My choice of focusing on the acoustic bass rather than the electric bass is a very simple one: I enjoy the acoustic sound over the electric sound for this musical purpose! If I’m playing popular music with a drummer, guitar, keyboard and vocal then I’m most definitely using my electric bass since that’s the sound I want for that particular setting, but when looking to what sound I want and what style of playing I’m interested in, the acoustic bass is my first choice. Some things are better with acoustic and some things are worse. For instance sound is something that I find better. I also have the possibility of using the body of the instrument to play percussive techniques and I find that I play in a different, more personal, way with the acoustic bass. The not so nice things are the physical aspects. Every time I switch and play on an electric bass I realize I can play a lot faster on electric and have a much more relaxed playing position.
My acoustic bass is quite big so my right shoulder and wrist get angled in a way that’s not really comfortable for longer periods of time. Since I’m always sitting down while playing I’m also moving a lot, like crossing my legs, trying to avoid getting stuck in these uncomfortable positions. I’ve had some problems with my right shoulder over the years that can be traced back to practicing long hours without breaks and also practicing with some tension and this is something I try to avoid by taking short breaks, relaxing and breathing while playing and also by working out and strengthening my body.
The bass I used for the most part for this project is a Tacoma CB10 Thunderchief with GHS Pressurewound string (see Slides for more on why).
When traveling to learn I have used a bass called Escape MK II from Traveler Guitars.
At the moment I’m proud to say that I am mainly using Furch basses and Elixir strings!
