💥Trash or Treasure? The Peavey TL-5 Tim Landers Signature Bass V1 and V2 Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
- Today's subject is the Peavey Tl-5 Tim Landers signature bass. The Peavey TL series was the signature series of bassist Tim Landers in the early 90s. We'll look at the specs, construction, and sound to find out if it's worth a second look. The Peavey TL 5 came in 2 generations. The main difference in TL5 version 1 and version 2 is the electronics. Generation one of the Peavey TL-5 had active and passive options, while the generation 2 is active only, with different pickups and preamp. Let's find out if it's trash or treasure!
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Hey Rodney - just came across this. Nicely done! I had a great experience working with Hartley and the Peavey engineers on my models and they did a fantastic job recreating my designs. It started with the Dyna basses then we did the signature models - so some of my input on the Dynas were ported over to the TLs. Throughout the years of the TL series run, the necks and body shapes, pickup placement, electronics, hardware and so on continued to evolve, as you noted, and would have continued if I had stayed with Peavey. They were really great about that. A truly unique company at the time. I could go on but I just wanted to say hello and tell you how I enjoyed your take on the instruments. Looking forward to a TL-6 review too! :)
Best - Tim L
Hey Tim! Thanks so much for checking out the review. I really appreciate the kind words, and you giving the great inside info. I've really fallen in love with these after rediscovering them. I am planning a TL six review - would you be open to being in touch for a few questions on how it was developed? I know the subscribers would love info straight from the source, and I'd be fascinated as well. If you like, just let me know the best way to reach out. You're welcome to be in touch at Rodney@Rodneymcg.com. Thanks again for stopping in and sharing some history!
Tim I have several TL-5’s and a TL-6 that belonged to Randy Jackson. Best basses I have ever played.
@@GilaMonster971 Cool! I remember those particular basses. Randy wanted to check them out as he was either working on a new or modifying an older signature model at the time for Peavey. I've recently been playing one of my 5-strings again and loving it :)
@@timlanders1137 apparently the one I got that Randy owned was left at a recording studio. The studio was closing down and the owner asked Randy what he wanted to do with it, he told him to sell it. I didn’t know it was Randy’s when I bought it, but when it arrived it had his name on the case and some air flight stickers. I contacted the person I bought it from and he confirmed it was Randy’s and was used in several studio sessions.
It’s a bit too wide for my hands, but still play it occasionally until my carpal tunnel acts up.
I had a peacock blue TL-5, but it was kind of dinged up so I refinished in transparent purple burst. I like it even better than my Carvin Icon 5.
Thanks for the response and a bit more info, greatly appreciated.
USA 1980-1990's Peavey even up to the Cirrus have stood the test of time as some of the most loved basses to our small non-Fender group of players. Peavey USA is my #1 go to for over 10 years now.
I purchased my black (purple?) 1st gen either late 1988 or 1989. It's all I've played for the last 35 years except for my electric upright occasionally. I've always loved the tone and continue to receive compliments from trusted sound techs. Thanks for the review.
Every bass I've had with those Schaller bridges on just absolutely kick butt. My very first bass was a Carvin LB90.
Neck through, solid maple body and neck, ebony board and the Schaller bridge. Ric is now using the Schaller on their 5 string basses and what a difference they make! I've bought one to retrofit onto one of my Ibanez basses. I have one on a custom made Tele bass I have.
I think they're amazing.
Total truth. I had one fo those old Carvins too. So great!
Just to point out on the TL-5, V1, you said it was like taking a blanket off when you turned on the preamp. This is because in passive mode, the Treble boost/cut becomes a passive tone control. If you had the Treble at center, then the tone was at 50%. You may want to try passive mode with the Treble all the way up.
Really hit the nail on the head and I'm not sure if you realized it with the body carve comment. This is just a budget spector. And that's the secret sauce I needed just now, I've been wanting a 4 string version of my TL-5 and that's it. I need a spector.
Wow! I have a gen 2 without the curved pickups. I got it new in '93, blue. I have had to replace the preamp w/an Audere so no more sweep BUT I STILL USE IT! I just put a down payment on a walnut Cirrus 5 string in mint condition. Thanks for covering one of my favorite basses!
I bought myself a TL-5 for my bday back in ‘91 when I turned 18 using gig money. One of my favorite gifts to myself. Still have it and still looks and sounds great. I actually looked up TL-5 videos out of curiosity as I was playing with my bass. Great video. Good info. I learned more about my bass! Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I picked up a 1st gen TL6 back in 2019 and its been my main bass ever since. It's noticably different from the 5 string models, especially with the double reverse P pickups, but it has a super comfortable neck (was hard to find a 6 string I liked the feel of), stays in tune in all kinds of crazy conditions, and looks killer! Would love to add a TL5 one day
I have a tl6 on the way. Can't wait!
I bought a red series two in 2008 for $300 and it's been my main bass since. Sounds amazing, plays amazing. The preamp can dial in a bunch of different tones and blending from the neck pickup to the bridge pickup can drastically change the sound. A few months ago I was looking to dial back some of the modern hifi sound of it and put EB flats on it, wow does that ever make this thing sing! My standard preamp setting is blend just a bump toward the bridge pickup, treble with a tiny bump (with rounds I always cut the treble a tiny bit), mid sweep in the middle, mid in the middle, bass around 75% boost. Killer killer killer bass. A bass of this quality could easily sell for $2,000+ new these days.
Picked up my 1st gen after many years of pursuit (they were not and are still not so common in Italy). 1990 build, Stock preamp was fine but lacking in output so I replaced it with a Bartolini 3 band preamp leaving SuperFerrites in place. Now it's a powerhouse and smooth as silk to play.
Congrats!
In-depth reviews on TL-Five are rare. Thank you for the great video! (And Mr. Landers himself in the comment section 😁)
I've bought two (both 2nd gen) of them. The first one was purchased from an eBay seller about 10 years ago. I liked it very much, but it was pretty beat-up so I went looking for another one in a better condition. I finally found one on eBay years later, imported it to Korea (where I live) and sold the first one. I am probably one of the only two owners of the TL-Five in Korea. 😆 No bassist in Korea has ever heard of this fine instrument.
It's a lovely bass from the 90s where 5-string basses were still very new. The D-shape neck felt quite taxing on my hand but I got used to it pretty quickly. It's slim and fast.
Unfortunately the original mid-sweep pot stopped working one day, and it was impossible to get a replacement part even with help from the kind Peavey customer service staff. So I replaced the entire preamp with a Bartolini that was lying around. I like the result, but still I miss the original preamp. I also replaced the tuners with Hipshot Ultralites, which I always do to any bass that is definitely a keeper. It's also built to last forever...except for that failed pot which is understandable. The circuit board is still like new though.
I love US made basses from the 90s-2000s. There are quite a few gems, and the TL-Five is one of them for sure.
...I had a TL-Six as well, which I had to let go for some reason. Now I want it back. 😂
Thanks for the kind words. They are defintely gems, no doubt. I have a sunburst TL6 I love too. You'd have to kill me to get it out of my hands!
I have a TL 5 I had for 25years it still sounds good I just changed the strings I have some DR Fat Beam they sound great
They are Diamonds in the Rough for sure!
Okay I'm at the VFL gen 2.
Sold. I've been looking at several basses that have the VFL and now I get it.
The dynabass preamp should never have been used on the Super Ferrites as the VFL is *actually* what Hartley visualized as an active bass.
the Gen 2 SMOKES, out of the box.
I need both for sure and I think I'd have to try several or even design my own preamp to go with them. That's an interesting niche problem - the right preamp tuned specifically for Super Ferrites.
I cannot WAIT to get a VFL or even the Gen 2 TL5 but I'm not holding my breath at all. T-40 haven't been affordable for a while now.
The market *will* return, but I'm not sharing my opinion on that outside that there is a saturation curve and a rebound after people can go back to brick/mortar music stores full time. It's one of the few businesses that really demands people be there to test drive - even a car you can guess or assume things about, a guitar you CANT. PERIOD. YOU HAVE TO HOLD IT TO KNOW so every online buy is a gamble. It's fun if you like gambling, but I'm the opposite of a gambler so it drives me NUTS.
I my TL5 goes up for sale, then I am mostly likely DEAD.
My favorite 5string is a Heartfield DR5C, but i always reach for my gen1 TL5
I didn't realize the TL-5 had a sculpted body. Thanks for showing that. I have an Ibanez SRT805DX and it also has the sculpted body. I like that the Peavey is USA made and about half the price of my Ibanez with similar features. Nice! 👍
Yeah, it get's missed a lot. I even forgot while I was listing the the details. They really are a steal
I had a blue 1st Gen TL-5. I acquired it second hand about 1992 and it was my first 5 string. I loved the tone and the feel. I was playing a lot of hard rock at the time and those wonky mids sounded just fine to me at the time. I was also playing through a Mesa Boogie 400+, so pretty much anything sounded great through it lol. I did have to replace all the tuners as all the gears shredded after about a year. I liked the bridge, but the finish wasn't very durable.
It was a rock solid bass otherwise.
I lost it to a pawn shop about 1998. The neck had started to twist on the bass side at about the 14th fret.
I do miss it and I would buy another if one popped up.
This is great, I was looking for some good info on the tl-5 prior to picking one up.
I've had a few opportunities to pick up both 1st and 2nd gen TL-5s and always seriously considered getting one, but usually didn't because they would have been more of a "want" than a "need", i.e., I already have instruments that fill the general tonal profile of the Peavey.
There were some cool basses out of that era. I've always been intrigued by the Charvel Fusion basses and the first gen Carvin LB75s with the bazillion controls and M13B pickups.
2nd gen definitely sounds better.
Wow~ I have a 1987ish white Peavey Dyna bass 4 & the electronics package/knobs & bridge looks very similar~ wish it had ebony.
Same electronics as the dynabass. They used them in a few if the American series. The dyna were awesome.
@@RodneyMcG I sold an '82 G&L L2000 & bought the Dyna. I liked the G&L but it weighed about 10lbs & at the time I was playing long gigs & it was painful. I think the Dyna as like 7lbs & felt light as a feather. I LOVED the preamp because G&L just had a MASSIVE boost & I had fun scooping the mids on the Dyna. This was in Rhode Island & I moved to Hawaii like a week after I bought it. I left it there & play with friends when I visit. It literally has like 4 hours total playing time on it~ closet classic. I told Low End Lobster that I would bring it to him because he likes to review classic basses~
Sounds like a gem for sure
Would be nice if you could showcase a Peavey Mark III/IV bass head. There's certainly a hype about them if facebook groups and forums. Is it worth it ?
I've been looking into them, but hard to find in decent shape. I'm keeping an eye out.
I purchased my TL five new in the 90s and continue to use it today. It’s the first version. It has developed a buzz and I can’t figure out what it is. I love the guitar it’s very beautiful it’s the black Maple see-through. It actually looks kind of purple in the light. Wish I could find a new preamp for it.
Usually a buzz is going to be a ground issue. I would look into the ground wire solder, etc. Could be a bad joint.
Nice. there were some nice 6 strings too...a TL6 and another sig artist I can't recollect right now. the cool part was one of the 6 strings at least was a double P bass lol
I remember those. I'd like to get my hands on one
Hohner B basses are all maple too. They're all gone as well. Well, you can buy one for a kbuck now that was sold from another site for 400 bucks but I didn't have the cash to grab it or the other ones before they disappeared.
@@russellzauner i'll have to look into that one
I like the series 2 more when you started sweeping in the lower mids
Yeah, that preamp is so much better. I may try to get the ferrites hooked into one and see how it sounds.
The second generation preamp is essentially the Millenium preamp, with two stacked knobs instead of separate bass and treble controls
I agreed with all your observations up to tone controls. The super ferrite pickups seem a little generic. Mids did seem to get scooped. The type 2 seemed a more interesting and capable machine. All modern is what I seek, so I liked it better. Thick Ebony for sure.
That's what's cool is that it's not just a great and inexpensive bass, but there's multiple versions for multiple tastes
Those are so pretty. I have been dying for one the past few years lol.
Your mission is clear!
@@RodneyMcG Yes sir indeed it is!
I owned a TL5 for a while and I'm sorry I ever got rid of it; great bass
The one that you don't like on the Gen 1, we call that, The Country Tone lol Hartley was going for super country without crossing over into icepicky, that's why it's configured the way it is. ;-)
If Hartley didn't like a tone sometimes he would just remove it. Going from the T-60 to the T-25 literally removes the "icepick" switch and puts the S/H split mode in the tone knobs at 7. I have that setup on my Peavey Mystic and once I understood what was happening, I found it kind of brilliant and started wondering what else people hid in the instruments over the years. The T-40 has the same equivalent mode but it doesn't stab your ears but rather produce a hyper-country bass timbre so it got left in as well as that being one of the few basses that can fake a LOT of tones - but it was never a 5, which is why to get close to the T-40 configuration in my tone library I am probably gonna need that Schecter C5 even though it would be my first Indonesian guitar out of the like many instruments around here.
Hey Russell - If you ever see this very belated response - You obviously have good ears for tone but to set the record straight, Hartley wasn't involved with the detailed design of these basses other than to oversee production cost. Which is why the first generation TLs had a preamp that was (nearly) directly pulled from a Peavey mixer preamp strip as it was already an in-house component. Hartley would do that sort of thing if he felt it could save a few bucks. He's not unlike Leo Fender in that way. :) At any rate, I was never totally pleased with the sound and functionality of that first preamp and kept after Mike Powers and the gang to push for a better, custom preamp - which we got. I also kept working to improve the pickups and make the bass more "boutique" sounding w/ soapbar style humbuckers and the like. The ferrite PUs were also ported over from the Dyna basses and were good pickups but I had a more "hi-fi" sound in mind, which we got closer to as the model years progressed. Same thing with the TL6s - we were constantly trying to improve the basses while still keeping the retail cost down. There were a number of changes over the TLs 8 or 9 year run before I officially moved on from Peavey. At the time of their run they were the most affordable quality neck-through 5 & 6 string basses on the market w/ fine woods and active electronics. And they were completely made in the US!
Great Basses !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had a GEN 1.. Amazing bass.. I agree with you on the [reamp..
If they did a better quality Back Cover it couve made the bass appear more$$$.. They used a cheap looking black plastic cover.. But still well made over all
What made you sell it?
@@RodneyMcG My own stupidity.. LOL.. I was selling stuff to get money for another bass at that time.. Big mistake. Great review. .Thank you
@@svtbass oof - maybe you'll scoop up another sometime. Thanks for watching.
@@RodneyMcG I didn't mention. I was playing Pedulla basses at the same time as this. The TL is very much like the Pedulla in feel. At least mine were.
I had two MVP5s one had a "V" neck while the other had a more traditional neck profile. The more traditional feeling one was similar to my TL5. I was endorsed by Pedulla back then when i was on tour with the pop star debbie gibson.
I knew Mike Pedulla well . What a nice man. Great artisan too.
I like what you had to say about the newer Gen 2 preamp.. Thats the one i will look for if I can find one. Like you said the Gen1 preamp was its negative.. I used it either passive or Preamp on in FLAT setting since i was wireless for that tour. It was a punchy bass and cut well in a dense pop style mix
Never been able to find these in the UK because not many come here and the owners just don’t sell them for much less than they paid. Carvin LB’s normally go for £900-1k but good UK made amps are SO cheap
Yeah, i'm always jealous on UK Trace Elliot prices! I'm pretty sure i saw one for sale in the UK. If you're looking, hit me up and I'll see if I can locate it again.
@@RodneyMcG the TE amps are going up in price recently. The Ashdown ABM is really where it’s at for TE tones but with better build in valve drive, compressor and octave.
Seems like all gear is headed that way. I used Ashdown for a bit, but it just didn't do it for me.
@@RodneyMcG Which TE gear were you after?
I took the plunge and got an Enfield Lionheart. Best bass I’ve ever played, the switching on the pickup make is really versatile
@@davidlovellbass4761 I was interested in those pickups except i'd have to gut a bass just to try them out. I was looking at a TE gp12 smx, or a Ah series head with that pre in it/
For some reason this video, even at 1080p, seems somewhat blurry compared to your others. Not a big deal, just giving you a heads up:)
Strange. Thanks for letting me know
Sweet 😛 2nd Gen model. Would compliment someone's arsenal for sure.
There's a lot to like. Tough choice for me
@@RodneyMcG Neck thru and sculpted body, can't go wrong for that price any day. Like you said, double that price for a bass made today. $1100 for that Schecter Elite 5
Double easy. There's also a difference in the craftsmanship. The Peavey were made in the US factory with much more attention to detail.
@@RodneyMcG I had a Peavy Cropper Classic that one of my boys have now. Supper Sweet Tele made in America 🇺🇸
So you're saying NEITHER of those basses gives me a free belt buckle like the T-40?
HARD PASS
;-)
You prolly dont give a shit but if you're bored like me atm then you can stream pretty much all of the latest movies and series on InstaFlixxer. I've been watching with my girlfriend recently =)
@Eden Jordy definitely, been using InstaFlixxer for months myself =)
They both sound lifeless to me. They look beautiful, though.
I think many MAPLE body basses sound that way. They compress alot by the nature of the beast.