Bass Gear Issue 7 : Page 19didn’t have any problem adjusting the neck, but it did seem “backwards” to me, and I also thought the requirement for a special tool to adjust it might present a potential inconvenience to an owner if the tool was misplaced, since Allen keys are readily available almost anywhere for very little money, but these tools are not. The electronics are all custom Bartolini. The preamp is a custom flavor of the NTMB preamp, and Mike is keeping details close to the vest on it. I was unable to get the specific EQ points, but it does seem like it’s relatively close to the standard NTMB voicing, just tweaked a little to best compliment his custom pickups. Probably the most interesting feature of the Nuance, and what sets it apart electronically from most other basses I’ve played, is the custom midrange circuit. It’s a two-position switch that goes from a mid boost to a mid cut mode. It’s internally adjustable, though again, treated as secret sauce (so I couldn’t get any specific details on the voicing), but it’s easy to tweak via a couple internal trim pots. The idea is, you have quick access to both a sweeter, deeper slap tone and a mid-forward finger-style mode with the flick of a switch. He took a grass roots approach to getting the pickups voiced. He told Bartolini his tonal goals using subjective “plain English” language, and they went through iterations of pickups until they got it right. For the overall voicing of not only the pickups, but also their placement, Mike went for “a full soap bar bottom, strong low-mids, with a sweet high end that was clear and distinct without being dry.” He describes the tone of the bass in the context of playing chords and being able to clearly define each component of the chord with very little “overtone interference.” I do find that sometimes wide aperture pickups – such as wide soapbars, like these – can sometimes lack tonal focus, but I don’t really hear any of that with these pickups. Finally, I asked Mike about his overall design goals for this model. I can’t improve on his response by paraphrasing it, so I’ll simply quote him here: “ The inspiration for the Nuance was two-fold; my love of all the various woods I was not using, and to complement the existing line with visually and acoustically different basses from the rest. I was looking for a good “all around” working bass that could cover the demands of the various music genres a gigging bassist needs, while maintaining a characteristic Pedulla sound that musicians can make their own. ” At the Gig The ergonomics on this bass are just superb. Despite the fact that it doesn’t have a forearm contour, the body is very comfortable. It’s a little bit heavier than I typically like, but it balances well on a strap, so I really didn’t notice it. And the very shallow %&& !$%# f; Publication List Using a screen reader? Click Here |
