Sam Bevan, current bassist for Aram Danesh and The Super Human Crew, has an impressive bass resume. He has played with the Dave Grisman Quintet, Joe Craven and a host of San Francisco Bay area luminaries. His website says he learned to play on a plastic Mickey Mouse Guitar at the age of two. He plays jazz but has also played bluegrass and a wide swath of other genres.

"Although I play a wide variety of music (jazz, R&B, West African, Cuban, Venezuelan, etc.), most of the vocabulary I am using is derived from funk / R&B," says Bevan. "However, I like to tease at other West African and Cuban bass concepts sometimes to add some extra flavor to my lines. Mainly I focused on creating catchy bass lines that support the song while still being interesting melodically and rhythmically."

And to that end, perhaps not surprisingly, he uses a Fender Jazz bass.

"I don't really enjoy the super active brilliant sound of a lot of basses these days. I favor Fenders for the deep, round, squishy tone and the feel of the necks," he says. "Since I play a lot of upright bass, I probably look for something warm and substantive in my electric basses. Plus, I focus a lot on what my hands can do technically with the instrument, so getting something fancy isn't as important."

He uses a Genz Benz 750 head. We asked why the Genz Benz.

"It was cheaper than an Aguilar for one," he says. "Secondly I love the fact that I can get a tube and/or solid state sound with the amp. When I combine the two, it's a dream."

And he is not equivocal in how he feels about Aquilar speakers.

"Aguilar speakers are awesome with any head. There was no forethought to the combination." says Bevan.

Sometimes things are just right and obvious -- like not putting your tongue on a hot stove (I learned that the hard way).

Bevan also uses a number of pedals and effects to get his bass sound. Among these are the Boss Octaver, Line 6 Delay Modeler and Boss Bass Synth.

"I use the older Octaver pedal that breaks up a little more when you push it. I love using the pedal to kick the bass into overdrive (not literally, but it becomes an enormous sound). Sometimes I run the sub signal solo for the sine wave, dubby bass sound. I love to use the Octaver with fretless like on Butterfly Jones in the chorus. It sounds super slinky. The Line 6 Delay I used for some subtle chorusing. I used the Auto Wah and distortion with the Bass Synth."