electronics

[thombo]

hey janek,
i have some bass electronic questions for you regarding some things you have written/said about your playing philosophies and your choice of bass.
i know you stated (bassplayer tv, a bassics article, and this site) that a p-bass has the absolute best sound to your ears...
that said, do you use your fodera in active or passive mode?
if active -do you always run your eq flat (to let your hands get the sound)?
-what is the active signal doing for your tone w/ a flat eq?
if passive -do you mess with the tone knob?
-have you ever considered an anthony jackson/lincoln goines style passive bass (no tone shaping/volume knobs)?
having never spent much time playing a bass that is both active and passive, does the volume drop when switching? which way?
also, who were the cats playing with you on the bassplayer tv clinic (drums and bone)?
i know that it's a lot of questions, but i really enjoy your playing, and couldn't resist the opportunity to pick your brain. it doesn't matter how many queries you answer, or how brief your answers; it is awsome of you to entertain any questions at all!
thanking you ahead of time,
-tom

[janekbass]

Tom,

thanks for your post.

My honest answer to all gear related questions is that for the most part I have no idea at all when it comes to the bass. I'm more likely to be able to recite the new england patriots playbook from 2005 (from playing too much madden on the tour bus that year) than be able to have a discussion about passive and active electronics where you might actually learn something from me. I'm more likely to learn something from you.

I use the fodera in active mode almost always. I really don't like to have to get any other sound out of that bass than my own. So if I need a passive sound, I'll use another bass. I fun the eq flat, and haven't touched any of the other knobs since I got the bass I don't think. I suppose I could get all that stuff taken off it and use a volume pedal like anthony, but all those knobs just look cool......

I don't really notice volume drops with the bass, as I said I rarely change anything on it. I had to play through an SWR head the other day which is super hi fi sounding, so I did roll all the top end off my bass for the first time in a long time. but if there's a volume drop it doesn't take much to just crank the bass a bit more. The most I noticed it was when I was on tour with jojo Mayer's NERVE. I had so many pedals in the chain that it was hard to balance the volume level. I had to really work the volume pedal on that gig for certain fx.

The guys on the bassplayer.tv videos are my good friend Jordan Perlson on Drums, and The great Elliot Mason on Trombone. Elliot is in my current band and just played on my new album which I'm finishing up right now and hoping to release before christmas.

Easy,

Janek