Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
There were actually FIVE designations in 1992, which is when I began lusting after a Pedulla.
Here's the info from the 1992 Pedulla catalog:
Last edited:
This is great! Thank you.
I have a manual from 1997/8 that does not have this detail.
This kind of information is useful for evaluating older basses. It would be lost if not posted here.
I had my Buzz fingerboard stripped, leveled and refinished by Mark Florio in Bethel CT and he did a fantastic job at a great price. He is a bit of a haul from NH, but you may be able to arrange shipping to him vs having to be there in person.
Florio Guitars – Custom Guitar Works in New England
Here is the post of my result.
The Pedulla Club!
CT, he used polyester and not epoxy? That's good to know.
Yes, I specified polyester and Mark had no difficulty with that at all. My understanding is that is what Michael used to call his “DiamondCoat”. To my (admittedly untrained) eye, the new fingerboard finish is excellent and it feels great. Maybe not Michael’s original, but I’m very happy with it.
Actually my guitar player commented on it the other night at practice. He said “Wow! That looks like glass!”
I'm sure if it's well done few of us would notice a difference. I'd be happy with either. But I didn't know if anyone besides Mike used polyester. Maybe because coated boards are not common, so you don't hear much about the material.
Some more here
Large Black Aluminum Knob - Best Bass Gear
Hard to tell from the photo but these seem to have a glossy finish.
Ugh, I wanted to upgrade my pre in my MVP6 '91 because it old, crackly and I missed the option to boost the bass and cut the treble a bit. Also the output was really low. But the old one was glued to the wood, and we (did it with a friend who has a steady hand) didn't dare to risk the chance of damaging it. In the end we managed to fit it in, and we simply cut off the wires of the old one. Looks pretty tidy.
Doug from Bartolini has been very helpful in advising a nice replacement setup. The extra buffer to match the output of both plugins is really nice. Plus it's great the majority of my basses now have the same output level.
It sounds amazing actually. It went from an OK bass to an excellent bass.
Doug from Bartolini has been very helpful in advising a nice replacement setup. The extra buffer to match the output of both plugins is really nice. Plus it's great the majority of my basses now have the same output level.
It sounds amazing actually. It went from an OK bass to an excellent bass.
Nice Pedullist!
can you give more details on the pickups (sounds like you used existing ones) and the model of preamp you ended up putting in (2 band eq?)?
I just ordered Nordstrand Zen Blades for my 94 thunderbuzz but am going passive for now (dual volume each with pull switch for parallel/series, tone knob and a switch for tone cap values) but i might end up going active depending on how it sounds, but undecided on John East, Nordstrand, Bartolini or ? preamp...
thx!
Hey guys, wanted to post a link to this thread that I had over in the Luthier's Corner about filing down small bumps in my Pentabuzz fingerboard:
Smoothing out Pedulla Polyester fingerboard (fretless)
Basically, some of the fretlines were slightly raised, causing the notes to sound weird - almost like fretted notes. They didn't bloom like the others, and the string could sort of seesaw to either side of the line and wobble the pitch. It was a bummer and prevented me from fully loving the bass. But it was pretty subtle too and it actually took years for me to realize what exactly the problem was. I assumed for a long time that it was just some internal resonance problem that could not be easily cured. One day I just ran my finger down the board and said ohhhh. I'm the original owner straight from Pedulla so I guess Michael just missed a couple spots.
Anyway the gentlemen in that thread were extremely helpful and I was able to perfectly smooth out the fingerboard and buff those areas back to a like-new mirror finish. Thought it might be nice to link it here in case anyone comes across a similar issue. I was pretty afraid to take a file to my buzz board but it was no big deal and resulted in a better and more perfect bass with no negative effects at all.
Smoothing out Pedulla Polyester fingerboard (fretless)
Basically, some of the fretlines were slightly raised, causing the notes to sound weird - almost like fretted notes. They didn't bloom like the others, and the string could sort of seesaw to either side of the line and wobble the pitch. It was a bummer and prevented me from fully loving the bass. But it was pretty subtle too and it actually took years for me to realize what exactly the problem was. I assumed for a long time that it was just some internal resonance problem that could not be easily cured. One day I just ran my finger down the board and said ohhhh. I'm the original owner straight from Pedulla so I guess Michael just missed a couple spots.
Anyway the gentlemen in that thread were extremely helpful and I was able to perfectly smooth out the fingerboard and buff those areas back to a like-new mirror finish. Thought it might be nice to link it here in case anyone comes across a similar issue. I was pretty afraid to take a file to my buzz board but it was no big deal and resulted in a better and more perfect bass with no negative effects at all.
Hey guys, did a little photo shoot with my Pentabuzz today and thought I'd share some highlights!
I took off the volume knob because it gets in the way when playing with a pick. Yep I play it with a pick sometimes haha. I also keep the truss rod cover off since I used to have to adjust it all the time. It's settled down lately and doesn't need to be adjusted as much now. I thought about putting those things back on to take the pictures but I just figured nah, that's just how this bass looks.
I took off the volume knob because it gets in the way when playing with a pick. Yep I play it with a pick sometimes haha. I also keep the truss rod cover off since I used to have to adjust it all the time. It's settled down lately and doesn't need to be adjusted as much now. I thought about putting those things back on to take the pictures but I just figured nah, that's just how this bass looks.
Last edited:
What year?
That's a 2015! Serial #9858. I'm the orderer and original owner. When I got it, it had a dead spot in the usual place on the G string. So I took it down to Mike, went and grabbed a coffee at dunkin donuts, and by the time I came back the dead spot was gone. He had somehow tuned it out by removing a bit of wood from the pickup cavity. Now that he's retired I sure am glad I didn't drag my feet on that!
Latest posts
-
-
-
Would you play gigs with a band that doesn't have a great PA?
- Latest: buldog5151bass
-
-