Ed Friedland - Equipment

Instruments

Lakland Skyline 55-01

A new family member. I have to admit that 35" scale does have it's benefits, though I'm still adjusting to that angry inch!, This bass is worth it though, I really like it's organic quality. The swamp ash is beautiful and light, and very resonant. The neck is chunky, like beef stew. I upgraded the Barto MK1preamp to the Lakland, and it's better...but the MK1 wasn't as far off as I would have thought. I could have easily kept it in there. This bass is on the money, a real every day axe - meaning - I play it everyday!

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Carvin BB75P Fretless

Beautiful swamp ash body with H50 stack humbuckers. This bass has the perfect balance of punch and sustain. It sings, and growls and has a very nice B string.

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Lakland Skyline Jerry Scheff

I absolutely love this bass! It's become the most played bass in my collection. It has so many incredible sounds, I use it for everything. I have some flats on it, and it kicks butt for blues, r&b, and country (Tic/Tac fer days!), but the bridge pickup has so much punch and bite, I use it for Jaco-ish soloing, and it even slaps like a mofo. My compliments to the Scheff! The sample is a little bit of Big In Vegas, the Scheff does double duty on low bass and tic/tac.

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Carvin LB75

This is my Piccolo Bass. I have it tuned up an octave with 80/60/40/30/18p gauge strings. No bridge pickup, I needed it in another bass.

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'74 Fender Jazz

My treasure! This is the standard by which all other basses are judged. Badass II bridge, and a J-Retro Preamp give this the ultimate Marcus vibe.

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'88 Fender Precision

I sold this bass to a beautiful female student. A few years later, we got married. To celebrate our love, I got it re-fretted. It plays like a dream. Romantic huh? This sample was done for a column in BG mag, it's a Trevor Dunn lick, I used the Line 6 PODxt Pro's toasty Ampeg patch with a pick.

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James

My Brother-In-Law found this 72 Precision at a flea market in DC. Needless to say, I got a deal on this one! It's 11lbs, but with LaBella flats and some foam under the strings, it's a mean-lean-Motown machine. I don't generally name my basses, but this one told me his name is James. The sample is a Jamerson lick from my R&B Masters book.

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Lakland Skyline Joe Osborn

This bass is a perfect specimen. I have it setup with some DR Flats, and this baby speaks! Nice and light, a neck that plays effortlessly, great build quality, classic look. Another new constant companion - this bass is getting a lot of "face time."

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The Fabulous Egmond

Cheap '60s Dutch craftsmanship make this an unbeatable axe for roots music. It was featured in "Totally Weird Basses" in the 9/00 issue of Bass Player Magazine.

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'50s Juzek Carved Upright

I use Thomastik Superflexible strings, and a Fishman Full Circlepickup. Check It Out

Line 6 Variax

This guitar is amazing! It has models of 50 different axes in it, and they are dead on. I used this for my Blues Bass book, and it nailed the tone for everything. Close your eyes, you can't tell the difference. The sample is first a snip of SRV Strat tone, then dual humbucker Albert King Flying V, next some jazz-box Gibson Super 400-like T-Bone Walker, next some TV Les Paul Freddie King style tone. The last clip is for pure shock value, I used the Line 6 to simulate a bouzouki for another project, hard to believe - this is ALL THE SAME GUITAR!

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Carvin BB76!!

This Carvin BB76 is Alder, it has an amazing B string - it IS possible on a 34" scale folks. The pickup configuration is very versatile, this bass does it all.

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Fender 51 P Bass Reissue

Crafted in Japan, the quality is top notch. I love this bass! I use it for blues, R&B, Country, etc. Thick, warm, chunky, strung with flats, fantastic! The sample is a George Porter Jr. lick from my R&B Masters book.

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Goldtone ABG

What a beautiful axe! It has a great neck, a built in mic/piezo with a blend preamp. Tuned EADGC, I have Black Nylon LaBella strings on the top 3, and flats on the E & A.

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Amps, Cabs, Strings, Etc...

I can't say enough good things about Bergantino. They are the absolute best bass cabinets in the world. I use an HT112 for 90% of all gigs whether 5 string electric or acoustic jazz. It always gives me the best sound I've ever had. When the going gets loud, (the other 10%) I use two stacked, and... fuggehdaboudit!

After years of satisfaction with the Clarus, I've just upgraded to the new AI Focus amp. It has the same amazing clarity and pure tone of the Clarus, but dishes out 600 watts into 4 ohms, or 350 into 8ohms. The increased headroom makes a HUGE difference! My upright sound is massive, and with a Fender P Bass, this thing sounds like a really loud version of an old tube head. Glassy top end, distinct mids, and plenty of warm low end. Oh, did I mention it weighs a beefy 4lbs?:

The new Full Circle pickup is the greatest development in acoustic bass amplification in years. It sounds fantastic, very natural and clear. The Platinum Bass is a great little preamp, it has a terrific one-knob compressor, and quiet DI. I use it for recording, live, electric and acoustic bass -it's a real Swiss Army knife!

Rick Turner Pickup

I've had this on my bass for a few years. Although I primarily use the Full Circle, this pickup really saves my butt in high volume situations, or rooms where it's hard to hear yourself. It's very articulate, and won't feedback. Very punchy too.

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My big rig is a Genz Benz GBE1200 head with 2 NEOX-212T cabs. I originally got it in to review for Bass Guitar magazine, and I couldn't bear to send back - I had to buy it. To put it bluntly, this rig kicks ass! It's natural sounding, punchy, and loud! It's very flexible with solid state and tube channels, lots of eq available, but I usually set it flat. The cabs deliver hi-fi, full range, and are nice and light. They handle the power of the GBE without strain. It's a well-focused sound, not big and woofy.You can HEAR yourself, not just feel it.

I use mainly the M42B set, 128/100/80/60/40. It is by far the best B string on the market. They sound great, last a long time, and have a nice supple feel. I also use Labella Piccolo strings, and the black nylon tape wound set on my ABG.

Auralex GRAMMA

This is under my cabinet on EVERY gig. It greatly decreases coupling with the stage. I hear myself better, my sound is not boomy - it's indispensible. I also use Auralex Versa-Tiles in my home studio.