Peavey C4

Bought it in 2000. It's a 24 fret, 4 string, bolt-on neck bass. It's got two passive pickups in H/H configuration with separate tone/volume for each one.

It's built mainly in bubinga wood with some others -- mahogany neck I think and some stripes of other woods, which give it great looks. Originaly in a beautiful matte finish, now it's glossy in some places due to my arms and body polishing it :) It weights quite a lot but feels well balanced.

Overall, it feels sturdly built and I've never ran in more trouble than a not-so-good jack which can be changed for a dime. No gig bag or case, usual for the cheap price.

The humbucking pickups give it a generally warm, round sound, not the sparkly tone of Fenders. The neck pickup sounds like a smoothed P-bass and the bridge has a J-bass feel to it. When run together (in parallel by default construction), the sound is well balanced an rich. With some tinkering with the volume and tone settings, you can dial pretty good tones.

Apart for clean funky slapping, which sounds too fat, it suits many styles. Together with a pinch of overdrive it's really fantastic, truly rocking.

The possibility to tap the humbuckers to singles would be a great addition. I might do this somewhere in the future.

The factory adjustment, or at least what I got at the store, was definitely OK.

The greater problem overall in this bass is the default electronics, which are amateurishly connected, with wires badly bound and absolutely unshielded. As a result, it can pick a lot of electrical noise. It's somewhat tamed by the parallel wiring of the pickups, but arises whenever you use just one of them.

It's a tough machine. It's fallen down the stairs, down the stand, and been in quite a few domestic moves and it still is intact. As it's not lacquered, the hits form bumps in the wood without chipping, so it still looks great (apart from the awful polishing at some parts).

I would definitely use it safely without a backup. It's a road warrior.

I've needed to ask Peavey Europe for info about the bass and they've been really helpful on the mail.

No repairs have been needed, luckily.

Been playing bass & guitar for roughly ten years, and own some other equipment, but no other basses, as this one works great. I'm right now considering buying a five string and de-fretting this one. The only thing I regret is not having picked up the fiver back in 2000, I would probably have found it a bit more versatile. If it was stolen or lost I would probably buy a higher-end bass, as now I can afford something better, but this was a fantastic purchase for its price.

I've played a bunch of other basses, and some of them have sounded better to me, but this is one of the most comfortable and durable, as well as cool-looking. It's awesome for a beginner, and certainly great as a backup or second bass.

It was bought and made in 2000. 4 string 24 fret neck through solid top C4 model. 4 controls (2 volume/2 tone). H/H pickup config. They are Passive(c) Peavey Hums. Mine has my prefered maple fingerboard. It only comes in one finish with the natural varnished green/brown look. The body was inspired by the Cirrus series. I got it from the Harmonia Guitar Store in London, England and it came with a case, strap and set of strings for #200.

It sounds good and the low string damping makes the low notes not vibrate like other guitars but it just sounds smooth. The sounds are pretty good for a guitar of this price and it always sounds warm and jazzed up. Very sensual. There is also alot of variety that you can get out but some of the more complex effects get a bit muffled.

The action, fit and finish were all superb with everything set up well. The fre board and hardware were all up to standard and the volume and tone controls were quite sticky and easy not to set to the degree that you require. Very good.

It is reliable. That's all there is to it. It is very strong to and I wouldn't bet against me still playing this in 10 years time with it sounding still damn good. It's durable and I like it!

I have 3 years warranty which gives me a large discount on self inflicted damage and repairs. I have no reason, with it being rock solid, that I will need to ever use this. Still I have called Peavey technical support once before when my friends Dynabass stopper working. They seemed nice enough people!

I have been playing for a little over 7 years and own 4 bass guitars. They are (in order of owned), Squire Affinity P Bass (#120), Yamaha RBX775 (#450), Ibanez SR3005E (#1050) and Peavey C4 (#200). Of all of these, the Peavey is the best value for money and in some ways I think better than the RBX! The Ibanez blows it away but you would expect that from a #1000 guitar. Overall it is a fantastic guitar and I would think one of the best cheap or starter basses out there. Get it now!

This bass was made in 2000, the year I bought it. I think I have the model details right, as I have seen it advertised as a C4 and as a Zephyr. Whatever, It's the Vietnamese 'economy Cirrus'.
Being a C4 it has four strings and 24 frets (they just go on forever ...). Mine is the bolt-on neck version, there is a through-neck 4-string as well, and a 5-string (reviewed on HC). There are two pick-ups, I don't know what they are, bass being my third instrument. It's a passive bass. Each pickup has a volume and tone pot, with no markings as far as my eyesight can tell. The very antithesis of chicken-head knobs. Again, I wouldn't know how to describe the tuners but they are chrome.
I bought it as it was but bought a gig-bag at the same time, so I presume it comes without a case.

I used this with a Kustom 20-watt practice amp to start with, which was not very good. I then got a Behringer BX1200 which is heaps better, pretty impressive, in fact, so the bass itself is obviously not a problem. Plays well with flatwounds which I have to use as I damaged my fingers last year (and I prefer the sound). Stays in tune OK if you put the strings on properly. There's not much extraneous noise and it would suit players wanting a clean sound. The twin pick-up arrangement doesn't work for me, especially as I can't see where the knobs are. I spend more time working out where they are than getting the best sound. I ought to mark the pots, but from a style point of view that's a bit naff. Anyway, I got a Sansamp bass driver which takes over the tone-shaping bit and now I'm happy. With a radio bug, the sound is a lot less clear, so I'd say the tone is pretty clean from the bass. I only use the radio now when I need a fuzzy tone or suspect there may be electrical problems on stage. There is plenty of variety, though, and incredible sustain. I play in a covers band that tackles pretty well anything, and occasionally in a wind band when doing swing numbers. It's quite at home with anything I've tried it for, but that's mainly at the polite end of the spectrum.

I thought the bass was well-set up when I bought it, and as I've got better, I've hardly changed my mind. I could probably make it slightly better sounding and slightly better in tune now, but we're talking about the difference between 8.5 and 9 here.
Having a fairly long horn it balances well.
Finish is excellent and being in natural hardwood it looks great. As others have noticed, the socket is a bit feeble and comes loose. I took the back panel off to check it and re-soldered some of the internal connections as they were not brilliant. The socket's beginning to loosen again, though, so I may change it altogether.

Live playing is not a problem here, but in the two years I've had the bass, on of the tuners broke. I bought a spare set, so I have three left in case of future failures. I probably won't use them. Apart from this and the loose socket mentioned above, there's been nothing to complain about at all. When I get another bass it will be for fun, not for backup. (I played without the G string when the tuner went. 24 frets IS useful!)
The strap buttons are simple but solid, like my strap, which is a large leather belt with the buckle cut off and a hole each end for the strap button. No problems in two years of regular use.

Haven't dealt with Peavey directly. When the tuner broke, I got the replacement set through the dealer who sold me thebass, and they took about a fortnight to come, which I thought was a bit slow as Peavey Europe HQ is ten miles from the dealer and four miles from me.

I was new to the bass when I bought this instrument, but I've been pleased with it. I now have the bass going through a Sansamp Bass Driver and into a Behringer BX1200 and I am plenty loud enough with lots of tonal variety. With the AKG guitar bug the sound is warmer, less focussed and has more noise, but is fine where you don't want ultimate clarity.
I tried all 5 or 6 basses in the shop and this was miles ahead in quality and desirability. Mind you, we are talking budget basses.
Favourite feature is the quality woodwork and superb sustain
Least favourite feature is the tone and volume pots (but they look nice).
If it were stolen, I'd probably buy the 5-string version. In fact, I'll probably buy the 5-string version and build my Sansamp into the 4-string bass. Or something like that.
If I carry on doing as much or more bass playing as at present I may buy a more prestigious one, but only if the cash turns up. This one is good enough not to have me saving for its replacement.