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Pedulla quandary

#21
Circa 1990, I finally had a bit of money to buy a high-end bass. A lot of my bass heroes of the period played Alembics, and that’s what I thought I wanted. But when I went into Guitar Center San Francisco, I discovered that the Alembics weighed a ton and had bizarre ergonomics. I looked around the shop and spotted - not knowing what it was - a gloss black Pedulla MVP. I only had to play a few arpeggios on it to know that it was the bass I wanted to buy. It was my main axe, especially for recording, for years. Mine had some quirks. For some reason, the two pieces halves of the laminate neck aged differently. By 2005 or so, you could see and feel an edge line in the finish down the back of the neck, where one half shrank infinitesimally more than the other. I wrote to Mike asking if he’d seen this on other basses, and he replied that he had been experimenting with various neck constructions during that period, and that if I wanted to send the bass to him, he’d be happy to refinish it - for something close to the price I originally paid for the bass. Didn’t seem worth it and the problem didn’t get worse. Amazing instruments.
 
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#24
I’ve owned 2 mvp4s in my time. The pj with Bartolinis was among the finest sounding basses ever. Played like a dream. If not for the nerve damage in my shoulder I’d still own it. Just to heavy. I bought and sold it during a low period on pricing. It was cosmetically beat up. Bought and sold it here on the forum. No pics survived, but I sold it for $900.

SOLD - Pedulla MVP 4 for sale
 
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#25
Dr. Cheese said:
I suspect you can find one under three grand because I do not believe they were that popular for the last several years. If they were, I think he would have worked out a licensing arrangement like Sadowsky or Ken Smith.
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Not everyone wants to milk every last cent out of their name. Sometimes, calling it quits and letting things go is the right choice. I'd even posit that it's probably the right choice more often than not, but, yay capitalism.

Pedulla's are downright amazing basses - especially the Buzz fretlesses. I'm glad to have a Pentabuzz in my studio. There simply is no better sounding fretless, to me. I'm glad he was able to retire and leave his legacy intact, and have given us so many amazing instruments (I've owned two, and, my Pentabuzz will never leave me as long as I'm playing).
 
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#26
matante said:
Pedulla was upfront about his pride that all his basses were made in the US and there were never any licensed Pedullas. Pretty clear that he considered licensing a form of selling out or at least cheapening the brand, so I wouldn't attribute the lack of licensing to a lack of popularity. They went through a phase of being so popular that he stopped doing the work himself. Later he resumed doing all the work himself and announced it on his site.
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I suspect the downsizing reflected a decline in sales. Licensing does not have to be drop in quality.
 
#28
LowWay said:
I’ve owned 2 mvp4s in my time. The pj with Bartolinis was among the finest sounding basses ever. Played like a dream. If not for the nerve damage in my shoulder I’d still own it. Just to heavy. I bought and sold it during a low period on pricing. It was cosmetically beat up. Bought and sold it here on the forum. No pics survived, but I sold it for $900.

SOLD - Pedulla MVP 4 for sale
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Mine is only 8 pounds exactly. It's one of the lightest basses I own. I'm lucky since I didn't ask about it's weight at all. I'll gig it this weekend... 3 hour show and first time hearing it with the band and through a real rig. I put EBMM Cobalt Flats on it. I'm hoping they were the right string choice.
 
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#29
Selta said:
Not everyone wants to milk every last cent out of their name. Sometimes, calling it quits and letting things go is the right choice. I'd even posit that it's probably the right choice more often than not, but, yay capitalism.

Pedulla's are downright amazing basses - especially the Buzz fretlesses. I'm glad to have a Pentabuzz in my studio. There simply is no better sounding fretless, to me. I'm glad he was able to retire and leave his legacy intact, and have given us so many amazing instruments (I've owned two, and, my Pentabuzz will never leave me as long as I'm playing).
Click to expand...
It is quite pleasing to think that Pedulla won't be like other brands and have a "pre-BlahBlahBlah era" or become part of another big name (cough cough Gibson) company.
 
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#31
Selta said:
Not everyone wants to milk every last cent out of their name. Sometimes, calling it quits and letting things go is the right choice. I'd even posit that it's probably the right choice more often than not, but, yay capitalism.

Pedulla's are downright amazing basses - especially the Buzz fretlesses. I'm glad to have a Pentabuzz in my studio. There simply is no better sounding fretless, to me. I'm glad he was able to retire and leave his legacy intact, and have given us so many amazing instruments (I've owned two, and, my Pentabuzz will never leave me as long as I'm playing).
Click to expand...

I am not out to attack anyone’s value system. I am speaking from experience. I bought a five string Buzz for $1,066 at a pawnshop after the previous owner decided to redeem a vintage P-bass and release the Buzz which was in pawn. I kept the bass several years and truly loved it. I lost it when I suffered financial hardship myself.
 

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