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Here follows a breakdown of the equipment that I use. It's taken years of refining, but I think I've now got an arsenal that will cover pretty much any bass playing gig (and a whole host of others too)!
TUBA (5) DOUBLE BASS (3) BASS GUITAR (5) GUITAR (7) OTHER STRINGS (17) MANDOLIN & BANJO (5)
ACCORDION/KEYS (5) OTHER BRASS (4) WINDS (7) PA STRANGE (8)
General info.
I use SD system mikes on all my tubas and sousaphones, when required. I prefer K & M stands and use the Yamaha Silent Brass system for practising.
Yamaha EEb Tuba
This is my main instrument. It has a large range and is capable of playing the most complicated concertos and also bass-lines. It is a top-line professional instrument. It has a 4 valve compensating system which means it plays pretty much in tune in all registers. I've got an SD clip-mike system for it which reproduces the sound very well.
Click
here to visit Yamaha's website: 
Miraphone EEb 'Starlight' Tuba
A recent addition to my tuba arsenal. It has 5 rotary valves and, although it is a 4/4 tuba, a small focused sound (38cm bell) suitable for solo stuff as well as earlier orchestral music. It sounds like a small F tuba (but a bit longer). I have had the valve springs adjusted with a very fast return so it's great for playing fast jazz etc.
Click
here to visit Miraphones's website:
Cerveny Bb Kaiser Tuba
This is one of the biggest orchestral "Kaiser" tubas in production. Needless to say it has a massive bass which will shake the foundations of an ensemble. It has a very, very large bore - but also a big bell flare. Due to it's vast size it's not so nimble as the EEb, but for pure bass work it's hard to beat.
Click
here to visit Cerveny's website:
King Fibreglass Sousaphone
Pretty good for all those marching and mobile gigs. Sometimes I will play my uncles York metal sousa.
Helicon from the former Soviet Union
Great for Balkan music etc. It's got a nice punchy sound.
General info.
I play all my uprights through my Gallien Krueger MB 150E 1X12 combo. I often put them through a Fishman bass preamp, particularly the Fishman full-circle pick-up. On larger stages I may use my Alembic F-1X.
Clevinger Opus 5 String
This really is one of my favorite instruments. For nearly every stage double bass application where any significant level of volume is required the Clevinger is your man. It has a wonderful woody sound and it is also possible to play with a bow (although jazz pizz and classical arco in one piece often requires a volume change.) I've played nearly every style on this bass, from really funky stuff to classical. It handles really like a "real" acoustic bass and the long double bass scale means the low B string sounds fantastic. I have an original Clevinger Holosonic pick-up on it, but I also have an RMC pick-up that has a slightly more electric sound.
Click
here to visit Clevinger's website:
Hofner Rockabilly
Click on picture to see enlargement
An original from the late 50s or early 60s. This bass sounds great for slap and also when played acoustic. It has a full bass with loads of punch. For bluegrass it's an absolute killer. It's not a bad Jazz bass too - it has a slim neck and so it is very nimble. I have a Fishman full-circle on it now (not the Fishman BP100 shown in the picture) which I use for most applications.
Elysia Classical
I'm using this bass for orchestral and Kklezmer stuff at the moment. It has a spruce top and maple back (highly flamed) and sides. It's got a great bowed tone, which is nice and loud. I've got a fishman pick-up on it and also an adjustable bridge.
Double Bass Flight Case
With this, I can fly with my basses!
Height
204cm
Width 75cm
Depth 55cm
General info.
I have a flight case for my bass guitars (weight 10kg, Size L/W/H 1185 x 360 x 75 mm). At the moment I use an Ashdown 2X10 combo for larger gigs and a smaller Gallien Krueger MB 150E 1X12 combo. In the studio I use either the Line 6 Bass Pod Pro or the Alembic F-1X. I use the following string gauges 025-045-065-085-105-135 and prefer Warwick Black Label strings. I also have an SWR stack with bass monitor wedge.
Warwick Streamer Stage 1 5 String
This is my main bass. It has a neck through body construction and has a warm sound. It is a good all-round bass, but it is particularly good for funk and pop.
This instrument weighs 4.8kg
Click
here to visit Warwick's website:
Warwick Streamer Stage 1 6 String fretless
I chose this bass over many other fretless basses for it's sustain and punch. It has the ability to play in a very lyrical, soloistic manner - but also holds a firm bass-line.
This instrument weighs 5.2kg.
Click
here to visit Warwick's website:
Musicman Stingray 5 String
This bass fits into any style of music and has a real pumping sound. It still has lots of Fender flavour but with the added active electronic juice. The low B is very playable, so much so that I have a trigger lowering it to a low Bb.
This instrument weighs 4.5kg.
Click
here to visit MusicMan's website:
Fender USA standard Jazz Bass
At least every bass player should have one! My first bass was a Fender Jazz and the sound is an absolute classic. I've got vintage pick-ups which guarantee the typical Fender sound.
Click
here to visit Fender's website:
Hofner 1960s Electric Bass
I didn't buy this bass to play (which is good because the electronics need a serious looking at!) I think it wouldn't sound bad if it did work though. It's got that seriously retro look - it's even plastic coated (great if it rains on stage!) One of these days I'm going to get it working ...
Fender FM63 "F" Style Mandolin
Better picture to come soon!
This is my main mandolin and has a Fishman M100 pick-up installed, together with a Fishman 'powerjack' onboard preamp.
Fender Electric Mandolin
It really looks like a little telecaster! Plugged into an FX unit this mandolin can sound like a bowl-back, a blue-grass picker or Van-Halen full of helium!
Bowl-back Mandolin
Waiting ready for a performance of the Vivaldi or Hummel mandolin concertos ... at the moment I normally string it with steel strings and use it mostly acoustic at medieval banquets. It has a nice crisp sound which projects well. The slightly shorter scale makes it nimble. I have a fishman violin pick-up fitted in the bridge.
Clifford Essex circa 1920s Paragon Model 5 String Banjo
Hear
this instrument in action: Ground
Speed 
The heart of any bluegrass band is the 5 string banjo and this is the style I play most on it. It is not uncommon in Gaelic folk music. It is very loud (due to the metal finger picks) and I've got an old Ludwig resonator on the back which projects the sound. It could be as old as 90 years old, due to the Clifford Essex model name. I use a Schatten transducer pickup.
Gibson mastertone-style Karsten Schnoor Tenor Banjo
This banjo is mostly used in Dixieland and trad. jazz music. Actually constructed by Karsten Schnoor (Germany) this banjo uses Gibson parts and is extremely well made. It has beautiful mother of pearl inlays (different on every fret) and exquisite carvings on the back of the neck. This banjo has to be heard to be believed. I've played this banjo with drum kit, electric bass and four horns and I was still cutting through loud and clear!
General info.
I play all my acoustic guitars through an AER Compact 60. I'm a big fan of Fishman pickups.
I use Dunlop picks (a 1.14mm for Electric guitar, picking acoustic, mandolin and bousouki and 0.6mm for strumming acoustic and tenor banjo)
Godin Multiac Classical Guitar
I really had quite a tough time trying to find a nylon guitar which could be handled on a loud stage and still sound great with no feedback. The Godin is perfect and has the feel of a real classical guitar. It also has MIDI capabilities, which can add some interesting colours although I don't currently have a MIDI converter.
Click
here to visit Godin's website
Hanika Classical Guitar
Hear
this instrument in action! Anitra's
Dance
(From the 1999 Album 'Christmas Loot
Music')
Most people associate classical guitars with Spain, but some of the best have come out of Germany (eg Hauser). This is my main classical guitar and it is practically a piano in terms of volume and pure clarity of sound. There is no pick-up in it - but with such a beautiful instrument I think it would be a crime to build one in.
Click
here to visit Hanika's website
Yahama electro-acoustic steel string
pic to come soon
A great sound and perfect for pubs and parties.
It has a nice blender system on it.
Click
here to visit Yamaha's website:
Fender Stratocaster
Really needs no introduction ... it is the standard electric guitar. Mine is one of the very early Japanese strats that were really well made. For my taste it plays better than most of the American strats I've played - it's got a real bite.
Hear
this instrument in action! Hold me
(whole song)
Click
here to visit Fender's website:
Gibson Les Paul Deluxe
Actually, this ones my dad's - but I'm sure he'd let me borrow it! The deluxe version of the Les Paul has the little pick-ups in the humbucker combination. A very different sound to the strat, depends what you're into.
Click
here to visit Gibson's website:
Eko 12 String Guitar
This one is also my dad's. Quite a handful to play - but it is very loud and has a big bass.
1/2 size pro-arte classical guitar
Actually this is a child's guitar - but it just looks so cute. It doesn't sound like much either as the scale length is so short (even with the right strings.) It's not a bad alternative when space is short and for (very) little kids.
Alhambra Bandurria
This instrument are is a Spanish folk instrument and has a rather bizarre tuning. The highest string is an A and the others extend down in perfect fourths. The little bandurria has a sound not unlike a mandolin and is the smaller more modern version of the laud (pronounced LA UD) like a 12 string guitar without the "chorus." The tunings are variable and I often tune them to either Oud tuning (1 tone lower) or adjust the lower strings to requinto tuning (like a guitar a fourth higher.)
Click
here to visit Alhambra's website:
Hear
this instrument in action! Late
one night (instrumental)
(whole song)
Turkish Oud
The oud (pronounced Ud) originates from the Arabic world (although this is a Turkish example - with a slightly shorter neck) and is the forerunner to the lute. The highest string (of 11 - 5 courses and a single bass string) is a concert D and the others extend down in perfect fourths. The music however is mostly written a perfect fourth higher (as a transposing instrument. One picks the instrument with a long, fairly soft plectrum called a merzrap. You hear the oud mostly in music of the Islamic world.
Click
here to visit David Parfitt's excellent Oud website:
Columbian Tipple
This tipple (pronounced Tip-ley) comes from Columbia and is typical in more traditional Salsa and other Latin American music. It's traditional role is to play the tumbao, echoing what the piano plays. It is tuned like the highest four strings of a guitar and they are grouped into triple courses, with the lower three divided at the octave. The tipple has an almost identical sound to the tres, which performs the same role. Although rarely heard outside of S. America I think the tipple has a lot of other possibilities. I've got a pick-up custom built into this one.
I can't find much information about this instrument on the 'net, so I hope to add more here in due course.
Hear
this instruments in action! Late
one night (instrumental)
(whole song)
Bolivian Charango
This little guy used to be running around Bolivia before he made the ultimate sacrifice and became a guitar - not a bad choice. This instrument defies it's size because it's very loud and sounds great with fast strumming. You often see guys in pan-pipe bands playing charrango. The tuning is so illogical (as are the chord shapes) that it's not worth talking about! Oh, and it's the only instrument I have with ears!
Here is
a link to a site that gives more information about this most curious of
instruments!
Columbian Cuatro
Used in S. American folk music, the cuatro (literally meaning "4" in Spanish) has been used in quite a few other more modern situations. Essentially it is a baritone ukulele, with a slightly different octave division. The strumming technique is more akin to Flamenco technique but I have seen some people use a plectrum.
Irish Bousouki
Not to be confused with the Greek bousouki (although they are related.) The Irish bousouki is essentially a longer necked octave mandolin (sounding one octave lower.) There are two types of stringing - one with the double courses in unison and one with the lower two in octaves. It is used in Irish music as a chordal instrument and it has more "body" than an acoustic guitar. The neck is a bit too long to make single lines, jigs and reels comfortable. I've got a pick-up in it.
Indian Sitar
The sitar doesn't need much introduction. Due to the fact that most of the teaching is passed down through generations and the few tutor books that are out there are either rubbish or hippy, drug induced efforts that are also rubbish. Whether you tune the sitar or not it still sounds pretty much the same. But, I've got one and it still looks rather pretty (although it has a faint vindaloo smell.)
Turkish Baglama Saz
Better picture to follow!
A type of Turkish, long-necked lute. Very popular instrument in Turkey. This one has a pick-up in it and some nice inlays.
Hear
this instrument in action! Late
one night (instrumental)
(whole song)
Turkish Cura Saz
Almost exclusively a folk instrument nearly everybody in Turkey can play something on the saz. I've got long cogur (highest string D) and small cura (tuned one octave higher) sazes. The long-necked instrument is popular with Asik singer-poets coming from the East of Turkey. The Cura is a novelty, although it is found in Saz orchestras.
East German Lute guitar
I found this one in Berlin a few years ago. It looks quite rare, but it in fact isn't - they are quite common. It does have a rather nice carving on the head of a well ... head. It sounds not unlike a lute, but with the benefit of guitar tuning. I normally tune the four bass strings to D, C, B (or Bb) and A.
1960s Guyatone Hawaiian Lap Steel
Made in rather un-Hawaiian Japan, Guyatone steel guitars are quite sought after. This is a great sounding example and although for me, it's a bit of a poor man's pedal steel, it certainly sounds great.
Ovation and Bruko Ukuleles
Trying to keep the spirit of Georg Formby alive ... both instruments sound good. The ovation has a passive pick-up in it.
German Cistar
A seriously curious little thing. It should be tuned like a guitar, but I've had all kinds of tunings on it. The instrument originates in Germany, where it is designed to accompany mandolins or as a guitarists alternative. I have yet to find a good application for it - but it is certainly novel to play. Kind like a light mandolin or long scale bandurria.
I also installed an Artec pickup system on it with a mike/piezo blender system. It sounds pretty good.
Ukrainian Bass Dombra
The dombra was a fore-runner to the Balalaika and sounds pretty much the same, only it is round not triangular and has four strings, not 3. I found this one in London on the 'net described as a "bass banjo, mandolin type thing" - needless to say I ordered it on the spot! They are something of a novelty, even in the Ukraine (where the bass balalaika is still more common). It is tunes like an electric bass (and is strung with e.bass strings until I find a better solution.) The 14 fret fretboard is beautifully scalloped and it has a little end-pin to rest on a chest to boost the bass and volume (the instrument is pretty quiet.) I've tried it with a fishman pick-up and it sounds 1/2 way between a double bass and a bass guitar, it probably wants a bass guitar pickup on it.
Check out the website of the Balalaika and Domra Association
of America
Russian Balalaika
A fairly new acquisition - I thought it might be fun to learn to play.
Check out the website of the Balalaika and Domra Association
of America
General info.
I have a full keyboard set up and am comforable with split keyboard set-ups etc. I tend to use a volume pedal on the upper keyboard and mix the 2 with a little Behringer mixer.
Fantini studio accordion
A wonderful instrument with a very fast keyboard with nice Mussette and Bandonion sounds. It has Sennheiser mikes built in, which sound pretty good. I bought the instrument from Allodi accordions.
Keyboards
I use a Kawai ES1 as my stage piano and a Korg X5D as the upper synth. I also have a Roland JV2080 with loads of expansion boards, should the need arise.
Werril Trombone
Hear
this instrument in action! Baby, give me your
number 
(whole
song)
I traded my Bach 42 and my Yamaha bass trombone for this one ... and I really think it was worth it. It really has a nice feel to it and it retains the large bore full sound of the Bach 42. It has an open wrap design which means the plug blends in with the slide notes much better.
Yahama Baritone
This is my brothers, but I'm sure he'd let me borrow it
Click
here to visit Yamaha's website:
Yahama Trumpet
Hear
this instrument in action! Baby, give me your
number
(whole
song)
I'm more of a low brass man myself, but there are occasions when I have played quite a bit of trumpet (like when I was teaching.) So, I hold on to mine should the need arise.
Click
here to visit Yamaha's website:
Jupiter Slide Trumpet
or soprano trombone ... call it what you will, it's anyway very difficult to play! The slide positions don't correlate to the bell the same as the tenor trombone, so it can get quite confusing (4th position is at the bell - not 3rd!) Anyway it sounds like a trumpet with a slide, which can be novel.
Army Pattern Highland Pipes
Better picture to come ...
I've been getting into piping a lot more recently. I've got a really decent set complete with gore-tex bag, tone-enhancing drone regulators, little-mac valve and plastic steady tuning drone reeds. I can play anything you want so long as it's Scotland the Brave and bloody loud.
Yamaha Flute
Originally belonging to my sister - I can play it ... to a certain extent!
Click
here to visit Yamaha's website:
Vito Clarinet
I'm not much of a player, but I can play a little.
Recorders and Irish Whistles
I've got a whole set of recorders, including a Yamaha bass and right up to sopranino. I've also got Flageolets in most keys. I have a particularly nice one by Susato in D ... oh and a fife - but who the hell needs one of them!
Check out the Irish whistle in action Hiding
in my heart
(whole song)
Indian Flute
In the key of C, this Indian Flute has a nice ethnic sound to it.
Harmonicas
I have a Larry Adler signature, chromatic harp and a plethora of Little Lady mini-harmonicas - tricky to play but fun!
Digeridoo
i
Last but not least - the one that everyone asks me how to play. This is a real termite bored Aussie didge. It sounds like a ship horn - it is soooo resonant. I can do the whole circular breathing thing and some of the vocalisation effects so as long as it's in Db I'm ready to drone along!
Do you
want to know how to circular breathe?! Click here to find out:
I currently have a fairly large PA including:
16 channel (16 mike inputs) Alesis Mixer
1200 watt Peavey amp
Alesis Quadraverb and stereo graphic EQ
2 X C-Audio amps for running up to 8 monitors (4 ways possible)
all of the above is in a flightcase with wheels
2 X JBL EON 15 passive PA cabinets
2 X JBL 10 active PA speakers (for use as small PA or monitors)
A compete lighting system with 8 PAR lights and a lighting computer
A whole host of stands, mikes, DIs and leads
I also have a small PA system and a battery powered mobile system (Fender P10)
General info.
Some of these instruments were made and designed by myself.
Stephen the Sheep
Stephen is a fully playable singing sheep. Click on the picture to see him in action.
Dogphonium
Click on the picture to see Dogphonium in action! (Windows Media)
Perhaps the most bizarre instrument (maybe ever!) This is a fully playable Basset Hound. This musical dog based around a small Euphonium (a type of large trumpet), his mouth opens and his eyes move. The mouth piece is underneath his tail! There is a trigger to make him urinate!
An idea now adopted and copied by one of my former bandmates Ian Durrant of The London Philharmonic Skiffle Orchestra - for the record, I invented it!
Musical Saw
Hear
this instrument in action! Santa Lucia
Everybody seems to love the musical saw - click on the picture to see a short clip of me playing it.
Would you like to buy one? Visit my links page and check out Lark in the Morning.
Musical Bells
I have a complete chromatic set (19 in total) of these fine musical bells. They work as hand bells or by pressing the top of them.
Click on the picture to see them in concert.
Washboard
Putting on the agony or putting on the style? Either way, this fine American-made washboard works well and is also perfect for scrubbing your undies at a gig.
Barry the Hedgehog
It's a siren inside a hedgehog. A match made in heaven.
ACME Swanee Whistle
The classic slide whistle.
Finger Whistle Gloves
Picture to follow!
Spanning nearly over an octave these gloves are bound to keep you amused on a cold day!
Want to find out even more about these instruments? Try the various search engines, or E-mail me at my main page.
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