Nashville, TN – October 2014… Dennis Crouch, one of Nashville’s most in-demand upright bass players, has added Ampeg’s new BA Series Bass Combos to his arsenal for both live performances and studio sessions.
One of Nashville’s top-call upright bassists, Crouch has held down the bottom end for music legends across a staggeringly wide range of musical genres, from T-Bone Burnett, Vince Gill, Gregg Allman, and Willie Nelson to Elvis Costello, Elton John, Diana Krall, Alison Krauss, and Robert Plant, to name just a few.
Having taken up the upright bass at the tender age of 8 years old, Crouch has spent most of his life developing a sound and tone that’s uniquely his own. And he’s the first to point out that Ampeg has long been a part of that sound. “I’ve been using the SVT for most of my musical career,” he observes. “All I can say is, Ampeg isn’t broken, so why fix it? Nothing else gets me that sound.”
Recently, Crouch has discovered the new Ampeg BA Series as a perfect solution for delivering his signature sound in more intimate gigs, “I went out with Elvis Costello and used the BA-210,” he says. “It’s a tough space, acoustically — it’s literally a bowl. But that little amp sat perfectly in the mix.”
With such a low profile, Crouch admits to a bit of trepidation at first. “I’m very accustomed to the SVT sound and my 8×10 cabinet,” he explains. “The last time I used a 15 inch speaker was when I was out with Elton (John) and Leon (Russell) on their reunion tour. But as soon as I plugged it in and heard it, I was convinced. It was really reminiscent of the old Ampeg Flip-Tops, and at half the weight.”
The BA Series is a great solution for delivering the Ampeg sound Crouch depends on. “It’s the clean, natural sound I’m after,” he says. “The bass already has its sound — it’s just a matter of getting that sound through a speaker. If someone tries to give me a DI line, I’ll usually try and convince them to just use my Ampeg, because it sounds so much better.”
Crouch says the BA Series’ tone has caught the attention of several engineers at recent gigs. “I’ve taken it out to live gigs and at the end of the night, the FOH guys get up on stage with their flashlights, looking at this thing. They are really into it, they are loving it. It makes their job easy, too.”
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About Ampeg – Ampeg, a LOUD Technologies Inc. brand has produced some of the music industry’s most innovative and memorable products over the past six decades, satisfying the needs of musicians on stages and in studios all over the world. Ampeg products offer incredibly unique features and performance capabilities, which have resulted in numerous U.S. patents under the Ampeg brand name. For more information visit www.ampeg.com.
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