On the Left is my main bass, A Manson . This Bass has been used more than any other Bass I have owned. It was built by Hugh Manson, of Manson's Guitars Exeter, England.  Hugh is John Paul Jones's (ex Led Zeppelin) Bass tech and a master Guitar builder. If you ever visit Exeter, spend some time in Hugh's shop, it's well worth the visit. Hugh's Brother Andy Manson also builds Guitars.

The body of the Manson is made from South American Swamp Ash, with a book matched Walnut top. The through neck has an Ebony finger board and is inlaid with Mother of Pearl Bass Clefs as position markers. It has EMG pickups, along with a EMG-EXB tone expander added to the circuitry. It is equipped with Schaller bridge and tuners . I asked Hugh to build me a Bass that would sing, and he did . This Bass is just a joy to play. I use Manson's own brand of strings, Bass Masters 45 - 105's.

I also have a Takamine EG512C Acoustic-Electric Bass. This super jumbo produces a lot of volume with super clarity and a tightly focused sound. I have performed many duo gigs with this Bass along with an acoustic guitarist. A real nice Bass I purchased for its natural warm sound, which in part comes from it's Maple neck and Rosewood fingerboard. The top is Spruce, the body Mahogany. It is equipped with a  Piezo pick up, and TK-4NB preamp. I have it strung with Phosphor Bronze strings, Gauges 40-100's. This a lovely bass to play, and also just about loud enough to play along with an Acoustic guitar without being plugged in.

I have just picked up fretless bass again. I've not played one of these for a long time, so some practice is probably in order. A fretless give you so much choice of expression, so it can be a great instrument to play solo or with the band. This is the Stagg Fusion Fretless sunburst, and a real joy it is to play too. With it's 2 octave neck and choice of P-bass or J-Bass pick ups has some wonderful sounds in it's palette. Also in my arsenal I have a Takamine 6 string acoustic Guitar, and an unknown Les Paul copy, both of which are used for recording only.         

I always plug my Basses via Proel Die-Hard cables, and then into a SansAmp Bass driver DI whatever I am doing. This little device is just an amazing piece of kit. No matter what other amplification I use, this thing just makes it sound better. It will add extra warmth and even valve style overdrive if that's required. I use it to record my Basses into my computer based studio, and I have even used it with no Bass amp plugged directly into a 10,000 watt PA !

I have used most makes of amplification over the years. Although for the last few years I have been a fan and user of Gallien Krueger, Ashdown and David Eden gear. I have recently upgraded my Bass rig to a Hartke rig. This consists of a 500 watt amp head and and a 4 x 10 XL cab. With the option to use a 1 x 15 XL on larger gigs. I chose this rig due mainly to it's great sound shaping abilities. Also because it is very portable and very loud. So along with the SansAmp it gives me a great tone, easy transportation, and lots of headroom.  For Practice and acoustic gigs I use an Ashdown Perfect 10.