Chris Huffmann of Casting Crowns

dogbluedrummer · #1 07-07-2009, 07:52 PM

Hey everyone, I sent an email to Chris Huffmann, the bass player for Casting Crowns, asking about his rig. Here is his reply.

Chris Huffmann,
Thanks so much for your e-mail. I hope you had a great time of worship in Johnson City. I know that we sure enjoyed accompanying your voices and also hanging out afterward. I'm always glad to share some specs on my bass. The bass you saw in Johnson City is a Warrior Signature Series 5 string. I did try out flatwound strings for a while and they sounded great, but they felt weird so I went back to round wounds. It's got an 18 volt pickup setup with 2 Bartolini pickups, 1 soapbar and 1 jazz. It has a 24 fret neck made of Bird's Eye Maple with pearl inlays at alternating frets. The body of the bass is mainly Swamp Ash, the front wings above and below the strings as well as the headstock are made of spalted Maple and the stripe in the center is Warrior's signature Purple Heart wood. This my favorite bass and I'm so thankful to have it. Never did I ever even dream of owning a Warrior bass, but God has blessed me to be able to get one and also support the ministry of Warrior Instruments. They're a christian guitar company and I really love the message they send with the "ministry tools" they make. Check them out at www.warriorinstruments.com I'm not a featured artist on the website, but I definitely endorse them to any musician!! Sorry I've rambled too long about gear. Thanks for the love and thanks for playing our songs! That means more to us than anything, and the bassists who play them have a special place in my heart as well. I apologize, but I don't have a lead sheet or anything like that. You hit the nail on the head about playing by ear. I'm trying to learn how I can maybe teach how to play some of the bass riffs I play. They're not as hard as they may sound. I'm thinking about maybe getting a video blog going for bass players who want to learn the riffs or maybe even just a blog to get more bass players talking shop about bass. I'm not sure what would work best, but I'm still brainstorming. Let me know if you have any ideas, I'm always open for input. Thanks for listening to Casting Crowns music and thank you for your encouragement, it means so much more than you could know. God bless<><
Romans 15:4

In Christ,
Chris

mrufino1 · #2 07-14-2009, 08:08 PM

Cool! I just got booked today to open for them (playing for Koo Chung and Jinny Kim) at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC, I am very excited. Hopefully we will get a chance to meet them.

Rattman · #3 07-14-2009, 10:03 PM

Yeah.... I know this guy's work... He has some very nice chops indeed. If I'm not mistaken, Casting Crowns has released only 3 CD's to date. The 2nd one is my favorite, and from that CD: "Father Spirit Jesus" his playing really jumps out of the mix... just the way I like it.

rodneyat · #4 07-14-2009, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rattman

Yeah.... I know this guy's work... He has some very nice chops indeed. If I'm not mistaken, Casting Crowns has released only 3 CD's to date. The 2nd one is my favorite, and from that CD: "Father Spirit Jesus" his playing really jumps out of the mix... just the way I like it.

No offense to Chris from Casting Crowns, whatsoever. But, on their last few albums. There is a high probability that songs that you heard that had great chops. Were most likely played by Adam Nitti. You will see him credited on the CD's . Chris is still a solid player but they decided to use Adam on a some of the tracks.

PDavyduck · #5 07-14-2009, 10:14 PM

cool. can't wait to hear the guys at Creation NW in a couple weeks... will definitely try to get me an eyefull of that Warrior

Rattman · #6 07-15-2009, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodneyat

No offense to Chris from Casting Crowns, whatsoever. But, on their last few albums. There is a high probability that songs that you heard that had great chops. Were most likely played by Adam Nitti. You will see him credited on the CD's . Chris is still a solid player but they decided to use Adam on a some of the tracks.

Oh... Sounds like I was a little too quick with my praise for Chris then. I'll need to recoup, then once again handle those CD's and make up for my sloppy mental note-taking... so this one's 'on hold' until I verify whom was playing on which songs on the for-mentioned "two CD's" I've listened to released by Casting Crowns..Thanks Rodney...

capnsandwich · #7 07-15-2009, 01:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodneyat

No offense to Chris from Casting Crowns, whatsoever. But, on their last few albums. There is a high probability that songs that you heard that had great chops. Were most likely played by Adam Nitti. You will see him credited on the CD's . Chris is still a solid player but they decided to use Adam on a some of the tracks.

Yep, Adam Nitti is on those CD's, as well as Steven Curtis Chapman's stuff too. He's also an endorser of Warrior basses, seeing that he has his own Warrior Adam Nitti Signature Model. Adam does a lot of Nashville's contemporary Christian session work.

Back on topic, it's always cool to get responses to emails. That guy seems like he has his heart in the right place and sounds quite humble and eager to help his fans. It's nice to know that not everyone has their egos out in front.

Infernal Affair · #8 07-15-2009, 02:56 PM

Sounds like a very cool guy. Funny story about Casting Crowns. I had to learn "Who am I" awhile back just going off the lead sheets, and I played it several times before actually hearing the original recording. It surprised me a lot how much faster we played it and how different our version was!

mrufino1 · #9 08-02-2009, 01:45 PM

Well, the gig was last night and I did not get to meet him, although I had a nice conversation with their drummer. I know that they had an overnight drive from New Hampshire, so I assume he was relaxing somewhere other than the venue because they were not occupying any of the dressing roooms. However, something happened to his warrior a few songs into the set and he switched to a stingray 5. Just sayin, suddenly the bass sat nicely in the mix, before it was not really that audible. Maybe there was some issue with the warrior that was causing it not to sit in the mix last night? I don't know. Casting Crowns was very good though, very inspiring set. I don't have any of their recordings, I may have to get some. The bassist from the band "Unspoken" was also quite good, we had a little time to talk, he played very aggressively and funky, on what looked to be a j-bass deluxe. Anyway, the show was a lot of fun, very enthusiastic crowd, which is a cool thing for NYC.

MikeBass · #10 08-02-2009, 01:50 PM

Love Casting Crowns.
Great band.

PDavyduck · #11 08-02-2009, 09:16 PM

They played a great set down @ Creation Northwest and the Warrior looked/sounded great. unfortunately didn't get a chance to bump into them in the catering tent but they are coming to Langley next month... so hopefully I'll get to check them out again.

mrufino1 · #12 08-03-2009, 09:49 PM

I hope my stingray comment was construed as the joke that I intended, don't want to be misunderstood. Casting Crowns was really good that night and it was a fun show to be a part of.

PDavyduck · #13 08-03-2009, 10:17 PM

sorry man, I honestly didn't read all the way through your post so mine was definitely not a poke back at yours. he played his SR5 for a bit of the set out at the Gorge as well and as for the catering tent thing, I was honestly trying to bump into him there as i wanted to say hi and chat if he had time but i failed to do so

did get a chance to talk with the bassist from Family Force 5 though, very nice guy and super fun band to watch, as well as Israel Houghton's rhythm section (AMAZING!!!!)

burk48237 · #14 08-04-2009, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnsandwich

Yep, Adam Nitti is on those CD's, as well as Steven Curtis Chapman's stuff too. He's also an endorser of Warrior basses, seeing that he has his own Warrior Adam Nitti Signature Model. Adam does a lot of Nashville's contemporary Christian session work.

Back on topic, it's always cool to get responses to emails. That guy seems like he has his heart in the right place and sounds quite humble and eager to help his fans. It's nice to know that not everyone has their egos out in front.

I met Adam Nitti and Namm and while he still plays his Warrior he said he is no longer an endorser. Evidently they kept changing his "signiture" model.

Tmoney865 · #15 01-22-2011, 12:31 AM

I met Adam about the time I got exposed to Warrior and JD back in 1988/89 after I was fired from the Christian band Sacred Fire (Right after Singer Jimi Bennett). Jimi Introduced me to both JD and Adam. Adam was 16, and was a blistering head cutting player. Made me want to give up, but we became friends, not real close though.

He worked hard, got some good breaks, studdied with Russ Rodgers (awesome jazz player) endured 1 year at Ga State School of Music (I endured 2 years myself before joining Sacred Fire). His talent is a force of Nature.

I think the world of the man, still to this day.

I got a Warrior for a guy out of Pawn and found out what JD was made of. Unprofessional, non-communicative, and arrogant.

I got rid of the Instrument (a Studio 5, QM BirdsEye Neck and Board, Neck Through) which others I played with loved and I enjoyed as then the best Bass I ever owned and one of the Best I ever played (having Exposure to Fodera and some home built by one Gaddis Tippet of Down East NC, all very enjoyable).

I got rid of it becasue I knew I could not replace it if anything ever happened to it.

Learning from Adam when I last saw him in 2005 (and he let me play his individual Bass) I decided that Barts and Bolt on was what I wanted, as I get rather percussive.

I found what I wanted in Ibanez BTBs. I have 4 of them, a 6 and 5 with Barts, a 6 Fretless with Ibanez pups, and a 5 with Ibanez pups.

I had them set up by Rick Asher of Rick's Music in Knoxville. 2mm at the 12th on the Low B, and 1 mm or less on the Highest strings.

I bring this up because Rick's work was so much better than JD's operation (Warrior). These midline basses play even more fluidly than the Warrior and the sound is at least as good, infact I like the VariMid3 EQ, not too bright and easy to get what I want.

Price and JD is what killed the experience for me. Rick Asher changed my world and it ROCKS!

Shame Ibanez changed eq's and is neck through now.

I would never play another Warrior. I would never want anyone thinking that they were dealing with a professional much less a Chrisitian when seeing me play one.

Looking at the GAS horizion I see Status Basses (England), BassLab's Doubleneck (Germany), and David King (Seattle). Nothing else draws my attention for look and specs thesedays, but the Rick Asher set up will be the thing that each instrument must be able to hold to be in my inventory.

If you want a peice of Art with no resale value, this will make you happy. It will not play its best out of the factory, you have to see Rick in Knoxville for that.

Peace, Blessings, and Bass

Richland123 · #16 01-22-2011, 10:34 AM

Sounds like a top notch, classy guy.

I was just listening to some Casting Crowns tunes yesterday. Great band!