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 Sean C Tibbetts (Kamelot).
When you started bass playing and do you remember your first bass?
I started play guitar when I was 12 years old but I switch to bass when I was 16. A friend of mine had a band and need a bassist so I sold my guitar and bought a bass. I was hooked immediately and I never looked back. At the time I found it was much easier to get a good gig as a bassist. I learned many different styles while keeping my own personal style in front to create an original sound and it seems to have served me well so far. I hope people enjoy it. Funny I don’t remember what kind of bass was my first. I remember it being some sort of Fender knock off. My second bass was an Aria Pro ll. It was used but sounded massive.
What are your Influences and which bass players are your favs?
Geezer Butler – Black Sabbath, John Paul Jones – Led Zeppelin, Stuart Ham, Ryan Martini – Mudvayne
How many basses do you own and what are your favourite models?
Gosh that’s a good question. I don’t know any more. 20 would be a good guess. I only keep my favorites the rest of them I kick down the road. All my favorites have something special about them. They either were used at a particular show, video or recording . They all have unique tones and are my children. I retire my basses after a few years of beating on them. I love getting new basses, it always inspires me to write more. I am currently endorsing Dingwall basses. I have 3 of them now. 2 custom shop models and 1 Getgood model. I will have to say the Dingwall customs are by far the jewels in my crown. The tone they have blows all my other basses away.
What makes the perfect bass and amp?
I can’t really answer that for a few reasons. Every brand puts their brands sound in the amp. You can change the settings on any amp but an ampeg will always sound like an ampeg. As far as I can tell that goes for every maker. So try as many as you can before you buy. I personally prefer the cleanest sound I can get and then I color it with my bass and effects. For the past 15 years I haven’t even used an amp. I have been running direct with cabinet simulator. I use the quad cortex for live shows. I thought my tone was good then I got the quad cortex and holy crap what a difference. At home for practice I use the GK 500 watt bass amp with 6 x 10 ampeg cabinet.
What basses and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
It was the Dingwall custom bass. The one I’m currently using as my main bass live. We ran direct and let the engineer do his magic on the Kamelot albums.
When you can only choose one bass, which one will you take?
That’s easy Dingwall all dinging Day
