Dave Meros
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dave Meros (born 8 February 1956 in Salinas, California), is an American bass guitar player, best known as the bass player for progressive rock band Spock's Beard. Meros has also played with such artists as Gary Myrick, Bobby Kimball of Toto, Simon Phillips, Steve Lukather, Michael Landau, Glen Hughes, Mark Lindsey of Paul Revere and the Raiders, and worked as a tour manager for further artists. As a bassist, Meros' musical influences are varied, including Paul McCartney, John Entwhistle, Chris Squire, James Jamerson, Marcus Miller, Francis "Rocco" Prestia of Tower of Power, Chuck Rainey and David Hungate.
Contents |
[edit] Education
Business Degree from U.C. Berkeley with Music Minor.
[edit] Musical History
Meros began studying classical piano at age 9, five years formal training.
• Studied French Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba between the ages of 13 – 18. - Received Bank of America award for musical achievement, 1974. - Received John Phillip Souza Band Award, 1974. - Played in Reno Jazz Festival All Star Band, 1974.
• Played bass trombone and tuba in the U. C. Berkeley Jazz Ensemble, 1974 – 1977.
• Began playing electric bass in 1976 while at U.C. Berkeley. Played professionally since 1978. Relocated to Los Angeles early 1985.
• Most recently played bass and tour managed for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Eric Burdon and The Animals, and has been touring very extensively worldwide for 20 years. His main musical venue since 1994 has been recording and touring with Spock's Beard, a progressive rock band that to date has released eight full-length studio CDs plus a large amount of live CDs and EPs, Videos, DVDs, and rarities collections. Their ninth CD, self-titled "Spock's Beard" is scheduled to be released in November of 2006.
[edit] Touring Experience
- Mark Lindsey (Paul Revere and the Raiders) – 1986. - Gary Myrick (Geffen recording artist) – 1986 through 1989. - Bobby Kimball (Toto) – 1989. - Eric Burdon (Animals / War) – January 1990 through November 2005. - Spock’s Beard – 1994 – current.
[edit] Equipment
Dave's main bass is what he terms his "Fendenbacker" or "Ric-o-Jazz". It's a Rickenbacher 4001 bass that's been severely modified to serve a variety of purposes. "A buddy of mine found a really trashed Ric in a pawn shop, and I turned it into a project bass to try to make a 'one bass fits all' for myself" says Meros.
It has a set of Fender Jazz Bass pickups set in 1970s-era spacing as well as another standard set of Rickenbacher bass pickups in the traditional Ric positions. This gives Meros four pickups total to choose from, with a switch that chooses between the two fairly different "basses", Rickenbacher or Jazz. All four can also be activated at the same time. A BadAss bridge, Hipshot Bass Xtender (otherwise known as a "Hipshot D-Tuner" or simply a "Hipshot" or "D-Tuner" among bassists) for it's ability to downtune the low E-string of a bass typically to D at the flip of a level) and a string mute that Meros can raise or lower with thumb screws (which were made by Meros himself) were also added.
"I did the refinish on the front of the bass, made and pickguard and did a lot of the other little stuff myself, but I had John Carruthers (Venice, CA) do the stuff that really mattered, like route the body for the two extra pickups, cause you only get one chance to do that, and it has to be perfect. He's the man, totally. He also did a really versatile wiring thing for me and one of the most amazing fret jobs I've ever seen."
Other basses Meros uses are various Fender Jazz (as seen in use on 2005's "Gluttons For Punishment" tour" while the Rickenbacher was being repaired) and Precision models, and other fretted and fretless basses.
Other items Meros uses are a Digitech RP-21D tube preamp/digital effects unit for his main tone, distortion, and other effects ("Besides the bass, that's the source of probably 90% of all the sounds that I get"), Eden and SWR amplification (Dave's usual bass amp set-up is an Eden WT-800 head, two speaker cabinets: one with 1- EV15" and an EV horn tweeter, one with 1- JBL 15", but will use SWR amps and speaker cabinets on tour when not carrying their own equipment, typically overseas where shipping is a major cost), DR Lo-Rider Strings, Korg Prophecy keyboard triggered by a Rolls Electronics Midi Step pedal for bass synth.
"For live shows, I go from the bass into the RP-21, then into the amp and mic the amp. In the studio I go from the bass into both a direct box and the RP-21 / POD Pro, then both the DI and the POD go direct into separate channels on the mixing desk."
In his spare time, Meros enjoys scuba diving, jogging, home repairs and skeleton collecting.
Citations: http://www.spocksbeard.com/faq.html http://www.spocksbeard.com/band.html http://www.ericburdon.com/index.php?id=dave_meroshttp://www.globalbass.com/archives/mar2002/dave_meros.htm http://www.bassinside.com/2003/october/meros.htm
