Peavey Palaedium disappointment

[maturanesa]

Weeks ago i started searching for a new bass. I own a Fender MIM jazz.
Today i tryed a Peavey Palaedium that have a lot of good reviews on internet and is claimed as a high quality bass.
Maybe that one in particular was f***** up, but i cant believe what i played.
Setted up with low action the sustain of this bass was weak, very poor (with a badass bridge), the same as my Fender mex with 1 year old string and a cheap bent plate.. I rised the strings and no major changes...
There was deadspots and fret rattle all over. That kind of fret rattle that chokes the string vibration...
It was impossible to play with both pickups at the same time. The bass have 3 pots: 1 for overall volume, 1 for overall tone and a third that blends/switch bridge pickup or neck pickup.
Have Peavey Palaedium different versions? A cheap one and a pro one?
I cant believe jeff berlin played with that bass back in the day.

 

[Aspidites]

It probably needs new strings and a good set up.

 

[jjk2007]

Agreed. I played JB's bass at one of his clinics back in the day and it was phenomenal.

 

[smcd]

It probably needs new string and a good set up.

+1



I have a Palaedium, and it's a outstanding instrument. It should have none of the problems you describe.

 

[Ken R]

+1



I have a Palaedium, and it's a outstanding instrument. It should have none of the problems you describe.

I fully agree. Mine is outstanding. Not one of the issues noted by the original poster

 

[JTE]

Those basses were made for a relatively short time a long time ago. It's probably in need of a real set-up. A real set-up includes having the frets leveled, the truss rod adjusted, the pickups adjusted, etc. Most of the problems you describe are evidence of issues with those items- the frets, the neck's relief, and the pickup adjustments. Bear in mind that it's Jeff Berlin's signature bass so it's pretty specific to the things he likes in a bass. It excels at being set up with a low action, bright but not twangy strings, being played with a very light touch, and favoring a very mid-focused but not nasal sound (as Jeff described his ideal once, "all that lovely midrange distortion").

It may be simply not the right kind of bass for YOU, but I'd love to have one. I was a Peavey dealer when they came out, and regret not having bought the first one our store had. I just didn't appreciate the way those mids fit into a band at the time. And that's a key factor in the sound. It could quite possibly sound awful all by yourself, but with a full band it sits right exactly in the mix. It doesn't really cut through, but it does carve a space for itself within all the other sounds. And that to my more experienced ears all these years later, is the ultimate goal.

John