January 9, 2017

Ampeg Had the Sound Aden Bubeck is After

Though he grew up in a small town in Texas, Aden Bubeck is anything but shy. A powerhouse player who’s equally at home on upright or electric, Bubeck’s driving bass lines and fiery performance marks an unmistakable presence onstage with country superstar Miranda Lambert. And Bubeck is far from one-dimensional— his touring credits include artists as diverse and eclectic as Carrie Underwood, John Fogerty, Kelly Clarkson, Butch Trucks, Tex Beneke, and Billy Gibbons, to name just a few.

“I started playing bass in high school, to impress a girl,” he reveals. “I was a trombone player, a total band geek, and then I discovered it was a whole lot easier to get gigs as a bass player.” A self-described fan of old-school tone, Bubeck has long relied on Ampeg to deliver the sound he’s after.

“I had played different amps starting out, and I wanted something that would give me that big, girthy sound,” he recounts. “All my heroes were playing Ampeg —Duck Dunn, Will Lee, James Jamerson. It wasn’t until I started playing Ampeg that I was happy about my sound.”

Bubeck reminisces fondly about his first Ampeg rig. “It was an SVT-3PRO with an old PR-212 cabinet. It really was the perfect rig, with the EQ that I could turn off and on depending on whether I was playing upright or electric. I played that setup on a gig for about four years, until I started playing with Miranda and stepped up to a bigger SVT rig. I sold it to the guy who replaced me in that band, and that rig is still going strong; it’s been over 15 years.”

Onstage with Miranda, it’s a full-on SVT-VR system with dual SVT-810AV cabinets for that big, powerful sound. “My tone is definitely heavy on the bass side, a bit of a bump in the low mids, very girthy and aggressive — not your typical country bass tone,” he observes.

Between tours, Bubeck’s go-to favorite is the Ampeg combo. “It’s got the best upright bass sound of any amp out there,” he enthuses. “It’s what I use for local gigs when I’m in town. I play jazz and rockabilly, and it’s perfect for that. I love the tilt back design — it’s great onstage.”

Whether he’s playing upright or electric, whether it’s country, jazz, rock, or rockabilly, Ampeg has the sound Bubeck is looking for. “I always consider Ampeg kind of like a muscle car — they’re powerful, big sounding, and full. It’s that classic ‘60s sound that I love, and Ampeg nails it every time.”