This article series is about the tools of popular guitarists or bassists.. What are their favorite guitars or basses and how is it related to them? This time with Gabi Domján (The Hellfreaks).
When you start bass playing and do you remember your first bass?
I started playing bass when I was 12 years old. It was an Aria bass for sure, but I can not recall the exact model. It has an MM style pickup at the bridge, and a single at the neck. Right now it is at our drummer’s house, he uses it for demos.
Pic: Bodnár Dávid
What are your influences and which bass players are your favs?
I was influenced by music in general so here are some bands I like to listen to currently: Kublai Khan TX, Raised Fist, Counterparts, Mastodon. But if I have to name an influence bass related I would say Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
How many basses do you own and what are your favorite models?
I cut down my collection in the last couple of years, but I was lucky enough to own many basses. Currently I own my beloved Stingray 5 and a Human Base Roxy B5 for backup. I always loved the tone and feel of the Music Man basses so overall I would choose the Stingray as my favorite. Funny enough I recorded many songs and albums with it but I never used it on any Hellfreaks stuff, however Old Tomorrows had a version with the MM but at the end I chose a P-bass and went with that tone on the whole album.
What do you think makes the perfect bass and amp?
It is easy to sum up:
– Reliability
– Tone
– Comfort
– Looks
– Weight
Which basses and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
Bass wise I used a custom precision bass, and an ESP E-II Vintage Four for this album.
As far as the amp goes I mainly use amp sims and those are from Neural DSP and JST.
I recorded everything in my studio and I really pay attention on the DI tones, for that I used: A-Designs REDDI, Radial JDI, Rupert Neve Designs RNDI. The preamp was a BAE Audio 1073, and I used an Empirical Labs Distressor on the way in. I also played and recorded several guitar parts for the album, for that I used an ESP Eclipse, Fender Jim Root Strat, Fender Telecaster, Gibson SG and a Gibson Les Paul Junior.
When you only can choose one bass, which one will you take?
Music Man Stingray 5. This one has served me well during the years in pop sessions, punk rock and everything in between. I will probably have more basses come and go in the future because I have loved collecting instruments since I was a kid. But this will be “my bass” and that is for sure.
