kodiakblair

On 15/05/2023 at 22:41, lidl e said:

I just put a Dimarzio mudbucker

There was no such thing.

The Model One was intended to be a drop-in replacement for EB models but that was all.

Clue is given in the first sentence.

The name Sentell gave to their version makes no bones about it's purpose 😃

5 hours ago, carlsim said:

any other ideas??

Blanking grommets, cheap and reversible 👍

2 hours ago, Bigwan said:

Can anyone suggest somewhere I could pick up a P-bass pickguard, but with a reverse P pickup route?

Speak to Brian Pillans for a one,  contact him through his eBay store  'earlpilanz'   

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/earlpilanz    

Just back from a fantastic Half Man Half Biscuit gig in Edinburgh 🙂

No endless guitar w*nk, no drum solos just a great job done by Neil, Nigel and the 2 Karls; bit awkward typing that since one spells his name with a C 😃

Had a bass I thought would interest Steve.

The man wasted no time in confirming, yes he was interested but concerned about couriers.

Once I allayed the courier concern with promises of bomb-proof packing and multiple labels, it was just a case of getting the Tune to Romford 🙂

Steve was an absolute pleasure to deal with , our wee bit business conducted in a relaxed manner from start to finish.

Thank again Steve, you're a Top Man 👍 

10 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

I've seen musicians fight with audience members before.

I've saw Kyle from The View do that 😄

Pre T in the Park warm up gig, him and a boy in the crowd had a wee set to during the show then had a rematch outside after the gig ended  🤣

@Rayman

I was around the same time but remember the late 70's/ early 80's when Japanese companies changed track, Americans were quaking in their boots.

The toy trade is a good example of the West importing crap. While our shops were full of basic fake Action Man things, Japanese kids had really cool robots.

5 hours ago, Rayman said:

I also had to put up with the awful invasion of terrible Japanese instruments when I started playing

How much of that was down to distributors only ordering instruments which cost buttons to build ?

1 hour ago, Paolo85 said:

I hindsight, they would have fit into the control cavity.

Or tape them to the end of your strap  👍

@crazycloud

It wasn't worth doing for me.

Only did it because I'd a few of them and the body/neck was rough as get out on one. There was the 5 string, another got active EQ; 3rd had humbucker red wires snipped but I left the 4th stock.

Rough as the neck was I got lucky, took a hefty 5 string set of La Bella Jamerson's for 18 months without issue 👍

Don't recall much drop out though I never really played it much, since you're going with a tighter spacing you'll be sound 🙂 

6 hours ago, crazycloud said:

So you were the originator of the T50? Glad to give credit.

Hardly, quite a few tread that path before me 😀

The T-series designer, Chip Todd, built one years after he'd left Peavey. It must have wound it's way to Meridian as a good friend of mine played it, said it was awful 😁

Along with being a fine bass player ,Ronnie was chief engineer of Peavey's mechanical dept. Since he'd easy access to QC fails and stuff smuggled out the door, he decided he'd have a go at a 5 string 40; I followed Ronnie's advice. His method was keep the bridge base plate but scrap the saddles, photo shows just how little coverage 5 strings get with blades.

Sweet bass. 

My bass had toasters, same width of blades just hidden under plastic so doesn't look as tight.

Another convert I know went with a different bridge, Welsh Tim used a Kahler👍

2 hours ago, Twincam said:

 

Clack, clack, click, click, twang, pop. 

 

Un amped slap, of course. 😆

 

Aye, slapping a T-40 is best done unplugged 🙂

Thing is I was being serious, what does a T-40 sound like ?

I've owned a few and through my Peavey collection have spoke with 100s of Peavey owners, none of us could give a definitive description of 'T-40 Tone'. That's a major failing for a "Iconic/Highly Regarded/Sought After/Revered/Classic" 😄 Plenty of words about the tone circuit and the basses it's supposed to (but really doesn't) copy, not a peep about having a signature tone of it's own.

5 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

I never said they were great in practice but bi laminate necks made by a machine was still groundbreaking

 Luke

Matsumoku were using CNC a few years before Peavey, Hartley's "First in the World ! " was BS self promotion. 

While not groundbreaking, Hartley's problem solving skills were impressive. 

Fender puts pressure on music shops selling Peavey amps, to sell Fender guitars they must also sell their amps. Hartley decides to counter by giving stores Peavey guitars to sell alongside his amps.

He's painfully aware neither his workforce nor local labour pool is up to the task of guitar building. Solution, he gets machines in.

Spray shop is inexperienced. Sod it, we'll only do natural matt until they get experience.

There's other examples but you get the gist 👍

48 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

Two piece neck design for stability, and using gun cases as a carry case... there were more things that were fairly groundbreaking too on it I think? 

Peavey may have applied for a patent but it wasn't an original idea, my 1968 Wilson Sapphire has a 'bi-laminate' neck. 

As the years have progressed it also turned out not such a hot idea. Split glue seams are not uncommon, micro tilt puts pressure directly on the glue seam, TR arches up towards fretboard; again directly on the glue seam.  Their bi-laminate also wasn't that stable, "Warped Necks" in the US does good business straightening old Peavey necks.

The 'spin-a-split' tone pot was another recycled idea, Dan Armstrong had used and discarded it back in 71 or 72.

The 'chainsaw' case started life as a Peavey product though I doubt they intended the fur to fall off so easily nor the foam to degrade into sticky goo but that's what often happened.

A nice touch was a labelled scratchplate overlay film, trouble was when left too long or in sunshine it bonded to the scratchplate. Stapling a pie tin inside the control cavity for shielding wasn't such a great idea 😄

8 hours ago, LowB_FTW said:

It has to be the biggest bass bridge I think I've ever seen!

Is there a 5-string version?!?

It's a chunky unit.  6lbs of metal on a T-40, bridge accounts for 1/5th.

No 5 string version, Peavey didn't venture into 5 strings until after they'd scrapped the T-40.

2 hours ago, Twincam said:

But vastly different specs to make it actually sound like one. 

How does a T-40 sound exactly ?

1 hour ago, Paolo85 said:

Does anybody know if the bridge pickup is in proper Musicman position?

On the T-40 it was 3/4" closer the bridge than on a Stingray.

Passive tone pot vs Stingray active EQ is another thing entirely 👍

4 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

  I think this is something to do with seeing Ross Valory/Journey using one.

Many make that connection but delve no deeper than the T-40/Vallory advert.

Journey got a backline/PA deal from Peavey, part of the deal was Ross play a T-40. Apart from the live album made on that tour, no Journey tracks feature a T-40.

I've owned a few, mainly for masochistic reasons since TBH I don't think they play or sound that great 😄 The 'secret sounds' thing is mostly bollocks, suggestion more than substance.

6 hours ago, crazycloud said:

I've seen a couple converted to 5s and I might do that later my making a new bridge and neck once I get the CNC dialled in.

You'll likely need to make new pickups too, the blades don't lend themselves to wider string spacing. From memory the steel used was 63mm long. 

I kept the original neck for my 5 string conversion, not a wide neck to begin with. Think I got 15.6mm

13 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Yes, that sums how I feel about this up pretty good.

So you feel like a can of Gammon ?

I suggested the can as a substitute drawing aid for those not owning a French curve set. Thread is concerned with how you reshape a peghead; the why has no relevance .

Last time I bought any vinyl was the late 80s. Of the 10 CDs purchased this century, 6 are still in the wrapper.

Can't stand the radio, the drivel spoken by presenters drives me up the wall. No streaming services either.

I've an MP3 folder in the PC and a duplicate flash drive in the car, those 998 files are more than enough for the rare times I listen to music now.

14 minutes ago, Beedster said:

had no idea this was such a well trodden path 👍

It is with me, apart from from my headless slab body, most of my builds get the 51/Telecaster peghead 🙂

@Beedster

6 maybe 7 years back reshaping the Harley Benton PB-50 peghead was a popular thing. I'd done a few and when the peghead topic popped up would send those interested BC members templates.

The original templates I knocked up were like this, for routers, a bit OTT since I learned none of the BC folk had routers 😀 

A quick rethink  saw the printed templates stiffened with vinyl floor tiles from the £1 shop, I used vinyl in my "Reshaping Peghead" thread.

Vinyl is much easier to trace around.

Prep work is a doddle, stick printed PDF to tile, score and snap straight lines using a ruler and craft knife. Curves can be cut freehand or you could use a 'French Curve' set.

Don't fancy freehand but no French Curve set ... handy alternatives.

An aerosol can is great for the tighter curves, while the large Ye Olde Oak Gammon Ham tin is perfect for the longer curves.

1 hour ago, tauzero said:

But the mono saddle blocks need moving

You don't move the actual unit, just the string height blocks.

There's not a great deal of sideway room in the slot, flat file to the block's edge solves that.

It's the method I used on my T-40 5 string conversion. Whole process takes about 30 minutes, that's including removing material from the bottom for lower action.

4 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

String spacing is much less than 18mm. Excellent basses otherwise.

Bridge saddle blocks can moved on earlier models with mono saddles.

Later models shipped with Sung IL BB285 bridges, spacing on those is fixed at 18mm. 

I've one of those, obviously mine wasn't owned by Mr Wetton 😄

Great basses GLWTS

On 29/04/2023 at 13:44, Gardenerben said:

Looking forward to your suggestions. Cheers

Peavey Grind ticks all your boxes.

Control cavity on the back has ample space should you wish active EQ, pickup cavities accept EMG 45s.

Probably pick one up for £250 tops.