Peavey - don’t seem to see them much?

[Minininjarob]

I read on here some folk talking fondly about having Peavey basses in the past but I rarely see new ones for sale or even discussed. 
A friend came round my house at the weekend with a new £300 Peavey PJ bass and while it wasn’t my thing in the way it looked it sounded really good to me and the setup from factory was excellent. 
Must admit to not knowing anything about the brand to be honest. 

[Little Dragon]

I have a couple of nearly identical International Series Peaveys that I have picked up at different times for very little money and they are a lot better than they have any right to be. Would love to try one of the more high end models. 

[Bassman1974]

Had a Peavey Zephyr. Nice enough to play, but the neck pickup was waaaaaay to close to the neck heel. Gigged it once then sold it on. Looked cool though.

[AlexDelores]

The first bass I owned was a Peavey Milestone 2 which I still have. For a budget beginner pack bass it’s cracking! 
 

Funnily enough I’ve been listening to a band called Microwave a lot recently and really like his bass tone. I realised yesterday morning that he plays an old Peavey! 

[Geek99]

Isn’t @kodiakblair knowledgable about these ? 

[Sean]

I had a neck-through cherry sunburst, figured maple, USA twin soapbar, preamp model at one time. It was absolutely exquisite but they were changing hands for peanuts in comparison to other USA basses, especially stuff with that level of construction.

[Sean]

T40s we're really sought after at one point but I remember playing one and it is probably to this day the heaviest "normal" 4 string bass I've ever picked up. It must've been 12-14 lb.

Edited February 25 by Sean

[kodiakblair]

1 hour ago, Geek99 said:

Isn’t @kodiakblair knowledgable about these ? 

Owned 68 of them so know a bit about them.

 

OP's Milestone comes from the Samick factory, Peavey haven't built any instruments themselves since 2010.

[3below]

2 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Owned 68 of them so know a bit about them.

 

OP's Milestone comes from the Samick factory, Peavey haven't built any instruments themselves since 2010.

Explains why the milestones are such a bargain used, the last one I bought was £80, including a Hiscox hard case. Well made and light.

[kodiakblair]

10 minutes ago, 3below said:

Explains why the milestones are such a bargain used

Och, nobody is paying big money for Peaveys whatever their origin 🙂

 

 

They're popular with a small crowd in the USA, mostly those low on cash but high on the desire to own anything 'MIA'. Elsewhere they're not really noted as a brand, I think it's down to the timing.

 

First Peavey guitars and basses (T-series) came out in 1978, two things were happening then. Quality of US instruments was pretty poor, late era Gibson/Norlin & Fender/CBS. Japan moving away from supplying cheap copies to good quality original designs. T-series wouldn't have looked out of place in 1973-74 but were old hat in 78.

 

This habit of being 4 years behind everyone else is one they never managed to kick 🙂 

[mep]

I've recently been given an old Milestone 3 and am impressed by it.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

Have a look for the Undercover Boss episode with Peavey, it's quite the eye opener!

[AlexDelores]

9 minutes ago, mep said:

I've recently been given an old Milestone 3 and am impressed by it.

Actually, I now realise mine is a milestone 3 also not 2! 😂 

[Doctor J]

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/undercover-boss-usa/on-demand/59472-012

[kodiakblair]

2 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Have a look for the Undercover Boss episode with Peavey, it's quite the eye opener!

That was not a good look, I'm always surprised they agreed to take part.

 

Only saving grace was all my contacts there had moved on years before.

 

Sad thing is we get outraged at Peavey but it's just how US manufacturing is done, there was no union at Peavey; no union at FMIC, Gibson EBMM nor G&L. Think you can guess the union policy at RIC 🤣

 

Back on the Milestone topic.

 

My pal Ronnie was head engineer for Peavey, when the neck on his T-40 went to s**t he replaced with with a Milestone neck; added a peghead pinstripe with a Sharpie and called it job done 🙂

[Minininjarob]

3 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Have a look for the Undercover Boss episode with Peavey, it's quite the eye opener!

I just looked that up - and now I remember watching it years ago! I’d forgotten about it. Yeah they did NOT come across well in that. Unfortunately these things stick for years. 

[Eric_Wombat]

Not a USA made Peavey but I do like my Millennium BXP

[prowla]

Richard Hammond seems to have a T-40.

[Rodders]

I learnt on a Milestone III (still have it but don't play it), always liked the look of the Cirrus basses and some of the 90's models. 

Was it the Dyna models that sometimes had a graphite/carbon fibre neck?  

[Sean]

This is the same as the one I had. It's so long ago I can't remember much about it other than it being beautifully made.

 

https://reverb.com/ca/item/3838585-peavey-vintage-1987-dyna-bass-unity-series-neck-thru-active-passive-usa-made-80s

[kodiakblair]

4 hours ago, Rodders said:

Was it the Dyna models that sometimes had a graphite/carbon fibre neck?  

There were a couple of models.

 

Peavey signed up Brian Bromberg for a signature bass and allowed him to go to town. Called the B-Quad, they came with Modulus CF necks.

 

This is my one .

 

 

Few years later, 1998, they revisited CF necks but this time it was a under-sized maple neck with a carbon wrap. There was the 4 string model, G-Bass, 5 string G-V.

 

Mistaken identity/crossed wires/wishful thinking have led to an urban myth the G-Bass/G-V also had Modulus necks, total BS 🤣 My old pal recalled the raw necks were shipped out to a gun factory, Bell & Carlson, for wrapping. 

 

Never found a G-V but did snag a G-Bass.

 

[kodiakblair]

4 hours ago, Sean said:

This is the same as the one I had.

Had a couple of those.

 

Left is the Dyna-Unity, centre a standard DynaBass, right is a Unity.

 

 

On the right my, now sold, Dyna-Unity Koa.

 

[WHUFC BASS]

Got a few Peavys, two Foundations and a TL5 in natural. Still looking for a black TL5 with gold hardware... Ahem @kodiakblair😂

[kodiakblair]

3 minutes ago, WHUFC BASS said:

Still looking for a black TL5 with gold hardware... Ahem @kodiakblair😂

Afraid I can't help if it's a 1st gen model, mine now lives in Hungary.

 

Still have a 2nd gen 🙂

 

[ajkula66]

On 25/02/2025 at 17:50, kodiakblair said:

 

 

Sad thing is we get outraged at Peavey but it's just how US manufacturing is done, there was no union at Peavey; no union at FMIC, Gibson EBMM nor G&L. Think you can guess the union policy at RIC 🤣

 

 

OT, but Gibson was a union shop while in Kalamazoo, MI. If you look at any acoustic guitar from that era it will have a sticker inside of it stating that it was union made. One of the main reasons IMO why Norlin had decided to move out of there. This is from my '64 Epiphone - already owned by Gibson/CMI at the time - acoustic. Lower left corner of the sticker...

 

Edited February 27 by ajkula66