“Finding Your Mate”

By Steve Swallow

“Love is irrational - the electric bass grabbed me by the neck and there it was. It’s been a long learning process to get the electric bass to respond under my hands in a way that integrates it within the jazz rhythm section with a drummer who’s playing “ding, dic a ding” on the cymbal instead of “boom, boom, Chak.” Its definitely a life’s work, I had no choice but to take on. I didn’t want to change the idiom. I was thoroughly devoted to playing jazz music, but with this strange instrument in my hand. I’ve had to learn techniques that allow the electric bass to function well in the
context of the jazz rhythm section. I’ve also had to seek out guys who make instruments, and to try and accommodate my needs. The fender bass is a remarkable instrument. It’s astonishing how much Leo Fender got right in the early fifties when the fender precision and the fender jazz bass first came on to the market. They’re remarkably efficient machines. They play low notes with extraordinary efficiency, that’s more that can be said of the acoustic bass. The acoustic bass is full of the kind of personality that makes It difficult to play with a major scale over two octaves with each note shaped exactly like its predecessor and the one that follows. The electric bass can do that, the acoustic bass can’t do that.

On the other hand every acoustic bass has a singular personality. Part of what’s the wonderful journey of an acoustic bass player is finding your instrument, finding in effect your mate.

There are of course differences between one Fender precision and another, but essentially you can buy a sound. You can go to the music store and buy a fender precision and sound a little bit like Duck Dunn or Rocco Prestia.”