| Dave Meros | |
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Dave Meros onstage with Spock's Beard @ BB Kings in NYC, April 2007. |
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| Background information | |
| Born | February 8, 1956 in Salinas, California, US |
| Genres | Progressive rock |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Bass |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Associated acts | Spock's Beard |
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, Glenn Hughes, Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders and Big Big Train, and has the dubious honor of having played for Eric Burdon and The Animals for more consecutive years than any other human (15 years 10 months). He was also tour manager for many of those years and has worked as a tour manager for further artists as well. As a bassist, Meros' musical influences are varied, including Paul McCartney, John Entwistle, Chris Squire, James Jamerson, Marcus Miller, Francis "Rocco" Prestia of Tower of Power, Chuck Rainey and David Hungate.
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Dave Meros has a Business Degree from U.C. Berkeley with Music Minor.
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, as a member of the University of California Jazz Ensembles.
• Played bass trombone and tuba in the University of California Jazz Ensembles, 1974–1977, under the direction of Dr. David W. Tucker.
• Began playing electric bass in 1976 while at the University of California, Berkeley. Played professionally since 1978. Relocated to Los Angeles early 1985.
• Played bass and tour managed Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Eric Burdon and The Animals from January 1990 through November 2005, and toured very extensively worldwide with various bands since the late '80s. His main creative venture since 1994 has been recording and touring with the critically acclaimed progressive rock band Spock's Beard, that to date has released ten full-length studio CDs plus a large number of live CDs and EPs, Videos, DVDs, and rarities collections. Their tenth studio CD, titled "X" was released in July 2010.
A live DVD was recorded in the Los Angeles area in September 2010 and is due to be released in April 2012.
Also currently plays in the Los Angeles / Orange County based group The Kings Of Classic Rock (a band that incorporates his former "Animals" band mates Dean Restum and Martin Gerschwitz plus David Tyson on lead vocals and ex-Cock Robin (band) drummer Lou Molino), and Sacramento area based band Rolling Heads featuring Ted Leonard of the prog rock band Enchant.
- Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere and the Raiders) – 1986.
- Gary Myrick (Geffen recording artist) – 1986 through 1989.
- Bobby Kimball (Toto) – 1989.
- Eric Burdon – January 1990 through November 2005.
- Spock's Beard – 1994 – current.
- The Kings Of Classic Rock - 2007 - current.
Dave's main bass is what he terms his "Fendenbacker". It's a Rickenbacker 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 mid-'70s-era spacing (the bridge pickup moved closer to the bridge than in previous incarnations, giving the bass a "tighter" and more midrange tone) as well as the standard set of Rickenbacker 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", Rickenbacker 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 its ability to downtune the low E-string of a bass typically to D at the flip of a lever) and a string mute that Meros can raise or lower with thumb screws (which were fabricated by Meros himself) were also added.
"I did the refinish on the front of the bass, made the 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."
More recently, after the neck began delaminating from the body, it was completely rebuilt and beautifully refinished by Ed Roman Guitars, Las Vegas NV.
In 2007 Ed Roman built Dave a custom instrument designed with most of the same features and specs as the "Fendenbacker" (see below), with a Rickenbacker-like body shape but with a Fender scale length and neck width and more of a Fender body contouring.
Other basses Meros uses are various Fender Jazz and Precision models (One of his Fender Precision basses was used on 2005's "Gluttons For Punishment" tour" while the Rickenbacker was being repaired), a Carruthers five string, 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 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 often uses rented Eden amps and Eden 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 Fast Forward Designs 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."
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