THE PEAVEY BASSIST PREAMP
(originally written Jan 2025; update Apr 2025)

My fascination, and subsequent nostalgia, for certain pieces of USA-made gear inspire me to create pages like this.

CrankyGypsy's Peavey Rack (January 2025)

My Infatuation & Experience
My interest in the Bassist Preamp has to do with Peter Steele utilizing it throughout Type O Negative’s most popular era. He used these preamps during the Bloody Kisses, October Rust, and World Coming Down tours. My favorite live tone of Pete’s was Bizarre Festival 1999 and I wanted to see for myself what these things could do.

They are harder to come by than the Peavey MAX Preamps, but the Bassists do fly a little under the radar by comparison. They can be cheaper and can have a larger window for purchase ... though that means they could be gone within 72hrs instead of 24hrs on Reverb. I had been looking for a Bassist since June 2023 (one was posted on talkbass in March 2023 for a mere $85 that took 2weeks to sell) and didn’t find another until January 2025. Admittedly, I jumped at the prospect of owning one and bought mine on Reverb for $296 shipped ($50 more than I paid for my MAX in August 2023; the original asking price for my Bassist was $350). Another one was on Reverb maybe one day in February 2025 for $115 shipped.

I initially found the Bassist to be underwhelming. After a few months, I returned to give it another try - this time boosting some of the mids and adjusting the shelving to what I was using on the solid state portion of my MAX. I’m convinced the circuits between the two units are very similar.

Peavey Bassist Preamp History
There really isn’t much discussion of this unit on the internet. Initial interest and the time it would have been prominent on the used market predates forum talk. Due to this, I inquired through ChatGPT, and the AI search engine estimated the production run of the Bassist to be around 1993-1995 with an MSRP between $300 and $400.

My Bassist has a serial number of 07006738. Using Peavey's Serial Number Lookup found here, I determined my Bassist was produced in 1994. This lookup does not function well for products produced beyond 1994.

The Circuit
Unlike Peavey’s other single rack preamp units of the period (Peavey’s “Miami Vice” era), this one features a built-in compressor that has a nice range to it. Like the Tour 450/700 units, the Bassist is exclusively solid state and has an extended 9-band graphic EQ, compared to the T-MAX and MAX's hybrid circuitry and 7-band EQ. The Bassist is unique in that it has two footswitchable effects loops, one before the EQ and one after.

Footswitch
The Bassist essentially uses the same configuration as the MAX and the T-MAX footswitch (seven-pin DIN plug with three switches), just with different labeling. Also, when a T-MAX footswitch is paired with the Bassist, the LED indicators may not properly indicate that the function is engaged - for instance, the LED for the post-EQ loop will be off when that loop is engaged. The footswitch engages the compressor, the pre-EQ loop, and the post-EQ loop. Alternatively, there is an additional 1/4" jack for each of these actions on the rear panel if you cannot locate an orignal footswitch.

Resources
Bassist Manual

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a schematic on the internet and Peavey didn't answer my request.

 

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