Peavey Palaedium [Jeff Berlin] Reviews 
5 / 5 based on 1 reviews$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.
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].
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.
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.
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.
Golem rated this unit
on
2003-04-28.
