fretless Sadowsky or Pedulla ?

[pEJi]

I'm also living in France and you cannot imagine how difficult is it to try this kind of bass...
Even with great maker in France, it's very hard to find a place to test some basses, especially fretless.

My better advice would be to go to Station Music near Munich since it's the biggest fine bass shopping western Europe, to my knowledge.

I did try a 24 fret Sadowsky fretless and this was really good. Sound great and focused. Definitely I like it a lot.

I never try Pedulla so I won'tcomment more... But you know if you like an instrument (for whatever reason) you enjoy playing it. The more you play the better you like it and the better you play it.
For me sound come from your finger and so much from the bass or the preamp setting...
So my advice is as long as you like a bass (she makes you dream) we don't care anything else (wood, build quality or even sound, mwah..)

Peace and good luck Mario

[Swofford]

I really love my fretless Pedulla. Easy to play and sounds wonderful. It just feels good.
My main bass has been a fretted Pedulla for 18+ years though, so that may have a lot to do with it, lol. They record great too.

[Joebone]

Originally Posted by BruceRichardson

I had a Warwick Corvette 5-string fretless for three years, and enjoyed it. Very heavy, but an instrument with a voice. But I had played a Pentabuzz a few times, and traded four nice basses (including the Warwick) for it when I couldn't stand the desire any longer.

In a jazz setting, the Pedulla really shines, and it has a "thing" that no other fretless really does. If you are willing to approach it as an instrument in and of itself, it really helps you tune into the playing adjustments you need to make in order to leverage what it's designed to do.

JTE (John) makes a really valid point, that is, if your concept of bass tone is not in line with the Buzz, you will not care for it. You have to be willing to play somewhat in the bottom 1/3 of the dynamic spectrum, because a lot of what the fretboard is doing is really happening in that range. If you're a "hard player," then you have to work with a lot higher set up, or you'll find yourself choked up in the tone envelope and the sound will be very nasal, even if you roll into the neck pickup.

I think to calibrate yourself to the Buzz/Pentabuzz feel, it helps if you have played a Fender Rhodes. It's the Rhodes of basses. There is a place where it's going to bark, and if you play "north" of the bark, you're into a very nasally place. You have to stay south of the bark, and learn to deal with a narrow part of the spectrum where the tone is doing a quantum shift.

I know that sounds a little nuts, but I'm betting people who play this bass are nodding along. I've seen people get a bad impression if it's not set up well for them as players. There is a very good acoustic player here in Dallas that likes the way a Buzz/Pentabuzz feels, but only if it's set up pretty high, in essence, if the tension is increased. There's something to be said for that, and some people use D'Addarios in thicker nickel sets to temper the buzz a little. Mike Pedulla designs them for skinny tapered strings, and you definitely don't want to put a set of logs on it, or you'll have to push to hard to get the "mwah" envelope.

I have Dunlops on mine right now, because they have a 105-E and a 130-B. That thickens up the tone just a little down low, but if you're on a jazz gig and playing on the woody side of the envelope, that gives you some space to punch things up and take command of the rhythm section when you need to step up.

Sorry for the long winded post, but I have been playing that Pentabuzz nonstop on gigs for the last six weeks or so, and all of the transition and technique adjustments are very fresh on my mind. I figure I should pay it forward...

B.

This makes a lot of sense. I'm working with a defretted MVP5, and my tech did an oil thing to harden the board a bit, but I don't have any coating. Strings are R.Cocco nickel rounds, .45-.125. The feel of the ebony is sumptuous - the bass just feels great. I don't have a light touch, and am left-handed, so I have the action somewhat higher then it could go. I'm just getting to the point where I feel comfortable playing fretless with folks, but agree that if you want a broader dynamic range, you'll have to get the action up. However, I prefer this, as I'm not looking for every note to be a "mwah" event, and also want to be able to dig in with the right hand...and it seems that I can mwah away, at will, by adjusting the left hand.

Otherwise, I use Sadowsky 5/24 for my fretted activities. I prefer the Sadowsky electronics and ergonomics, and have thought about getting a fretless 5/24, but it's hard to imagine that axe working as well as the Pedulla. On some deep level, the maple body, unique body shape and neck-through all come together for a killer fretless experience. My sample vibrates like crazy and has a fat warm sound when unplugged. In fact, I feel like the electronics slightly veil that amazing natural voice.

Someday I hope to try out a fretted MVP5...I'm guessing I'd still prefer Sadowsky, but there's only one way to find out...