Peavey Review: Palaedium [Jeff Berlin]

History:

Purchase: $300 from Daddy's Junky Music. I saw it in their chain-wide listing and it intrigued me because used upper model Peaveys are usually undervalued for a really good ax. I read a bit online about it before I asked to have it transferred to the local branch store. Also read online that it's built with a BadAss II bridge, which represented [to me] a $65 savings right there.

What I Like About This Peavey Palaedium [Jeff Berlin]: Very ordinary-looking with excellent tone. Tone knob has some effect, but PU pan knob has much greater effect. No boomy or nasal stuff, but a good range of "regular" bass. The online comment of one owner was that this is a great fingerstyle bass, so much so that it's a really poor choice for any player into "more contemporary" styles of playing. I found this quite true. I've played it out twice so far and a friend sat in using it for one song, and he has the same reaction [also really likes it for fingerstyle].

What I Do NOT Like About The Peavey Palaedium [Jeff Berlin]: Fret ends are not buried under any sort of thick finish, so they can be annoying, but not extremely so. Even for a dual humbucker passive bass, output is lower than you might expect so you want an amp that's not noisy even at higher gain settings.

Peavey Palaedium [Jeff Berlin] Quality Rating: 35" graphite reinforced maple neck with ebony fretboard, soft body [poplar, alder or basswood ?]. Inline tuners [Gotoh ?], Graphlon-type nut, and BadAss bridge. Peavey humbuckers, widely spaced, appear solidly mounted [not on elevators, don't even wiggle]. Volume, PU pan, and tone, all passive. Small well-shielded control cavity is very neatly done, and grounded to the bridge. Neck joint not as sleek as some, but less obtrusive than on Fender, GnL, etc. Neck joint very solid, 4 bolt, no creaking or gaps. Strings were not centered on the neck so I moved the bridge over. Body is gloss clearcoat. Back of neck is either satin or unfinished.

Review Summary: A very traditional but not muddy bass with deep well defined bottom and some shimmer at the top. Action can be set fairly low. Plain-looking with simple controls, not a conversation piece, so you-the-player will get full credit for all the great bass your audience hears. Comfortable to play for a full gig, good action, weight, and balance. This is a stealth bass, a real sleeper and a keeper.

Rating of this Peavey product: 5

This Peavey Palaedium [Jeff Berlin] Bass Guitars Review Submitted By: Golem

Review Date: 2003-04-28