I Don’t Have all the Answers! Oh Wait I Do :)

I recently tweeted a sort of ask me anything on Twitter and Facebook. I was shocked with the response it was phenomenal! Unfortunately I couldn’t answer all of the questions but here’s the top 10.

1. How old were you when you started playing bass? Well I started violin when I was nine and promptly gave that up. Then I moved to classical guitar until I was 11 and picked up the bass around 12 or 13.

2. What guitars do you currently use? Basses – 1982 Tokai Thunderbird, Johnson USA Jazz Bass & a 1960’s/70’s Frankenstein Precision Bass. Guitars – Freeman Cougar Telecaster, American Standard Telecaster plus some other classical and acoustics.

3. How many concerts and sessions have you done? Oh God its got to be hundreds! To be honest I’ve totally lost count.

4. Your beard! Where has it gone? DO NOT BE ALARMED! It is making a comeback

5. What makes a good bass player? A good sense of humour! Take a look at my blog post – What You Need To Be A Competent Bass Player.

6. What pedals do you use? I chop and change them for every gig or session. but the full list is – Boss TU3 Tuner, MXR Bass Octave Deluxe, Bass Compressor & Bass DI +, Behhringer Bass Graphic EQ and Bass Overdrive.

7. In your promotional video what tuning are you using? For the slapped bass its DADG, the fretless is in standard.

8. What bass & guitar strings do you use? For bass I use Bass Centre Elites – 105 – 45 & a custom set of nylon tapewound flatwounds by a very nice but secretive company! For guitar I use D’addario XL 11 – 45.

9. Highlight of your career so far? Probably playing in the Millennium stadium it was amazing! Another would have been to play with the late Joe Cocker later this year.

10. Do you have any advice to someone wanting to be a session bass player? Its hard work but its worth it! Keep practicing and play with as many other musicians you can.

Thank you for all the questions! I may do another one in the future sometime if I have time.