The Nuance is the newest addition to our line of bass guitars and is proudly handmade in the U.S.A. by Michael Pedulla. The aptly named Nuance was designed as a responsive extension for the player's artistic and tonal subtleties and techniques, melding the sonic attributes of a neck-thru (strong fundamental, quick attack, focus, and increased sustain) with the more familiar classic warmth of a bolt-on. It has been fully field tested with a number of Pedulla Artists, including Tim Landers, Mark Egan, and David Buda.  Tim Landers used the Nuance live and in the studio and sums up the sound as:

"It exudes a boutique quality but with a much more useful array of tones. A bass that not only sounds fantastic on its own but remains punchy and distinct even through a dense mix, a winning combination for me!”

The Nuance bass was created by Michael Pedulla using his collective knowledge of  the acoustic interactions of woods and design:  A bolt-on-neck design was selected for its warmth;  a soft maple back with stunning Maple Burl, Arbutis Burl, Red Heart Quilted Maple, Redwood Burl, and Spalted Chestnut tops that add to the distinctive high end and low mids;  a hard maple two-piece quarter sawn neck for clarity and stability;  and a unique grade of ebony for the 22 fret fingerboard, which adds a midrange that contributes to the clarity and ability to cut in a dense mix.  A fully adjustable brass bridge and the standard Pedulla tuning gears round out the hardware.  The electronics are powered by two custom-voiced Bartolini humbuckers, complemented by an on-board active tone system which includes controls for volume, pickup pan, bass boost and cut, treble boost and cut, and a midrange boost and cut switch, all powered by a single 9 volt battery.

 Other features include an ebony back plate, easy access battery box, and the truss rod/stiffening bar design that is used in all Pedulla basses.  A Pedulla oil/urethane finish tops it off.

Available as 4-string or 5-string, and 6-string (5-string and 6-string available with 17.5mm or 19mm string spacing).  Options include choice of Maple Burl, Arbutis Burl, Red Heart Quilted Maple, Redwood Burl, or Spalted Chestnut top and choice of black, chrome, or gold color hardware.

Top Woods

Please note that no two pieces of wood are the same, and it is even more so with burls. Burls are large rounded outgrowths on the trunk of a tree.  Red Heart Quilted Maple is only found on old growth trees and has shades of pink running through it, as well as occasional spalting. The following pictures represent a few of the varied figures of each type. These are rough billets which will be resawn in to a book matched top for the Nuance.