Pevey Made In America bass, from late 70s

Westerly Wood

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I know this is not Guild basses, but the bass player on Sat nights, he told me the story of his Pevey MIA bass.
I guess in 1978 he went into a guitar shop to look at Fender bases. He was a friend of the owner so the owner said, "dude, you got to check out this new bass by Pevey." He is like, "pevey"? yeah right...

He owns it to this day. It was a patent pending Made in America bass, huge body, great big tone, top o line gear, but priced at $300, including a case. I gather the line did not last long and I am not sure when Pevey went overseas or if they did etc...

But he knows he got a total killer bass and I thought it was cool he is the original owner.

Figure some of you Bass guys might know of this Pevey attempt at breaking into the bass market.
 

bluesypicky

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Killer bass that Peavey!!!! I was selling them faster than we could stock them back in the early 80's, huge sound and awesome for slapping.....
Never understood why we didn't see more of these on stages.
 

Westerly Wood

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Killer bass that Peavey!!!! I was selling them faster than we could stock them back in the early 80's, huge sound and awesome for slapping.....
Never understood why we didn't see more of these on stages.

So Pascal, they must have gone thru with the Patent, or do you recall if the head stock said "Patent Pending", as my friend's did? His was a '78. Pretty cool...
 

mellowgerman

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Peavey MIA basses have been on my radar for about 9 years. First discovered them for myself during freshman year of college, at a pawn shop, while visiting my freshman year roommate in the Scranton PA area. I walked in, saw this killer looking natural finish bass with two giant chrome humbuckers and a huge bridge to match them. Tried it out, loved it, but didn't have the $250 to spend on it at the time. A few years ago I picked up an all white MIA Peavey Forum bass with two "super ferrite" pickups that were fantastic and unique in tone. Only cost $160 and was in great shape. I'm not a big fan of thin necks, so I passed that one on to my buddy's dad, who still plays it nowadays. Long story short though, killer, versatile basses with craftsmanship on par with US Fenders of the time. Think they never caught on much though because some guys just need their instrument's headstock to say Fender or Gibson
 
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bluesypicky

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I don't recall a "patent pending" (but that was over 30 year ago), this is the head stock and it just says MIA:
mj6dz5.png
 

Minnesota Flats

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"Think they never caught on much though because some guys just need their instrument's headstock to say Fender or Gibson."

Plus T-40s DO tend to run "a bit" on the heavy side, weight-wise".
 

bluesypicky

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"Think they never caught on much though because some guys just need their instrument's headstock to say Fender or Gibson."

Plus T-40s DO tend to run "a bit" on the heavy side, weight-wise".

Agreed on both points.
But it was so good to me that I was more than willing to forget the weight (which has never been a deal breaker with me anyhow).
 

mellowgerman

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"Think they never caught on much though because some guys just need their instrument's headstock to say Fender or Gibson."

Plus T-40s DO tend to run "a bit" on the heavy side, weight-wise".

True. Though I have heard that the transparent finish specimens were more focused on pretty wood grain whereas the solid finish ones were more about ergonmonics by simply using lighter wood, without attention to matching grain and so on. Can't confirm this for sure but I did play a black one once that seemed pretty light compared to the boat-anchor (though pretty) natural ones I've come across
 

GAD

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When I bought my Guild S300A-D, the guitar that almost beat it out was the Peavey T-60.

T-60%201979%20-%20full%20H.jpg


IIRC, they were the first instruments to be made 100% on CNC machines.

And yes, even the guitars weighed about 380 pounds. I imagine the basses weighed double that.

_1380662447.png
 

Westerly Wood

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When I bought my Guild S300A-D, the guitar that almost beat it out was the Peavey T-60.

T-60%201979%20-%20full%20H.jpg


IIRC, they were the first instruments to be made 100% on CNC machines.

And yes, even the guitars weighed about 380 pounds. I imagine the basses weighed double that.

_1380662447.png

Exactly my friends bass. 1978 and said he patent pending on stock. He mentioned it is wicked heavy. 😀
 

fronobulax

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V0yMVhAhgXF0xTJWIZVJlmILfxkrmWE1yd62tF1r1f1Ts79zMqhBHyLWrEA9Y9XKvVVSvXQ8DimRz1jgVR_jagx3Kzy1rVg3JuZRkbwRdHOUuA8WBwIAGIf3b9h7QtymlBJyQ1dMcD57qr3RuAc9ygnnx6D2bddCbd8fsDucw2mBPlNAW4Xm0Be23xx024a2jpD224wcy3FTyFN13fx_KjeK6bdWlE9m60WnG6FJU6jipiuYXrqFKeDgVEVVCTxsxhYO13hnxdZ3RcO-MMUvGcO5lx4jkGu_3Ff3Gs_JWQDPDrygNDY3tL-C4akvPmAjaAh54WCPWO58H2nH8Fgi2-4drADmrLkv5DwdCuvOAhNB0oBD_8LYlqqcuaBc9ei0eXiNV0VTpP8An60hNfCiBS__-3QJyKQxYpCg8M2coIQ16dXhCPlOe_4NcVcnxbjZ1-5QVE7CmmYrNxbHp-kT4xoE48cSwJM4G3EcnczNnkZzcRommvdxLnCLy73uVdp73SAx-JOAbTgbUaJSzLJenoquh1Ssh6ZwjbVtdftaJrSiNwCcF1u5co-nPV4P5jV4si87VCyv3vsVC8oYFMgi0fKPDoEVB45YkHUlcDJfEqJ8Qs8jDHKi=w803-h1423-no


My contribution to the Peavey discussion.

Assembled in response to folks bragging about Marshall stacks. The sarcasm is strong in this one because a B50 don't need no stinkin' amps...
 
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bluesypicky

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My contribution to the Peavey discussion.
Assembled in response to folks bragging about Marshall stacks. The sarcasm is strong in this one because a B50 don't need no stinkin' amps...

I remember seeing this amp and thinking "here is the best way to make friends in the neighborhood". :tongue:
So my question is two folds: How many of these do you stack up on stage, and have you found the right size purple spandex yet?
 

JimmyD

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As pointed out, the 70's T basses were often great sounding and made for excellent ballast in the bottom of your boat. Those super ferrite pickups were smokin'....had them on a Foundation and sounded great. Unfortunately the skinny neck and 1 1/2" or less nut, made me move on.
 

twocorgis

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Assembled in response to folks bragging about Marshall stacks. The sarcasm is strong in this one because a B50 don't need no stinkin' amps...

Yes, but play with more than one acoustic guitar and you get drowned out. That's why I sold mine!
 

fronobulax

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Yes, but play with more than one acoustic guitar and you get drowned out. That's why I sold mine!

Image shows up for me. I logged out of Google and LTG, cleared my cache and it appears so it might not be my problem.

I use the B50 when there is one guitar and at most one other instrument playing single lines, not chords. Any more and no one can hear me although when the guitar was a mere D-25 the B4 might as well have stayed in the case. At least the B50 projects something. The ergonomics are challenging which is why if I need enough volume that I will use an amp I will almost always go for a different instrument.
 

bluesypicky

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Image shows up for me. I logged out of Google and LTG, cleared my cache and it appears so it might not be my problem.
I dunno....I could see the image when I placed my very interesting comment on it, but can no longer see it now... ?
 

Minnesota Flats

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"And yes, even the guitars weighed about 380 pounds. I imagine the basses weighed double that. "

Matter of fact, this has even caused some Peavey owners to resort to extreme measures:



(Before you yell at your computer, note that this is NOT my bass!)
 
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