I've said it 1000 times in here: Old Peavey stuff is legendary and still can be had for cheap if you look in the right places. They are The Answer when it comes to cheap, dependable amplification.
Most amps built into the early 2010's were built in Mississippi, and while some may lack in tone (hence the unofficial "F Tone" slogan), they are rock solid, bombproof amps. Those old "Bass" heads are ridiculous and I really should pick one up before people really figure it out.
Tony Sestito said:I've said it 1000 times in here: Old Peavey stuff is legendary and still can be had for cheap if you look in the right places. They are The Answer when it comes to cheap, dependable amplification.
Sure. But I wouldn't call $500 "cheap".
I also do care about tone. But I'm also fine getting that through guitar and pedals as long as the amp doesn't hinder that.
I suppose it wouldn't hurt to message and say, "I'm interested in that head, but not really in the cabinet. I'd give you $300 for the head by itself. If you want to move it all as a package, I'd do $350."
That is assuming that vintage Peavey will be a superior amp to something like that Orange Little Bass Thing I shared earlier.
There's also a Peavery Deltabass listed locally for $220.
In reply to Beer Baron 🍺 :
The thing with Peavey stuff is you either find people who know what they have or you find people that see Peavey as "junk" and sell it cheap because it's not an old Marshall, Fender, etc. The word has gotten out a bit in the past few years, but there are still deals to be had.
That Deltabass head is from the same era as my Combo 115 (and my Studio Pro 112): the later "Red Stripe" era. Solid unit right there. That one is 160w at 4 ohms, which is probably enough to make some noise with at least a single 1x15 cab. I think it's sort of the head version of the TKO 115 combo amp but with out the 7 band EQ. I think the $220 is overpriced; I'd be more comfortable at around $125-150. Here's one on Reverb for $150 + shipping: https://reverb.com/item/85636185-peavey-deltabass-bass-guitar-amp-head
In reply to Tony Sestito :
So are you saying I should jump on that amp?
How much would be a realistic offer for this amp? Is it really the right thing for my needs?
In reply to Beer Baron 🍺 :
Unless you could get it for a lot less (like $125), I'd hold out for one of the "classics" that others were posting earlier. It's a good, solid amp, but you might want to hold out for one of the higher wattage ones. Those "should" be available around $200-300 if you look around. Definitely don't pay $400 for one!
In reply to Tony Sestito :
That's kind of what I figured, and why I was thinking I'd offer $300 for just the head.
I agree with Tony on the Delta Bass and offering $300 is a good idea for just the head.
Also, sadly $500 is fairly cheap in music gear land for a giggable amp, Peavey just gets to be even more awesome
Earlier this week JHS pedals did a live stream where they announced they were discontinuing their Ross pedal line. They had bought back unsold pedals from dealers and would be liquidating the stock on Dec 15 for $79 ea. - $110 less than original MSRP and apparently just above what it cost them to make the pedals. If history serves, they would likely sell out quickly. What wasn't entirely known by me at the time was when they were going on sale. Turns out it was Midnight central time (JHS is located in the Kansas City area) or 1AM my time... By some fluke of luck (and having stayed up late watching the Eagles TNF game) I happened to see the "going live soon" notification on the JHS YouTube channel.
Oh well... who needs sleep...
Conveniently, there was a count-down on the website and as soon as it started, I quickly added the entire line of 5 pedals to my cart and bought them. Site traffic meant it took a few seconds for the sale to process, but within a minute or so it was good:
Within 10 minutes, everything but the Distortion had sold out. As of this morning, that was sold out as well.
My friend and old band mate were both joking last night how we both own a butt load of pedals, but really just for fun. I've always tended to be a direct-into-the-amp player, but it is fun to use pedals when noodling around.
Picked up this Martin acoustic/electric this weekend at GC. The finish being that 1970s family reunion laminate dinner table just sold me on it.
crankwalk (Forum Supporter) said:Picked up this Martin acoustic/electric this weekend at GC. The finish being that 1970s family reunion laminate dinner table just sold me on it.
Ziricote?
I've been playing bass more lately, and I've been sort of annoyed with trying to get the tone I want. I am playing with a Peavey Combo 115 with an old original Line 6 Bass POD as a preamp. Back around 2003, this thing was amazing, and I still like it mostly, but I've wanted to try a new approach. Everyone I've talked to said the same thing: get a SansAmp Bass DI.
I'd love to, but they are like $250+, and I don't have the budget right now for that as a glorified hobbyist that's just messing around playing in his attic.
So I did the next best thing and started looking at clones. There are tons of different bass DI preamps out there, but I really wanted something simple and cheap (under $50 if possible). After looking around, it was between these two:
Behringer BDI21
Caline CP60 "Wine Cellar"
After listening to some demos, I ended up going with the Caline CP60. It seemed to have a little more "beef" and I like that it's in a metal box as opposed to the plastic casing of the Behringer; I read that it's quieter with noise interference because of the case. Both were on sale for under $30, so I probably can't go wrong with either one. I don't expect miracles, but from what I heard, it should be a step up from the POD. I do like some of the features of the POD, like the onboard tuner and some of the effects, so I may run that in-line with this. Hopefully I can get a little boost and grit out of this thing.
In reply to Antihero :
Yep! It sounds pretty good just has a crazy finish to it.
crankwalk (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Antihero :
Yep! It sounds pretty good just has a crazy finish to it.
I just bought an acoustic myself and was between an Ebony and a Ziricote top, ended up with the ebony but I like the Ziricote as well.
I like the look a lot, not to mention the sound. Congrats
In reply to Tony Sestito :
I'm curious to hear your impressions on the bass preamp. I've been looking at similar stuff, with the aim of getting more tone/control/oomph/whatever from a Fender Rumble 40 at low volume for playing at church.
And like you, it's not something I want to spend SansAmp $$ on.
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :
It might be a while before a definitive review, because it's now "coming from Santa". 
But I'll get one up when I can!
Over the weekend, I made significant progress on one of my projects: This 80's Martin Stinger SBL-10 bass.
I've posted about it before, but the TL/DR is: I got it from my nephew for free; he got it from a friend who found it in the basement of a rental property during a cleanout in a closet. It has a plywood body, the pots were all stuck, and the neck turned into a banana. I stuck it in storage until I had time to fix it. Then life happened and I found myself renovating my house for over a year. I bought a neck, amassed some spare parts, and waited.
Fast forward to yesterday, when I finally had some time to work on it.
After drilling out the neck holes with my newly acquired drill press and getting things aligned in the pocket, I worked on getting the tuners in. I probably should have used my drill press, but I ended up drilling the tuner holes with a regular drill, and that worked out well. The tuners were cheapies I had bought as spares for my Jazz Bass. I think they were $8.
The neck is from TWT Guitars, who sells some cheap-but-good imported necks. It has a Jazz Bass profile and is roasted maple, which looks sort of aged like it was sitting in a basement closet like the rest of the bass. I love the look, but sitting in the box for so long made the frets gross.
A little polish, and that's much better.
The pickups had all these polka dots all over them, which I thought looked bad. I like the tone, so I decided to see if I could clean the paint off while keeping some of the aging on there.
That worked out really well. I had to scrape the paint off, and then I hit the plastic and the poles with a scuffing pad until it looked good enough.
I intended on using a Fender-style bridge, but there were two issues: the one I had on hand was a light-duty cheapo from my Squier Jazz Bass, and this one uses a nonstandard bolt pattern, so I would have to fill the holes and re-drill. I forgot how massive this bridge was, and I figured I'd give it a try. I have to say that I dig it! I like the brass saddles, and it's nice and heavy duty.
And it's back together! Again, I was going for the 80's Jazz Bass Special look with some mods, and I think I nailed it.
I took it for a test drive, and there are still a few small issues:
-It has a rattle in the neck somewhere, maybe the truss rod nut?
-One of the pots and switch positions does absolutely nothing, I'll have to figure that out.
Otherwise, it plays GREAT now. It sounds fantastic, and the neck rules. I think I have about $60 into the whole thing. Now, I need to get some sort of decal on the headstock; it looks naked without it!
I spent some more time with the "new" bass last night, focusing on fixing the two issues I mentioned above. On the neck rattle, it seems to have corrected itself. Maybe things needed to settle in? There's some a-string clunking with aggressive playing, but that's more a nut issue than anything, and I can live with it until I can file the nut a little.
The electronics issue was a lot more involved. Turns out that the J-pickup wasn't functioning at all; it was controlled by both the switch and the dead knob, as I suspected. I started by looking at the switch.
If I'm reading that date code right, it was made in 1985. Interesting, because I thought the bass was from a few years later. Might have been an old part on the shelf during assembly. Either way, the switch itself was flimsy trash and falling apart. So, off to the parts bin I went.
I found an Epiphone 3-way switch from my Explorer, which I replaced with an upgraded one a few years back. There was actually nothing wrong with this switch, and it's much beefier than the one in the bass, so I swapped that out. And while I was there, I noticed that one of the wires for the J-pot was soldered to the incorrect post, causing it to ground out with no signal. I soldered it to where it needed to go, cleaned up some corrosion on the input jack (again, it sat in a basement for a long time) and we were back in business.
With everything working, this thing is an absolute MONSTER. The pickups are really, really hot, resulting in a growl that sounds great for the playing I do. I was expecting to have to swap these out, but there's no need. It's a total Metal machine and I love it. It sounds very much like the Geezer Butler EMG set that I've wanted to buy for a while, and I'm really happy with that.
Now, for that headstock decal... I need some ideas!
In reply to Tony Sestito :
All caps, bold.
"BEEF"
I've considered a TWT neck on a strat I've got because I like huge necks and this one is lacking, but I don't know what kind of profile they have
In reply to Antihero :
This one is their "Jazz Bass" neck. Compared to my Squier Vintage Modified '77 Jazz Bass, the neck feels like a damn baseball bat. It's got the slim taper of a Jazz neck, but has the profile of an old P-Bass neck. I really like it. Like any cheap Chinese neck, it's not perfect; it had some small blemishes here and there, but for $60 shipped for a new roasted maple neck, I can't complain! I can't even get a used and abused Squier neck that cheap around here.
I got to spend some real quality time with my new FrankenStinger bass yesterday, and man.... it's good.
REAL good.
The neck is great. It feels really nice, and I can't stop staring at it. The pickups sound great on my main rig, and even on my little Peavey Microbass with the basic 3-band EQ set to Noon for everything. The P-pickup is especially something; it has this incredible booming output that cuts really well. I find myself playing mostly with that pickup solo'ed and it just does the thing. Blended, the output is more subdued, but still sweet. It sounds good for everything.
Only gripes I have are that I should have used better tuners (they are really cheap cloverleaf ones) and that the thing is HEAVY. It's supposedly laminated mahogany plywood, and plywood can be heavy. It feels like it weighs double what my Jazz Bass weighs! It has to be 8+ lbs.
All in all, it might have taken the throne as my main bass. It's probably because it's new, but I'm finding myself wanting to play it every chance I get. It does everything well, feels great, and I love the look. Calling this one done, save for a cool headstock decal.
Onto the next project! I have a sneaking suspicion Santa may be bringing me another stringed thing this year, possibly in kit form. We'll have to wait and see.
In reply to Tony Sestito :
Looks like a winner. Kind of like a dog, sometimes a mutt is the best one.
I'm a big fan of the P/J pickup combo.
Since I know there are some Peavey fans here:
This Forum AX 4 string is currently in my care. Sort of "commissioned" to help clean it up and sell it for a friend. It's in nearly pristine condition but hasn't been played much lately so the electronics need a good cleaning.
Currently trying to convince myself that I don't need another bass 
It's pretty sweet.
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :
You need another bass
Yes, buy the Peavey. Their midrange-up basses are incredible bargains.
In other news... the pickups on my new build keep cutting out. I noted some heavy corrosion on the input jack when I was messing with the wiring, and although I cleaned it, I suspect that to be the culprit. I ordered a new one which I'll throw in at some point soon. I really want to get that thing properly sorted, because it sounds and plays so damn good.
And in additional other news, I had my 1st jam session with my 6yo nephew. He was on drums and I played bass. He has messed around with my drums since he was a baby, but this time, he was actually trying to play and kept a beat! It was a ton of fun.
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