. That leaves only the white/red coil working, thus single coil. After a certain amount of resistance is introduced between the mid-point and ground (7) the pickup becomes full humbucking. The resistor element in the pot is like a variable switch so the amount of single coil/humbucker can be blended in the area from 10 to 7. The "S" taper pot was used to get a smooth blend and then a smooth high rolloff. It will still work with an Audio or Linear taper but not as smoothly.
Reasons it's not working..
Bad pot
Bad solder joint
Bad connection in the pickup.

Thanks, @mech! I hadn't looked at it that way at all—my bad. It's a devious little bit of circuitry and I'm happy to have it cogently explained. I'll bet I'm not the only one to have puzzled over this. I'll do a bit of forensic investigation with the circuit diagram in hand.

Should it be necessary, any idea where one could get a replacement 250k s-taper pot?

 

[ubernator]

There really is something about the Patriot - I also have preferred 2 pickup basses (particularly P/J) up until now. I really expected to hang onto the Patriot as a backup, and for nostalgia since I had one in the 80's. I was stunned by the sound I got with the band and how happy it made me. I did have to slightly turn up the bass (from 10 o'clock to noon) on my Rumble, but the other EQ settings remained the same.

Have to wait until next Weds to see how the Foundation performs with the rig.

So now we have 3 Peavey/Rumblers . I don't suppose you're also in Kentucky?

Ca not ky .

I have seen a few others pop through all 3 clubs. Considering the cost: quality/tone ratio, every TB member is bound to end up owning at least one USA peavey. Also because many of us owned one in the 80s or 90s, and foolishly sold it for a low price, thinking it was just another squier grade instrument that just happened to be made in the USA, when we were too young and foolish to take into consideration the false costs added by just the name fender on the headstock, even on a squier.

Braintrust, are SF pickups lower output than VFLs and later 3 wire fury pickups?

 

[mech]

Should it be necessary, any idea where one could get a replacement 250k s-taper pot?

They are only available used...ebay, reverb, ect. First thing to do is to de-solder the red and black pickup wires and check both coils for continuity...black/red and red/white. While it's unhooked the tone pot can be checked.

 

[Aahzz]

I've googled, but can't find much useful info - is there anyplace you know of that one can find the history/evolution of the Peavey basses? For instance, I've heard that at some point they switched from US made pots and jacks to foreign, but I'm not sure when that happened...or when they went to 1-piece necks...or even when the headstocks changed from the pinstripe and the various logos that followed. Just as a matter of interest I think it'd be good to know....

 

[ubernator]

I've googled, but can't find much useful info - is there anyplace you know of that one can find the history/evolution of the Peavey basses? For instance, I've heard that at some point they switched from US made pots and jacks to foreign, but I'm not sure when that happened...or when they went to 1-piece necks...or even when the headstocks changed from the pinstripe and the various logos that followed. Just as a matter of interest I think it'd be good to know....

Good luck! It boggles the mind how many "transitions" there were at peavey. I went through the same thing during my fury search. 96 is the year that the quality dropped in some ways, one PC necks and rumors of lesser quality electronics, but there is no exact bank of information.

 

[lowplaces]

I've googled, but can't find much useful info - is there anyplace you know of that one can find the history/evolution of the Peavey basses? For instance, I've heard that at some point they switched from US made pots and jacks to foreign, but I'm not sure when that happened...or when they went to 1-piece necks...or even when the headstocks changed from the pinstripe and the various logos that followed. Just as a matter of interest I think it'd be good to know....

Here's a good read on the Peavey Foundation.

Peavey Foundation database

It's been awhile since I've read through the thread but iirc when they changed to marking the headstock " crafted in USA ", that's when they started using import parts.

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong here.

 

[ubernator]

Pretty sure pinstripe ended at the end of 1991 or beginning of 1992, then there was a transition headstock that was very rounded, which originally had just the little pointy logo and script model name, before they went to the large block logo which is on my 93 shown here with the rounded transition headstock. My pinstripe dated 1991, and had the 5 wire P pickup and the titan tuners

91 pinstripe

This isn't mine but I had one back in the day, 1994 headstock, still 2pc neck and Les Paul style truss

And the post 96 one piece 4mm allen truss headstocks w one piece necks look like my foundation

 

[bigtone23]

Here's the 2 Foundations I have owned. An 84 and 93. I got into Foundations when I needed a dedicated, passive Jazz bass with flatwounds. Foundations are uber Jazz basses and a much better value. Glad I went down the Peavey road! I got the 93 first for a steal and played it for a couple months when I found the 84 for a fair deal. I was immediately more drawn to the 84, but compared them for a few weeks as I knew one had to go. I sold the 93, it made no sense in my growing collection of basses to have two of these.

Similarities: Black paint, maple 2 pc necks, stamped cover Super Ferrites, VVT controls, 5/16" TR nut, graphite? nut.
Differences:
84--"Made In USA" pinstripe pointy headstock with Space Font Peavey Logo, gloss finished neck, 1.5" nut, smaller footprint open-geared tuners, triangle string tree, 3 ply TR cover, brushed chrome neck plate, US made poplar body with wider lower bout, trapezoidal bridge with large saddles, aluminum P knobs, CTS pots, barrel jack, aluminum shielding in the control cavity, Fender style strap buttons. 9 pounds 11 oz that balances very well.

93--"Handcrafted In USA" rounded headstock with block logo, satin finished neck, 1.4" nut, larger footprint open geared tuners, 3 string tree, 1-ply TR cover, black neck plate, Korean made (?) alder body with narrower lower bout, rectangular bridge with regular saddles, chrome dome knobs, imported pots and standard 1/4" jack on plastic football plate, no cavity shielding, thinner imported strap buttons. Featherweight 8 pounds 1 oz that had a slight urge to neck dive.

It became obvious of the changes Peavey made to keep the costs down on the model. I would postulate that the Made vs Handcrafted in USA verbiage came about with the introduction of more imported parts.

The 93 had a domestic neck and pickups, but everything else was of import vibe and quality, seemingly Korean. There was a silver decal under the neck plate that looked like the serial numbers attached to Korean guitars of the era. It played and sounded terrific, but there were small flaws in the construction that reflected cost savings. The neck pocket was decent, the neck tilt screw routing was a little off center-which required a specific torquing of the neck screws in a certain order to have proper alignment, lots more rubbing compound in the body cavities and a lesser quality paint job. I would compare this Foundation to a current higher end Squier or 90s Mexican Fender.

The 84 has that distinct USA vibe to it. Parts are better quality. It's comparable to a current Mexican or 90s/early 00s American Fender. Since this was the keeper and it had a replaced volume pot, I replaced it with a push/pull pot to make series/parallel pickup combos. A very nice addition to the wide tone palette this bass possesses!

 

[MNAirHead]

I've googled, but can't find much useful info - is there anyplace you know of that one can find the history/evolution of the Peavey basses? For instance, I've heard that at some point they switched from US made pots and jacks to foreign, but I'm not sure when that happened...or when they went to 1-piece necks...or even when the headstocks changed from the pinstripe and the various logos that followed. Just as a matter of interest I think it'd be good to know....

I was tied to the company during this transition period.

The issue you're going to find is really credible solid information.... They kind of sold them like a "deli" ... order this... add that.. remove that... this continued through the Cirrus era (where they tried this as a competitive advantage)

I've seen varied origin parts in single stock (verified) basses.

It's safe to say that pointy to round was 90s era.

I'd suggest relying on Generations than years... overall they can be grouped.

It's tougher for guitars as I've seen some very very nutty T-60s out there... and the signature models were also different between individual guitars.

 

[Runnerman]

Here's the 2 Foundations I have owned. An 84 and 93. I got into Foundations when I needed a dedicated, passive Jazz bass with flatwounds. Foundations are uber Jazz basses and a much better value. Glad I went down the Peavey road! I got the 93 first for a steal and played it for a couple months when I found the 84 for a fair deal. I was immediately more drawn to the 84, but compared them for a few weeks as I knew one had to go. I sold the 93, it made no sense in my growing collection of basses to have two of these.

Similarities: Black paint, maple 2 pc necks, stamped cover Super Ferrites, VVT controls, 5/16" TR nut, graphite? nut.
Differences:
84--"Made In USA" pinstripe pointy headstock with Space Font Peavey Logo, gloss finished neck, 1.5" nut, smaller footprint open-geared tuners, triangle string tree, 3 ply TR cover, brushed chrome neck plate, Korean made(?) poplar body with narrow lower bout, trapezoidal bridge with large saddles, aluminum P knobs, CTS pots, barrel jack, aluminum shielding in the control cavity, Fender style strap buttons. 9 pounds 11 oz that balances very well.

93--"Handcrafted In USA" rounded headstock with block logo, satin finished neck, 1.4" nut, larger footprint open geared tuners, 3 string tree, 1-ply TR cover, black neck plate, alder body with wider lower bout, rectangular bridge with regular saddles, chrome dome knobs, imported pots and standard 1/4" jack on plastic football plate, no cavity shielding, thinner imported strap buttons. Featherweight 8 pounds 1 oz that had a slight urge to neck dive.

It became obvious of the changes Peavey made to keep the costs down on the model. I would postulate that the Made vs Handcrafted in USA verbiage came about with the introduction of more imported parts.

The 93 had a domestic neck and pickups, but everything else was of import vibe and quality, seemingly Korean. There was a silver decal under the neck plate that looked like the serial numbers attached to Korean guitars of the era. It played and sounded terrific, but there were small flaws in the construction that reflected cost savings. The neck pocket was decent, the neck tilt screw routing was a little off center-which required a specific torquing of the neck screws in a certain order to have proper alignment, lots more rubbing compound in the body cavities and a lesser quality paint job. I would compare this Foundation to a current higher end Squier or 90s Mexican Fender.

The 84 has that distinct USA vibe to it. Parts are better quality. It's comparable to a current Mexican or 90s/early 00s American Fender. Since this was the keeper and it had a replaced volume pot, I replaced it with a push/pull pot to make series/parallel pickup combos. A very nice addition to the wide tone palette this bass possesses!

Exceptional review and conclusions...thanks @bigtone. They mirror almost to a T the differences between my early 80 and 90 Fury's. The late Fury is a great player but clearly cheaper all around. The early one easily surpasses in almost every way most USA Fenders I've played.

 

[kodiakblair]

Scotland's Peavey population increased yesterday. I had sworn to myself "no more !! " but weakened resolve caused by meds and not owning a 6 string Peavey I couldn't resist

This lovely TL-6 arrived to match my TL-5. Photos are massive so click the thumbnails OK

 

[ubernator]

FORTY FIVE?!?!!!??!?

 

[kodiakblair]

FORTY FIVE?!?!!!??!?

You keeping score brother ??

 

[ubernator]

You keeping score brother ??

Not really, just because I saw you mention 44 peaveys in the "how many" thread recently, it was fresh on my mind.

I said you either needed more, or you had 2 too many since 42 is the answer to life the universe and everything.

Guess you chose the former.

Brother would be cool, but I would settle for distant cousin

 

[ubernator]

What is the world record for largest peavey bass collection?

 

[kodiakblair]

There's a fella out your way has 100's of Peaveys so he must have a good number of basses too. I'll try and find his name.

 

[kodiakblair]

@ubernator

Fella's name is George Knapp. Can't find a web address though.

 

[ubernator]

@ubernator

Fella's name is George Knapp. Can't find a web address though.

The occasional weekend host of coast to coast AM?

 

[kodiakblair]

The occasional weekend host of coast to coast AM?

No idea brother. We don't get Coast to Coast AM in Scotland

 

[ubernator]

No idea brother. We don't get Coast to Coast AM in Scotland

"Coming to you from coast to coast, and all over the world on the internet"