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FS - Peavey Brian Bromberg - Bquad 4 string Graphite Sig - £1000 - temp withdrawn!
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Ok this might be a bit left field for the Bass section of a guitarist forum but i'll throw it up here before it goes to reverb/ebay just incase someone fancies it, A quick outline blah blah blah skip to TLDR if you don't want to read it
I purchased this a few years ago and just as it was going out the door the seller told me there was an issue with the output cutting out and "his tech" thought it was an issue with the power feed from the 18volt x2 battery hook up
Anyhows i purchased the bass with a bit of a discount and it arrived,output was as discribed radomly cutting out so i took it to a few places for them to look at but due to it housing a PCB no one wanted to touch it....
So i got onto peavey UK and ordered a replacement PCB...took a few months to arrive (as thy had to ship it in from the USA i was told)
took it back to a few other "techs" and again as it had a PCB they just wouldn't touch it (it only as 9 wires to hook up) In the end i took it to a local electrical repair place and they offered to replace the board and re-solder it like for like as they knew nothing about guitars/basses.
After getting it back i was so pissed off with it i just quickly checked the output (it has sound from both outputs) but didnt bother to check the crazy amount of options and output configs...Pans/Piezos ect ect ect
After that i stuck it in the case and really haven't touched it in years....since pulling it out the other day and reading up on them ive found out that the PCB faults are a common issue with these basses and most people have since had them replaced.
TLDR...Had output issues with it's PCB, which was replaced but im still unsure if all the output options work as they should....
So pic's
As you can see it's pretty much as new, no marks dents or damage of any kind Will be going up at Reverb/ebay for a bit more but i'll do it for £1000 here for anyone who fancies it, even with a faulty PCB/output they dont come up very often, i just dont play bass enough these days to justify keeping it.
Would have to sort insured shipping so fire me a postcode so i can get a quote, any question please shout.
Comments
GLWTS
Do you have the original hard shell case? And, would you be willing to ship to USA?
I have a lot experience with this bass. I can help guide you through checking things out to make sure what is working properly and what's not.
Thanks Much!
Artto
Here's what I know (from your pics).They were made 1994 thru about 98. I believe your B-Quad is a later model. I can tell from both the serial number and the piezo pickups. Yours has the later piezo pickups. The original piezos were made by Rick Turner (Renaissance Guitars/Alembic). He also designed the preamp/mixer. From a conversation I had with him it sounds like this project turned out to be a rather bad experience (with Peavey). He was kind enough to send me a replacement piezo (last one) free of charge.
Upon plugging the guitar cord into the bass, it's common for the master volume control to sound scratchy for a minute or so, then goes away. No idea why.
The Peavey VFL magnetic pickups were supposedly designed/OEM by Bartolini. The Bartolini NTBT-918 preamp & piezo buffer can be a replacement for the original electronics.
LOL, no, I'm not BB. BUT, he did personally play the two original ones I bought. Actually, I'm sort of friends (acquaintance) with him. I had to ask his permission for some cosmetic variances on a black fretless 5 string I wanted to special order (one of the last B-Quad made). I didn't want any fret lines or the "B" logo and side markers repositioned to where the frets would be. I chatted with him recently wondering if he had a 5 string in natural finish like yours that he might part with to complete my collection.
Yes, the B-Quads have a special fit case. I believe there is one FS on Reverb.com.
On the fretted B-Quads I love using GHS Stainless Steel Contact Core strings. This will require resetting the instrument using both the bridge saddles and neck angle adjustment. The attack with these strings is literally explosive and the sustain is absolutely remarkable, and very "piano-like".
Anyway, I understand the shipping cost issue. Let me know what you come up with and see where it goes from there.
Over & Out
Artto (or Arto or Art)
I don’t think you’re going to get the kind of attack & sustain that the B-Quad has from any wooden neck regardless of the fingerboard material. And don’t forget, the B-quad body is solid hark rock maple, not some laminated stuff which would most certainly soften the tone & response.
Speaking of “response”, that’s another special B-Quad quality. IMO B-Quad are one of the most responsive (ie: sensitive) instruments on the planet. Probably a little over the top for what most people are looking for. But I love them. For me it’s like anything I feel like playing just comes rolling off my fingers effortlessly It’s story time I guess (if you don’t mind). Some of this I’ve previously posted somewhere out there in internet-land.
Back in the mid 90’s I was doing a weekly gig with Lurrie Bell at Rosa’s in Chicago. One night (blues bassist/singer/songwiter) Sarah Brown walks in. Tony the owner (and a fine blues drummer in his own right) comes up to me and says Sarah Brown is in the audience and would like to sit in on a few songs and asks if she could use my bass. Even though this was back in the 90’s I knew who she was as she was just interviewed in Bass Player Magazine. I don’t like other people playing my “best” instruments but there are exceptions sometimes and this was one of them. So Sarah comes on stage and I help her strap it on (mine fit me like a glove. Kind of like being strapped into the seat of a jet fighter or Lamborghini. She plays a few quick notes and her hands “pop off of the instrument” like she got an electric shock or something. And then she says “My God! This thing is fast!!!” Then I had to tell to be careful with the volume control. The output is really HOT. She handled it pretty well. It’s a huge difference from the usual P-bass in every way imaginable.
And then there’s how I came about buying one of these. Bromberg was doing a “clinic” at the local Peavey dealer. I was lucky enough to attend. It was a real treat getting to see & hear Brian playing while sitting only 3 to 5 meters away from him. I was totally blown away. I was just getting back into playing again and thought I had my chops back. LOL. ROTFLMFAO. Yeah, right. Anyway, I was serious about playing pro again and figured I could use a second instrument. I had my heart set (probably) on a Modulus. A couple weeks later I take my wife with me to the music store to make a final purchase. The sales guy says “hey, weren’t you here for the Bromberg clinic? Why don’t you try one of the B-Quads?” Reluctantly (Peavey phobic, right?) I pick one up and start playing. Suddenly my wife says “You play this one better.” I ask her what she means by that. She says “I’m hearing you play things I never heard you play before.” And that rang a bell. I was kind of stunned actually. Why? Because that’s pretty much exactly what Brian Bromberg had said at the clinic. He said “This instrument will bring out music in you that you didn’t even know was there.” WOW. Talk about taking the words right out of the horse’s mouth! So I bought it – at list price. (but half the price of a Modulus)
Then, about a year later the other B-Quad is still sitting there in the store. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t sold yet. The store manager sees me eyeing it (again). He knows I bought the first one. So he comes up to me and says “make me an offer – take your time”. I did. And then I tell him $1250. He doesn’t say a word, just shows me his calculator. It says 1200. He says it’s your for $1200. I ask “with the case?” Yep, with the case.
A few years later I ordered the black 5 string fretless mentioned above. It took 18 months to get it. Apparently someone at Peavey thought the neck was defective because it didn’t have fret lines and threw it on the defective parts pile where it sat until I made a big enough stink about how long this was taking and someone finally tracked down what happened to it. (Hint: don’t custom order anything from Peavey. They’re not set up for that). It’s a killer looking bass. Very difficult to take pictures of. Gloss black, the phenolic fingerboard is gloss black too. All black hardware. Strung with LaBella Gold flatwounds. If Darth Vader played bass this is the bass he would play.
I have my fretted 4 string B-Quads (GHS Stainless Steel Contact Core 105/45) set at 0.75mm height 12th fret. I have one strung with Optima Gold roundwounds and that one doesn’t seem to go as low, maybe 2mm, but admittedly I haven’t really spent much time trying to dial it in. These supposedly don’t need a truss rod. However, in my experience the string type & gauge can affect the neck relief slightly. But more importantly, so does the neck angle. So it’s kind of a balancing act between strings, neck tilt and bridge saddles (in that order) to get really low action.
The one thing I really love about B-Quads is they stay in tune. No problems coming in from really cold/hot weather. Very minor pitch adjustments, if any. I took a 10 year hiatus. When I took the B-Quad out of the case after 10 years it was just very slightly flat. Could have hit the stage running if I had to. And that was with very worn completely dead strings still on it.
The B-Quad case on Reverb.com has ended and is for a 5 string but doesn't look like it was sold. I checked with mine and the 5 string does not fit in a 4 string case. The 4 stringer will obviously fit in the 5 string case albeit not a tight fit.
https://reverb.com/item/5057861-peavey-b-quad-5-bass-case?show_sold=true
Hey Steve, Thanks for jogging my memory!! Your mention of that old BB VHS video rang a bell. I forgot all about a bunch of old VHS instructional videos I had tucked away in a storage cabinet. When I saw your post I thought “hey, I think I have that one. And I do (smile)
Funny thing is I haven’t used VHS in so long it took me about an hour to get things working again, LOL, but yes, I have that video. Forgot all about it. Thanks!
You know what I found interesting about the video immediately? His bass. It’s not a B-Quad. It’s a forerunner of what was to come in the B-Quad. The body shape is there. However, the interesting thing for me are the pickups on that bass. It’s the same pickup configuration I love on my other very favorite bass, the mid-90’s Shur era Fender American Deluxe Precision Bass which has a standard P pickup & a double jazz humbucker (like a Sting Ray) in the bridge position. What’s funny about that is I had a pair of B-Quads before I had one of those kind of P-bass. But this video predates the B-Quad by at least 3 years. If I had to choose only ONE bass to live with I don’t really know which I would choose. Completely different sounds and feel. Can’t really swap one out for the other.
Also Rick Turner is on that video. I’m going to have to get hold of Brian again and ask him more about those instruments. (3 or more cables coming out of them).
I’ll have to watch the whole video but can’t right now as we’re digging out of a major snow storm here in Chicago.
Oh ---- and WOW to you – making your own instruments. NICE!!!
Holy Cow. Where did you find all those B-Quad(ish) bass? That’s incredible. I had no idea there were so many variations.
I finally watched the whole Bromberg video (Advanced Techniques). I ran across a 2002 interview where I got the impression he doesn’t like that video so that’s probably why we don’t see it around any more. And in all honesty, it doesn’t really cover much on the subject matter in the title.
So, from the video, it appears that Rick Turner was involved with the B-Quad from the beginning, well before Peavey took on the project. And Bob Mick is also mentioned/credited. I believe Bob Mick made the first B-Quad prototypes and eventually wound up at Peavey. I’m pretty sure he’s the guy who found out what happened to my no fret lines 5 string neck. I’m also pretty sure he worked on my first B-Quad when I sent it back for some service. He re-crowned the frets for me free of charge as he was surprised to see so much wear already. I played the hell out that bass.
Nice to see you still have those old Bass Player magazines. I threw mine out years ago. I should have kept the B-Quad issue. Take a look through that magazine for a John Entwhistle ad. He was wearing a orange/tan leather coat. I look just like him. AND I also have a coat like that, almost identical. Scary when I see that ad. Actually confuses me for a moment. LOL
After watching the video I’m pretty sure Bob Mick made all or most of Bromberg’s prototypes. I suspect Rick Turner got involved a little later. When I spoke with Tuner about getting a replacement piezo saddle he explained a few things to me about how things went with the B-Quad project & Peavey. I won’t post here what he said. He wasn’t vulgar or anything. Let’s just say it was one of his life’s more memorable experiences and leave it at that. In a 2002 BB interview BB mentions that the B-Quad project at Peavey kind of fell short of his expectations, dare I say, because of Peavey. OTOH I’m not sure the later versions from Dean or Kiesel ever matched the original B-Quad. I’ve never played any of them, but they certainly don’t seem to be equipped with the same level of performance from both the neck and electronics. I mean really, what are you going to find an instrument like the B-Quad – Modulus graphite neck with an ultra fast contour that Modulus never used on their own instruments, Rick Turner designed electronics, solid hard rock maple body, all USA made – for what B-Quad are selling for?
I got my first BB CD (self titled, 1993) directly from him – autographed, of course