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Bass Emporium Newsletter - August 2009

Ed Friedland's
The Bass Whisperer Reports: Pedulla MVP4 Arctic Night, Fretted 4-String Electric Bass Guitar

by Ed Friedland

These days, the word "boutique" gets thrown around quite loosely. When applied to musical instruments (and basses in particular), virtually anything with a quilted maple top that costs more than $1,500 receives the moniker, and the cache that goes along with it. While modern manufacturing techniques have made it possible to build high quality instruments at a lower price, simply slapping a fancy top on a bass does not make it boutique. To my way of thinking, the designation should be reserved for fine instruments built by hand. While CNC machines are a boon to the production line, a true boutique instrument must have absorbed the sweat (and sometimes blood) of the individual whose name appears on the headstock. Michael Pedulla started building his basses this way, and while there were years where he employed a crew, as he now tells us on his website: "I have returned to building every bass 100% by myself. This means less distractions directing other people and more of my focus on each and every bass. The basses have my name on them and I take that personally."

Bass Emporium has recently added Pedulla basses to its offerings. To celebrate, this month's review is a stunning Pedulla MVP4.

The MVP is the original Pedulla design that dates back to 1975. I can remember seeing the earliest Pedullas on sale at E.U. Wurlitzer in Boston back in 1977. They kept them in a glass case to prevent the Berklee rabble from getting their paws on them unsupervised. At that time, the custom built bass market was sparsely populated and the Pedulla bass represented somewhat of a Holy Grail to many of us. I owned an MVP back in 1985, it was my first high-end bass, and my first step away from a 20-fret Fender. It's ease of playing and 24-fret neck helped me discover a lot of new concepts and approaches on the bass. Unfortunately that axe falls into to the "wish I hadn't sold it" category.

Features
Unlike many basses that sport a flamed maple top, the body wings of the MVP are built entirely from flamed maple. This particular instrument is AAA flamed maple, the AA maple costs typically around $300 less (list) and 5A maple adds an additional $1,500 to the cost.





The through-body neck is a three-piece maple laminate. With so much maple, one might expect the MVP to be overly bright, but in fact I found it to have a well-balanced tone overall.

The 1.5" width bone nut is substantially thicker than most at 1/4", the slots are cut to perfection and the back edge is sloped nicely to match the angled headstock. The neck profile is a rounded C shape that is easy to play without sacrificing the wood mass required for superior tone. One of the great advantages of neck-through-body design is the seamless flow from the lower to upper register, and the MVP has unhampered access to the 23rd fret. I'm nit-picking, but I wish the 24th fret was a little easier to play-if I can't start an Am7 arpeggio with my pinky on the 24th fret... I get grumpy. Oh well, there's no money to be made up there anyway.

The neck is stabilized with a dual-action truss rod, and two steel stiffening bars embedded under the 12" radius ebony fingerboard. The Pedulla comes with it's own special truss rod tool with a nice wooden handle perfectly angled to make adjustments easy and damage free. As you would expect with an instrument of this caliber, the fretwork is immaculate-and in general, the fit and finish is top notch.

The bridge is machined brass with adjustable roller saddles and a quick-release design that makes string changes more convenient. The Pedulla/Gotoh enclosed gear tuners and strap pins match the bridge's gold color, but chrome and black are also available.



Bartolini pickups have long been standard equipment on Pedulla basses, but they are not stock. Over time, Pedulla has collaborated with the ubiquitous pickup manufacturer to develop pickups that define their sound. No specific information was given as to what the modifications are, but the pickups were designed to "work with what the instrument does acoustically" as Pedulla tells me. The preamp is also Bartolini supplied-the ever present NTMB. Once again-not stock, but no specifics about frequency centers were available, just that they were chosen to bring out the instruments natural quality.

My impression was not that the builder is trying to hide trade secrets, more that the numbers and specs are less important than the result. The result is a very even, full range tone that offers a lot of flexibility. The controls are master volume, pickup pan, bass, treble, and a mini-toggle for a midrange boost/cut. The bass and treble are set for +/-15dB, and the midrange switch is adjustable to the same degree via two internal trim pots.



While I am not usually a fan of the PJ configuration, Pedulla implements this successfully by placing the J pickup 2" from G string saddle (measured center-to-center) and the P pickup in the standard location (5 & 7/8" center-to-center from the treble coil). To put this in perspective, most PJ setups have the J pickup in the 60s Fender position (2 & 5/8" from the saddle) which brings it very close to the treble coil of the P pickup.



It has long been a complaint of mine that this proximity creates a honky, nasal quality when both pickups are used together-particularly when slapping. However, the added 5/8" separation between the coils on the Pedulla eliminates this problem (for me). I find the two pickups blend well-the slap tone is tight with nice high end, and none of the sinusy mids that annoy me with standard PJ configurations.

Performance
The sensory experience of playing the MVP4 is seductive-you can feel the quality in your hands. The Pedulla website talks a lot about the "soul" of the instrument, and while I have no way to quantify this claim, the bass does have vibe. Unplugged, the sound is snappy and lively with great sustain-a good place to start from. Plugging in, the tone is surprisingly warm with the eq set flat, but pop a string and the spank is there. Each note has clarity, detail, sustain, depth and punch.

The neck pickup has the familiar P Bass bark, but with added presence-like a thin layer of sweet icing on a rich, moist chocolate cake. The proximity of the J pickup to the bridge gives it a super tight, fast response. Set flat, it's perhaps a bit too thin of a texture to rock the house, but the eq ably fills in the bottom if you want it. But as mentioned earlier, it's position makes for an ideal blend with the P pickup. Together, they create a thick, full sound that has definition-perhaps the best of both worlds.

The midrange switch is unique in that most NTMB systems employ the mids with a pot, and often a two or three-way frequency select. The MVP4 uses it strictly as boost/cut at a set (but unknown) frequency. A simplified explanation of this would be to say in the cut position, you get a sound suited for slap, and boost gives you a fuller fingerstyle tone.

With the factory default setting, the cut is not so extreme that it sounds scooped, in fact my ears register it as flat. Naturally, you can get inside and tweak it to your taste, but I have found that it's often best to leave these settings at the factory spec. These guys spend a lot more time determining where to set the levels than you might, and there is something to be appreciated about the builder's tonal vision. The mid boost adds gain as well as low-end punch, without getting cloudy. Sometimes low mids can mask the upper frequency spectrum, but the MVP4 retains plenty of clarity in mid-boost mode.

The bass and treble controls allow for a wide range of textures. The bass control thickens and widens the bottom, but manages to avoid the over saturation that occurs with many active eqs. The treble adds sparkle in a musically pleasing range, not harsh or biting-like the crispy snap of dried twigs crunching under your feet as you walk along the forest floor. The Pedulla customization of the Bartolini package seems to optimize the instrument's performance-you can't find a bad tone in this bass.

Tone Test
My procedure for recording these samples was very basic: I recorded direct into ProTools with a passive Radial Engineering ProDI using Analysis Plus Bass Oval cable. No additional eq and only minimal compression was used. The drum accompaniment is from Toontrack's EZ Drummer. The factory strings (Pedulla brand) were no longer fresh after a couple of weeks of customer tryouts, so I replaced them with a set of DR Fat Beams 45-105 for these samples.

Slap
Yeah, I know, nobody slaps anymore, including me. But for 30 years, I've judged a lot about an instrument based on the slap tone, and perhaps some of you still do that too.

Sample 1) The neck pickup with the mid cut has the classic P Bass tone, albeit with a little more sparkle.
Listen to: Neck Pickup, Mid-Cut

Sample 2) The neck pickup with mid boost gets a little thick around the middle, I goosed the treble up a tiny bit to compensate for the darker texture.
Listen to:
Neck Pickup, Mid-Boost

Sample 3) Both pickups with mid cut is a great modern slap tone. The front pickup supplies the beef, while the bridge pickup adds detail and shine.
Listen to: Neck & Bridge Pickups

Sample 4) Both pickups with mid boost is a little more cloudy, but a little additional high end eq helps retain the clarity.
Listen to: Neck & Bridge Pickups, Mid-Boost, Added High-End

Sample 5) The bridge pickup solo in mid cut is not huge on it's own, but pumping up the lows with the eq makes it big and round. It's tight, crisp, and very detailed.
Listen to:Bridge Pickup, Mid-Cut, Bass Boosted

Sample 6) In mid boost mode, the bridge pickup has a bit of honk to it. The upper mids might sound better in context than they do soloed, but it's not bad.
Listen to: Bridge Pickup, Mid-Boost, P-Bass Pickup

Fingerstyle
The first half of each fingerstyle example is played with the right hand over the neck pickup, for the second half-I move down to the bridge pickup for tighter articulation. I kept the treble flat and the bass boosted to 7 for this batch.

Sample 7) The neck pickup in mid cut sounds warm and full, just like a nicely seasoned P Bass. The mid "cut" doesn't seem to affect the punch, in fact, I don't hear it as a cut-more like "flat".
Listen to: Neck Pickup, Mid-Cut, P-Bass Pickup

Sample 8) Add the mid boost to the neck pickup and you've suddenly got huge cahones. This tone is the velvet bulldozer.
Listen to: Neck Pickup, Mid-Boost, P-Bass Pickup

Sample 9) Both pickups in mid cut gives you a full tone, much like the neck pickup but with more of an edge. You can really hear the benefit of the J pickup when I play by the bridge.
Listen to: Neck & Bridge Pickups, Mid-Cut

Sample 10) Now, add the mid boost to both pickups to get the Full Monty. This is THE tone for fingerstyle (IMO). It's big, warm, detailed, punchy, everything you could ever want.
Listen to: Neck & Bridge Pickups, Mid-Boost

Sample 11) Solo the bridge pickup in mid cut and you've got a great tone for the burpy Jaco thing. It has nice natural high end, and works great for soloing.
Listen to: Bridge Pickup, Mid-Cut

Sample 12) With the mid boost engaged, the bridge pickup gets that thick midrange bump that makes this setting more suitable for driving the bus.
Listen to: Bridge Pickup, Mid-Boost

Pickstyle
The first half of each pickstyle sample is played over the neck pickup with long notes and a soft attack. The second half, I switch to the palm-mute and play down by the bridge.

Sample 13) The neck pickup in mid cut has the classic P Bass pick tone, with a nice hifi edge to it.
Listen to: Neck Pickup, Mid-Cut

Sample 14) With mid boost, the P pickup gets a bigger bottom, with extra punch. The highs are slightly muted, but a little eq could easily change that.
Listen to: Neck Pickup, Mid-Boost

Sample 15) Pickstyle with both pickups in mid cut has nice detail, the J pickup brings out nice click in the muted section.
Listen to: Neck & Bridge Pickups, Mid-Cut

Sample 16) Now with the mid boost, both pickups gives up a chunkier pick tone-just enough girth to work for heavier textures.
Listen to: Neck & Bridge Pickups, Mid-Bost

Sample 17) Soloing the bridge pickup naturally gets a bit thin, so I maxed the bass eq and came up with a totally usable sound. The mid cut keeps the high end sparkly even without any help from the treble control.
Listen to: Bridge Pickup, Mid-Cut, Bass Boost

Sample 18) The mid boost really rounds out the bridge pickup, the highs are less pronounced, but the mids that take over give this setting a pleasant timbre with lots of punch.
Listen to: Bridge Pickup, Mid-Boost

Bottom Line
The MVP4 is a versatile and capable axe that is tres sexy. While on the surface we see the same components found on many other instruments, they have been tailored to bring out the best of the beast. If you're looking for a handmade, US-built boutique axe that is both beautiful and functional, check out Pedulla. Ed Friedland is a renowned Bassist, Educator and Author. He has authored over 15 books and DVDs and has played with the likes of Joe Beck, Larry Coryell, Robben Ford, Paul Horn, Clay Jenkins, Mike Metheny, Bud Shank, Lew Tabackin & Michal Urbaniak to name just a few. Ed is also currently teaching at Bass Emporium in Austin, Texas. Check out the Ed Friedland website for full information about him at http://www.edfriedland.com/.