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Let's talk about the value of a Peavey T-60...


fanuvbrak

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First off, let's just state what it is:

 

US Made

Bolt on neck with micro tilt adjustment

2 HB pickups with coil tap

Peavey adjustable bridge

3 Piece Ash Body (Naturals and Bursts...Alder body on painted)

Peavey USA Made Tuners

Metal Nut

 

Okay, back in 1978, they sold for $350 with Hardshell case. Hartley felt there was a hole in the mid-range guitar market where Fenders and Gibsons started at $600 to $700.

 

Adjusting for inflation, $350 is equivalent to $1,150 in 2006.

 

This is a rock solid guitar with great tones. A lot of people say they're heavy, but I have a 1978 slab-type body (ash) and it weighs just shy of 9 lbs...less than most LP's.

 

Yet, you can routinely get one of these for $300 to $400 (I have seen some of these go for as much as $800, but they were virtually unplayed and still had the plastic film on the pickguard). That means that, in 30 years, this guitar has not gone up in value from its original purchase price.

 

There will be a few naysayers who say they're ugly, the neck's too thin (a legitimate complaint if you like thick necks), or they don't like the sound (I find this difficult to comprehend...but everyone's entitled to their opinion), but the majority of the people who play one fall in love.

 

So, is this the best bang for the buck guitar on the market today?

 

Here's a crappy picture of mine:

 

02-13-07_1419.jpg

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please don't post and hype these up until I have had the chance to purchase one while the prices are still reasonable.


Thanks!

 

 

Think you and I missed out on the Great Deals. I watch a rael nice Black/Maple go for $349. w/BIN in 1-hr. There a drop dead MINT White w/Rosewood board just like Johnny Copelands, the fellow wanted $449 w/BIN? That was still there last time I looked.

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Fanuv - I couldn't agree with you more. Personal preference for neck profile aside, T-60's are, IMO, the most undervalued guitars on the used market at this point. Stunning tone, creative electronics and superior build quality throughout and will last a lifetime. The T-40 basses are equally as sweet (though HEAVY). Here are mine:

 

The T-60 was $200 and the T-40 was $100 (has since been fixed and set up), both with OHSC

 

T-40004.jpg

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I have one in Sunbusrt with rosewood fingerboard. Bought it about 15 years ago from an old bandmate that owns a music store. Played in a band with him in the early 60's. I was looking for an electric since I didn't have one at the time. He sold me a T-60 for $90! Very nice solid guitar and can get a wide range of sounds.

 

I don't think you can go wrong with one of these. I like mine.

 

:thu:

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One of the most underrated vintage guitars, period. Not everyone is going to like it, but then not everybody is going to like a vintage Strat or Les Paul either. But for construction, materials and tone they are truly top notch instruments. A blond T-60 was my first real guitar when I was 14 years old. I wish I'd kept it, but I'll be filling the T-60 sized hole in my collection sometime next month. I should have $400 -$450 to spend so I'll be able to get a really nice early ash-body example.

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Well, my opinion should be obvious to anyone that's seen my NGD posts of late - I've bought 2 this month. Never have I felt such a strong urge to own multiples of the same guitar, and the price made it a no-brainer to grab a second, in case it should go up in the future. It's by far the most versatile guitar I've ever played - there's just a stunning array of tones available out of one guitar.

 

Neck concerns are valid - if you don't like a neck, you don't like a neck. I love the thin T-60 neck now that I'm used to it.

 

As for heavy, both of mine are under 9 pounds.

 

Brak, I do think you got one thing inaccurate in the first post - the painted ones are Poplar, not Alder, according to the good folks at the T-60 forum. Never had a Poplar axe before, but my Black T-60 sounds mighty fine...

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Fanuv - I couldn't agree with you more. Personal preference for neck profile aside, T-60's are, IMO, the most undervalued guitars on the used market at this point. Stunning tone, creative electronics and superior build quality throughout and will last a lifetime. The T-40 basses are equally as sweet (though HEAVY). Here are mine:


The T-60 was $200 and the T-40 was $100 (has since been fixed and set up), both with OHSC


T-40004.jpg

 

That's a great matched set. My natural ash had the early flat switches that inevitably break off. After the phase switch broke off the manager of the shop where I took lessons replaced both switches with more durable mini toggles.

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Well, my opinion should be obvious to anyone that's seen my NGD posts of late - I've bought 2 this month. Never have I felt such a strong urge to own multiples of the same guitar, and the price made it a no-brainer to grab a second, in case it should go up in the future. It's by far the most versatile guitar I've ever played - there's just a stunning array of tones available out of one guitar.


Neck concerns are valid - if you don't like a neck, you don't like a neck. I love the thin T-60 neck now that I'm used to it.


As for heavy, both of mine are under 9 pounds.


Brak, I do think you got one thing inaccurate in the first post - the painted ones are Poplar, not Alder, according to the good folks at the T-60 forum. Never had a Poplar axe before, but my Black T-60 sounds mighty fine...

 

 

For the solid colors, Poplar is correct as far as I know. Funny - I almost bought a PAF '79 T-60 off craigslist for $250 (listed with an amp no less!) but just couldn't justify owning two, though they were different in Pups etc.. Funny because I already own way to many guitars and bought another afterwards - should have stepped on that deal

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Well, my opinion should be obvious to anyone that's seen my NGD posts of late - I've bought 2 this month. Never have I felt such a strong urge to own multiples of the same guitar, and the price made it a no-brainer to grab a second, in case it should go up in the future. It's by far the most versatile guitar I've ever played - there's just a stunning array of tones available out of one guitar.


Neck concerns are valid - if you don't like a neck, you don't like a neck. I love the thin T-60 neck now that I'm used to it.


As for heavy, both of mine are under 9 pounds.


Brak, I do think you got one thing inaccurate in the first post - the painted ones are Poplar, not Alder, according to the good folks at the T-60 forum. Never had a Poplar axe before, but my Black T-60 sounds mighty fine...

 

I have an old issue of Peavey Monitor From spring 1987. It has the T-60 and T-40 in the catalog, but only in black, like another famous "T". It identifies the body material as western maple. I'm not sure when they made the change from poplar to maple but it must have been late in the production run.

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That's a great matched set. My natural ash had the early flat switches that inevitably break off. After the phase switch broke off the manager of the shop where I took lessons replaced both switches with more durable mini toggles.

 

I ended up selling the T-40 to my bass player who just loves the thing. Fortunately he's a big guy and can tote it with no problem. I just bought it for the matched set - but since he liked it so much and let go of it. Ended up buying another T-40 for my collection, a natural '79 PAF and it's a fine bass as well. Still trying to trade him back for the set.

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They are ugly and the case smells really weird.

 

But, to be honest, when i bought mine in 1981, T-60s were actually way better than what fender was selling back then. I had a late 70s tele that was utter garbage.

 

The neck is very thin. The metal nut is not that great. the electronics are primo, but they sound bad if everything is dimed. You have to turn down the knobs a little to get the sweet tones.

 

My natural ash one is a PAF slab and it weighs alot. I have a white one, too which is later with contours and it is as light as a strat. Doesn't sound as good because the pickups are different. I like the ones without blades.

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Brak, I do think you got one thing inaccurate in the first post - the painted ones are Poplar, not Alder, according to the good folks at the T-60 forum. Never had a Poplar axe before, but my Black T-60 sounds mighty fine...

 

As Dave also noted, sfaik this is correct, poplar not alder.

 

I actually own/have owned a number of poplar guitar besides my balck/maple T-60. Currently, my Fender Tex-Mex Tele Special and my Peavey USA Predator are both poplar, and previously I had a 90's MIM Fender Strat that was poplar. Sounds very similar to alder, only downside that it can have greenish streaks, thus it's use in solid-color painted guitars (my Tex-Mex Tele is sunburst, I'm guessing it has a top laminate of something over the poplar)

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They are ugly and the case smells really weird.


But, to be honest, when i bought mine in 1981, T-60s were actually way better than what fender was selling back then. I had a late 70s tele that was utter garbage.


The neck is very thin. The metal nut is not that great. the electronics are primo, but they sound bad if everything is dimed. You have to turn down the knobs a little to get the sweet tones.


My natural ash one is a PAF slab and it weighs alot. I have a white one, too which is later with contours and it is as light as a strat. Doesn't sound as good because the pickups are different. I like the ones without blades.

 

I don't find them ugly, obviously totally subjective.

 

The necks are thin.

 

Not all had metal nuts.

 

The tonal difference you reference is that you like them in humbucker mode, rather than singles after the coil-split kicks in. This is consistent with you preferring the toastertops to the blades, as the toasters are somehwat warmer and the blades somewhat brighter.

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geez I remember these being sold used in music stores for about $120 or so.

But no....I had to but a Kramer Stryker.


Like G&L's I just find it hard to get excited about T-60's, although I will say they are fine quality instruments.

 

They're not naturally sexy visual designs, I think. I personally had a soft spot for them because an acquaintance of mine on the very early local punk scene had a white one and eventually settled on T-60's as his guitar of choice. People tend to get more fanatic about their ease of play and the wide range of sounds you can get out of them, as well as their indestructible construction.

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Okay, back in 1978, they sold for $350 with Hardshell case. Hartley felt there was a hole in the mid-range guitar market where Fenders and Gibsons started at $600 to $700.


Adjusting for inflation, $350 is equivalent to $1,150 in 2006.

if still available new would anyone (no just fanboys) really pay $1150?

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