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Ben Kenney, the guy with a good sound

#21
GregC said:
You just like him because your name/Lakland color is on his website.:D
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I hadn't listened to Incubus in a long time, but I've been checking out clips with Ben on bass==really nice tone, IMO. And as you said, he's very talented. Heck, he played guitar with The Roots before he got the Incubus gig, they only let killer players in that band!
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Ha! Whoops...I'm busted:D No...I really do like his stuff, and his tastes in gear;)
 
#26
Again, some more sound stuff on the man of the hour. Ask Uncle Ben: Thirty five inches to freedom.

A question he answered about this bass and a little more

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Hey Ben,
I have a few questions about your bass rig with Incubus:

1) Is this Bass a custom model?

2) If it is a custom model, what’s built into it?

3) What bass effects do you use, I know you have an Octave, Chorus, and a Distortion, but what brands and models.

4) What gauge are your strings?






Thanks man!
-Ehren

That bass is a Lakland prototype. They built it with a 35″ scale and originally intended it to be strung with the lower 4 strings of a 5 string set (B,E,A,D). I tried it out because I wanted a bass with more tension on the strings for pick playing and drop-D tuning. I strung it up with flatwounds and tuned it to standard (E,A,D,G). The extra inch on the neck makes the strings considerably stiffer and it resonates like a piano. It’s very loud and very clear down to the lowest notes and has amazing definition in the lower frequencies. The pickups are passive Lindy Fralin single coil J’s. I prefer passive electronics in my basses. The strings I use are GHS Precision Flats 45-105. Lakland made 3 more of those basses and I plan on taking them on the road this summer with Incubus. Two of the new ones have Joe Barden pickups and one has the new Lakland Chi-Sonics.

The effects I use on stage are an Emma Transmorgrifier Compressor, Ibanez CS9 Chorus, Boss OC2 Octave, and a Fulltone Bass Driver. I also have a Boss TU2 tuner in front of everything.
Thanks Ehren,
-Ben
 
#29
Well, I'm sure he's played anything up to six quietly by himself, but as far as actually coming out publicly with it, is a different story. I've known a lot of people that will be a closet 5er player and then just take a 4 live for some reason. People have no doubt done weirder things haha
 
#30
slapmachine said:
Lakland made 3 more of those basses and I plan on taking them on the road this summer with Incubus. Two of the new ones have Joe Barden pickups and one has the new Lakland Chi-Sonics.
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Yep, I was at Lakland a week and a half ago and saw one of Ben's new ones with Joe Barden pups. It looks great! Here's a pic with Lakland owner John Pirricello holding it (he was actually much happier than he looks in this pic, lol).
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#31
GregC said:
Yep, I was at Lakland a week and a half ago and saw one of Ben's new ones with Joe Barden pups. It looks great! Here's a pic with Lakland owner John Pirricello holding it (he was actually much happier than he looks in this pic, lol).
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Wow man, I'm very jealous of you. I'm totally diggin the gold hardware and the clear pickguard with the mahagony body. That looks like a friggen sweet bass. What's the model of that one?
 
#32
slapmachine said:
Wow man, I'm very jealous of you. I'm totally diggin the gold hardware and the clear pickguard with the mahagony body. That looks like a friggen sweet bass. What's the model of that one?
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I'm lucky enough to live close to the shop, a friend and I were checking out their new location.:)

That bass, like a couple of Ben's other Laklands, combines the 4-94/44-02 body style with the electronics of a passive jazz bass. It's not a model they officially offer, but they've made a few in the past in addition to the ones Ben has.
 
#33
Greg, if you don't mind me calling you that, I went to a music store that was a little far out, but that was listed on the "Dealer List" for Lakland dealers. Today was my first day playing Lakland, and definitely not my last. I was just playing Skylines, but they played better than most of the bases I've encountered. I can only imagine what the U.S. Made Laklands sound like. Did you have a chance to check out the brand new Chi-Sonic pickups? I played a Skyline Hollowbody that BLEW MY MIND! Those pickups were softer and more juicy than my Jazz, and to make it even worse, it was right out of the box and it played like a dream. I'm a lifetime Lakland fan for sure now, I'm HARD Gas'n for one right now, hmmmm what can I sell? Maybe....no.....I can't......yeah, screw it, I'll sell my sister. xD
 
#35
Hey man, sure--Greg is what I go by.:) The Skyline Hollowbodies are really excellent, they're my favorite Skylines. I have one with Dark Star pickups.

I do have a Lakland JO (jazz bass) with the single-coil Chisonics that I like a lot, those pickups have been out for a couple years. Agreed, they're fatter-sounding than regular J pickups--though they still have a growl. On the Hollowbody you tried, those are humbucking Chisonics, which are crazy fat to my ears. (There's also a switch on the HB to switch to single-coil mode.)

The US models don't necessarily sound better (I have 2 US Laklands and 2 Skylines), it's more about their amazing necks and all the options you can get on one, along with a few other bells and whistles. The Skylines are really sweet basses in their own right, IMO. Hope you can get one!
slapmachine said:
Greg, if you don't mind me calling you that, I went to a music store that was a little far out, but that was listed on the "Dealer List" for Lakland dealers. Today was my first day playing Lakland, and definitely not my last. I was just playing Skylines, but they played better than most of the bases I've encountered. I can only imagine what the U.S. Made Laklands sound like. Did you have a chance to check out the brand new Chi-Sonic pickups? I played a Skyline Hollowbody that BLEW MY MIND! Those pickups were softer and more juicy than my Jazz, and to make it even worse, it was right out of the box and it played like a dream. I'm a lifetime Lakland fan for sure now, I'm HARD Gas'n for one right now, hmmmm what can I sell? Maybe....no.....I can't......yeah, screw it, I'll sell my sister. xD
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#36
J. Crawford said:
He is the reason I play bass.
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Same here ! I´ve already known Incubus when A Crow Left To The Murder came out, but I didn´t care about it so much as I do since Ben joined the band. I´ve been playing bass for 2 years, when it came out, and I was blown away by it...Ben Kenney immediately became my favourite bassist and he is still today. I love his tone, but I admire his playing, especially live, when each time he plays songs slightly different.
 
#37
GregC said:
Hey man, sure--Greg is what I go by.:) The Skyline Hollowbodies are really excellent, they're my favorite Skylines. I have one with Dark Star pickups.

I do have a Lakland JO (jazz bass) with the single-coil Chisonics that I like a lot, those pickups have been out for a couple years. Agreed, they're fatter-sounding than regular J pickups--though they still have a growl. On the Hollowbody you tried, those are humbucking Chisonics, which are crazy fat to my ears. (There's also a switch on the HB to switch to single-coil mode.)

The US models don't necessarily sound better (I have 2 US Laklands and 2 Skylines), it's more about their amazing necks and all the options you can get on one, along with a few other bells and whistles. The Skylines are really sweet basses in their own right, IMO. Hope you can get one!
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Those Chi-Sonic humbuckers on that Skyline Hollowbody produced the FATTEST sounding sound that I've personally ever heard from a bass, through this little orange pix cab and the 500w terror head I had some friggen awesome sound coming through. I can't imagine how good the necks on the U.S. models play because I was already surprised with the way the Skylines played haha.
 

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