Question
Hello,
I have been a fan of Megadeth since I was a young boy. I have been playing guitar bass and drums for many years now and I was wondering if you could pass this along to David Ellefson. When I play bass I use his signature concert bass by Jackson but I have went through several amps and just cannot get a sound that I like. I was wondering if he had any advice on putting a rig together and what would be some combinations that would work well to play Megadeth and other metal bands music. I really hope he gets this I'm really at a crossroads and need some help and I wouldn't dream to ask any other person.
Thanks in advance Tom
Answer
Hi Tom, David Ellefson read your email and asked that I get back to you with the following advice.
As for the bass sounds, tone is always in the hands and how the player attacks and fingers the notes. With that said, David uses a medium heavy gauge pick, anchoring his hand on the bridge, and also fingers the notes on the fingertips for the least amount of skin contact and clarity.
For gear, David always suggests the Jackson basses and Hartke amplifiers as they have been a staple of Megadeth recordings (studio and live) for many years. His signature line of basses have fast thin necks and have EMG pickups to replicate the active sounds of the legacy. The Hartke LH500 or LH1000 amplifier heads are really simple and sound fantastic! He uses the HyDrive cabinets live but often prefers the articulate tone of the XL series aluminum cone speaker cabinets.
Hope that helps! Let us know how it goes.
-ScorpioN
