THE PEAVEY T-40 BASS ENTHUSIASTS FORUM
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THE PEAVEY T-40 BASS ENTHUSIASTS FORUM

A FORUM FOR PEAVEY T-40 BASS ENTHUSIASTS
 
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andysjunkymusic




Posts : 4
Join date : 2012-06-23

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PostSubject: New T-40 owner questions!   New T-40 owner questions! I_icon_minitimeSat Jun 23, 2012 8:56 pm

Really quick...bought a T-40. It's black, with the rosewood board and it has the "toaster top" pickups as opposed to the blade style.

I'm just trying to figure out what kind of wood this things made of! I've read northern ash, swamp ash...even read that the painted bodies are poplar. Can anyone tell me (maybe based on production era) what mine could be? I'll post pics and what not in a couple days.

Thanks in advance!
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Frank N. Peavey

Frank N. Peavey


Posts : 699
Join date : 2007-11-27
Age : 58
Location : Home of the Choo Choo

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PostSubject: Re: New T-40 owner questions!   New T-40 owner questions! I_icon_minitimeSun Jun 24, 2012 4:15 am

From source documents available to me:

The T-60/T-40 owners manual says select hardwood. The 1978 brochure says select ash hardwood. An article in a 1982 Peavey Papers says select hardwood. A 1983 Peavey article titled The Technology Series simply says fine select grades of hardwood. The 1983 Peavey Guitar and Bass Specification sheet says Southern ash or maple. The 1985 and 1986 Peavey Guitar and Bass Specification sheets don't specify woods, just finishes.

As you can see what they called the wood varied over the years. I have also heard that poplar was used on the painted models. Some folks have stripped the paint and have verfied that.

What year is your T-40?
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andysjunkymusic




Posts : 4
Join date : 2012-06-23

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PostSubject: Re: New T-40 owner questions!   New T-40 owner questions! I_icon_minitimeSun Jun 24, 2012 5:09 pm

Well, I now own 2 as of today haha.

I bought one off the guitar center used site and it should be here this week (that's the black with rosewood board) and today I picked up a natural with maple board at my local guitar center.

How do I date them? Serial numbers I'd assume but, what's the coding like?
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Frank N. Peavey

Frank N. Peavey


Posts : 699
Join date : 2007-11-27
Age : 58
Location : Home of the Choo Choo

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PostSubject: Re: New T-40 owner questions!   New T-40 owner questions! I_icon_minitimeSun Jun 24, 2012 9:10 pm

You got the best of both worlds now. Especially if you have both types of pickups.

Unlike other manufacturers there aren't any codes built in the serial numbers. The first four numbers roughly narrow it down to a year. I saw roughly because Peavey did not do much documentation. The database they had was "corrupted" a few years ago and they no longer seem to respond to date requests.

Here is the serial number matrix we have been using for several years. It seems to be pretty accurate.

00000000 1977/1978

XXXXXX 1978

8Mxxxxxx 1978

0000xxxx -0030xxxx 1978

0031xxxx -0047xxxx 1979

0048xxxx -0065xxxx 1980

0066xxxx -0099xxxx 1981

0100xxxx -0129xxxx 1982

0130xxxx -0169xxxx 1983

0170xxxx -0199xxxx 1984

0200xxxx -0239xxxx 1985

0240xxxx -0259xxxx 1986

0260xxxx -0339xxxx 1987
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andysjunkymusic




Posts : 4
Join date : 2012-06-23

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PostSubject: Re: New T-40 owner questions!   New T-40 owner questions! I_icon_minitimeMon Jun 25, 2012 2:31 pm

Thanks for the info! Looks like my natural finish one is a '79. Still waiting for the black one to come.
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Frank N. Peavey

Frank N. Peavey


Posts : 699
Join date : 2007-11-27
Age : 58
Location : Home of the Choo Choo

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PostSubject: Re: New T-40 owner questions!   New T-40 owner questions! I_icon_minitimeWed Jun 27, 2012 9:04 pm

If your natural is a '79 you've got a set of toasters. Hopefully your black will have blades and you can experience both types of pickups.
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andysjunkymusic




Posts : 4
Join date : 2012-06-23

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PostSubject: Re: New T-40 owner questions!   New T-40 owner questions! I_icon_minitimeMon Jul 02, 2012 6:33 pm

Okay so the black one came in today...serial number makes it an '81 according to "the chart." It has toaster pickups not rails like I originally thought. I've gotta restring it and A/B it to the '79 but, I'll probably keep the '81 just because I like the black on black a little more...less common around my parts!
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Frank N. Peavey

Frank N. Peavey


Posts : 699
Join date : 2007-11-27
Age : 58
Location : Home of the Choo Choo

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PostSubject: Re: New T-40 owner questions!   New T-40 owner questions! I_icon_minitimeMon Jul 02, 2012 11:41 pm

I'm with you on the rosewood fingerboards. That's what I prefer as well. My main axe is a 1980 T-60 (red/rosewood). Just picked up a black/rosewood T-60 last Thursday. Got two natural/maple T-60s as well. Used to have a red/rosewood T-40 but sold it a few months back.
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chiptodd

chiptodd


Posts : 55
Join date : 2007-12-16
Age : 84
Location : Galveston, TX

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PostSubject: Re: New T-40 owner questions!   New T-40 owner questions! I_icon_minitimeFri Sep 16, 2016 11:48 am

The T-40s with opaque paint were made of Poplar to reduce the weight. At the time of their design, it was popularly thought that weight equals sustain. Just getting into the guitar business, Hartley didn't want to rock the boat too much as we were"the new kids on the block". We introduced the lighter version when we knew that the workers doing the buffing were up to the greater areas needing glossy buffing.
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PostSubject: Re: New T-40 owner questions!   New T-40 owner questions! I_icon_minitime

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