Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Wow! Thanks for the warm welcome!

Like I said, I have more quality basses than a mediocre player like me deserves, so I have plenty of patience to find a the T-40 gem for a good price. I regularly troll for gear on CL. Generally, I don't shell out any cabbage unless it's something I gotta have (or it's a just stupid price).

So this guy was moving the following day and he was cleaning out his closet when he found his old P-bass. It had more dust on it than the plates in my grandmother's china cabinet, and all he wanted was $100. I called him and he said to come on over. In the hour it took for me to drive up to north Scottsdale, he got a ton of calls, but from people who wanted to come by after work. This bass was essentially flawless, but needed a good cleaning. I wound up swapping the bent-metal bridge for a Gotoh 201 and had it set-up at The Bass Place with some nice D'Addario Chromes. At the end of the day I had a better than new Fender Precision for under $200. Hence, I dubbed it Grand Theft Precision. I've never had flats under my fingers, but I love it for blues and Motown.

I do have a good question for you guys (and maybe this should be in a different thread...so pre-sorry):
Obviously there's some degree of "peace of mind" when using eBay, what with the ratings and all, PayPal, and everything. But lets say I find a bass in great shape for a decent price on CL in...I don't know...Augusta, Maine. How do you do a good transaction where the buyer and seller both feel comfortable that nobody will get screwed?

And Johnallg, I look so serious with the T-40 because I only know how to play one note: low G. I'm making the best of it. With the Ric, I'd learned, not only low C, but an arpeggio to go with it!!

I've currently got a Peavey Foundation and I really like it, but it's pretty heavy as well. Right around 10 lbs. Has anybody tried putting T-40 pickups in a lighter weight body? I've always wanted to try this because I love the pickups on them, but they're way too heavy for me.

Not that I'm aware of Pat,

They have the same footprint as the DARKSTAR pickups, I've seen some of those in darn near everything, even a RIC.

I'm one of the lucky ones, one of my T40's is just about 9 pounds. A freak to be sure.

I also have a Foundation, and another on the way. I haven't played it out yet, but it doesn't feel anywhere near as heavy as the standard T40 seems to be.

Try asking here...

http://peaveyt40.forumotion.com/index.htm

or here...

http://peaveybasses.forum-motion.net/forum.htm

I played a T-40 in jazz band in high school, a blue one. Also played a Maplegl...er, "natural" one in a punk rock band after high school.

kennyhowes wrote:I played a T-40 in jazz band in high school, a blue one. Also played a Maplegl...er, "natural" one in a punk rock band after high school.

Amazing how many RIC folks started out with a T-40!

I'm just working in reverse!

ajish4 wrote:I'm just working in reverse!

That's OK, Tony. I started counting my age in reverse a long time ago

Glad to hear the T-40 gets good reviews.

I just traded an Epiphone Thunderbird for a Burgundy T-40. It will be here on Tuesday.

ricnbacker wrote:Glad to hear the T-40 gets good reviews.

I just traded an Epiphone Thunderbird for a Burgundy T-40. It will be here on Tuesday.

Excellent Christopher!

I have two, and they get very frequent use. Even though get some mild teasing from the guys here, I have a ball with mine. I had one converted to fretless which sounds great!

Lets see those pictures!!!!!!!!!!!

I play in a band with a gal who plays a T-40. Every once in a while a thread will get going on TalkBass in which guys will start whining about the weight of the T-40, and I like to post pictures of Amber in those threads---it tends to shut up the "ooh, my back" crowd.

chuck_king wrote:I play in a band with a gal who plays a T-40. Every once in a while a thread will get going on TalkBass in which guys will start whining about the weight of the T-40, and I like to post pictures of Amber in those threads---it tends to shut up the "ooh, my back" crowd.

Too funny! Thanks for posting! It's not often you seee a lady playing a T40!

The weight seems to be or has been a huge issue for a lot of folks. I too have a HORRIBLE back, but a nice wide strap really helps. The later ones for some reason seem heavier than the early ones. I've had 5 but kept the two lightest, a 78 and an 81. That being said, I have some kind of FREAK 1978 T-40 that is 9.8 Lbs, which I know is STRANGE for a T-40. The other is a good bit heavier (haven't put that one on the scale yet) its a burst and it's the one made fretless. It is heavier, but not to the point my old Alembic's were. But the sound I can get out of that Fretless is worth it. I'd love to find a stock Fretless neck one of these days.

I'm just jumping in here very late, but my father-in-law was a Southern Rock guy from Arkansas and I have his black T-40. Man, if this thing fell on your head it would split you into!

It's a great bass though. I can't even compare it to a Fender or Rick as it sounds pretty unique. The only drawback is, as everyone has said, the weight. It's a monster, but one hell of a bass!

chuck_king wrote:I play in a band with a gal who plays a T-40. Every once in a while a thread will get going on TalkBass in which guys will start whining about the weight of the T-40, and I like to post pictures of Amber in those threads---it tends to shut up the "ooh, my back" crowd.

It also seems that ladies who play bass bass tend to whine ALOT less about the girth of a bass neck than many of the men do!

rickenbrother wrote:It also seems that ladies who play bass bass tend to whine ALOT less about the girth of a bass neck than many of the men do!

Oh..... nope, I won't.

johnallg wrote:

rickenbrother wrote:It also seems that ladies who play bass bass tend to whine ALOT less about the girth of a bass neck than many of the men do!

Oh..... nope, I won't.

You beat me to it John!

Hope there's no prob with bumping this a couple weeks after the last post. Stumbled on this thread while googling T-40's, so I went ahead and registered. I do own a Ric (620), so I hope that's kosher.

I just bought my first T-40 several months ago, although they'd been on my "mental list" of "guitars of interest" for a long time (along with T-60 guitars-- got one of those 5 or 6 years ago). The prices have finally started to creep up, so I took the plunge for $275, w/ohsc:





Patents Applied For!



The case was unusual, most T-series guitars come in molded cases with a big Peavey logo on them. Mine looked more like a Ric or Fender box case with padded ends:



People on talkbass.com said they'd seen these cases many times before but I remained skeptical, since they do not say "Peavey" anywhere on them. However, I've since seen a post by a lucky feller who got a mint T-40, with exactly the same case:





So, if you ever see a T-40 with such a case, it's the "ohsc."

Cheers.