Old Pedulla Bass

[ed woodsworth]

I have this Pedulla bass I have been trying to figure out what it is for years now. It doesn't match anything I can find online. Maybe you guys can help me. First of all it has mirrored p bass pickups. It looks like its missing some covers around the pick ups or something. It has a badass bridge. Spiegel tuners? The numbers on the back of the headstock appear to read EL-12B then underneath 0273. I'm guessing it's a 1973 El-12B before production. IDK.

 

[Beej]

Sperzel tuners. That's is some seriously janky routing for those pickups. I'd be very surprised if that is original Pedulla work. Interesting old bass though...

 

[Beej]

Can you put up pics of the back?

 

[ed woodsworth]

Sperzel tuners. That's is some seriously janky routing for those pickups. I'd be very surprised if that is original Pedulla work. Interesting old bass though...

I agree its messy and I would be surprised as well if it were original. It's the pick up configuration that has me scratching my head. From what I can tell most Pedulla's have a p and a j pickup. This looks like it has only ever had 2 p style pickups. If it looked like there was a j pickup by the bridge I wouldn't be as curious.

 

[ed woodsworth]

Here is a picture of the back.

 

[ed woodsworth]

I figured out the model is El-12B and the serial is 0273. It was made between 1975-1980. I found this guy online which has 2 p pickups but not mirror imaged.
Pedulla EL-12B Bass Guitar | Ant Farm Music | Reverb

 

[Jeff Scott]

Was Mike's work really that sloppy back in the day?

 

[ed woodsworth]

Hard to say Jeff. From what I have seen these older Pedulla's had Dimarzio's in them and thats what these look like. Also some of the pics of the older Pedulla's have wooden covers around the pickups. Maybe to hide the imperfections.

PS I have a 4001 Rickenbaker from around 1975 with flat wound strings what a tone!

 

[micguy]

Was Mike's work really that sloppy back in the day?

I think that "bridge" pickup was the confluence of an extra Diamarzio Model P lying around, a wood chisel, and some form of hard liquor imbibed to excess. I'm guessing that mod happened sometime after 11 PM local time.

 

[Killing Floor]

Someone scribbled 4:JankTini on the headstock. Who's that?

 

[Jeff Scott]

Hard to say Jeff. From what I have seen these older Pedulla's had Dimarzio's in them and thats what these look like. Also some of the pics of the older Pedulla's have wooden covers around the pickups. Maybe to hide the imperfections.

Perhaps that could be. But, as everything else on the bass looks good I am surprised the pickups routes would be like micguy suggested.

 

[ed woodsworth]

Someone scribbled 4:JankTini on the headstock. Who's that?

That would be Tony levin. He wrote "Hi Tony Levin." That's Sting's autograph on the body but its almost completely wore off now.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Was Mike's work really that sloppy back in the day?

As someone who's followed Mike's work closely since 1977, I can at least offer this: He got a lot better -- and fairly quickly -- as time progressed. A Pedulla bass from 1985 is a thing of absolute beauty...not too different from a late model Pedulla. Whereas a Pedulla bass from 1977 is a thing of potential beauty. "Eye of the beholder". By the mid-1980s his work was on par with anything out there from anyone, anywhere...in the 1970s his work was on par with anything out there from anyone who was building instruments in their garage.

But I'll still bet a dollar that those pickup routes were performed by someone other than Mike.

 

[ed woodsworth]

As someone who's followed Mike's work closely since 1977, I can at least offer this: He got a lot better -- and fairly quickly -- as time progressed. A Pedulla bass from 1985 is a thing of absolute beauty...not too different from a late model Pedulla. Whereas a Pedulla bass from 1977 is a thing of potential beauty. "Eye of the beholder". By the mid-1980s his work was on par with anything out there from anyone, anywhere...in the 1970s his work was on par with anything out there from anyone who was building instruments in their garage.

But I'll still bet a dollar that those pickup routes were performed by someone other than Mike.

That's good to know. I always hoped someone didn't ruin the bass but kind of always knew that was a strong possibility. There seems to be very little information on pre 1980 Pedulla basses online. At least on basses that look like mine. I'm thinking that even though someone may have hacked it up it could be a fairly rare instrument. Any insight?

 

[Bob_Ross]

There seems to be very little information on pre 1980 Pedulla basses online. At least on basses that look like mine.

Google -- or do a TalkBass search -- on "Pedulla Orsini" you should find a (modest) treasure trove on what Mike was up to in the 1970s. Not super rare, but you definitely don't see a lot of them still in use.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

Doing a quick search of 70’s Pedulla’s, I have come up with JJ basses that have wooden bezels around the pickup:
(Taken from the Pedulla Club thread - around page 140 or so)

I don’t believe that the OP’s bass could have been a modded JJ, there would be visible J routes comparing the positions of both styles of pickups. It’s very possible those are original...
EDIT:
see post #7.
looks like it’s missing the wooden cover.
A question for Pedulla experts

 

[ed woodsworth]

Doing a quick search of 70’s Pedulla’s, I have come up with JJ basses that have wooden bezels around the pickup:
(Taken from the Pedulla Club thread - around page 140 or so)
View attachment 4073555

I don’t believe that the OP’s bass could have been a modded JJ, there would be visible J routes comparing the positions of both styles of pickups. It’s very possible those are original...
EDIT:
see post #7.
looks like it’s missing the wooden cover.
A question for Pedulla experts

Yup missing the wooden covers. I was thinking maybe his basses were handcrafted and hence the rougher holes and wooden covers. Who knows? That's why I'm here and having a blast learning about it!

 

[ed woodsworth]

Google -- or do a TalkBass search -- on "Pedulla Orsini" you should find a (modest) treasure trove on what Mike was up to in the 1970s. Not super rare, but you definitely don't see a lot of them still in use.

Thanks!

 

[ed woodsworth]

Doing a quick search of 70’s Pedulla’s, I have come up with JJ basses that have wooden bezels around the pickup:
(Taken from the Pedulla Club thread - around page 140 or so)
View attachment 4073555

I don’t believe that the OP’s bass could have been a modded JJ, there would be visible J routes comparing the positions of both styles of pickups. It’s very possible those are original...
EDIT:
see post #7.
looks like it’s missing the wooden cover.
A question for Pedulla experts

This is the closest thing I can find to my bass online.

"Pedulla EL-12B bass guitar. Serial 0242. Hand built. DiMarzio pickups and Badass bridge. Brass nut. Grover tuning machines. Has a fair amount of players wear, nothing that effects anything. Well loved and not abused. Plays great, sounds great, looks great."

 

[India_Sierra]

It would not surprise me if that were the original pickup combination, as stacked/mirrored splitcoils like that were popular in the late 70's and early 80's.