Pedulla 1982 Buzz Fretless Reviews 5

I purchased this beautiful instrument from a local music store for only $850. It had been traded in by its' original owner towards a keyboard. I have owned and played it for over ten years now.

The weight,shape, and balance are extremely comfortable. Even for long all-night gigs. The neck has a very unique shape that gives your hand something substantial enough to hold onto without being too deep or too wide. The neck is just slim and narrow enough to be fast for long scampering runs from one end to the other a'la Geddy . The scale length feels just a little bit shorter than a Fender Jazz, but is long enough to not be a short scale. The ebony fingerboard has fret-lines inlaid to assist with intonation ,and they are easily seen even on a dark stage. And then there is that tone. This bass has a very sweet midrange that actually adds growl and a beatiful voice to the instrument. Never scoop the midrange out of your amp when you play this bass. In fact I rarely need to e.q. it at all beyond the onboard tone shaping.

There is nothing that is to dislike about this bass.

The instrument is a neck-through build with a birdseye maple body and neck. The control cavity cover is actually cut from the same piece of wood as the body and the grain lines up perfectly. The fingerboard is ebony and has a tough polyester coating that protects it from string abrasion and adds a vocal quality to the sound of this instrument. This concept was pioneered by Jaco when he de-fretted his Fender Jazz Bass,filled in the grooves with wood putty, and painted over the fingerboard with boat epoxy. I don't reccomend that you try that yourself. Pedulla makes a much better instrument. Imagine if Jaco would have had the chance to play one of these! The electronics are perfect in every respect. The custom wound pickups and tone circuit relay the real sound of this magnificent bass,rather than altering the tone. Many basses these days use custom pickups and active tone circuits to compensate for a weak sound. The Pedulla sounds as good unplugged with your ear resting on it ,as it does through a 300 watt rig with expensive speakers.

These basses are very expensive new or used. They are worth every single penny. Mike Pedulla obviously knows what he is doing,and this is an early model. The latest offerings from his shop are even more beautiful and sound just as good as mine. You really do get what you pay for.

Art Garcia rated this unit 5 on 2002-07-04.

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