Probably something G&L
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Which bass will be the next T-40?
- Thread starter Ryan X Decent
- Start date
Agreed with all the G&L posts.
I'll never understand the T40 resurgence. My guess is bass buyers are older and more about collecting/nostalgia than actually gigging their instruments these days.
I remember a few years ago when I saw someone asking $600 for one. I thought the seller was out of his mind. Peavey was in every music store around me in the 80s/90s. You could find a T40 at every pawn shop for $100 or less.
I'll never understand the T40 resurgence. My guess is bass buyers are older and more about collecting/nostalgia than actually gigging their instruments these days.
I remember a few years ago when I saw someone asking $600 for one. I thought the seller was out of his mind. Peavey was in every music store around me in the 80s/90s. You could find a T40 at every pawn shop for $100 or less.
I agree with the ATK. However, there are way too many of them around, in many different trims. And while Peavey made a lot of T-40s, they’re still fairly hard to come by.
My vote goes to the Dave Bunker-built Ibanez USATK from the 1990’s. There were only a few hundred made, so they’re already primed for cult status.
USA-made? Check. Unusual controls? Check. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” looks? Check. Unnecessarily large bridge assembly? Check!
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the next T-40.
View attachment 5325704
in a funny way, this is accurate because a big problem with the T-40 was getting to that truss rod.
many (most) of these usa-ATK basses have non-functioning truss rods. the bunker concept was very cool but in practice did not work and many of them either broke or cracked the neck wood up near the 2nd-3rd fret or near the headstock.
otherwise those were super, super cool basses. i had one for a short while and was really disappointed that it could've been perfect if it had a working truss rod.
My T40 was made in Mississippi in an American factory, and it set the mark in low end presence for every bass I owned thereafter. Very few have been better. They would have a price of about 3000+ today (if the company had managed to survive the stockholder trend to offshore which has lessened a lot since) I sold it because of weight, it was heavier than my SD Curlee, my Guild, my fretless Rick, my Ibanez, and my Vantage. Just about the same weight as my Mahogany/ebony Carvin, but the Carvin has infinate sustain. I Have heard that some old Fenders were heavy, ash can be heavy, but I wouldn't know. I payed a 50s Tele bass once that was as light as a feather and Resonant.
TL;DR for the 4 other pages, so I don't know if it was mentioned, but the Ibanez ATK basically followed a similar path (the earlier, single pickup runs from Japan/Korea mostly).
They were well made basses, but tended to be hefty.
For a long time, you could find them dirt cheap. People wrote them off as just a basic MM copy.
Then, once people started to realize that they were pretty amazing, prices went up and supplies became scarce.
While they haven't quite reached the peaks that the T40 has seen, they are no longer dirt cheap, that's for sure!
They were well made basses, but tended to be hefty.
For a long time, you could find them dirt cheap. People wrote them off as just a basic MM copy.
Then, once people started to realize that they were pretty amazing, prices went up and supplies became scarce.
While they haven't quite reached the peaks that the T40 has seen, they are no longer dirt cheap, that's for sure!
Maybe a Godin Shifter? Godin are USA/Canada built, high quality, mid-level, not too expensive and surfing under the radar. I don't own a Godin bass but my Godin Exit 22 guitar is fantastic.
The next T40 will be coming from a Chinese off-brand maker who will use concrete for the body. Keep your eyes peeled on Ali Baba.
While I never put my T40 on a scale, it was much heavier than any bass I had before or since. Mostly Jazz basses but nothing that even came close to the weight of my ash body T40. The weight was not a problem and had nothing to do with why I got rid of it, I just didn’t care for the neck and when I had a chance to get a really slim necked Foundation, I gladly traded the T40 in on one.
Yeah, except the T-40! I got mine in high school (1983), and even as a pretty athletic kid, I bought a flexible neoprene strap to manage the weight. I loved the darned thing though.
Agreed, and I'm thinking the M-2000/M-2500 because G&L recently took them out of production, both for USA and Tribute lines (though apparently they are available through the Custom Shop). Presumably this was because they didn't sell very well, but they are fantastic basses, so I could imagine them becoming highly sought-after on the used market as more players experience them.
So where did the "T40 is sought after" thing come from?
While I know there are some people who really dig the T40, I also think what made it kind of cool is that you could get it for really cheap and it would yield a plethora of semi-useable sounds. Now that people are in the "don't lowball me, I know what I've got" stage...it's way less desirable for me personally.
As for predicting the next T40...if we could predict it, it wouldn't be the next T40. Noone in their right mind would expect the T40 to be worth more than $300-400...
While I know there are some people who really dig the T40, I also think what made it kind of cool is that you could get it for really cheap and it would yield a plethora of semi-useable sounds. Now that people are in the "don't lowball me, I know what I've got" stage...it's way less desirable for me personally.
As for predicting the next T40...if we could predict it, it wouldn't be the next T40. Noone in their right mind would expect the T40 to be worth more than $300-400...
There will be NO next T-40.
Show me a mass produced American bass which became affordable on the used market outside of Peavey?
This thread has cognitive dissonance.
Show me a mass produced American bass which became affordable on the used market outside of Peavey?
This thread has cognitive dissonance.
As a one time owner of an Ovation Magnum I got for $400 twenty years ago and sold for $1200 seven years ago, I'm shocked at what these guys are getting listed for now. Once that market caught fire, it was blazing.
So Anyway, all in good fun.
The old Peavey stuff is still around, still working....still compressing L1-5.
The old Peavey stuff is still around, still working....still compressing L1-5.
The current listings are crackulous, t-40s sell under $800.
But to answer your question the only option would be carvin because nothing else is cheap and USA made and “undervalued”. The EB Subs don’t count because everyone that buys them just wants a stingray.
But to answer your question the only option would be carvin because nothing else is cheap and USA made and “undervalued”. The EB Subs don’t count because everyone that buys them just wants a stingray.
Honestly I think the only reason T-40s are so hyped is because at a certain point in history they were a fairly versatile bass that was made in the USA that you could buy for like 300-400 bucks, those days are long gone. but now there are plenty of other USA peaveys ($400-500) and like others have said older Carvin/kiesel ($500-900) models that go for reasonable prices.
I thought the Peavey T-40s were made of Oak. I made a Tele body out of Oak. Sustain for days but heavy as a black hole.
