His fretless fingerboard finishes are the finest and a very important feature for the Buzz Bass, giving it the growl much like a great upright bass sound.” “It was a very hard finish – long lasting – and at the same time created great sustain. “Michael developed this coating,” Egan recounted. The back reveals the laminate neck-through build and uniquely integrated control-cavity cover. The lined ebony fretboard, marked with white inlay for 24 frets, was the obvious focal point in the design. The neck is 1.55″ wide at the nut, and its scale is 34″. The neck-through design is described in Pedulla’s early-’80s literature as a “capillary” style made with two or three pieces of maple. “I also suggested Michael extend the cutaway deep enough that it could be played easily up to the 24th fret, and that he extend the upper horn for a better fit on the player’s body.” “I also wanted great sustain and a growl, more like a bass sitar. “I suggested a neck profile similar to a Jazz Bass neck, but even thinner from front to back and with less radius on the fingerboard,” Egan said. Pedulla agreed to build a prototype that refined the body shape of his already-unique basses, and asked Egan and Landers to lend their input.
“I was incredibly happy, and I took it on tour with Pat.”Įgan and Landers soon after paid another visit to Pedulla’s shop, this time asking whether the builder could do a fretless model. So, Egan and his junked Jazz paid a visit to Pedulla’s shop, where the luthier sanded Egan’s DIY effort and applied a fresh coat of epoxy. “But I botched the job, and it came out uneven – and unplayable.”īut all was not lost a friend and fellow bassist named Tim Landers knew of someone nearby who he thought might be able to help. Seeking to emulate the sound and approach of Jaco Pastorius, Mark Egan, who in the mid ’70s was making a name for himself in the original Pat Metheny Group, had removed the frets from the rosewood fingerboard on his ’64 Fender Jazz, then… Designed by luthier Michael Pedulla in Brockton, Massachusetts, it was created with the input of two notable locals.Īnd as with many innovations, it all started with a not-insignificant faux pas. Pedulla Buzz Bass is one of the most-enduring examples of an upscale model offered fretless.
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