GEAR!

Today I’m going to go in depth on some gear that I use when I play live. I don’t consider myself a gear head, by any means. I’ve only begun to implement this stuff in the last few years. In my early years as a bass player, I would only carry a tuner and a cable and just plug straight in. And there’s nothing wrong with that, especially for bass players, as opposed to electric guitarists, where the pedals really define the sound and are more necessary on that instrument.

The Bass: MTD 635

www.mtdbass.com

This has been my main bass for about 20 years now. The MTD 635 (Serial number 288!!). Six string African Korina wood body and a Wenge neck and fingerboard. Original Bartolini preamp and pickups. Soon after I began playing bass at the ripe age of 14 I fell in love with the sound of Michael Tobias Basses. At first I was hunting for a pre-Gibson "Tobias" brand bass. But then learned about his new endeavor at the time, MTD (Michael Tobias Design) basses. I saved every penny and bought one off the shelf at Rudy’s music stop in Manhattan’s music row on west 48th street (I miss that place). Since that day, I’ve never looked back. And I've since become an exclusive endorser of MTD basses and strings. I love this bass! It is the most versatile bass out there for studio recording as well as live playing.

The Amp: Gallien Kreuger MB800

http://www.gallien-krueger.com/mb-800-specs

I’ve tried many different brands over the years as far as amps go, and finally landed on this brand that I love. Gallien Krueger. To me, it provides the most transparent sound for my bass. A lot of other brands “color” the sound, even when you try to get a flat tone. That's all well and good for some people. It creates a signature sound for the Amp companies and people may want that. But I’ve always loved the transparent sound of MTD basses that what I want in amplification is pure transparency. I get that with GK. Also, a company that I am proud to endorse exclusively. The Amp I use most of the time is my GK MB800. A super portable and lightweight head that also packs a punch at 800 watts. I also have another GK amp that I keep at home as a reserve, the 800RB. The ancient classic. The workhorse. Not as portable as the MB800 but still packs a punch and delivers that transparent sound that I love. I also have a pair of GK cabinets that I bring out for the bigger gigs. The Gallien Krueger CX 410 and the CX 115. The 15 inch speaker gives a very nice warmth while the other cabinet with the 4 10 inch speakers delivers bite and punch. A very nice combination.

Footnote: The rest of the products mentioned from here on out I do not have endorsement deals with. I just love these products! So, if any of you PR people out there are interested, give me a shout!

Pedals: EBS MicroBass II

http://ebssweden.com/content2/ebs-microbass-ii-preampdi-box/

This pedal is the Swiss Army knife of bass pedals. It has a direct output via XLR port, as well as a traditional 1/4 inch output that can be sent to an on stage amplifier. This thing also has 2 inputs with Independent EQ settings for each channel. The channels can be used independently of each other but there’s also an option for having both channels active at the same time, which is the way I like to use it. It allows for more options on adjusting the tone output. There is also a send output and return input via 1/4 inch jacks that I use to send signal to my tuner pedal. And I use the return to receive the signal from my keyboard. Because my bass uses 18v electronics with no passive option, it usually overpowers any effects pedal I try to play it through, so I will dial back EQ on my on board bass preamp and re-dial in the EQ from the MicroBass preamp, which is the last pedal on my chain of pedals. That way, a cleaner signal goes through my Wah pedal and octave pedal before going into the EBS. This thing also has a fuzz boost and a tube amp simulator. It even has a 1/8th inch headphone output for practicing! I love it!

Pedals: Aguilar Octamizer

http://www.aguilaramp.com/products_octamizer.htm

Second to last on my chain of pedals is the Aguilar Octamizer. A standard in bass octave pedals. There isn’t much to say about this one. Only four dials and they’re pretty self explanatory. A few minutes of tweaking will get you a great octave sound.

Pedals: Hotone Bass Press

http://www.hotoneaudio.com/products/press/Vol_Exp_Wah_Pedal/2016/1114/194.html

This is a micro volume pedal that is a 3-in-1. Volume control, Wah (specifically designed wah for Bass frequencies) and Expression pedal. This company makes a guitar version as well, which is red instead of black. I can toggle between the volume and Wah options. I’ve never tried to use it as an expression pedal but this pedal has been awesome for my needs. I love the small size of it as well as the tone of the Wah.

Pedals: TC Electronic Spectracomp

http://www.tcelectronic.com/spectracomp-bass-compressor/

I know there are some bass purists out there who feel that there is no need for compression. "My hands are my compressor!" I tend to agree, in most cases. For what I do, it’s necessary for a couple of reasons. First, the output levels of the Wah pedal on the Hotone Pedal is slightly different than when it’s bypassed. So this compressor helps level those out. And also there are lots of times when I play with a really light touch with my right hand all the way up on the bass, over the top end of the fingerboard in order to get a really fat, round, tone. You know, that sub-bassy tone. This compressor helps bring out that sound without losing output level. This pedal has tons of advanced features that I haven’t even scratched the surface on. Once I found a great setting, I haven’t messed with it much further. An adventure for another day...

Pedals: TC Electronic Polytune Mini Noir

(Discontinued. Link is for newer model) http://www.tcelectronic.com/polytune-2-noir/

My tuner. I love the compact size of this pedal and the option of tuning all the strings at one time. Although my bass frequencies don’t register when I use the multi string tune feature (this was designed more for a lead guitar), but I love the look of this tuner and it gets the job done. Because I've wired this to receive signal from my Send output from the EBS MicroBass II, I can leave the tuner always on and glance down to see if I am still in tune while I am playing. I hit the mute button on the EBS in order to tune the bass without being heard.

Pedals: Boss FV-50 stereo volume pedal

https://www.boss.info/us/products/fv-50h_50l/

This pedal is used with my keyboard setup. I use this to mix audio from two sources for my keybass sound. More on that later.

Behringer MicroMix MX400

http://www.music-group.com/Categories/Behringer/Mixers/Analog-Mixers/MX400/p/P0390

This is a 4-Channel active mono mixer. I use three out of four channels here to mix down my keybass sounds before going out into my EBS preamp. One channel is from my keybass onboard sound and the other two channels are from my Boss Stereo volume pedal, which is receiving from my iPad, sending in stereo from the headphone jack. This way I can control the sound that comes from my iPad with my foot independently of the other keybass sound that is coming from my keyboard. It allows for more diversity in my sound and adjusting on the fly. I've velcro'd this puppy to my keyboard stand and it is situated directly under the keyboard.

The Keyboard: Korg MicroKorg XL+

http://www.korg.com/us/products/synthesizers/microkorg_xl_plus/

This thing is amazing. The keys are a little smaller than standard size, so it takes a little getting used to. But the built in sounds are incredible. It has an XLR port on top that you can plug a microphone into (it does come with a gooseneck microphone) allowing you to do some talk box, vocoder stuff. It’s a great all-Around keyboard, but I primarily use it for synth bass.

Arturia iMini app for iOS

https://www.arturia.com/products/ipad-synths/imini

I’m using this on my iPad Pro 9.7. This app has some great sounds with awesome arp features and analog synth modeling. I am connected to my MicroKorg via midi through the Apple USB adapter and sending audio from the headphone jack (stereo) into my Boss volume pedal, then out to the Behringer mini mono mixer to be mixed in with the on board MicroKorg sounds before going into my EBS preamp's return input.

The Snake (Homemade with George L Cables)

https://www.amazon.com/George-Ls-Effects-Black-Nickle/dp/B000HQMS2U/ref=lp_2592512011_1_1?srs=2592512011&ie=UTF8&qid=1509922505&sr=8-1

Also essential to my rig is my home made snake. I custom cut cables using George L cable kits (also used in my pedal board). I then made the snake a permanent fixture attached to my keyboard stand. This allows for much faster setup and breakdown times. About 5-10 minutes in total for my entire rig with keybass and all.

I think that about sums it up for when I play bass live these days. I have completely different setups when I run stem tracks and when I play keys. I may do a different blog on that stuff later. As always, let me know if there are more questions about any particular piece of gear listed here or if you have suggestions on better streamlining this setup. Thanks!