Peavey Cirrus & Grind (both BXP)

[carl0s]

I'm thinking of buying one of these, used, for ~£250. It means I can sleep at night without worrying anxiously that I have a money spending problem (supposed to be house saving, and I'd rather not sell my Wolfgang guitar).

So a cheap bass like this looks good and means I keep my favourite (and only) guitar.

but, which would you have? The Cirrus, or the Grind ? Both 4 string, neck-through, and both non-USA BXP models.

I think the obvious difference is that the Cirrus has active electronics while the Grind is passive. To be honest, the only active electronics I've been near were those in an electro-acoustic guitar (Tanglewood Odyssey), and it's not something I think I particularly want on my bass guitar - flat batteries, more knobs and buttons to be unsure about, etc. So unless there's a really convincing reason why I would want active pickups, then I think that's one point towards the Grind.

Cirrus seems more readily available used, which means cheaper used, although the Grind is the cheaper one when new, but this might just be because of the pickups/electronics.

I had initially totally written off the idea of these Peaveys because they're all apparently 35" scale, but the Cirrus BXP I just looked at in the music shop looked to be just nice - not too big at all. The neck is very slim at the top too.

In terms of appearances, I think I prefer the Grind with the natural wood finish, over the Cirrus with it's fussy glossy tops.

Any thoughts?

cheers,
Carl

Edited April 17, 2011 by carl0s

[carl0s]

It seems the Grind is available with active pickups, and the Cirrus is available with a natural wood finish, which sort of contradicts what I said earlier, although I still don't think it's possible to get a passive Cirrus.
So I'm thinking natural wood Cirrus. There's one on eBay but it's collection only (250 miles away), and a little overpriced.

[tauzero]

I played the Grind, Cirrus BXP, US Cirrus, and Millennium 5-strings back to back. I preferred the neck on the Grind to the Cirrus, and the BXP Cirrus to the US one. I now have a 6-string Grind but I do find the passive electronics a little restrictive.

[carl0s]

I bought a Cirrus BXP with hard case for £250 on eBay. Comes to me next week.
I didn't want the glossy weirdwood finish really, but I wasn't going to pay a hundred quid more for the dark wood one.

I shall report back on my satisfaction!

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='tauzero' post='1204086' date='Apr 18 2011, 08:23 PM']I played the Grind, Cirrus BXP, US Cirrus, and Millennium 5-strings back to back. I preferred the neck on the Grind to the Cirrus, and the BXP Cirrus to the US one. I now have a 6-string Grind but I do find the passive electronics a little restrictive.[/quote]

Get some passive seymour Duncan basslines in it! Best decision I ever made man. Mine sounds like a jazz bass now

[Candybassed]

I have a 6 string Grind and have also considered upgrading the pickups. However, the tone it produces currently is very even and I think considering it's passive, the tonal variety is not as limited as some would say.

Hand position plays a massive part. I use the bass for jazz, soul, gospel, pop and reggae mainly and it's covered every genre effectively and authentically. The strings I've used so far are Rotosound PSD piano strings (nice) DR High Beams (lot's better) R.Cocco Steels medium gauge (awesome but very pricey!) and also D'Addario Nickel rounds light top medium bottoms (sweet when new and lovely mature played in feel after a few gigs and a very reasonable price from Stringbusters).

I don't agree with the loudness issue, it's a double soapbar which must be louder than any passive P/Jazz.
I had my bass looked over by a shop technician and made my own bridge/saddle height adjustments. To say "the tone is in the hands" would be a tad blase, but there would be a merit of truth in that. I compared a Grind 6 with a 2 grand signature cirrus at PMT in Birmingham and the sub £400 Grind felt and sounded phatter than the Cirrus. I think the Grind is the best bass in it's price range and already easily competes with basses in the sub
£1000 mark. My particular model is roughly 5/6 years old and has the oil look finish. It looks great in photos, the Imbuya wings have a lovely grain. Unfortunately not every Grind looks as good, I've seen some with different coloured wings. So they can be hit and miss aesthetically but tonally I've had it sound deeper and clearer than a £1800 Sadowsky. I'm looking at Bartolinis or modified MM pickups. I'll report the results and if anyone's interested in what I sound like, check this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m900YmvnXQ&list=PL1A1AEE5968004BAE&index=2&feature=plpp_video

Bit of an essay, but this is my bass - I get great results from it and have never had complaints about the tone.

Active electronics with always have a degree of noise, passive is quiet if properly shielded and of course no battery to worry about.