Peavey Palaedium

Mine came with EMG HZ 35's installed. . I cant say enough about the quality of this instrument. The neck is a thinner and more comfortable version of a Jazz bass. The fingerboard is a beautiful dark ebony that is smooth and can almost be mistaken for graphite. The bridge is a Badass and the tuners are top notch. I have never played on a faster neck in my life. The body is very comfortable and the finish is awesome. This is a top notch bass that I would rate in the American made Fender catagory but with better hardware.

I can't believe I scored this bass for $224 on Ebay. This bass must be one of the best kept secrets out there.The Bass has every sound that I can possibly want from modern with both pickups up to that great Jeff berlin honk with the bridge only on. I cant comment on the stock pickups but I heard they were good. I own several basses which include a 1981 Fender Jazz, 1997 Fender precision, Fodera Monarch II and a Rickenbacker 4003 and this bass is in the same league sound wise as the Fodera and is much better than my Fenders. The Rick is a one trick pony but does that trick very well. I think I was lucky with the auction because the seller listed it only as a Peavey Palaedium with no reference to Jeff Berlin. I see them going for $350 when they do pop up and that is a steal. This went for over $900 originally and in a perfect world would have cost more as time went on.

Everything was pretty spot on.

Absolutly amazing

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This is a top notch bass and will last as long as any American made Fender without a doubt. My advice is to search long and hard until you can find one. This bass sounds, looks and plays like it was intended to by Jeff Berlin and is worth 4 times more than it sells for. This is beyond a great value. For $224 I could have gotten a crappy Chinese bass but instead I got this unbelievable Ax. I couldnt be happier and I will continue to search Ebay for more.

made in 1990-91,beautiful 3 piece alder body,hard maple neck with two graphite stabilizer bars,graphlon nut,gold hardware,badass11 bridge, volume,pickup blend,tone,ebony fretboard,great fret job.

this bass is great for any style of music I've done everything with it,I'm currently using an 800rb and a eden410t cab,Ive had tons of gear over the years all the top stuff,with the blend you can add high end or bottom which ever way you roll the knob,tone cut back is great for jazz or older blues,the sound is very smooth and clean it records very well like a nice old fender,the neck is very thin from front to back and very much better than most jazz necks,my only compaint with this bass would be the pickups and it's hard to knock them because they do sound great I just would like a bit more single coil sound,I'm picky I guess

the action, setup, finish and playability of this bass was and still is incredible,I've played and have some great basses and this one is the one I reach for all the time,it is so comfortable to play it's light feels great the neck is like no other,it takes some getting used to if you've never played thin jazz necks but once you do it almost plays itself

I've owned it since 90-91 played it everywhere and it's as solid as you'll find no problems ever.

never needed to inquire for help and don't expect to since it's peavey I'll give them a 9 because they are reliable

I've been playing for 35 years I had vick at lilos find me this bass because I knew that if jeff berlin was involved in making this that it would be great and it is,I play country, blues,rock,and heavey rock and it always does the job,I have a 73 alembic series1 and an early 80's bc rich eagle and I've had too many basses to count,if you can find one of these buy it,unless you really don't like small thin necks,because this one is small thin and lightening fast,with the right touch and attack this bass will do it all.

I'm not sure WHEN exactly this bass was made, but from the extremely little info on it I can find online it was made in the late 80's or early 90's for only a couple years, and was designed by famous jazz bassist Jeff Berlin.
In short - it's a beautiful souped up Fender Jazz-modeled bass that is greatly slanted for fast and smooth finger plucking.
In longish - the body is that of a narrower, rounded off P-bass style. From what I gather there is a few color variations, all transparent(this one is blonde). The neck is crazy: it's thinner than every 6 string guitar except for Ibanezes. Ebony fretboard, with truss rod and dual graphite strips. Nice low action due to fine tuning, too. The Jazz bass style pickups are very mellow and midrangey, but have quite a high output level. 3 knobs - volume, tone, and pickup fader. Badass II bridge, all gold hardware. Basic bass controls and general appearance, but it does it all so beautifully.

Very very smooth sound! Almost active pickup sounding, in my opinion. This bass would be perfect for someone who likes to "blend" their sound with other instruments or enjoy rolling basslines. It really has a sound of it's own, quite unique. I give this sound a 9 for just one reason - the sound is very specialized and there isn't much variety. The two pickups sound similar, and you can't really get anything but that "palaedium" sound. This isn't a bass for those who enjoy a blaring or raunchy tone. A P Bass or Ernie Ball this is not.

Absolutely the fastest, thinnest, baddest neck I have seen on any bass. Thinner than a Strat neck for sure, and not even as wide. The strings are a tad close, but it's hardly a problem. It is dual-strip graphite reinforced and has has pins for fine adjustment at the neck joint... which allows for very nice low action. With the reinforced neck, fine tuning pin, and Badass II bridge, it's easy to sling the strings rediculously low without buzz.
Again, this bass is not suited for anything but smooth finger picking! Slapping just doesn't work well, though pick usage is okay as long as you don't beat the hell out of the strings.

You have to MAKE this thing go out of tune or get screwed up in some way, I don't think it's possible with normal play. Once the bridge, neck, and tuners are set as you like, they aren't going anywhere. You get what you pay for in this high quality signature model bass.
I have used this live and have seen the previous owner abuse the hell out of it on stage many times too :). Rock solid, baby.
My only complaint would be the strap buttons... tiny, so tiny. If you like to move around on stage, I highly reccommend replacing them with Strap-Locks or get a self-locking strap.

Bought used.

I'm primarily a guitar player, I bought this bass for studio work and filling in in friend's bands when they needed me. It may not be the best bass for my style of play, but I bought it out of oppertunity and do not regret it!
What this bass does, it does the best. If you want a fast, smooth bass with a warm and mellow tone, I don't believe you can find better. As it is designed by Jeff Berlin, jazz bassist extraordinaire, that alone should give you a good idea what this bass is meant to do. Just be warned - if you wanna slam it out like P-Funk or jam with Flea, you're looking in the wrong place.
Soon I might be selling this bass in favor of something that will benefit my current band better, yet I admit I am reluctant. These basses are very rare, and you know how much you wish you still had something once it's gone!

I have been looking for one of these for about 7 years now. This is the bass that Jeff Berlin designed for Peavey. It has two graphite strips in the neck to help with stability and to take care of any dead spots. It has gold hardware (including a badass II bridge), two passive humbucking pickups, ebony fretboard, alder body, and a 2 piece maple neck. The finish is a nice, transparent honey. The headstock has a split level design that is very classy. It is missing the truss rod cover, but I can make one if I can't find one. For the money, you can't beat it. These basses retailed for $800 new, and I never saw one in a store. And, it came with a case, too. Not bad for $240.00.

This bass sounds great. Very much like a nice. tight jazz bass. Which makes sense, cuz that's what it was based on. In the review in Bass Player back in '92, Jeff said, "I believe this will be the direct replacement of the classic Fender Jazz." That might be pushing it a little, but I do really like this bass. It's punchy, and bright with new DR strings on it. Sounds great for yanking the strings off the board and letting them slap back.

The strings were dead when I got it, but the action was nice. The bass was set up just fine. I did have to raise the g string and the pickup height when I put new strings on it, but it took all of 2 minutes. The finish has some dings, and scratches, but nothing more than you would expect from a bass that is almost 10 years old and has obviously seen some live play. New, this finish was flawless from what I can tell. And, there is only one place where the clear coat has been rubbed through. It looks like it was from the way the guy who had it before hit the strings. Every other mark is simply a little divet where it was smacked into something. I also had to tighten the control knobs, but that isn't Peavey's fault. Cheap bass at MARS. I'm sure it was abused by some customers before I ran across it.

The bass has obviously been played, but it is still in great shape. The pickups have some grooves where someone was digging into the roundwound strings, but the frets are in great shape, and the neck is about as straight as any I have seen (especially at MARS...)

I haven't called Peavey about this bass, but I have had good dealings with them in the past. And, a friend of mine called them because he screwed up the wiring in his 4x10 cabinet, and the tech faxed him a hand-drawn schematic within 10 minutes. THAT is service. So, I will give them a 10 based on past experience.

I've been playing for about 15 years, and I have 6 other basses. I have been searching for this bass for a long, long time. If it were lost, or stolen, I would cry cuz I doubt I will ever see another one for sale (let alone for $240...). It is a good, solid bass. No frills, no bells and whistles. exactly what I was looking for. I'll leave the bells and whistles to the custom Curbow 5-string. if you ever see one of these in the store, grab it if you like a jazz bass. It is also made in the USA, which is nice.