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NBD - Pedulla Series 2 6-string fretless


tauzero
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I blame @TheGreek, he keeps mentioning basses in the Ebay - weird and wonderful section and I keep buying them. This Pedulla Series 2 was at Bass Bros, 40 miles from me, so I went down there and had a play, and then went home with it.

 

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This is a non-Buzz fretless - bolt-on neck, Bartolini pickups, natural finish (which appears to be rare for the Series 2), birdseye maple fingerboard that someone has put little marks at the edge of with a bluntie (like a sharpie but not as precise) between the official fret markers. Not terribly visible, I may see if a spot of IPA [1] will remove them. Controls are volume-blend-tone, and it is active - I think the active aspect is more for a buffer than for tone controlling as the tone control seems to be treble cut and boost. The neck is nice and shallow, the way I like them.

 

I have encountered one minor annoyance. There's a little more relief in the neck than I'd like, so off with the truss rod cover and - WTF? Instead of the hex head I was expecting to accommodate one of my vast selection of Allen keys, it's a square head like a harp or piano tuning peg or a central heating radiator bleed screw. Not having anything to fit, I'm chancing my arm on https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314738850431. At least in trying to find out about this, I have also discovered that the truss rod is reversed (something I'm well used to, with old Warwicks and Seis) and very enthusiastic, so a little adjustment goes a long way. I shall doubtless find all this out in the fullness of time.

 

I've put Schaller strap buttons on it, as is my wont. An inspection of the battery showed it was dated 2016, so it came out and a new one went in. The pickups were adjusted a bit oddly - the treble side on the bridge pickup was rather low and the neck pickup was very low. I had to ease the neck pickup out to adjust it as the "springs" are rubber doughnuts and a bit of one had slipped up between pickup and the rear of the recess, jamming it in place. I assume that this is pickup mounting tubing like https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174301475762 so that's something else to get. The height adjustment screws on the bridge are a bit rusty, as are a couple of the rear panel screws, so I may replace those, but that's not a priority.

 

Mrs Zero and I are going to do an open mic tonight with just bass and vocals, and I'm taking this along. Should be fun.

 

[1] Not India Pale Ale

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Oh, and I got quite a few people saying how nice it sounded this evening after my session with Mrs Zero ("Wicked Game" and "Let's Dance" as you've never heard them before) and backing someone else for a couple of songs. Put through a Zoom MS-60B with compressor, chorus, reverb, and SVT amp sim. Just want to get the relief sorted so the action will come down a little more.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, the Ebay autoharp tuner was for 4mm pegs and it seems that the truss rod is 3/16" so £20 invested in @Hellzero's suggestion which will make its way by tramp steamer to our shores in two or three weeks. Just about to refresh the pickup mountings and put new strings on - Warwick Red Labels are nickel coated and come in the right gauges for me (20-40-60-80-100-130) and have the added advantage of being inexpensive.

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