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NBD Peavey Palaedium
- Thread starter woodyng2
- Start date
Thanks
Yours too!
What’s odd is you never see used models of the Cort version for lower prices than new.
You almost never see a Palaedium for sale anywhere
Where did you find yours?
Thread-drift: Ha! I used to own a 1980 Vielllete-Citron that looked similar to yours (albeit mine was white). A producer I frequently worked for used to call that the "Pillow Bass" because of the fat, plush, wooly, deep tones I could get out of the neck pickup.
Side bar...
@JC2238 do you think you could show off your red Dean JB Signature here too, please?
Dean Club!!!
Right here on TB. Purchased from Chuck M, who’s a regular poster on the Peavey Club thread.
Yes, I can attest to this! I've been on a hunt (almost obsessively) for a "Jeff Berlin" model of some sort for the last 4 months or so. This obsession started when I hesitated on a Czech-Made Dean for $220 for a day too long! Anyhow, I've only seen one Palaedium for sale in the past year and it is priced outrageously IMHO. The good news is that I finally found a used Cort Rithimic 4! It's coming my way on Tuesday!
Congrats on the Palaedium, dude!
And B-Mac, that Dean Jeff Berlin is outstanding!
Yes, I have had mine for a few years. My brother bought it from Kentucky and had it shipped over to me. I also have a Cort Rithimic and whilst I'd struggle to pick a favourite from the two, they are both easily the best four strings I've ever played.
A little history on the Palaedium, for clarity: Jeff's Precision body bass with the neck that had been shaved by Mike Tobias was stolen in the very late 80's or early 90's. I've asked Jeff about this and he can't recall exactly where or when the bass went missing, so it seems that treasure is now lost to the sands of time. Jeff had appeared in a Yamaha advert holding a prototype Yamaha bass alongside Billy Sheehan in the late 80's, I presume after the theft of the other bass. The deal with Peavey came shortly afterwards and I believe he played them until the late 90's when the deal with Dean came about.
My reason for saying this is that there are pictures of him playing them in the late 90's, and the Palaedium appears on the cover of 1997's 'Taking Notes' with the logo uncovered. Jeff had covered the logo with tape at one point, I presume post 'Taking Notes'. I believe that this was in response to Peavey having discontinued the bass. Some may recall that Jeff had previously used a certain brand of chorus pedal, but had a falling out with them after they refused to loan him one at a trade show. He continued to use the pedal for a while but wouldn't name them and moved to a Jam Waterfall chorus and then an EBS Unichorus shortly afterwards. He had said that he would not name the company to give them advertising since they wouldn't support him when he had needed it - this is all documented in interviews and I believe the situation with the Peavey was the same. Certainly, I have found no evidence of Jeff having played any other bass between the Palaedium and the Dean.
Here is undoubtedly the most extensive recording of the Palaedium on video:
Jeff also used one to record 'Taking Notes' and recalled later that he had accidentally set the back pickup a tad too low, resulting in some magnetic interference on the record. I think it sounds absolutely awesome. I have talked at length previously about the differences between the Cort Rithimic and the Palaedium before, but I will perhaps post later to reiterate those thoughts if anyone is interested. I also play through a Markbass Jeff Berlin signature combo and very rarely even use the neck pickup, so you can see what sort of tone I'm going for!
Thanks massively for that, man - I didn’t know this video existed. I’ve struggled to find much footage of JB with a his Palaedium.
Thanks for posting! Yes, your story of your brother surprising you with the Palaedium was something i found online a few years ago. Also, I’d always been interested in them, and your description of the bass added fuel to the fire of my intention to seek one out. I’ve heard the neck pickup described by some as “too woofy”, but I haven’t found that to be the case at all. It puts out some seriously cutting grunge.
I’m a pop/rock player and love the very wide range of tones the Peavy has. I bought a Spector (my first) earlier this year, and in terms of the sound, the Palaedium blows it away.
the Palaedium got a 50,000 mile tune up yesterday....
Really was amazing watching the guitar wizard work and transform my new baby into something more personal to me. He installed the new Hipshot Kickass bridge,and a new wiring harness with a varitone control in place of the tone pot. Then he leveled and recrowned the frets, cleaned and oiled the fretboard, and set it up beautifully with one of my favorite string sets, DR Pure Blues 45-100. I left the new knobs at home, so will wait and post some pics when i get back in a day or 2. I’ve played it a bit,and the action and intonation are spot-on for me. Very Stoked!
Really was amazing watching the guitar wizard work and transform my new baby into something more personal to me. He installed the new Hipshot Kickass bridge,and a new wiring harness with a varitone control in place of the tone pot. Then he leveled and recrowned the frets, cleaned and oiled the fretboard, and set it up beautifully with one of my favorite string sets, DR Pure Blues 45-100. I left the new knobs at home, so will wait and post some pics when i get back in a day or 2. I’ve played it a bit,and the action and intonation are spot-on for me. Very Stoked!
the Palaedium got a 50,000 mile tune up yesterday....
Really was amazing watching the guitar wizard work and transform my new baby into something more personal to me. He installed the new Hipshot Kickass bridge,and a new wiring harness with a varitone control in place of the tone pot. Then he leveled and recrowned the frets, cleaned and oiled the fretboard, and set it up beautifully with one of my favorite string sets, DR Pure Blues 45-100. I left the new knobs at home, so will wait and post some pics when i get back in a day or 2. I’ve played it a bit,and the action and intonation are spot-on for me. Very Stoked!
I was about to say, “dude, let’s see some pics!” But then I finished reading...
@The Bass Abides
I'll check back later today with a proper post then, probably in six or seven hours.
I'll check back later today with a proper post then, probably in six or seven hours.
Okay, so just a brief summary of my thoughts on the Cort Rithimic vs the Peavey Palaedium. Whilst I have never played one of the top-of-the-line American Dean models or one of the highly regarded Czech models, they may well prove to simply be a midway point between the Peavey Palaedium and the Rithimic - the Dean merges some of the Palaedium specs and materials with Bartolini pickups like the Rithimic, but please note that only the Rithimic has had the 'original' Jeff Berlin pickup...more on that in a bit...
As an aside, I missed out on buying one of Jeff's Deans. I had always wanted one of the USA made amber coloured models, though as far as I can see, they may have been made exclusvely for Jeff in prototyping. He also had the 'Grinch' model, which was a prototype patchwork model with a slightly thicker body. His last amber coloured Dean and the Grinch bass were sold off as part of his fundraising for the Jack Bruce record. I had narrowly missed out and if I had found the adverts earlier I might have ended up with one or both!
Anyway, the Palaedium vs the Rithimic is not so easily decided as you might assume. One is not clearly better than the other and though they clearly follow the same blueprint in a fashion, they do hold some notable differences.
In terms of appearance, the Cort is obviously more dramatic to look at with the decorative padauk and spalted maple top. The design is actually based on a design by Gabriella Sinagra, Jeff's wife. I gather at one point there were plans to produce several other models with different designs or tops but this was not taken any further. I think settling on one very distinct and identifiable top was a good move. I can't think of any other production bass, and certainly nothing at this price point, that melds two woods like this on the top. The Rithimic is based on the offset shape of a jazz bass and hangs in a more tradtional sense whereas the Palaedium sits a little more 'inboard'. The key difference being that the bridge of the Paledium will naturally want to sit around your lateral middle which can make the reach to the first position feel ever so slightly further. The Palaedium feels a little more compact but it is notably a little heavier than the Rithimic. Both balance very well on a strap.
In terms of tone, they do sound quite different and yet clearly come from the same family tree. I think the Rithimic is perhaps a little more 'open' sounding with a very even response. The Palaedium is a little brighter with a more compressed sound and a tighter focus in the high-mids. Both absolutely sing, I find them to have such a quality in the expression of every note. Rarely would I sit and listen to one note decay to nothing on a bass and marvel at the musical quality of it, but I do with these basses. Particularly the higher notes, I can just midly agitate a note with some vibrato and listen in wonder as it fades. I think the ebony fretboard and the pickups on the Peavey accentuate the highs a little more.
I have never been able to find any conclusive proof as to whether or not Bartolini made the pickups for the Palaedium. I lean towards them not having done so, though obviously whoever made them had the Bart sound in mind. It is interesting to note that the Dean basses just had 'off the shelf' Barts, but the Rithimic has a genuine Jeff Berlin Bartolini signature pickup. I recall that Bill Bartolini recovered the lost schematic he had made when he first wound pickups for Jeff in the late 70's or early 80's - those pickups, I believe, were in the Precision body/Jazz neck bass that Jeff played extensively throughout the 80's until it was stolen. So the pickups in the Rithimic are exclusive to that bass. The package on the Rithimic is rounded off by the Babicz bridge, which follows the same high-mass philosophy as the BadAss II design in a slightly more elegant execution. On both basses, I only ever use the bridge pickup with the tone rolled off ever so slightly. If the neck pickups were to fail, I probably wouldn't know for months!
As an aside, I missed out on buying one of Jeff's Deans. I had always wanted one of the USA made amber coloured models, though as far as I can see, they may have been made exclusvely for Jeff in prototyping. He also had the 'Grinch' model, which was a prototype patchwork model with a slightly thicker body. His last amber coloured Dean and the Grinch bass were sold off as part of his fundraising for the Jack Bruce record. I had narrowly missed out and if I had found the adverts earlier I might have ended up with one or both!
Anyway, the Palaedium vs the Rithimic is not so easily decided as you might assume. One is not clearly better than the other and though they clearly follow the same blueprint in a fashion, they do hold some notable differences.
In terms of appearance, the Cort is obviously more dramatic to look at with the decorative padauk and spalted maple top. The design is actually based on a design by Gabriella Sinagra, Jeff's wife. I gather at one point there were plans to produce several other models with different designs or tops but this was not taken any further. I think settling on one very distinct and identifiable top was a good move. I can't think of any other production bass, and certainly nothing at this price point, that melds two woods like this on the top. The Rithimic is based on the offset shape of a jazz bass and hangs in a more tradtional sense whereas the Palaedium sits a little more 'inboard'. The key difference being that the bridge of the Paledium will naturally want to sit around your lateral middle which can make the reach to the first position feel ever so slightly further. The Palaedium feels a little more compact but it is notably a little heavier than the Rithimic. Both balance very well on a strap.
In terms of tone, they do sound quite different and yet clearly come from the same family tree. I think the Rithimic is perhaps a little more 'open' sounding with a very even response. The Palaedium is a little brighter with a more compressed sound and a tighter focus in the high-mids. Both absolutely sing, I find them to have such a quality in the expression of every note. Rarely would I sit and listen to one note decay to nothing on a bass and marvel at the musical quality of it, but I do with these basses. Particularly the higher notes, I can just midly agitate a note with some vibrato and listen in wonder as it fades. I think the ebony fretboard and the pickups on the Peavey accentuate the highs a little more.
I have never been able to find any conclusive proof as to whether or not Bartolini made the pickups for the Palaedium. I lean towards them not having done so, though obviously whoever made them had the Bart sound in mind. It is interesting to note that the Dean basses just had 'off the shelf' Barts, but the Rithimic has a genuine Jeff Berlin Bartolini signature pickup. I recall that Bill Bartolini recovered the lost schematic he had made when he first wound pickups for Jeff in the late 70's or early 80's - those pickups, I believe, were in the Precision body/Jazz neck bass that Jeff played extensively throughout the 80's until it was stolen. So the pickups in the Rithimic are exclusive to that bass. The package on the Rithimic is rounded off by the Babicz bridge, which follows the same high-mass philosophy as the BadAss II design in a slightly more elegant execution. On both basses, I only ever use the bridge pickup with the tone rolled off ever so slightly. If the neck pickups were to fail, I probably wouldn't know for months!
Just a correction on this...the 'Grinch' model was NOT the Patchwork Prototype.
This is the Patchwork Prototype. Someone here on TB actually owned this and may have sold it.
Dean Jeff Berlin Signature European Custom Natural Amber and Ebony Bartolini | DaBass | Reverb
Dean Jeff Berlin Patchwork q's 01
This is the Grinch
And this is the last one of 3 ever made which is mine (All verified by Brad Mader and Scott Frazer at Dean Guitars). Patchworks were only ever made at the Dean USA location.
Some vids of JB with his Deans.
Additionally, the Prototype had black hardware, Jeff's had gold hardware and mine has all chrome hardware.
catalog pages
Apparently this Dean JB Standard Made in Czech Republic is currently for sale on Regurge.
Dean Jeff Berlin Patchwork q's 02
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Jeff playing 4 different Dean JB Signature basses
Plus one with wings at the top for a total of 5 that he has played.
Apparently a Redwood Burl Czech model sold here in 2013
SOLD - Original Edition CR Jeff Berlin Exotic Redwood Burl Top, Black Hardware
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Agreed! Thanks for your thoughts! My Palaedium should be here on Thursday!
