Basses

Music Man basses and Ernie Ball strings provide the foundation for Dave's sound, both live and in the studio.

In concert, Dave's bass of choice is the Bongo. He uses both the 4 and 5 string, depending on the gig.

The recording studio provides the opportunity to experiment with more sounds, and Dave uses a variety of basses when recording. The primary choice is still the Bongo, including the 6 string model. Having used Sterlings for years, Dave gravitates to that bass for certain sounds. He also frequently uses the Stingray 5 and the Sterling 5. For fretless work, Dave favors his Bongo 5, and an older Stingray 5.

 Strings

The Ernie Ball Extra Slinky nickel round wound strings are Dave's main strings. He has also been using the new Cobalt strings of late. His gauges are fairly light, 40, 60, 75 and 95. The low B is a 125, and the the high C on his 6 string is a 26.

 Amps

For amplification, the Ampeg SVT-4 Pro Series has been Dave's choice for years. He uses (2) Ampeg SVT 8x10 cab's when touring and (2) to (4) of the SVT Classic 4x10 cab's when playing locally. He uses an EV RE 2 wireless system and mic's his rig with an EV RE 320.

Pedal Board

Dave's pedal board is built around the TC Electronic G System, which has multiple studio quality effects built in, and can act as a controller with programmable presets. Integrated into the G System via loops are the TC Nova Drive, for programmable distortion/overdrive and the Boss OC2 Octaver. New to the pedal board are 2 Dark Glass units, the Hyper Lumina Compressor and the B7K Ultra distortion.

Recording

In the studio, Dave runs Pro Tools. He uses various mic pre's and DI's, although his usual choice is the Avalon 737 SP. When mic'ing his rig, Dave will try various mic's, although he usually ends up using the EV RE 320. These days, however, more often than not, the "amp sound" is generated using an Ampeg  plug in.