Peavey T-60 and Eighty Thousand Visitors. . .

Hi to all out there.

As of today, over 80500 visits have been made to my blog.
So, thanks for dropping in - the story continues.





















I first saw a Peavey "T" in late '78 or early '79, a T-60 - I can't
remember exactly when but I do remember thinking at the time, 
this is a bit different!
The pic above is not of one of mine - I have borrowed this shot, from
a recently sold, mid periodT-60, as it has a very fine example of
the control details.
This one has the Blade pick-ups and the small selector switches, 
my first encounter with a Peavey T, was of course with the earlier
Toaster type, as the Blades didn't come in, until later. 

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.

Ever since then, I have been a fan of the Peavey T and over the years
have come across all the variations and learnt more about them.

I have started a list of questions to ask Chip - in order to fill in the gaps 
and confirm some of the facts. 
I will make a start on the story, next time. 

 

Cheers. :)

Peavey T-40 and T-60, The Begining. . . .

Peavey T-40 and T-60 - Bass & Guitar.

How far is it back to the beginning??
1822!! 
"You're Kidding"!!!
Well, sort of!

Way back, Thomas Blanchard invented a machine to make gun stocks
all the same shape.
See picture of Thomas and a later machine and ask. . . . .

"What's that got to do with a Peavey Guitar?"
Well,  quite a bit.

When Hartley Peavey and Chip Todd set out to make guitars, they
were going to do it differently - Completely differently!

A machine that could make gun stocks all the same, could also make
guitar necks all the same.
Having gone into that sort of detail with the neck, they carried on the 
theme with the body, which was made by a CNC machine.
CNC - Computer Numerical Control.
You programme it to make something and it will make the next 10, 100,
1000 or 10000 items, all the same!
Peavey, as far as I understand, were the first company to do this - all
the others followed later.

So, select the timber, bond sections together, onto the machine and this
is what it made.

This is the body from Project 
T-40, which. . . . erm. . .has not 
progressed much . . . . 
but will do soon!

The main hardware was not taken from any generic stock - bridges,

control knobs, back-plate, pick-ups, pick-up rings etc, were all Peavey.

I have seen publications that state the T Series was launched in 1976 

but I am not sure that 1976 is correct - I have a VERY early Pre 8M,

and the pots on that are dated 1977, so I will try to confirm when they

were actually launched.

8M serial numbers date from 1978 and these are generally accepted 

as the first "out of the gate"

This is a shot of one of the last ones.

 

 The last of the Forty's and Sixty's had slight differences - the bodies had 

been contoured for some time, the Blade pick-ups had replaced the Toasters 

and the selector switches, had been changed to what are referred to as the

"Bat style" switch.

Next time, I will start with the early T's, in more detail and then over the 

following weeks, work my way through to the last of the line.

Cheers. :) 

EDIT :

I have received an e.mail from Chip Todd, saying that he is happy to help

me with this feature. What great news!

I have communicated with Chip before but never in any great detail.

As with the feature I did on Peter Cook, the guitar builder, it is SO much better

to have words from "the horses mouth", so to speak.

I indicated that I would try not to pester him but in his reply, he said "Pester away" 

So, Chip - thank you for agreeing to be involved, I'm sure what you have to say

will be of great benefit to this feature on the Peavey "T" series.

Cheers. :) 

Peavey T-40 and T-60, The Story. . . . . .

I have been asked, many times, about the "T Series" Peavey
Basses and Guitars and have said that at some point, I would
collate all the information I have and do a feature.
So, the next few posts will be about the T-40 and T60.

 

Way back in April, 2010 - in the early days of my blog, this was the
first picture I posted of the collection - The Three Forty's!

The earliest one I have goes almost back to the beginning and I have
had all the years after that. 

So, sit back, relax and I shall begin the story of the Forty's and
Sixty's, as I know it, next time.

Cheers. :)

 

Fender Telecaster, 50's reissue. . . . .

Fender Telecaster!

It is what it is and has been around for over sixty years.

 

At a guess, I would say almost every guitarist in the western world 
has had a go on a Telecaster, either an Original Fender or one of the
hundreds of copies.

This one is my "Fender Japan" 50's Reissue - made 26 years ago 
and I have had it about 20 years.
I bought it off a friend, who had fitted some very tasty Seymour Duncan
pick-ups into it and was gigging it alongside an MIJ Strat.
Being more of a Strat man, he asked me if I was interested and the deal
was done - I had got myself a Tele - the only one I have ever had!!

 

It is great to play - handful of a neck, as this is 50's - the later ones had
less meat to the feel - more slender but it feels great to me.
I will do what you ask of it - bright/glassy, bluesy, blistering screams when
you pull a false harmonic, mellow jazz tones, almost anything but it won't
do thick, deep grunge tones - at that point it starts to head towards the bar!! :)




 


There you go, I did get round to it!

Back next time, with something else from the collection.

Cheers. :) 

Edit:
Someone has e.mailed me and pointed out that I have another
Telecaster.
You are absolutely correct - this one:

Marchis Telecaster  

Well spotted - my mistake! :)