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U.S. Peavey Club

#12,041
Whelp...
I love Super Ferrites and those great 80s Peavey Foundations, that has been a well known fact for a while now.
However, my preference is 5 string basses, especially with active electronics.
I have wanted to have an era appropriate 5 string for my 80s cover band, the obvious choice would be a late 80s 5 string Foundation or Dyna. However, they have pretty narrow spacing. I'm somewhat set in my ways with wider string spacing since I cut my teeth on Fender 5ers over 20 years ago.
Therefore, I strung and set up my 85 Dyna in BEAD tuning. First time I have done this to a bass.
A quick play on it this morning confirms that it works pretty well like this. Taking it to practice tonight for the final pre show test.
It and 94 Forum Plus (loaded with passive Wilde P46/J45) are my presumed one-two punch for the 80s gigs. They should cover the varied tones I use: active J-type that can somewhat mock other basses via onboard EQ tweaks, passive J-type, passive P-type.
As a bonus, if I ever find myself in a doom or metal band, I have a fully murdered out* Dyna set up for drop tunings. ;):D

*at some point in it's life, the output jack and passive/active switch were replaced with chrome. I have ordered new black ones to get rid of any reflective twinkle on the bass. Also considering a set of normal black chrome domes for volume/blend and smaller black chrome domes for the EQ, just because I don't particularly care for the original plastic knobs on this beauty.
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#12,042
Have you considered DADG or CGCF? Or you could do either tuning and add a D-tuner, or the 2 step D-tuner that can drop to two different lower notes of your choosing?

I like keeping my high notes. That’s why I have opted for DADG and CGCF before.

Also, if you choose to try, juststrings sells single strings. I’ve put together DR sets of 110-85-65-45 and 125-90-70-50 for the tunings above.
 
#12,043
I have done the drop d thing, I have a Jazz Bass with a Hipshot on it.
I’m mostly playing the standard tuned Forum Plus with the band, but there are a handful of songs where I need the lower notes. Not really needing to keep the higher register intact and BEAD keeps my fingering and positioning the same.
Plus, I had never tried BEAD, novelty always gets a fair shake!

It was surprisingly easy to convert. Just had to slightly widen the nut slots, touch up the intonation on the Low B and new A strings and give the truss a 1/4 turn tightening. I was certainly expecting more set up work.
Running a set of cheap-o EB 130 100 80 60 on it to try. Will commit to nicer strings if this pans out.
 
#12,046
I spotted an older Foundation in my local Guitar Center. It was natural/maple and did not weigh too much. I was tempted to buy it at the low price of $229 but found several things about it that made me walk away.

Someone had really worn the body in the area that most slap damage occurs. It was rough. The bridge saddles were quite low and about out of adjustment. The neck did not seem to be down in the neck pocket as it should have been. It looked like perhaps the neck had been shimmed on both ends to get the action down. Truss rod cover was missing.

It played okay and sounded good but I was not keen on dealing with the issues so I walked.
 
#12,051
Chuck M said:
I spotted an older Foundation in my local Guitar Center. It was natural/maple and did not weigh too much. I was tempted to buy it at the low price of $229 but found several things about it that made me walk away.

Someone had really worn the body in the area that most slap damage occurs. It was rough. The bridge saddles were quite low and about out of adjustment. The neck did not seem to be down in the neck pocket as it should have been. It looked like perhaps the neck had been shimmed on both ends to get the action down. Truss rod cover was missing.

It played okay and sounded good but I was not keen on dealing with the issues so I walked.
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sounds like it may have just needed a setup. IF it was mahogany -- foundations do get ragged near the GString... it's part of the patina
SilverFleet said:
Yeah, $80. :crying:

There's an "International Series" Milestone II for the same price locally, but that seems about right for that. Not sure if that one is worth picking up.
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Some of the initial Milestones were fantastic... I believe the first gen were made in Indonesia.... they do take a few hours with a file to get ironed out.
 
#12,053
Runnerman said:
Whenever there is a missing truss rod cover I walk. If someone can't take the time to replace it after an adjustment, then they aren't the kind of person I want to buy a used bass from.
Click to expand...

I always assume they broke when removing/reinstalling since they are curved. Thankfully mine is still in 1 piece, though it does have some hairline cracks.
 
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#12,057
kodiakblair said:
Never thought of the RJ-IV as boutique. It's basically a Unity with a couple of tweaks. Design flaw ? I'll go with the DIP switches hidden inside the control cavity. Maybe one of these days I'll open it up to see what they do but I'm in no hurry :laugh:
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Nope -- bridge... look at the geometry.

I have $10k+ basses... I can get a RJ to go way beyond a unity

Shheesh.. my conklin has like 15 dipswitches inside.. a rotary switch on the outside... bunch of switches.. and no.. nver touch them
 
#12,058
MNAirHead said:
Nope -- bridge... look at the geometry.

I have $10k+ basses... I can get a RJ to go way beyond a unity

Shheesh.. my conklin has like 15 dipswitches inside.. a rotary switch on the outside... bunch of switches.. and no.. nver touch them
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I'm looking at the bridge right now. Can't see a problem. Action isn't the lowest, 2mm at the 17th. Got 3mm still on the saddle grub screws,to drop it lower the bridge pickup needs lowered. Fairly standard procedure with a PJ.

How thick was the Conklin manual :laugh:
 
#12,060
Chuck M said:
I spotted an older Foundation in my local Guitar Center. It was natural/maple and did not weigh too much. I was tempted to buy it at the low price of $229 but found several things about it that made me walk away.

Someone had really worn the body in the area that most slap damage occurs. It was rough. The bridge saddles were quite low and about out of adjustment. The neck did not seem to be down in the neck pocket as it should have been. It looked like perhaps the neck had been shimmed on both ends to get the action down. Truss rod cover was missing.

It played okay and sounded good but I was not keen on dealing with the issues so I walked.
Click to expand...
Shimmed the neck? I want lightweight basses but a few years ago that bass was under $100....not anymore especially for a light one....shimmed guitars are fine if done correctly.
 

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