Bass

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Straps

Chris mainly uses leather straps from Status Graphite these days, but has been seen using ones from Manson Guitar Works in the past - the same as Bellamy uses.

Simulation Theory

In the studio, Chris has been seen using a '73 Jazz Bass, a '77 Jazz Bass and Status basses. An Ampeg SVT-VR and Ashdown BTA 400 heads were also part of his studio setup. During a 2018 interview on Virgin Radio Italy, Matt mentioned Chris also used a Misa Kitara for Break It To Me in the studio.

When speaking to John Kennedy on Radio X, he mentioned that, as opposed to previous albums being recorded with a live rig (giving them a set tone when done tracking), they've mostly recorded Simulation Theory with clean bass going straight into the console, which gave them flexibility to manipulate the sound later in the DAW.

Studio

Chris recording Simulation Theory; Seen using an Ashdown BTA 400 with his '73 Fender Jazz Bass

Basses

Effects

Rack 1
Rack 2

Amps

Live

Chris's rack during the Simulation Theory World Tour
Chris's bass tech with gear used on the ST tour behind him

During the tour, he acquired a new black/maple fretboard Fender Jazz Bass, a new Black/Stealth 5-String and a custom LED-Strip Status bass.

Effects-wise, he added a Pigtronix Disnortion distortion/fuzz and the Eventide H9 Harmonizer, while the POG2, allthough not seen on pics before, has likely been on his board since the 2017 Amphitheatre Tour.

He also updated the two Skrydstrup MR10 loop switchers with the RJM Effect Gizmo loop switchers.

According to Chris's bass tech Jon Ashworth, the sound is based around the Markbass SD1200 heads running through the Markbass 1x15 cabinets and distortion is layered on top of that either through Kempers or through individual pedals, which are connected to RJM Switching Systems.

Basses

Rack 1
Rack 2

Cabinets

  • 2 Markbass 151 15" Cabinets

Other

North American Summer Amphitheatre Tour 2017

Basses

Drones

Drones studio bass rack
Drones live rack setup

During the recording of Drones, Chris mainly used Status bass guitars again, allthough a Rickenbacker and the Gibsons were also spotted in the studio. He ran them through an Ampeg SVT-VR head for the clean channel and two Marshall DBS 7400s for distorted channels. Later, for the cover of New Kind of Kick, he likely used a Gretsch Thunder Jet, seen in the video, in the studio.

As for the live setupr, Chris kept his collection of basses the same as for The 2nd Law tour, with the 5-string Jazz Bass making a return for a couple of Assassin performances. The Chris Wolstenholme Status Graphite 5-String bass also made appearances for Assassin. The rack was almost exactly the same as with the T2L tours with two Kempers and two Markbass SD1200 heads.

Studio

Basses

Amps

Cabs

Rack 1

Rack 2

FX Tray 1

FX Tray 2

FX Tray 3

Control

Live

Basses

Amps

Cabs

Racks

Rack 1

Rack 2

FX Tray 1

FX Tray 2

Tuner

  • Peterson AutoStrobe 490 Tuner

Control

Pedalboard (On-Stage)

The 2nd Law

T2L studio set-up
T2L tour bass selection
T2L tour rack

For The 2nd Law, Chris kept the same studio setup as he used on The Resistance tour, but included more pedals and two Markbass SD1200 heads. Live, he replaced the Marshall DBS 7400 amps completely with the afforementioned SD1200s (clean channels) and two Kemper Profiling Amplifier heads (for overdrive channels), with the DBS 7400 amps all profiled.

He also ditched most of the Fender Jazz Basses and started playing Status basses almost exclusively.

Studio

Basses

Amps

Cabs

Rack 1

Rack 2

FX Tray 1 (Rack-Top)

FX Tray 2

FX Tray 3

FX Tray 4

Control

Other

  • A Designs REDDI Tube Direct Box

Live

Basses

Amps

Cabs

Racks

Rack 1

Rack 2

FX Tray 1

FX Tray 2

FX Tray 3

  • Unknown

Tuner

  • Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner

Control

On-Stage Pedalboard

The Resistance

Rack (Offstage)
Ampeg SVT-VR

For The Resistance era, Chris expanded his setup even more, especially in terms of basses rack gear. This was the first tour that Chris started using Status basses with the first one being the Status Original Series II.

Both the studio and live setups were the same, excluding the bass and amp selection.

Studio

Basses

Amps

Cabs

Live

Basses

Amps

Cabs

Racks

Rack 1

Rack 2

FX Tray 1
FX Tray 2
FX Tray 3

Tuner

  • Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner

Control

On-Stage Pedalboard

Black Holes and Revelations

Board

Not much is known about Chris' gear during the BH&R era as there were little to no pictures of his gear taken during the period, however it is known that Chris started using Fender Jazz Basses a lot more frequently. He also ditched the on-stage amps/cabs halfway through the tour, and started miking them backstage. Instead, he only opted for an on-stage subwoofer, so he could still feel the sub low end, and he also took away the MIDI foot pedal controller.

Based on some interviews, Chris added four more Marshall DBS 7400 heads to his setup, having eight in total.[1]

Basses

Amps

Cabs

Control

On-Stage Pedalboard

Absolution

Rack
Pedal Board
Pedal Board (Offstage)

For the Absolution tour, Chris moved all of his pedals and amps into the rack. Both him and Matt got into MIDI switching systems, with their techs switching the effects on or off; a system, which they still use, due to the complexity of effect use on albums.

Wolstenholme also got two more of the Marshall DBS 7400 bass amplifiers into the rig.

Basses

Amps/Rack (left)

Rack (right)

Off-Stage Pedalboard

Control

On-Stage Pedalboard

Other

Origin of Symmetry

OoS Amps
OoS Pedalboard

During the OoS tour, Chris got his Marshall DBS 7400 Dynamic Bass System amplifiers and cabinets. He also got a Black Russian Big Muff Pi and a Human Gear Animato pedal, aswell as an Akai Deep Impact SB1 Bass Synth pedal. A lot of the gear he acquired during this era remains in his setup to this day.

Basses

Rack

Cabs

Pedalboard

Showbiz

Showbiz pedalboard

Allthough amplifiers and basses remained the same, Chris used two effects setups during the Showbiz era; On some early gigs, he only used the Boss OS-2 Overdrive/Distortion, plugged into the Pete Cornish Line Selector and running into the amps.

Wolstenholme equiped his basses with Elites 40-100 stainless steel strings.[2]

Basses

Amps

Pedalboard

References

  1. ↑ https://www.mixonline.com/live-sound/all-access-muse-367983
  2. ↑ 2002 Bass Guitar Magazine Interview

See also

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