Peavey Cirrus 4 BXP

Cirrus BXP 4
"Darkwood" model
Made in Indonesia
Purchased in Montreal in 2006 for 760$
Specs from the Peavey web page:
- 35 inch scale
- Neck-through-body
- 2 VFL(TM) active pickups
- Active 3-band EQ with +/- 10 dB boost/cut
- Black hardware
- String-through-finger style bridge
- Pau Ferro fretboard
- Dual expanding truss rod

I started playing bass three years ago on a basic but very honest Yamaha RBX270 entry-level bass. I wanted to upgrade and started checking out different basses : Fenders, other Yamahas, Godin, etc. But the magic happened when I started playing on a Cirrus 4. It didn't just look great, it sounded great too! I play rock and I was looking for a bass with a modern sound and lots of rumble. The Cirrus did the trick. I play it through a Hartke HS 1200 combo amp and use DR Sunbeam strings. After finding the proper settings, the bass sounded great! It has great sustain, probably because of the neck through body. I saw other reviews which mentioned the sound wasn't very clear. I disagree; this bass is very versatile and can go from a nasal tone to a very clear sound with lots of bottom. The bass is also completely silent, no matter what kind of other electronic device you stick in front of it!!

I got the bass brand new right out of the box. The guys at the store gave it a quick checkup and found there was too much bow in the neck. Once adjusted, the bass was a charm to play. The only problem had to do with the 35 inch scale. Because of inexperience, I didn't bother asking about such a detail when I purchased the bass. I soon realized that going from a 34-inch to a 35-inch bass requires some adjusting. But I quickly got more comfortable with the Cirrus and have no regrets whatsoever.

The bass had no noticeable defects. However, after a year and a half, the pickup selector is starting to be a bit noisy when I swith from one pickup to another.

The natural finish on the bass is beautiful! The neck seems to be made of 5 pieces of wood. I saw pictures of this model on the web and the color contrast between the body and neck seems to vary somewhat from one bass to another. The neck color on mine is quite lighter than the body, which gives the bass a very cool two-tone look.

I played the bass live quite a few times and it never let me down. The finish is beautiful but I feel it would not resist rough handling in general. But I do manipulate the bass a lot and it doesn't show any wear so far.

I notice I have to tune it often. Maybe the weather is playing tricks on it. It's due for a tuneup anyway.

I never had to deal with Peavey yet. I sent an email to the company soon after buying the bass to get some documentation on the instrument (none was given at purchase). I mean, yeah, it's easy: a pickup selector, high, mid, bass EQ and a volume knob. Great. But what else? I finally found an electronic version of a user's guide on their web page, but I never got an amswer back from them. I thought that purchasing close to 800$ worth of music-making equipment would entitle the buyer to a minimum of documentation. The Yamaha I bought before, at its 300$ tag price had a useful little booklet with it (I mean, I was a beginner!!).

I guess the best thing to say about this bass is that I'm proud to play it, at home, rehearsals and on stage. It's not the best bass in the universe, but for the price, and for the weekend-warrior type of playing I'm doing, I think I got a very good bass guitar for my money. It's easy to play, and it just had that mean rumbling sound I was looking for. I know it can produce a wide variety of tones, but I mainly stick to "my sound". Great looks also. Basses with natural finish and exotic wood seems to be popular nowadays.

Made 2006, Indoneisia
24 frets, neck-through, 35" scale, 2 peavey active 'VFL' pickups, 3band eq, finger style bridge.
Only gripe is that the "pan" pot doesn't seem to work as expected, only allows front, bridge or both, but not variable.

Sounds very modern and "active" not a bright sound, but smooth, lots of sustain, probably due to neck-thru.
active pickups are completely silent, even in front of computer monitor (the reason I bought it, was for recording on my mac)

Amazingly well put together, esp. when you consider the cost (#300uk) great neck, although I prefer unfinished necks.
Action and intonation are a bit dificult to adjust on the finger bridges, due to the fact that you nedd do loosen strings to get to grub screws. minor quibble, as once set-up it stays put.

Very solid. Requires 2 9v batteries for pickups & eq.
Poly finish should last
Not needed to adjust action/truss rod since original set-up, had it 3 months.

N/A

Been plying guitar for 15 years. Only been playing bass for a few months.
Got this bass, and a Cort jazz through an Ashdown combo, and occasionally my Zoom G7 for compression.
Bought mainly for recording onto Mac. Does the job well.