My pride and joy is my upright bass which I had custom built for me by
Grant Hull, a Chattanooga based luthier. It has a deep, woody tone that
thumps under the fingers and sings under the bow. My setup can handle any style of music that requires an upright bass. I have experience in recording sessions for singer-songwriters, jazz gigs, orchestra-pit for musical theater, chamber ensembles for weddings or corporate events, and country or folk events. The pic below shows my bass in the shop being finished.
My bow is a John Guerin bow that I have had for 15 years. It has seen thousands of hours of playing and countless gigs! it is an integral part of my setup and draws a big, beautiful tone.
Amplifying a double bass is huge challenge. Finding a good tone is difficult with piezo pickups, and they are very feedback prone. I have found tonal nirvana with the new Ehrlund Acoustic Pickup which uses microphone technology in a feedback resistant package. It sounds almost as good as an expensive mic, but won't pickup bleed from other instruments or feedback as easily as a mic. I also have a K&k bassmax for when it gets really loud! I amplify the above with either my Aguilar Tonehammer or Euphonic Audio Iamp500 run through the amazing Audiokinesis Thunderchild115.
