Peavey Basses, how usable are the new ones?

[sykilz]

Looking for a back up in a gigging pub rock band, for when the Warwick is....unsuitable lets say....(dodgy pubs)...... Saw the Peavey Milleniums and Grind models on Richtones website, and also some used ones on the 'bay, are they servicable for the money, I like thin necks and, like I say, pub rock gigs, so no need to be ultra versatile, just reasonably solid. And cheap.

[winterfire666]

i tried the one with the seymour duncan 1/4 lbers , cant remember the model number but it was a pj and around £330 , it was awesome, great action/playability and sounded massive too, if i was looking for a cheap backup bass that would be it.

[chrismuzz]

Absolutely! The modern Grind basses with the new chunkier bridge can't go as low on the action as I'd personally like (I like it fret rattingly low) but they're very well made basses. Milleniums are pretty good, but would feel quite cheap compared to your Warwicks. Go for a USA model if you can find one as they feel more solid and well made.

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='winterfire666' timestamp='1393951520' post='2386195']
i tried the one with the seymour duncan 1/4 lbers , cant remember the model number but it was a pj and around £330 , it was awesome, great action/playability and sounded massive too, if i was looking for a cheap backup bass that would be it.
[/quote]

Peavey Zodiac DE Scorpio. Amazing bass for the money. There was one for sale on here recently.

[sykilz]

Marvellous, thanks, was wondering if they'd compare favourably to say an Ibanez 500/300,really liked the ones of those I tried. Not really expecting something as "substantial" as the Warwick to be fair, for years I had a Washburn X 100 ( I think ) cheapy as a back up to a very expensive Washburn, and liked the cheapy just as much!

[winterfire666]

if you find one wih the seymour duncans grab it, they sound a hell of a lot better than the others, perfect for rock and metal :^)

[Paul S]

This one is for sale in the classifieds. Made in USA, quality instrument for the cost of a Squier.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/229735-peavey-foundation-bass-made-in-the-usa-white-with-rosewood-fretboard/page__p__2378184__hl__peavey__fromsearch__1#entry2378184"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/229735-peavey-foundation-bass-made-in-the-usa-white-with-rosewood-fretboard/page__p__2378184__hl__peavey__fromsearch__1#entry2378184[/url]

[White Cloud]

[quote name='sykilz' timestamp='1393952068' post='2386205']
Marvellous, thanks, was wondering if they'd compare favourably to say an Ibanez 500/300,really liked the ones of those I tried. Not really expecting something as "substantial" as the Warwick to be fair, for years I had a Washburn X 100 ( I think ) cheapy as a back up to a very expensive Washburn, and liked the cheapy just as much!
[/quote]
Great basses for the price, you just can't go wrong at that price point with the Peavey.

I would say that the Ibanez will feel much closer to the Warwick though (especially the 500).

[sykilz]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1393952855' post='2386219']
This one is for sale in the classifieds. Made in USA, quality instrument for the cost of a Squier.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/229735-peavey-foundation-bass-made-in-the-usa-white-with-rosewood-fretboard/page__p__2378184__hl__peavey__fromsearch__1#entry2378184"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/229735-peavey-foundation-bass-made-in-the-usa-white-with-rosewood-fretboard/page__p__2378184__hl__peavey__fromsearch__1#entry2378184[/url]
[/quote]
Cheers, that does look nice, in a late 80's hair metal way ( thats good, for me who loved that era! ).

[funkle]

I tried out a few Millenniums - BXP and AC BXP 4s, and a BXP 5. All at Guitar Guitar. The AC means active pickups and preamp. Tried through an Ashdown Evo Neo (2x10, I think; combo).

The BXP 4s felt good to me, with lovely Jazz width necks and a thin profile. Jazz pickups and VVT controls. Solid jazz type sounds, very straightforward. Cheap hardware. Low action would require shimming the neck when I looked at the saddles. Light, extremely well balanced (better than I found on just about any other instrument, including those I own), and once properly set up (action lowered, etc) they will be decent instruments. The rosewood looked very dry on the instruments I tried but the frets looked decent and no fret sprout. Bargain for the money, I think. The wood used for the neck was merely ok looking but it seemed solid enough. The finishes were ok. The quilts and bursts were generally not my cup of tea.

Definitely budget instruments but quite workable.

The BXP 5er had the best feeling neck on a 5 string I have tried. Narrow at the nut, slender profile front to back, I suspect R hand string spacing was 17.5mm. It felt great and again balanced well. Sounded jazz-ish and comments above applied to this model also. B string sounded ok enough to me, most shop amps don't seem to me to cope too well with the low B. Better bridge than on the 4 string, individual units which allowed multiple sorts of stringing.

The AC version of the 4 string sounded really really good. Just great. Modern, punchy sound, solid EQ (the high end seemed a little tame with these pickups/system, but not to the extent I wouldn't buy one). Burpy on the back pickup and hollow in the front when solo'd, what more do you expect? Just a shockingly good sound for such a small amount of money. I own 2 Celinders, by the way...

I liked the sounds out of the Millennium AC BXP 4 better than the stock Lakland 44-01 (rosewood board) which I also tried.

If they had a Millennium 5 AC BXP in the shop I would have walked out the door with it. (I've been looking for a cheap 5er.) The AC versions are just plain bargainous for the sound that comes out of them. Way better than the plain BXP versions.

I can only imagine what the USA versions of the Milenniums were like - pretty good, I would think.

Edited March 26, 2014 by funkle

[funkle]

Bass Player review of Millennium BXP AC 4:

http://m.bassplayer.com/article/peavey-millennium-4-ac-bxp/5199

[geoffbyrne]

I had a Cirrus BXP V & it had probably the nicest neck I've ever played. It's Achilles Heel were the electronics - defo a bit iffy in the respect the pan wasn't very even, but otherwise OK. If the previous owner hadn't reamed the truss rod nut by hacking it with varous unsuitable tools, I'd probably still have it.

The Subway Bluesband stuff in my sig. is recorded using it - mainly the neck pickup.

I can also suggest the Yamaha BB414/415 as having a lovely slim jazz-type neck and not very expensive.

G.

[funkle]

OK, I tried out a Millennium 5 AC BXP (made in Indonesia), and it was ok. Very much a budget instrument, on closer examination.

The sound was good enough, and I thought the B was decent enough. On a par with Ibanezes I've tried. One of the tuners was strangely hard to turn in comparison to the others. The deep black finish was well done and attractive. The model I picked up was very light, so suffered a little neck dive when seated, though none when standing. The monorail system for the bridge is actually fairly fiddly to set height and intonate on and I couldn't lower the saddles enough to get a low set-up. I'd have had to shim the neck or grind the underside of each individual saddle down a little further. The nut slots were cut too high, another annoyance, making first position stiff and difficult. Nothing a luthier couldn't sort out, but again, enough of a faff in conjunction with everything else that I decided I was going to return it. So I did.

I think a reasonable enough budget axe, once you took it to a luthier, but the Lakland 55-01 I tried out this week very much surpassed it in a number of ways. The Lakland cost more than twice the price though...even used!

I will be receiving a Peavey GV bass this week and look forward to the comparison. USA made, graphite neck, etc. Same body shape and similar pickup system, though...