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Pedulla Substitute

#23
I don't know if Mike intended it this way, but it also makes a nice carrying handle on stage.
Pedullas.JPG
 
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#24
I suspect that most of us that have had Pedulla's, especially PentaBuzzes(I've had two)and have gotten rid of them are excessively regretful at this point...

I did the same thing as one of the other posters in this thread, I ordered a Kiesel Vader fretless with the Hard-As-Nails coating they do to get as close as I could to my PentaBuzz. The Vader was a fantastic bass, but it didn't sound like a Pedulla.

I've got an FBass BNF5 fretless right now, and it's brilliant, but I just found out that one of my dealers knows a guy who can coat a fretless board! I don't think I'd do it to my FBass, but I might get something else...;)
 
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#29
Dr. Cheese said:
I may eventually get a Gary Willis signature or maybe I will find a used fretless Stingray for not too much.
Click to expand...

Very different kind of a bass, the GW and the Crews-J5 - as I'm sure you know, the GW doesn't havea coated FB, and a much narrower string spacing. With my limited fretless-skills: the sounds were vastly different too - YMMV.

Regarding the Crews-J5, i've played a good few of them here in Japan. Sound is actually very close to a Pedulla, and the main reason I was looking at one was that that as much as I liked the Pedulla sound, the ergos in the Penta/Hexa buzz just didn't work for me at all. Sadly, Crews doesn't make a Jackson-six... but the five may be on the cards one day.

If you're curious about these basses - they're actually pretty abundant second-hand, and may not be that hard to get shipped to the US.

Another things to keep in mind is that the 'standard' J5 only has the rear humbucker pickup - the H+Singlecoil that Lobster has in his video is a much rarer variant (and that one IS very hard to find used). Having asked around in some of the music shops here, the consensus seemed to be that nobody much misses the front-singlecoil on the fretless, so they don't order/produce many of them.
 
#30
micguy said:
The Pedullas I remember were always world class at one thing - they had that odd shaped, skinny upper horn, which always looked like it'd snap off if you looked at it funny. I've never seen any other bass that looked that "fragile". I suspect it's probably more robust in a drop than a Gibson neck (isn't everything?), but whenever I saw one, I wondered if it was a good idea.
Click to expand...
Mine is a 1983 Model. I've owned it since 1990. It was made before Mike was using the extra reinforcing bars in the neck. Just a traditional truss rod and a bunch of wood. I've gigged the heck out of it. I'm careful with my gear, but I'd be lying if I told you that this bass hasn't hit the deck at least a couple of times since I've owned it. The original owner had inflicted a few pretty serious scars as well (including one big smack on the front of the headstock), yet it still plays beautifully and sounds amazing.

Buzz Basses are stout workhorse instruments. I worry more about it growing legs and walking away during a break or load in/load out than I do about any part of the body or through-neck suffering a structural failure.
 
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#31
kumimajava said:
Very different kind of a bass, the GW and the Crews-J5 - as I'm sure you know, the GW doesn't havea coated FB, and a much narrower string spacing. With my limited fretless-skills: the sounds were vastly different too - YMMV.

Regarding the Crews-J5, i've played a good few of them here in Japan. Sound is actually very close to a Pedulla, and the main reason I was looking at one was that that as much as I liked the Pedulla sound, the ergos in the Penta/Hexa buzz just didn't work for me at all. Sadly, Crews doesn't make a Jackson-six... but the five may be on the cards one day.

If you're curious about these basses - they're actually pretty abundant second-hand, and may not be that hard to get shipped to the US.

Another things to keep in mind is that the 'standard' J5 only has the rear humbucker pickup - the H+Singlecoil that Lobster has in his video is a much rarer variant (and that one IS very hard to find used). Having asked around in some of the music shops here, the consensus seemed to be that nobody much misses the front-singlecoil on the fretless, so they don't order/produce many of them.
Click to expand...

I am in no hurry for a nice fretless five. I just was impressed with that Maniac Crew Jackson.
 
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#33
I think a good patt of what makes a Pedulla Buzz unique is the construction, neck shape, and of course the custom Bartolini pickups and preamps.
If anything was to happen to my Buzz, I would almost certainly purchase another fretless bass, and there are many others that look, feel, and sound equally great. But the Buzz is it's own thing, just like a Wal is it's own thing, and a Zon is it's own thing, and that Jackson is it's own thing.
It's not a Buzz. It looks like a very nice bass though.
 

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