Bass Musician Magazine - SPECIAL March 2014 Issue | Page 14

outboard NE1 box Yamaha built for you.
That circuitry is now built right into the
bass.
Yeah, I figured how come what’s in the
box can’t just be in the bass, you know?
So they put that in for me.
And the interesting thing is that it cuts the
mids at a selectable point while it boosts
the mids surrounding that frequency
you’re notching out. Do I have that right?
Right, that’s absolutely right. And it kicks
in just a little bit of the lows and you get
this kind of hi-fi sheen on the top and the
bottom.
And you always have that switched on
when you’re playing?
Yes, I might as well not have a toggle
switch. [Laughs]
When you’re playing live, do you prefer
to EQ from the bass or from your amp?

I’ve been using the Jim Dunlop strings, I
like those. I use the regular gauge on the
5-string, and I think it goes from a .45 to a
.130, if I’m not mistaken.
Lets talk about your album. Chris Gero
of Yamaha, who co-produced, was an
important collaborator with you on this
project. How did you find the concept
for what you wanted to do for your solo
debut?
It was kind of a methodical process that we
used. I think his corporate sense and his
musical sense, and a lot of the sensibilities
that he brings helped me out a lot. We
started with a whiteboard and just started
naming favorite songs that we both liked,
songs that would be contenders for the
record. So we had a list of all these songs,
and then we started dwindling it down. It
was a thought-out process to at least get
the list honed, and we actually ended up
cutting about 26 songs. Getting the other
tunes out will be in the works very soon.
Where did you do most of the recording?

I start with the amp, but then as I’m playing
I tweak from the bass. A lot of times I’ll just
do a little tweaking as we go, because if
I’m looking for a little more pointed sound,
I’ll add maybe a bit more mids from the
bass. It’s a very simple configuration, with
just bass, mids and highs, and I start flat.
And then as I’m playing I just kind of dial
in what feels natural.
And what strings are you using?
MAR 2014 / BASSMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

We did all the tracking at Ocean Way
studios in LA.
Let’s go through some of the tracks. The
first tune on the record is “101 Eastbound”,
which was also the first tune you wrote for
Fourplay, some 20-odd years ago. Why did
you choose to open the album like that?
Well, that song is one we continue to play.