Good evening friends, I had hoped to cast a question before you so that I might enjoy your combined knowledge and perspective.
I've had a 1994 Pedulla Pentabuzz for over two years now. This is a P/J model 'three knob' setup with proprietary Bartolini electronics (more on that in a minute). The controls are Volume, balance and an active tone control with central detente.
For as long as I have owned the bass, the P pickup has been considerably louder than the J pickup. I even discovered that, prior to buying the bass, the owner before I had the bass had mentioned this in two 'for sale' threads on the internet. So this problem had obviously been there when he had the bass, though it was never mentioned when I bought it (imagine that). However, since my typical setup for a bass typically sees me only ever using the bridge pickup, this was not a problem and it does not affect my enjoyment of the bass but it strikes me that this is not right. I have sat on this problem for long enough and decided today that I would fix it, one way or another.
The disparity in volume is massive. It is not simply a case of adjusting the pickups, as I have the P set right down and the J brought up as far as it will reasonably go, and the P pickup is still massively louder. This goes far beyond a 'balance' issue. If I were to sweep between pickups during a performance, I would need to turn my amp down to accommodate the volume increase on the P pickup. Similarly, it is not the battery either as the result is the same with a fresh or run-in battery.
Adding to my suspicions that something just isn't right is that the bridge pickup needs a lot of mids adding to it at my amp to really make it honk like I want it to. Now, there was a gulf of a decade between me last playing a Pentabuzz and me buying this one, but that also strikes me as odd. I almost feel as though the J pickup has some issue, and it's output is correspondingly low and stifled. It sounds great when you juice it up with the amp but it just isn't honky enough to me as standard, and I know and love Bartolini pickups - they should sing with midrange!
The electronics, as I mentioned, are proprietary Bartolini stuff. I will not be able to get a 'like for like' replacement now that Pedulla has closed down for good. I really need recommendations on pickups and a preamp to go into this beauty. I would prefer to stick with Bartolini, if they had an active preamp that would suit the three-knob layout on my bass.
The alternative is that I may speak to John East here in the UK, who is revered for great pickups and for solving problems of this nature, but I expect that a custom solution like that could well work out as being a lot more expensive than a suitable option off the shelf.
I look forward to the input of anyone else who can help me find a way forward here.
I've had a 1994 Pedulla Pentabuzz for over two years now. This is a P/J model 'three knob' setup with proprietary Bartolini electronics (more on that in a minute). The controls are Volume, balance and an active tone control with central detente.
For as long as I have owned the bass, the P pickup has been considerably louder than the J pickup. I even discovered that, prior to buying the bass, the owner before I had the bass had mentioned this in two 'for sale' threads on the internet. So this problem had obviously been there when he had the bass, though it was never mentioned when I bought it (imagine that). However, since my typical setup for a bass typically sees me only ever using the bridge pickup, this was not a problem and it does not affect my enjoyment of the bass but it strikes me that this is not right. I have sat on this problem for long enough and decided today that I would fix it, one way or another.
The disparity in volume is massive. It is not simply a case of adjusting the pickups, as I have the P set right down and the J brought up as far as it will reasonably go, and the P pickup is still massively louder. This goes far beyond a 'balance' issue. If I were to sweep between pickups during a performance, I would need to turn my amp down to accommodate the volume increase on the P pickup. Similarly, it is not the battery either as the result is the same with a fresh or run-in battery.
Adding to my suspicions that something just isn't right is that the bridge pickup needs a lot of mids adding to it at my amp to really make it honk like I want it to. Now, there was a gulf of a decade between me last playing a Pentabuzz and me buying this one, but that also strikes me as odd. I almost feel as though the J pickup has some issue, and it's output is correspondingly low and stifled. It sounds great when you juice it up with the amp but it just isn't honky enough to me as standard, and I know and love Bartolini pickups - they should sing with midrange!
The electronics, as I mentioned, are proprietary Bartolini stuff. I will not be able to get a 'like for like' replacement now that Pedulla has closed down for good. I really need recommendations on pickups and a preamp to go into this beauty. I would prefer to stick with Bartolini, if they had an active preamp that would suit the three-knob layout on my bass.
The alternative is that I may speak to John East here in the UK, who is revered for great pickups and for solving problems of this nature, but I expect that a custom solution like that could well work out as being a lot more expensive than a suitable option off the shelf.
I look forward to the input of anyone else who can help me find a way forward here.
