With US-made Peavey guitars coming back...

[songwriter21]

@kodiakblair

How on Earth did you get action that low with the stock bridge?!? I only got action that low with the ABMs on my old G-Vs, because of the neck tilt feature.

I LOL'd at this. Great description!

I was wailing away on Pantera's "I'm Broken" last night...Spector said hello, too.

@mtdkingstonheir
With the re-issues costing $1000 expect a USA to be at least double.
I see poor sales in the UK for a £2000 USA Cirrus re-issue when a used USA can be had for £400 -£450.[/QUOTE]

I would gladly pay for a new, US-made Peavey masterpiece...best bass I've ever had. These are getting rarer by the day, too.

 

[kodiakblair]

@songwriter21
If you remember the last time we discussed low action/ABM bridges & Cirrus I'd stopped where I was due to the bridge pickup height. Back then I still had probably 2mm play left on the height blocks. I was sailing to close to the pickup so simply lowered it,after that I dropped the height blocks their lowest. Just lifted them till I was buzz free

Course all basses are slightly different so what works on one doesn't mean it'll work for the next one of the production line. Everytime I think back to your posts in the Cirrus owners thread I can't shake the feeling neck relief is playing a part.

Still you got it sorted now so it's in the past

 

[BlueAliceOasis]

The return of lighter T-40s?

 

[songwriter21]

@songwriter21
If you remember the last time we discussed low action/ABM bridges & Cirrus I'd stopped where I was due to the bridge pickup height. Back then I still had probably 2mm play left on the height blocks. I was sailing to close to the pickup so simply lowered it,after that I dropped the height blocks their lowest. Just lifted them till I was buzz free

Course all basses are slightly different so what works on one doesn't mean it'll work for the next one of the production line. Everytime I think back to your posts in the Cirrus owners thread I can't shake the feeling neck relief is playing a part.

Still you got it sorted now so it's in the past

Ah, right, I remember...sort of. I'll never forget making a bastard-hybrid from four different bridges, though.

I always get my necks as flat as possible. I have a liiiiiitle buzz, but not much. I like Anthony Jackson's way of thinking, to get the neck as flat as you can, so to get the action and response as even as possible.

 

[bolophonic]

I had a 4-string Cirrus made in Indonesia about seven years ago. It had a quilted Maple top and looked, sounded and played amazing. The only issue with the 5-piece laminate neck, was that unfortunately it was not very strong. I could not fret a note on the E string and play an octave above it at the same time without it bending the neck out of tune. Even trying to do a slight bend to the neck for vibrato when letting harmonics ring would completely make the strings touch the frets it was brutal, so unfortunately I had to take it back. If I saw a 5-string Cirrus come on the market though USA made, I would be tempted to get one of those. A very versatile sounding bass guitar.

No offense, but a story about a neck that bends when you fret an octave sounds.... made up.

 

[kodiakblair]

Personally I find the BXP Cirrus to be a great bass. Got one of the later 34" scale with the bubinga veneer.
Another with a very low action.1.25mm on G and 1.5mm on E.
@songwriter21 fear not,I took a file to the bottom of the string heigh blocks

Why do I think it's great ? It's strung with medium gauge flats and I see no benefit for those using a 35" scale. The neck feels good and though for years I've planned a rub with Scotchbrite it's never happened yet. Get my normal Cirrus tones from the G&B built Cirrus preamp. Ever play a Spector with the Tone Pump ? That's G&B,do pickups for EMG too.

Common complaint I hear is they are built from inferior materials to USA models. Well if they weren't Peavey would have plenty explaining to do,mine cost £150 Decent basses at very affordable prices. Mike Powers (RIP) was in charge overseas for years and I don't believe he'd allow poor quality goods on his watch.

@Pbassmanca
If one Indonesian Cirrus caused you to write off a whole range I hope you never play an 80's USA Fender

 

[Pbassmanca]

No offense, but a story about a neck that bends when you fret an octave sounds.... made up.

I know it sounds crazy but I took it back to the store and their bass guy who's a heavy player in Toronto agreed with me the neck was like rubber. He found the same issue when he was playing the bass. I really liked it and didn't want to take it back. You wouldn't believe it , if I played the G on the E string and then a G at the same time on the D string you could hear the two notes being out of phase from the neck bending from the pressure of my thumb in my fingers. It was unbelievable, they gave me a refund no questions asked.

 

[Pbassmanca]

Personally I find the BXP Cirrus to be a great bass. Got one of the later 34" scale with the bubinga veneer.
Another with a very low action.1.25mm on G and 1.5mm on E.
@songwriter21 fear not,I took a file to the bottom of the string heigh blocks

Why do I think it's great ? It's strung with medium gauge flats and I see no benefit for those using a 35" scale. The neck feels good and though for years I've planned a rub with Scotchbrite it's never happened yet. Get my normal Cirrus tones from the G&B built Cirrus preamp. Ever play a Spector with the Tone Pump ? That's G&B,do pickups for EMG too.

Common complaint I hear is they are built from inferior materials to USA models. Well if they weren't Peavey would have plenty explaining to do,mine cost £150 Decent basses at very affordable prices. Mike Powers (RIP) was in charge overseas for years and I don't believe he'd allow poor quality goods on his watch.

@Pbassmanca
If one Indonesian Cirrus caused you to write off a whole range I hope you never play an 80's USA Fender

It didn't cause me the write off the whole line, I just think that that particular neck was not a good one. Too bad though cuz I really like that bass....

 

[Nephilymbass]

Was checking out some peavey basses on sweetwaters site. Looks like they are still selling mainly basswood body Indonesia made basses. I think the "power plate" thing is hidious the prices are reasonable. My first bass 23 years ago was a peavey fury p bass copy. Served me well for about 6 or 7 years.

Want to see a hilarious picture? This was around 94 lol

 

[fretter]

Non-NAFTA imports equal large profits, domestic equals a loss. It's a real catch-22 for companies. Maybe MIM is the way to go.

 

[kodiakblair]

@fretter
What benefit would "MIM" bring ? Will those folks who currently don't buy Peaveys made in Indonesia suddenly start buying Mexican Peaveys ?

Most companies know the market for USA builds is limited. G&L,Lakland and Spector all have overseas builds. Heck so do Dingwall and Sadowsky.

Those BXPs are solid sellers worldwide. The Grind is still going strong after 14-15 years,USA model lasted almost 3 years.

 

[perfektspace6]

The problem Peavey runs into with the MIA Cirrus is that to make money they would probably have to price them towards the $2500 to $3000 range. Once you get into the price range there is a lot of competition. The southeast Asian basses are great for the price but I don't see them being anywhere close to the quality of what the USA shop was pumping out.

 

[kodiakblair]

I agree with you there @perfektspace6. Competition would be deadly,bad in the US but near hopeless elsewhere.

$2500 - $3000 would turn into at 3500-4500 euros by the time distributors costs and import tax/VAT were added. That's European custom build prices,Skelf at ACG would build anything I desired for less.
I do however disagree about SE Asia quailty. There's no reason for lesser quality,that's a company decision.Normally done to protect USA production,think Fender MIM.They own the Mexican factory,supply the parts,even have their own QC team checking. If the MIM are lower quality then they want it that way.

About 10 year back the JHS owned brand Vintage decided to up their game with the V1005/V1005 basses. The quality was easily on par with my USA Cirrus,I'd say my 5 string spalted maple beat them.Vintage slashed their profits to establish the new direction but faced the same trouble as Peavey,folks weren't prepared to pay the money. The Vintages were £299 !! It was a darn shame,lovely bass.