Do you change your technique around for the different sounds
required?
DS Yeah, the majority of the set I’m literally
just using my thumb, and/or a combination of my thumb and my
first two fingers,
still muting the strings with the side of my hand, and other
times I’m just playing normal finger style because we
do a couple of rockier, funkier tunes in the set also. I have
been
known to play with a pick! (For example with Belinda Carlisle
and the Go Gos). Over the years, Jools has come to love, and
prefer the sound of a muted bass guitar with flatwound strings
to the sound of the real acoustic bass, but having said that
in the studio it’s slightly different. In that environment
Jools likes us all playing live in one room and doesn’t
like anybody recording their parts separately if we can help
it. So because I’m in the room with him, the horn section
and drums, all with open mikes, I can’t have my bass
going through an amp, as the sound would bleed in to any other
mics
in the room. The answer then is for me to record
everything on bass guitar through a D.I. box, and use
headphones to hear myself. Jools then goes and listens to it
afterwards and decides whether or not that particular track
would sound better re-recorded on double bass. This is great
for me
because I then have the chance to either play exactly what
I have already played or I get the opportunity to be more adventurous
and enhance my previous bass line. I’ll then go in on
a separate day, with just myself and the producer in the control
room. This way, we can record my double bass using a microphone,
which is crucial for picking up the true acoustic sound of
the
bass. We also take a DI from the pickup as well so we can mix
the two signals together if need be. So I’m there in
a room on my own, on a separate day, re-doing my parts.
Do you think people sometimes get obsessed with trying new gear
all the time?
DS I think you’ve got to be careful because you can go
crazy changing gear too often. At some point you’ve got
to find something and stick with it for a while – don’t
get caught up with changing your gear every time something new
comes
out, because you’ll get to a point where you don’t
like anything! I’ve done it myself, all of a sudden you
end up changing everything at once; your strings, pickups, leads,
amps, speakers. It’s horrible! The other thing is, if
you get fed up with or grow tired of a piece of equipment,
or a bass,
try not to get rid of it straight away. If you can afford to
stick it in a cupboard or attic for a while, even years, do
it! You may surprise yourself down the line and think how cool
it
would be to dig it out and use it again. I retired my wonderful,
extremely well traveled, but sadly, much abused Polytone Mini
Brute III combo 15 years ago. Dug it out last year, had it
cleaned up, with a few adjustments, and now it sounds better
than ever.
I use it all the time!
In a way it’s probably better to have less instruments,
because you have to make certain choices, especially in terms
of performing?
DS As you can see from my bass
collection, I have quite a few instruments at my
disposal, the reason for this (apart from my obsessive, compulsive nature), is I have to cover a number of playing styles on Jools' TV and radio shows, and although I wish I could use just one or two basses, it's not that simple! I need to have some basses strung with Flatwounds and others with Roundwounds. I'll use a five string with a 'low B' one day and one with a 'high C' the next.
