Bass Player Bob Glaub

Interview Excerpt

Since the 70’s Bob Glaub has been a first-call bass player for superstars such as Stevie Nicks, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Don Henley, John Fogerty, Bruce Springsteen and many more. Currently on tour with the legendary Crosby, Stills and Nash, Bob gives us the benefit of his thirty-plus years of experience on the road.

How much rehearsal time do you usually get before you go on tour?

That varies according to the act that you’re playing with. For this tour with CSN, we had six days of rehearsal booked, one of those were cancelled, and we didn’t rehearse all that much on the remaining days, to be honest. Steven, Graham and David have been together for forty-one years now so they know their material and just want to get the tour going. The first couple of gigs are almost like dress rehearsals.

That being said, a friend of mine in a fairly big band just finished rehearsing for a month before they left on tour, so it’s all different.

Have you been out with CSN before?

Yeah, I worked with them in ‘87 and ’88 when I did a couple of tours and a couple of albums with them. One was with Crosby, Stills and Nash and the other was Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. I toured with them last year too.

What are you talking on the road with you gear-wise?

I’ve got two new matching Ampeg SVT-VR’s, which is a reissue of the old SVT’s. The cabinets I’m using are the four by ten model (SVT-410HLF) that are like a half of a standard  8 x 10 SVT cabinet. One of those is a spare that’s set up next to the one I use, so I have them both on stage.

Is that what you usually take on the road?

You know, I’ve used a lot of different gear over the years. This is kind of new setup. I got them last year and I’m using them again this year and I’m really happy with them. The reissues sound pretty close to the old ones. I haven’t had an opportunity to do a direct A/B comparison, but they sound pretty darn good.

I like vintage gear, but I don’t take vintage amps on the road. I have friends who are “vintage snobs,” that would never take anything other than the original item, but I don’t find the need to go find a vintage SVT right now.

How about your bases?

Bass-wise it’s pretty simple on this tour. It’s always different with different people that I play with. I just use the ones that I think will sound good for the particular type of music I’m playing. With this band I’m using three Fender Precision basses; a 1959 P-bass, a 1965 P-bass and a 1961 model that I hotrodded in the 70’s with active pickups. I also have one Lakeland bass which, until recently, was my signature model with that company. It’s basically a really nice P-bass copy. I have a couple of bass ukulele's (bukulele’s) which is a new instrument made by Kohala Ukulele Company. Those are cool. I’ve also got a little acoustic guitar and a bukulele for my hotel room.

Aren’t you worried about taking expensive vintage basses on the road with you?

It does worry me a little bit. I used to be more worried about taking my instruments on the road than I am now. A couple of basses have been sitting in their cases for almost twenty years so it’s kind of fun to be playing them again. They were made to be played and I’m happy to be playing them so it’s kind of cool to have them with me. I get the “What if’s” every now about what could happen, but I don’t let that bog me down too much.