Gospel Bass Lines: Do you play yourself? If so, what has been the most influential aspect of developing your playing style?

Tim Cloonan: I do play, but not bass. I’m a guitar player (uh oh!) but ultimately decided to build basses because there is a huge number of extremely talented bass players in my area and no one around who could really help them out. Guitar techs generally do a very poor job of setting up and properly maintaining basses, so it seemed like a good gap to fill.

As a player, I started at a very early age and ended up getting a degree from Temple University in Jazz Performance for guitar. For me, the most influential aspect of developing my own style was listening to music. Plain and simple. After awhile I outgrew a need to categorize and judge players, I realized everyone had different strengths and weaknesses and I appreciate what the greats bring to the game.

Gospel Bass Lines: Do you have any advise you can offer bass players starting out?

Tim Cloonan: There are two things which stand out to me as being important. The first thing is something a professor in college explained to me: never forget that being a musician is physical. Your fingers will hurt, and your dexterity and coordination will be challenged. Playing music isnﾒt entirely a head game, you need to build a physical tolerance to what ever instrument you play and understand it takes time to build things up. The second thing (perhaps the most important) is that playing music is supposed to be fun!

Gospel Bass Lines: From the inception of CallowHill^TM you decided to design with the Bassist coming out of the Black gospel tradition. You stated on your site, that if this tradition were a town, then you arent even on the same planet. What are some characteristics that define the players coming out of the Black Gospel Tradition, for you?

Tim Cloonan: From my perspective, the principal characteristic (which isn’t exclusive to players coming out of this tradition but is often lacking in players coming from other backgrounds) is aural tradition. In other words, the musicians learn the way any musician should learn, by using their ears. Players who learn other forms, be it Rock, Jazz, Blues, whatever, often get lessons and practice but never really PLAY. Most of the players I know coming out of the Black Gospel bag learned in much the same way, but then had to get their chops busted and think on the fly in front of an audience a couple times a week at a very early age. If you’re in this situation and the organist decides to throw some curve balls, the bass player has to be on their game and adapt. Having played with more bass players form the aforementioned tradition, I’ve tried numerous times to derail them on gigs and sessions just to be a wiseguy and have had very limited success!

Gospel Bass Lines: You spent over ten years repairing basses for players coming out of the Black Gospel genre, what were some of the issues that the players would ask you for assistance in correcting?

Tim Cloonan: The main thing is WEIGHT. As a repair tech there really is never anything I can do about it, but most guys who have to perform for 4+ hours at a time don’t like it when they have a neck-heavy cinder block tied around their neck the whole time. The other issue is getting a full spectrum sound with the controls set flat. Many Gospel players go through a phase where they like to boost the lows and highs and cut all the mids. Eventually, they realize that particular eq curve has no definition to the audience’s ears and straighten the curve. When that happens, the question that comes up is, “What pickups and preamps will provide a great full sound with minimal tweaking, and without background noise?” The other thing is setting the basses up so they play easily without excessive fret buzz.

Gospel Bass Lines: You’ve worked with a very talented array of musicians, in developing your instruments. What’s the most common thing this all-star cast of musicians like about CallowHill^TM basses?

Tim Cloonan: The thing that most players of my instruments tend to like is light weight, no deadspots, versatility, ease of playability, a very thick, raw tonality, and super definition in the low B strings (or Bb in Maurice’s case) The other feature they like is reliability. If the battery dies you just pull up on the passive tone knob and the bass is still going strong, and all of the wiring is executed with solid silver Teflon coated audiophile grade wire so there’s never any risk of a bad solder joint. I guess overall they like that I confronted and solved every complaint they ever had, and improved everything they always loved to begin with.

Gospel Bass Lines: What is meant by “no deadspots”?

Tim Cloonan: Deadspots are areas on the neck (sometimes referred to as wolf-tones) which sound quieter in comparison to other notes . Also, you can have notes which are extremely lively and more sensitive to touch. Session players focus on this and most players prefer instruments with minimal deadspots because itﾒs easier to record.

Gospel Bass Lines: Back to the talented musicians. I have heard up and coming bassist ask, “what does it take to get endorsed, by a Bass company” Being a builder of quality instruments, can you offer any insight as to what you look for in Musicians to work with?

Tim Cloonan: Personally, I can’t stand endorsements. I work extremely long hours, and the components in my instruments are more expensive than many of my competitors so my “profit margin” is tiny. Many of us in the bass building trade joke that we make under $10.00 an hour – but for many of us this is true. My standpoint is that if a player wants an instrument they will endorse it by BUYING it. The musicians who helped me develop my line were picked by me, and they don’t function as endorsers in the traditional sense, but rather they are my R&D department. They request models, we design them together, I build them, and they take them out and test them in multiple environments in an effort to determine if they make the cut. If I’m given a green light, it becomes available to the public as an offering from the company.

In a nutshell, my take on endorsements is that large companies NEED endorsers to lend credibility to poorly constructed mass production instruments so that kids can go the local Guitar Center and purchase said instruments with their parent’s money! I’m not a large company, and have no wish to become one.

Gospel Bass Lines: What aspects led to the selection of your R&D players?

Tim Cloonan: For me, it was about stepping back and asking myself who has a unique voice and who has something to contribute to take things a step further. I looked at their style, touch, and taste in gear and then went from there.

Gospel Bass Lines: Many of the visitors to Gospelbasslines.com, are starting out and looking to identify their sound. I get questions about amps and basses, my response is usually don’t go broke, trying to get gear, you can’t afford. Do you have any advise to assist players who have budget instruments and equipment to help them find good tone with what they have, or in making the decision of what to purchase?

Tim Cloonan: I think most players put way too much emphasis on gear and image. A majority of the players I deal with who play high end basses (regardless of what kind of music they play) want people to “oooh” and “aaah” when they bust their instruments out of the case. Come play time, most of them simply can’t hang. It sounds brutal, but I see it all the time. When a heavy hitter like Derrick Hodge picks up something I do he’s tuned into what makes it good and appreciates all the detail work and care that goes into the construction, but if I were to hand him a $75.00 Walmart special bass he’d make it sound just as good. Players get “brandalized” all the time. They see a player they like using a particular brand, and they develop an odd allegiance to that brand. The players that sound the best will do so on anything because they took the time to develop a touch on their instrument. They understand that differences in pressure on each hand will yield different tonal results, they know how to shape lines dynamically, they know where in front of the bridge to play with their right hand, and they do all these things and more intuitively because they took the time to figure it out. My advice on buying gear is to try stuff out, buy what you like and understand that a $3000.00 bass isn’t necessarily 10x better than a $300.00 one. Develop a touch, learn the strong points and weak points of what you have, and make it work.

Gospel Bass Lines: That’s great insight.

Gospel Bass Lines: For those who want to get the process started of getting a CallowHill ^TMbass, how can they get more information about which style of Bass best fits the needs of the type of Gospel Music they primarily play?

Tim Cloonan: It’s pretty easy, they can email me through the website or just call. I’m not a custom shop in that the models I offer were painstakingly developed and are what they are for a reason. I make what I make, but I do offer a lot of options and I’m happy to discuss ideas with players. If I’m not willing to incorporate certain features or if my pricing isn’t quite right, I’m always happy to recommend other builders for players to check out as well.

You can find Callowhill Guitars online at http://www.callowhill.net.

Gospel Bass Lines: I see that you played instruments prior to the bass guitar what made the bass your primary stop?

Dale Black: I started playing the clarinet in 3rd grade. My dad bought it for me and I actually fell in love with it. Now that I look back Ii think Ii would have loved any thing my dad gave me, I just wanted to play music. I learned things like reading playing the clarinet but went in search of another instrument after playing it extensively throughout my early elementary school years. Its funny how I started playing the bass because it was kind of an accident. In 4th grade I had the option to play in orchestra and I signed up for the cello because I had always loved the sound. I later learned, the school was out of cellos and all that was left was the upright bass. I remember instantly falling in love with the mammoth beast, with its deep tone and huge stature. The rest is history! A few years later I was playing it in a talent show at church and the Minister of Music at my church thought I should play bass guitar. He sat me down with a guy named Edwin Livingston who is now a world class bassist. He played a 5 minute slap solo. I couldn’t believe it! The power and sound of the instrument was exiting.

Gospel Bass Lines: You have been playing for over 15 years, was there any particular point in your playing where you felt you got over the biggest hump, as far as learning the craft?

Dale Black: I think that would be learning jazz and theory. learning to read and play the heads, chords, as well as the bass part to so many jazz standards from Coltrane to Mingus. That meant learning my modes and relearning the treble clef. It was hard at first. I was in my first year of college at Wichita State University and a local jazz guitarist asked me,”Do you know Donna Lee by Charlie Parker”. I said, “Kinda”, having played a version of it in high school. He sat me down and said, “Solo over it”. He started playing chords and I couldn’t hear what to play over them. Having heard that I was all that, I was humbled at that point, because he told me I couldn’t play! “Man learn all of your chords and scales in all keys and work on your jazz”, he said! I took his advise. So I went to the wood shed and taught myself music theory, learning the bass all over essentially. 6 years later here we are. It was crazy and I felt like giving up at times but it was well worth it now that I look back.

Gospel Bass Lines: Who influenced your playing style the most? Why? How do you implement that influence into your playing.

Dale Black: I was into Stanley Clarke really hard for a good part of my early bass years. You can probably sometimes still hear that influence in my playing although life experiences new influences and maturity have made me the bassist I am today. Which is a mix of alot of people bassist or not. I think that its better to listen to people that do not play your instrument. I’ve been influenced by sax players and pianist as well as drummers. I sometimes challenge myself saying if he can do that on piano or drums or whatever why cant I do it on bass?

Gospel Bass Lines: You also teach? What do you want “Most” to get your students to learn? How do you go about that?

Dale Black: I start them off by learning their fingerboard and scales. The first month for most students is the hardest because all I do is teach scales. It usually shows who is for real and who just wants to learn how to play for other nonmusical reasons. I mean its the same with piano. Your teacher is gonna start you of with learning notes and scales. Its important to have atleast a basic knowledge of this on bass in my opinion. Other than that I show them proper technique as far as how to hold the bass so that your not fighting against the bass. Warming up and stretches are important because it keeps carpal tunnel and tendonitis at bay

Gospel Bass Lines: If you were stranded on a dessert island, and could have 1 song, what would that song be and why?

Dale Black: That’s a hard one. It would probably be ….. man that’s really hard. One song would get old to me real quick no matter what it is ha! I’m a sucker for ballads so it would probably be some Nat King Cole maybe “Unforgettable”.

Gospel Bass Lines: You mentioned that God has blessed you with the gift to play and heal others. When did you realize that this was what God had given you?

Dale Black: Where I am from being a musician is not looked at as a livelihood. As a matter of fact, it is discouraged in a lot of ways. So growing up knowing how much I loved music I was always pressured into pursuing other more normal careers. Sometimes the money was good but I wasn’t happy. Having a God given talent but working at Chuck E Cheese sweeping floors while my bass hasn’t been touched for weeks due to my hectic work schedule and my manager tripping with me made me really re look things. It took me going through this and maturing spiritually and being closer to Him to really realize that this is more than something I liked doing. It was a calling. It is a gift straight from the Creator. When you see people worshipping God in church to the music your healing. Even listening to music in your kitchen has healing properties. Man music powerful! My intentions when I play both in church and out is to draw people closer to God inspire people to be positive, follow their dreams and love one another.

Gospel Bass Lines: In closing, can you give the players in the church/worship setting some encouragement or advise to keep them going?

Dale Black: Stay encouraged keep practicing. From the aspiring touring musician to the guy who just plays at church on the weekends. The more you practice the better you’ll be i grantee it! Although I preach theory You don’t have to learn theory and reading and all that to be a good musician. Some of the best have admitted to not knowing this stuff. So its not required but its the path I chose and I know it will help you alot, it helped me. Remember who your playing for, It’s okay to show off but there’s a time for everything. Chops and licks are cool but its the music that’s gonna save people and that’s our main goal as musicians right?

Gospel Bass Lines: What Basses do you play (I have seen your Lakland), Strings you use, Amps, Cabs, and if you use any effects or pre-amps, etc.

Dale Black: Lakland With DR High beams. A acquaintance of mine Jackie Clark who is endorsed by Ebs turned me onto their gear and ive been in love ever since. EBS HD-350 Head and Evolution Cabinets. I dont use effects other than the occasional wah pedal.

Dale Black is on the Latest GMWA CD to be released this summer, as well as GMWA Live in Kansas City 2004. Dale is also working on his album, that is slated for being out next spring. You can find Mr. Black on Myspace.com/bassicblack, check there for updates.

Join me in congratulating Dale!

Since the time of this interview Dale is now officially endorsed by Lakland basses.