Three of my basses have a one-of-a-kind custom pickguard made by Alper from @alperiouspickguard.

Three of my basses have a one-of-a-kind custom pickguard made by Alper from @alperiouspickguard. I couldn’t be happier with how they have turned out. These pickguards help to transform each bass into a unique work of art. Alper is currently crafting a pickguard for my brand new @fender Precision 5-string bass. I look forward to posting the unboxing when it arrives. I can’t wait to show it off!

Depending on perspective, this is a great era for independent musicians and artists to shine — those who can make recordings and videos without a big team.

Depending on perspective, this is a great era for independent musicians and artists to shine — those who can make recordings and videos without a big team. I’m so proud of all of the projects I work with for keeping up the momentum and finding new ways work and collaborate when everything felt so futile.

Photo capture from video by @red_hareimages

This bass is named “Elvis” because of its classic tone and flashy gold-star theme.

This bass is named “Elvis” because of its classic tone and flashy gold-star theme. It’s an Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray 5HH with a custom-made @alperiouspickguard. It’s different than most of my other fretted basses in that I keep it loaded with Dunlop Flatwounds so that I can get that fundimental thump that you can only get when using flatwound strings. Stingray basses lend themselves to flatwounds very well — thunderous tone and the string tension is just right. I use this bass for playing Latin, funk, disco, as well as lot of current stuff and original music. I love that Flatwounds have come back into the spotlight in pop and alternative music recently.

It felt so good to be on stage in front of a live audience again with my bandfam in @gloria_estefan_tribute.

It felt so good to be on stage in front of a live audience again with my bandfam in @gloria_estefan_tribute. Given the current pandemic restrictions, the live audience was separated into pods and limited to a few hundred (it’s usually several thousand for this show). However, the City of Buena Park live-streamed the show on their Facebook page and YouTube channel. The band members were spaced much farther apart than usual, and any band members not singing wore masks. It’s gonna take a while for me to get used to the new normal, but it’s worth it in order to protect loved ones and still get to perform live shows.