Jamie, "Ok, here's a page for the 2 or 3 people in the universe who might be interested in the gear I use. I regularly hear this theory that bass players have it easy, because guitarists spend their whole lives in search of the ultimate tone and bass players just plug in and get on with it. I resent the careless and ill-founded notion that the bass just plays a supporting role and is an easy instrument to get a sound on. It is in fact one of the hardest instruments to get a great tone that cuts through the band, so that each note can be heard distinctly - yet without being obtrusive. I've spent a lot of time trying out different products, and different ways of using them and to be honest, it's a quest that will never be over. But I've reached a point where I'm very happy with my bass tone and all the gear I'm using, so I'll share with you on this page the equipment I use and maybe it might help someone somewhere."
Fret King Bass Guitars
Having just got back from a tour of Scandinavia with the Tony Martin band, Jamie found himself trying out, and falling in love with the Trev Wilkinson designed Fret-King instruments, in particular the Blue Label Series Perception and the brand new Ventura 80 bass guitars. “I only ever put my name to gear that I honestly believe in and use myself, and these are amazing - normally I use nothing but active basses, but Trev has hit exactly the right blend of traditional and modern with these designs, and with no compromise on tone or performance, at a price that is with the reach of just about anyone.”
"I wanted to find a bass that was a little more retro or classic sounding. Something passive, but with plenty of power and supreme build quality. I'm pretty picky when it comes to instruments, so it's no easy task to please me. But when I tried the Fret-Kings I was absolutely knocked out by their quality and sounds. The Perception is a slim necked easy to play traditional bass, with a split coil precision style pickup in the middle and a single coil at the bridge, and is absolutely flawless in every way. The Ventura however (pictured) is something of a different animal. It combines an EBO style pickup at the neck, with a split in the middle, a jazz single at the bridge and a strat style 5 way switch. It delivers all the vintage sounds a bass player could ever hope for and is a pleasure to play.
Rotosound - RS 66LE's
Jamie,"I've been using Rotosound strings for over 20 years. I love the tone, feel and consistency of them. Over the years I've tried everything else and I've found nothing to touch Rotosounds. The RS 66LE's give me that extra heavy, powerful bottom end, but still have plenty of bite to help my bass cut through and be heard through the massive sound of The Tony Martin Band." www.rotosound.com
Check out the endorsees section of Rotosound's website. Jamie has his own profile there.
As well as using RS 66LE's (50 - 110 gauge) on his 4 string Musicman Bongo, Jamie uses RS 665LD's (45 - 130 gauge) for 5 string bass and RS 77LE flatwound jazz bass (50 -110 gauge) on his 4 string fretless.
Whether Jamie is playing his Telecaster, Strat, PRS SE Singlecut, 335 or Hamer he uses Roto Blues (10 - 52 gauge.)
Jamie, "The thicker the string, the stronger the tone. Sure, it's harder to bend notes - push harder. My hands are tiny. If I can do it - so can you."
Hartke LH500
Jamie,"I don't want a complicated amplifier. I see amplifiers with huge amounts of EQ and boosts and shapes and this and that, and wonder what the hell it's all for. A good bass amp should sound good when it is set flat. If it doesn't, then it's a piece of crap. I also don't want an amp that has it's own sound that colours my tone too much. I want simple controls, lots of power, punch, clarity, reliability and I want it look cool. The LH500 delivers on every count, but the thing that really clinches it for me, is the note definition. No matter how loud I wind up this amp, every note is clear. You can make it rumble, but the listener can still define every note. I used my previous Hartke amp for several years on the road, and it has never let me down, not even once. It is still in perfect working order after 1000's of gigs - and that's reliability! I'm proud to be on Hartke's artist list, and over the moon to be using Hartke gear." www.samsontech.com
Hartke VXL Bass Attack Tone Shaper Pedal
Jamie, "A lot of musicians compile FAQ sections on their websites, in order to fend off lots of personal e-mails asking the same questions. My number 1 question is, "How Do You Get That Tone?" Obviously it's a combination of things. But I'd have to say that the biggest contributing factor is one of the least expensive yet well built and superbly designed feature packed items in my arsenal. The Bass attack gives me harmonic distortion, subtle as you like or down and dirty depending how you set the gain and mix knobs. This feature is turned on and off easily by a sturdy stomp switch allowing me to access my clean "amp sound." The other mighty switch on this little tone tank is a boost (attached to a tone shape knob) which I use for solos to lift me above those musicians who should shut up but never do. The pedal also featues EQ, DI out with pre/post switch making it the perfect amp in a box studio tool (and a parallel out which I use to send out to a tuner whilst recording,) and ground lift. The bass tone for the whole of "Return To Bass" is just this pedal - into a simple soundcard."
Ernie Ball Musicman Bongo 4 String Bass (H/H)
Jamie, "The Bongo has it all. It's built like a tank, has a slim, fast neck, isn't ultra heavy yet has a massive sound, has 18 volt active circuitry, a very high output, and is capable of many different sounds via the 4 EQ controls. The Bongo is available with a couple of pickup configurations, but I chose the double humbucker version - which works for me just great. I use it for everything, fingerstyle, slapping, tapping or playing with a pick - for Jazz, blues, funk, soul, pop, rock, metal and every other conceivable style of music - this is the best bass you could ever own. All I need now is another one."
Danelectro Cool Cat Pedals
"I'm not trying to fool anyone here. I do use a lot of pedals, by a lot of different manufacturers. I'd be happy to endorse a number of them. But there's a reason I've put my name to the Danelectro Cool Cats. When I first saw the price I presumed they would be low quality, and made of cheap plastic. I couldn't have been more wrong! The tone of each pedal is exquisite, and the build quality is exceptional. These pedals are pro quality and sit comfortably on my board alongside pedals which are 5 times the price. I was looking for a better bass chorus pedal. I've owned many and never been happy, so I set out to try all the ones made for bass. Didn't like any of them much. So I started looking at guitar pedals and thought it couldn't do any harm to try this retro looking blue thing with knobs cunningly protected at the back of it. I thought the sound of it was stunning and so now it's on my board and gets used very frequently. I'm currently also using a Cool Cat Fuzz and a Danelectro Free Speech in the studio."
"The Mothership" Pedalboard
Jamie, "I've always been very interested in bass effects pedals. I've often suffered a wave of resistance from other band members who have this ridiculous mind-set that bass players shouldn't use pedals. I've always found this lack of imagination very irritating, because many of the most classic recorded bass lines have effects on them. Just because I have them on the floor does not mean that I am going to be playing with them all the time, but it does mean that they are there if I need them. Bass players like Bootsy Collins, Doug Wimbish and TM Stevens are great ambassadors for bass players using effects, and I say if it's good enough for Bootsy, then it's good enough for me."
Onboard the Mothership, Jamie is currently using:- Bootsy Collins Bootzilla signature Wah pedal by Snarling Dogs, Hartke Bass Attack, Boss BF3 Flanger, MXR Phase 90, Electro Harmonix Bass Micro Synth, MXR Carbon Copy Analogue Delay, Digitech Whammy, Danelectro Cool Cat Chorus, Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz, Danelectro Free Speech and Electro Harmonix BassBalls Nano.
