NEVER in a million years did I ever think I'd own a PEAVEY!
I have been watching the Peavey T-40 on Ebay for months. I don't know why, but it caught my eye. Kind of reminds me of the Gibson Ripper I once had. Anyway, I read the Harmony Central reviews, searched GOOGLE until my eyeballs fell out, and was astounded that these monsters regularly sell for UNDER $250.00. The early ones even had a maple neck. I picked up a 1981 made from Swamp Ash. It is a sunburst with a Rosewood neck.
They have a unique set of electronics. They have BOTH a single coil & a humbucker setup. With the volume set UNDER 7, the single coil pickups are on, when you crank one or both of the volume knobs past 7, the humbuckers kick in! Two volume, two tone, Phase switch & pickup selector.
There are two types of pickups on the T-40, 1977-1980 "toaster pickups" and "1981-1984 "blade pickups". I have the later, they have a nice sharp TREBLE edge to 'em. The "toaster" pickups I'm told have a much darker sound.
This thing SHOOK the walls, floor, and ceiling even at a LOW volume.
BUT I gotta tell you, this damn thing is the PERFECT ROCK BASS (well, except for the weigh that is). The best comparison I can make is that it is a cross between a RIC, Jazz & a Pbass! What a freaking monster! This thing played through my 410HLF & B2R Ampeg head tore the hell out of the place! It was AT LEAST 3 times LOUDER than my V63 and about TWICE as loud as my AlemRIc! I had to LOWER the amp volume by 2/3's the setting for my RIC! It is THAT LOUD! Not to mention, the SUSTAIN is to DIE FOR. While it was LOUDER, it isn't as clean or as defined as the RIC basses.
This thing is FULL of low & higs, the low E being just a bit muddy but that was easily cleaned up on the amp settings....a little thin on the mids, but WOW. EVERYONE said "what a monster sound". The entire band was blown away. I'm still learning the settings and think that if I run it through my Sansamp DI, I could probably balance it out a bit.
YES, it is FREAKING HEAVY...11.5 pounds.....the thin strap I had on was digging into my neck, but if you "want to rock" this bass is a KILLER deal for UNDER $250.00 on average, how can you beat it? I was thinking of trying a MIM Fender, or a Epi Thunderbird....I'm glad I went with this one.
The workmanship is good, nothing like a RIC in this department. I can see sanding marks through the black part of the burst but overall, not too bad. EVERYTHING is metal on this thing, INCLUDING the NUT & the volume :& tone knobs....Yep, HEAVY.
The bottom line, you can't beat the tone for the price. I'm not going to use it in rotation, but every once in a while, it really shakes things up. It was definitely overdriving my amp. A real beast at a great price. It isn't a top end bass, but a great addition for any player that can stand holding it. Still, it is lighter than most of my old Alembic's, just a lot of fun to play.
Here are a few pictures of mine taken from the Ebay auction. It needed a TRC (9.00 on Ebay) and a volume knob and the phase switch. After the purchase price, shipping & parts with repairs. NOT to mention the "treatment". It cleaned up really well all for LESS than the price of a MIM Jazz.
