I love this guy! He showed me that their is still so much to learn on the 4 string bass! I read the Jeff Berlin thread at work today (it was a slow business day) and that lead me to finding youtube clips on him which lead me to google him and I found a nice interview on him!
I'm curious to try his signature bass, I know a Dean dealer across town. I also want to order his solo albums. I've been looking for new inspiration and I found it! Thanks Talk Bass!
How does your commitment to the 4-string affect your feelings about the 5 and 6? If I were involved in full-time studio work--where you're hired to do a job--I would own a fretless and a 5, but probably not a 6. I have a problem with the thin, non-bass-like sound of the notes on the top end of a 6-string. As for my own music, the 4 is where I came from, and I'm satisfied with its three-octave range.
During my brief time with Frank Zappa, he handed me a complicated piece of music called "Pedro's Dowery," written in treble clef. I took it home and transposed it onto my bass, and when we rehearsed, Frank discovered he'd given me the guitar part by mistake. He loved the way it sounded, though, and he told me to keep playing it. So, I've had both the want and the need to go lower and higher?but it's those same limitations that have often inspired me to find something new on my instrument. If the 4-string is eventually replaced by the 5 or the 6, though, that's fine; evolution and change are important in music.
Here's the full interview:
http://www.bassplayer.com/article/je...in/jan-98/5930 http://www.youtube.com/v/oidnnzCXCMg http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x1x2tz
Thanks to TalkBass, I've learned about Jeff Berlin! 
