The Peavey T-60 and T-40 story, with a lot of help from Chip Todd.

[FlatEric]

Hi to all of you at LBO

I still pop back to see what you are all up to and thought that some of you
may be interested in the story of the Peavey T Series.



As I am a big fan of the T's, I have documented a great deal about them,
over the last 5 or 6 years but this feature is different, this one has a lot of
input from Chip Todd, who very kindly agreed to help me with this feature.

Before the T Series, guitars were made in a more traditional way - it was Peavey
who pioneered the use if duplicating machines, the sort of thing to make thousands
of gun stocks all the same and was also the first company to make guitars with the
new CNC technology - along with several other firsts, which Chip goes into a lot
of detail about.
This was a guitar that was proudly Made in the USA and both guitar and bass
are truly great instruments but seem to have been passed over for more
"fashionable" instruments, over the years but are now finding many fans, who
either fancy something a little different, both in looks and performance or who
no longer wish to follow the herd.

I have found what he has said to be very interesting and there is plenty more to come.

Being in a Blog format, the story goes backwards, so click here and then scroll down
to October 16th - read that one, then scroll up to the next, until you get to the latest
entry.

I you have any questions, drop them on here and I will add them to the list for Chip.

http://flatericbassandguitar.blogspot.co.uk/

Hope you enjoy it.

Cheers.

[ack1961]

Thanks for that, Eric. 
I'm an avid US Peavey guy and own more than my share (US Millennium on its way to my house as we speak) of US Peavey gear.
I have a '81 3TS/Rosewood/Bladed T-40 that I really like - I gotta run out, but I look forward to reading your write-up.  At a glance it looks interesting.
Steve

[godofthunder]

 I'm a Big T40 fan. I bought one brand new with case in '78 for something like $225.00. I thought it was a beautiful piece of work especially when compared to Fenders of the day. I loved the sound of that thing, it was so powerful I'd go through drivers left and right. In youthful ignorance I sold it after about 4 years, always regretted that. About 5 years ago I bought a black and maple T40 off ebay, while I liked the natural Ash i think it looks killer in black and maple.

[uwe]

Wot? No explanation in all these blogs how the treble knobs for each pup turn the thing from single coil to humbucker mode and then only start decreasing treble for the second half of the turn? I always have the impression that few people realize this, but the fact that the bass becomes louder as you decrease treble should make you think! I find that a pretty nifty passive electronics approach.

They even made T-40ies that could swim!

[ack1961]

Wot? No explanation in all these blogs how the treble knobs for each pup turn the thing from single coil to humbucker mode and then only start decreasing treble for the second half of the turn? I always have the impression that few people realize this, but the fact that the bass becomes louder as you decrease treble should make you think! I find that a pretty nifty passive electronics approach.

The explanation of how the tone knobs work is explained rather clearly in the "How the Circuit Works" section of the manual, no one who owns a T-40 should be surprised by the SC-to-HB function. It surely is a neat circuit and I'm surprised that no one has tried to knock it off in all these years.

[Grog]

Peavey made a lot of high quality gear, I still have more of their 80's & 90's amps than I want to admit. All "Made in USA"! I was in a music store about a week ago & tried a few of their Chinese made acoustics, well worth what they were selling for. The edges of the frets were some of the worst I'd ever felt, sharp enough to actually cut you! Some of the tube amps are still made here but most of the items I looked at were made in China.

[uwe]

"The explanation of how the tone knobs work is explained rather clearly in the "How the Circuit Works" section of the manual, no one who owns a T-40 should be surprised by the SC-to-HB function. It surely is a neat circuit and I'm surprised that no one has tried to knock it off in all these years."


But it is never ever (unless I do it!) mentioned when T-40ies are discussed! So people have either forgotten it or - my guess - never read the manual in the first place. Manual reading is for girls and they don't even do it either!   There are basses out there with mini toggles, what have you, that allow you to switch from single coil to humbucking mode but nowhere does it work as organic as with a T-40. I think it's a brilliant concept - you're right that it is surprising no one has picked up on it. But that makes my point all the more: People have forgotten about it or didn't get it in the first place.  

[dadagoboi]

Wot? No explanation in all these blogs how the treble knobs for each pup turn the thing from single coil to humbucker mode and then only start decreasing treble for the second half of the turn?

If you read the blog post by Flat Eric you'll see the tone circuit IS discussed.

[uwe]

If you read the blog post by Flat Eric you'll see the tone circuit IS discussed.

I scanned through it a couple of times, but couldn't find it, thanks. How relieving.


Edit: Now I have, I didn't scroll that far down initially believing the discussion was already over, here it is, danke:

"As the controls were different to the usual set-up, they all came with
this printed film, which sort of explained what the controls did.
On the tone controls, it was marked Treble, to Bass but in reality, 10
is Single coil and then 9 and 8 takes the top edge off the single coil
until it reaches 7.
At 7, the Humbucker engages, beefing up the sound and the remaining
rotation, take the top off the Humbucker, as would a normal tone control.

I will cover more of the sounds and options, later on but as you can
imagine, in the late 70's, this was all very different to what we were
all used to."

Even more nuanced than I thought!

[jumbodbassman]

"The explanation of how the tone knobs work is explained rather clearly in the "How the Circuit Works" section of the manual, no one who owns a T-40 should be surprised by the SC-to-HB function. It surely is a neat circuit and I'm surprised that no one has tried to knock it off in all these years."


But it is never ever (unless I do it!) mentioned when T-40ies are discussed! So people have either forgotten it or - my guess - never read the manual in the first place. Manual reading is for girls and they don't even do it either!   There are basses out there with mini toggles, what have you, that allow you to switch from single coil to humbucking mode but nowhere does it work as organic as with a T-40. I think it's a brilliant concept - you're right that it is surprising no one has picked up on it. But that makes my point all the more: People have forgotten about it or didn't get it in the first place.  

never knew that but never played one either although I do have somewhere in my house just haven't played it

[FlatEric]

Ah - All the Forty owners coming out of the woodwork now!

Hi.

I have made mention of the electronics, many times, especially on here:

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/88904-peavey-t-40-basses/page__hl__peavey%20t40


http://basschat.co.uk/topic/60421-peavey-t-40/page__hl__peavey%20t40

I think that the most missed feature is the Coil Select on the bridge
pick-up.
Select Bridge only, single coil (on 10) and then the phase switch
becomes a coil selector - "nearer the bridge or nearer the neck"
The is a distinct difference in tone.
Only works with the bridge pick-up - put the pick-up switch back
to the middle and you have to remember to have the phase switch
in phase, or you will loose the punch.

I only briefly covered it in the blog as I will make a more detailed
explanation on another blog post, with input from Chip.

If anyone has any interesting questions that have not been covered
before, it would be great to hear from you.

More stuff on the next post. 

Cheers.

[uwe]

How cool! Now that I didn't know. (To my defense: I neither had the explanatory controls foil nor a manual on mine.) You live and learn, danke.

I never understood what there is to be ashamed about a Peavey T-40. In its own, utalitarian, but smart way, it is a design classic and it has a sound all of its own, neither Fenderish nor Gibsonish nor Ricish. If they brought out a reissue. I'd lap it up immediately.

Mine had truss rod issues (the truss rod loosened itself from the anchor), but I took that as statistical fate only, never as a wider-ranging quality problem. It's all repaired now.

What was the name of that finish again that was darker than natural, kind of sandy/desert-looking ... "something brown"? "Savannah Brown"?  It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't remember it. Lovely color that is.

[FlatEric]

What was the name of that finish again that was darker than natural, kind of sandy/desert-looking ... "something brown"? "Savannah Brown"?  It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't remember it. Lovely color that is.

Uwe, Hi - Do you mean this one?



I call it "Tanburst" - I think it should be Tobacco burst - I'll confirm with Chip.

Next post up now.

http://flatericbassandguitar.blogspot.co.uk/

If you haven't read it before - scroll down to October 16th, which is the start
and then scroll up for the next part. Being in a Blog format, that's how it pans out.


Cheers.

[ack1961]

I just love that Tobacco burst color.  Beautiful.
My '81 is 3TS, but I think both colors go well with the Rosewood FB:

[Lightyear]

The bit about wiring the hot pickup lead to the middle pot lug instead of the outside lug is very interesting - the interdependence that Chip mentions is exactly what I hear on Gibson's V/V/T setup up.  It warrants some experimentation I do believe