Miss your old T-40?

[alyctes]

Retrovibe are offering a near-copy.

And they will do five-strings to order.

And it weighs a little over 9lb.  Which I suppose might put the purists off

Unfortunately for me, it's sunburst only.

 

https://retrovibe.co.uk/product/retrovibe-tt40-tt50-bass-34-scale-3-tone-burst-maple-neck-peavey-t40-style/?fbclid=IwAR1bbeo7d_8mK3h1dxVAgq-Xn-6L-UAnJzC3Nr4WfMP6neRO3b9_Hxq4kRc

[Machines]

That's pretty cool - shame about the lack of finish options, but I guess that may change if they become popular.

 

Here's my old one anyway, owned in 2013:

 

[Rayman]

I don’t like them 😳

 

I’ve played a couple over the years, and thought they were uncomfortable and not that great sounding? I don’t know why they’re getting so expensive? We didn’t rate them back in the day.

 

 

[Rayman]

I’d rather have a Gibson Ripper

[Waddo Soqable]

People seem to like them sound wise, I can't give an opinion as I've never tried one..

The thing that always put me off was that to me they're pig ugly looking. 

[Rayman]

Last time a tried one was maybe 10yrs ago…. Myself and a handful of mates (members here) used to have a mini bash up int’ north. One of the guys had one….. I remember being underwhelmed by the tone, surprising really as it’s covered in knobs (there was one extra one the day I had my hands on it).

 

 I don’t know, it’s horses for courses isn’t it….. I know people love them, but I’m not one of them.

[SurroundedByManatees]

TBH I don't recognize much of a T40 in the retrovibe design.. I don't like the looks. Never played the Peavey, though I think they look bad*ss.

[crazycloud]

Miss them? Nah, still have 2 and lots of parts.

 

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.

 

The Retrovibe is sort of cool, but unless it has the same pickup construction, and it clearly doesn't, I don't see  how it would sound similar. Plus no ash body and I loathe bursts. I still wish him best of luck with the venture.

[velvetkevorkian]

I'd take a 5 string over another Fender copy, I'm not much of a retro guy but that looks quite smart.

 

They're obviously not in the vintage replica business and more power to them.

[NancyJohnson]

I've always liked T-40s, but not really so much as to pull the trigger on one.  I think this is something to do with seeing Ross Valory/Journey using one.

 

If I were on the market for one, I'd sooner go the whole hog and buy the real thing (there's a nice black one on Reverb for £1.2K) rather than chucking £500.00 on a Retrovibe, that'll be worth half that if you want to resell it. 

 

 

[BigRedX]

Unfortunately this looks less authentic than the average Eastwood "copy".

 

No photos of the 5-string version. I wonder how they'll fit the extra machine head?

[cetera]

I really want to like this but, as with most Retrovibes, I feel that they make a good attempt but usually fall too far short in either looks or specs...

[uk_lefty]

If I remember right... Years ago when I first started reading bass forums over dial up internet I used to read the bassist section of Harmony Central. The Peavey T40 was a bit of a joke amongst people there, giving each other a friendly ribbing about playing one and it being a crappy bass but there were some who were loving them and collecting them. I think at the time they were going for peanuts on eBay over here. Now they're over a grand.

[Baloney Balderdash]

6 hours ago, Waddo Soqable said:

People seem to like them sound wise, I can't give an opinion as I've never tried one..

The thing that always put me off was that to me they're pig ugly looking. 

I think they are super cool looking.

[Waddo Soqable]

1 minute ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

I think they are super cool looking.

Well, we all find different things attractive or not, it'd be boring if we were all the same! 

[kodiakblair]

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

[LukeFRC]

Mine was nice but literally double the weight of my main bass at the time. 

[Little Dragon]

I own three Retrovibes, I would expect this to be as good.

[Paolo85]

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

[neepheid]

3 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

The 'secret sounds' thing is mostly bollocks, suggestion more than substance.

 

Just like most of the florid text we spout when describing the virtues of whichever new bass flame has been taken home

[kodiakblair]

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 👍

[lemmywinks]

It doesn't really look much like a T-40 IMO, more just a P copy body with MM pickups slapped in there. In fact the more I look at it the less like a T-40 it gets!

Edited May 11, 2023 by lemmywinks

[Twincam]

Have to agree with others. Looks a little bit like a t40. But vastly different specs to make it actually sound like one. 

 

If they had copied the original pickups and put them in the exact locations. With the same copied electrical circuit. That would have been cool! 

[kodiakblair]

2 hours ago, Twincam said:

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

How does a T-40 sound exactly ?

 

 

[LowB_FTW]

16 hours ago, Machines said:

That's pretty cool - shame about the lack of finish options, but I guess that may change if they become popular.

 

Here's my old one anyway, owned in 2013:

 

I keep coming back to this post and marvelling at that bridge.

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

Is there a 5-string version?!?

 

Mark