VWB Tour Gear

{Originally Posted on Facebook on Thursday, February 14, 2013. Updates are noted.}

People have been asking about the gear I’m using on the current Victor Wooten Band Tour…. so here’s a rundown for all of us Gear-Geeks….

Because I’m a BASS Player first, I’m playing a Warwick Steve Bailey prototype 6-string fretted bass most of the time. I have no idea what the woods are…but it’s beautiful and sounds great.

I use my 5-string fretless Fodera Emperor for “Sword and Stone”. It has a Mahogany body and a Bubinga top with matching pickup covers. The fingerboard is Ebony. There’s a custom Mike Pope 18v preamp inside.

All of my basses are strung with D’Addario Nickle-Wound strings. (.32, .45, .55, .75, .90, .120)

(Update.. I now endorse MJC Ironworks strings, exclusively.)

Our Drum & Bass Tech/Stage Manager, James Barrett, keeps us all sounding fresh. {Update: James is now the Guitar Tech with Ke$ha. MJ Schmitz takes loving care of my rig now.}

My backline consists of 2 Hartke HyDrive cabinets (1×15 & 4×10) and a Hartke LH-1000 head. (Note: I used an Ampeg SVT-6 Pro on the West Coast run.) The Bass and Keyboard signals go thru a Samson MDR1248 mixer feeding Front of House, Monitor World and my backline. The only effect I use is a Chorus pedal…either a DOD FX63 Deep Freeze or an EBS UniChorus. {Update: I added a Boss OC-2 Octave Pedal on the April ’13 run.)

M J Schmitz, sets it all up for me every day.

There’s also a picture of my Dad on the top of my rig; my inspiration.

The music we’re performing on the Tour is demanding and requires that we all double and triple on multiple instruments. We’re constantly changing between and even during songs.

I’m playing a 1946 King Legacy Bb Trumpet with a Kelly Screamer Lexan mouthpiece, (sometimes a Schilke 14A4A) {Update: I used an original Jet-Tone Custom 4B on the April ’13 run.} and a Jupiter C Trumpet with a Holton MF3 mouthpiece. I use a Humes & Berg Harmon mute and a Sennheiser wireless microphone.

The Keyboard is an M-Audio Axiom 49. All of the sounds and samples come from a Apple Retina MacBook Pro running “Mainstage“. The songs require up to 9 patch changes and I’m able to run everthing right from the keyboard. The Sampler is the Logic Pro EXS24 which has some great sounds. The signal runs thru a Samson stereo DI to my mixer.