Peavey B-Quad 4

The last guy reviewed the features pretty well. I wanted this bass ever since I started playing in 1997. I finally got one in 2003. (new) The range of tonal possibilities is fantastic. I occasionally mess with the stereo outputs- running one through effects and another one clean into another amp. Sounds great! I would like to try a true stereo setup with the low strings on one side of the room and the high strings through another amp on the other side. The Piezo pickup sounds great, but I don't use it that often because it's got plenty of slap already and it wears down the battery quicker. The neck is one of the best I've ever felt. The body puts up to abuse well - after 5 years all I have are 2 nicks. The bass looks beautiful.
If you find a picture online, the knobs do the following - Main Volume, Neck/Bridge pickup volume (split knob) Bass/Treble gain (split knob) Piezo volume, and Piezo tone. The tiny switch near the jack splits the signal when you're running a stereo setup.

The sound quality is great. The neck doesn't buzz on any frets and the eq controls on the bass work very well. I've used this bass in many different groups over the years - jazz, symphonic bands, slap funk, and death metal tones are all easily attained through a little tweaking. The stereo feature is customizable via a panel on the back of the guitar for any kind of strange setup. The piezo pickups can be run alone, or mixed in with the bridge and/or neck pickups, or not used at all.
I currently play the bass through a Yamaha B100 solid state head, going out to 2 15", 2 12", and 2 10". I also run it through a digitech whammy petal, a few distortion pedals on occasion, and a few others. The pedals really don't make the bass sound better at all - just give it a metal crunch. The bass has a very rich sound, especially the E and A strings - they really shine for a great warm low tone.

The action is very good for any style playing - picking, plucking, or slapping. I have never messed with the pickups.
The tiny stereo selector knob seems a little flimsy. I have never had problems with it, but I wouldn't be mentioning it if it didn't seem so breakable.
The only problem I've actually had to deal with the bass was a noisy/loose jack a couple years ago. My local shop fixed it right and I haven't had a problem since.

The hardware and construction of the b-quad will stand up to years of playing live or anywhere else. I replaced the strap buttons with straploks (mine did not come with them) more to protect the bass in case of a dreaded slip off the strap.
The only issue I have with the reliablity of the bass is the battery. Using active pickups, the bass has a small compartment in the back for a 9v battery. I have guessed over the years that keeping the bass unplugged and not using the piezo pickups much make the batteries last a few months of regular playing, but when they go out, there's no light or warning. All of the sudden you sound like you're playing though a 1 bit distortion pedal, really quietly. Unfortunately, it's already happened to me once at a gig and I didn't have a spare. I always get a little nervous after a few months and don't know when it'll go out. Of course, if you're smart, you always have spares and change it regularly.

I have never tried to get the bass repaired through peavey. The local shop repaired it the one time I needed repairs.

I've been playing for around 15 years and been through a few basses. I can honestly say that there is nothing I'd rather have. I go to music stores and try stuff out for the heck of it, but I never really want anything else. It's a pretty rare feeling, one that doesn't extend to guitars.
If the bass didn't completely lose signal when the battery goes, it'd be a little less stressful taking it to gigs.
If it were stolen, i'd weep and get another one.

The Peavey B Quad 4 is a 4 string bass, designed by master bass-player Brian Bromberg and crafted in the USA by Peavey Electronics. I am not exactly sure about the year it was built, but it is probably around 1997. It is a fretted bass, with a bolt on Modulus Graphite neck with Phenolic fingerboard, 34"scale, 24 frets and angled headstock. The top nut is Graphlon. The contoured eugonomic body shape with extended upper horn (signature body shape by Brian Bromberg) is made of beautiful solid flame maple, sprayed in transparant maroon/purple and a high gloss polyester finish.

The B Quad has 18 volts active low impedance electronics. It has two VFL humbucking pickups (made by Bartolini) and Fishman piezo pickups for each string. The piezos are integrated in the Wilkinson fully adjustable bridge. The bass has gold hardware, including a gold Dunlop Straplok system.

Controls on the front of the bass: master volume, individual volume per pickup (stacked knob), tone network (active high/low-pass shelving circuit, stacked knob), piezo tone, piezo volume, stereo/mono switch.

Controls on the back of the bass: individual volume controls for each string, individual panning controls for each string.

This bass contains an overkill of sounds and possibilities. Basically it sounds pretty clean and very loud. This is really a killer bass guitar that can really shake the stage. The combination of individual volume per pickup and the tone network makes a tremendous variety of tones possible. Turning up the piezos gives the bass a whole lot more punch in the high and the low frequencies. When used in the stereo mode, the bass has two output jacks. The individual panning and volume controls of the piezos enable you to create the volume and place in the stereo spectrum of each string. For instance, you can have a distorted E string come out of one output and a clear and quiet A string come out of the other. This is great stuff to experiment with!! Besides that, the piezos enable you to use nylon (piccolo) strings on your bass, so you can make your bass sound like an acoustic guitar!

The bass was built specifically for Brian Bromberg who is a virtuoso slapping, popping and two hand tapping artist and this bass is well suited for these playing styles. It has tremedous attack. When fiddling with the knobs, you will find that it has plenty of warm sounds to be useful for other playing styles. It is a very versatile bass. If you check our Brian Bromberg's records, you'll notice he uses the piezos in combination with nylon piccolo strings a lot.

I bought this bass second hand. They have been out of production since a few years. They are really rare on the second hand market. I found this one in a music store in the UK, that asked a very small price for it (about 650 Euros). For that kind of money I was able to throw in a nicely fitting hardshell case.Usually a second hand B-Quad will cost 1.200 - 1.800 Euros in Europe and 1.300 - 1,600 Dollars in the USA (if you can find one, that is). This bass is in fantastic shape, both appearance and electronics. It needed a bit of dusting and polishing, but when completed it looked and played like a new bass! Considering it's age (about 8 years I reckon), that's not bad at all. It still needs new strings and I've ordered a few sets from La Bella, including nylon piccolo strings. I also needed to replace the two stacked knobs and the Dunlop straploks, as the gold paint was a bit worn off. This bass is close to flawless and it is beautifully crafted.

I am used to playing Alembic basses, so my sense of quality is quite developed. This Peavey B Quad bass is just fantastic. Considering it's price-quality ratio, I'm giving it the full score.

This bass is built out of high quality components and is made to last. Like I said, it is approximately 8 years old, and it is still in great shape. The two worn off knobs and straploks prove the bass has been used extensively. The phenolic fingerboard does show some wear and tear, but nothing at all to worry about. The high gloss polyester finish is still as new and appears to be very mar-resistant. The graphite neck requires no adjusting, even when using different strings. I would trust this bass to do wonderfully on a gig. I would take my Alembic to, not as a back-up, but out of emotional reasons.

I've contacted Peavey through email about replacing the two worn stacked knobs on my bass. They responded quickly and politely. My request was forwarded to the European branch of Peavey, who replied and forwarded my request to the Peavey service center in The Netherlands. I've ordered my knobs there. Admittedly, these spare parts were expensive (almost 50 Euros for two stacked knobs), which was kind of disappointing.

I have been playing Alembic basses for over thirteen years. Alembic is known for their high quality instruments. Next to my current main axe Alembic, I've also owned some low priced basses, such as a Yamaha five string active bass. That Yamaha was nice, but it totally lacked the quality look and feel and the powerful sound of Alembic. All of these low priced basses never competed with my Alembics and were never "main axe material".

This Peavey bass is the first low priced bass that I consider a main axe. This is a fantastic bass guitar. One of the most spectacular basses I've come across for years. It looks, feels and plays like a high-end instrument. Its perfectly balanced body, rigid Modulus Graphite neck, the high-tech electronics, stunning wood grain, lovely finish and the large variety of sounds make this one of the best basses I've ever owned. If this one ever gets stolen or destroyed, I'd surely find a replacement B-Quad 4 (or 5).