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 Pontus Egberg (King Diamond).
When you start bass playing and do you remember your first bass?
I started playing bass when I was 14 years old and the first bass I ever bought was an Ibanez Roadstar, a fretless one. I think it was the guitar player, who was a few years older than me, that thought it was a good idea. Turned out to be a pretty good schooling though. I very rarely play the fretless nowadays, but I really like it and think it’s very cool in the right circumstances.
What are your influences and which bass players are your favs?
I grew up listening to a lot of 70s and 80s hard rock and metal, bands like AC/DC, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Dio, Rush, Led Zeppelin so I think that’s where most of my influences come from and bass players like Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, John Paul Jones and Michael Anthony has had a huge influence on my playing I think.
How many basses do you own and what are your favorite models?
I have around 10-15 basses of different brands and models. Right now, for about a year, I play Stinger basses from Esh-basses live. Really cool basses, they sound great, awesome playability and a really cool look. I played Sandberg basses previously, also excellent craftsmanship, and ESP. I generally like a slimmer neck, like a Jazz bass style neck and I really need a bridge pickup, preferably a humbucker type because that’s where I rest my thumb when I play. Otherwise, anything goes.
What do you think makes the perfect bass and amp?
Probably the player….Personally, I want an amp or preamp that can give a little drive or saturation to the sound and as long as the amp can deliver the sound level you need pretty much anything goes. I’ve used EBS in the past, awesome stuff, together with a SansAmp preamp. Now I’m using the Exponent500 from Darkglass Electronics, no cabinets on stage, just straight to the soundboard and our InEars, sounds great too.
Which basses and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
When recording I use some different basses depending on what fits the song. I would say I mostly use my Sandberg California basses or my ESP Vintage4. I haven’t had my Esh basses long enough to really put them to the test when recording. These days I almost 100% plug straight in, through a UAD-preamp and then make the sound with software amps but sometimes I will record a SansAmp signal and blend that in as well.
When you only can choose one bass, which one will you take?
If I could only choose one, I would choose the first Sandberg California I bought back in 2007.
