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My Best Find Yet!

#123
Dr. Cheese said:
Last week, I was at the local pawnshop, and I overheard a guy say he was redeeming his vintage P-bass, but would not get his Fretless Pedulla. I said I was interested, but it was near closing and I did not stick around. Today, I was there, and a clerk brought out a very nice Pentabuzz. I said I would be interested for a good price. The said I could lay it away for $995 plus tax. I said yes. I probably won't get this out until the fall, maybe even Christmas, but it will be worth the wait. I checked on Bass Central, and this bass is $3,999 new. This will take up all of my GAS for the rest of the year, but I don't mind. This is a Brad level deal!:hyper::hyper:
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EXCELLENT DEAL!!!
 
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#124
Dr. Cheese said:
Last week, I was at the local pawnshop, and I overheard a guy say he was redeeming his vintage P-bass, but would not get his Fretless Pedulla. I said I was interested, but it was near closing and I did not stick around. Today, I was there, and a clerk brought out a very nice Pentabuzz. I said I would be interested for a good price. The said I could lay it away for $995 plus tax. I said yes. I probably won't get this out until the fall, maybe even Christmas, but it will be worth the wait. I checked on Bass Central, and this bass is $3,999 new. This will take up all of my GAS for the rest of the year, but I don't mind. This is a Brad level deal!:hyper::hyper:
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Just Wow! what a great deal, and awesome bass! I'm gassing for one of those big time. Congrats!!!
 
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#125
Back in the late 70s and early 80s I was HEAVILY into photography. Used to run the gamut of every pawn shop in town. Found a few pretty good deals (I was a Nikon and Hasselblad guy). Once I found a Fish Eye lens for my Nikons (retail about $1100) and talked the guy down from $400 to $250.

A year later I found a MD12 Motor for my F2AS (retail about $600 at the time) got it for $100. That's about the best I have ever done in the Pawn Shops. Of course, there ARE downsides to doing that. One day, on an excursion to Pawn Shop heaven....I returned to find my Van broken into and all my gear (camera) was gone along with the speakers in my van....Sort of worked out, however.....Home Owners Insurance picked up the tab for my loss...
 
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#127
RichSnyder said:
If the bass went through a few owners and they each find they don't play fretless that much, if each were willing to take a hit on what they paid for it the price could quickly drop. That's less likely to happen on a fretted bass. Fretless just has a smaller market. You'll see custom builders stating no returns on fretless basses in their return policy.
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Ah, fretless... the bass of good intentions.
:D
 
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#128
Dr. Cheese said:
I think that is exactly what happened to this bass.
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A friend of mine who used to work at Atomic Music told me one of my favorite fretless stories:

A customer bought a fretless on a Friday, apparently very pumped up about the bass. On Monday he brought it back... because it wouldn't play in tune.

He gave him a refund.

:D
 
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#130
Brad Johnson said:
A friend of mine who used to work at Atomic Music told me one of my favorite fretless stories:

A customer bought a fretless on a Friday, apparently very pumped up about the bass. On Monday he brought it back... because it wouldn't play in tune.

He gave him a refund.

:D
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I will never forget playing a fretless Music Man Sabre in music store, and being impressed with how good I sounded. I wondered what's the big deal about switching to fretless? About four years later, I bought my first fretless, a Peavey Foundation, and I traded it in less than a month because I could not play along in tune with records.

I have gotten much better on fretless since 1986, but I am still a work in progress.:smug:
 
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#131
Dr. Cheese said:
I will never forget playing a fretless Music Man Sabre in music store, and being impressed with good I sounded. I wondered what's the big deal about switching to fretless? About four years later, I bought my first fretless, a Peavey Foundation, and I traded it in less than a month because I could not play along in tune with records.

I have gotten much better on fretless since 1986, but I am still a work in progress.:smug:
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The "trick", if there is one, is to play through the ugly. Don't put it down when things get difficult, until you get comfortable with it. That may takes days, weeks, who knows? Repeated playing really lends itself to getting comfortable. And don't just play "fretless" songs. Use it as a bass, period.

Good luck.
 
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#132
Brad Johnson said:
The "trick", if there is one, is to play through the ugly. Don't put it down when things get difficult, until you get comfortable with it. That may takes days, weeks, who knows? Repeated playing really lends itself to getting comfortable. And don't just play "fretless" songs. Use it as a bass, period.

Good luck.
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Agreed. I've been playing bass for 23 years now and got my Pedulla in March. Still getting comfortable but I am MUCH more comfortable on it now then I was a few months ago.
 
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#133
Brad Johnson said:
The "trick", if there is one, is to play through the ugly. Don't put it down when things get difficult, until you get comfortable with it. That may takes days, weeks, who knows? Repeated playing really lends itself to getting comfortable. And don't just play "fretless" songs. Use it as a bass, period.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

I had a few ugly moments in church with the Fender Jazz fretless I used to have when playing in church. Potentially the Pentabuzz with be more comfortable when I get used to it, but I have to get used to it first.
 
#134
japhy4529 said:
Nice score, Doc! I owned a pentabuzz for a little while and it even made me sound good on fretless.

One thing to check out is the truss rod. Make sure the nut is not stripped. There is a specific tool that is needed to make adjustments and of course that's the first thing people lose. As a result, I've heard of several cases of Pedullas with stripped truss rod nuts.
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I checked on the MV Pedulla Guitars website, and he sells a maintenance kit for basses that includes a trussrod wrench. It is only for basses after 1989. My guess that this bass is younger than that, but I will find out later.
The kit costs $19.95.
 
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#135
Hey Doc, congrats on the new bass, that's my favorite colour offered by Pedulla. In case you are interested, you can purchase a wrench that will fit the Pedulla Truss rod from most music shops. It's a Clavicord tuning wrench and it fits Pedulla truss rods. Can be had for less than $5.00.
Just remember that Pedulla rods are lefty tighty, righty loosey.
Fishheadjoe
 
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#136
Fishheadjoe said:
Hey Doc, congrats on the new bass, that's my favorite colour offered by Pedulla. In case you are interested, you can purchase a wrench that will fit the Pedulla Truss rod from most music shops. It's a Clavicord tuning wrench and it fits Pedulla truss rods. Can be had for less than $5.00.
Just remember that Pedulla rods are lefty tighty, righty loosey.
Fishheadjoe
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Thanks for the information. I am trying figure out how I can get this bass out as soon as possible!:bassist:
 
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#138
Fishheadjoe said:
Evolution has given humans two of many things. You could sell one of them and not likely miss it too much, while playing your new bass!!!!!
Fishheadjoe
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I will certainly let go of some gear. Once I get the Pentabuzz, it will be my main player for a while because a wide spaced five string fretless is not a bass I can pick once in a while, and sound good playing. I see dropping down to the DJ5 and the Pedulla as my two main players because both are 19mm fives. I really want to incorporate those dimensions into my muscle memory.
 

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