'Bass is the lead instrument in the kind of music we play," says Geoff Kresge, whose fantastic slap chops and keen rhythmic sense drive Tiger Army's psychobilly sound on the band's new Hellcat release, III: Ghost Tigers Rise. "With the bass's percussive slap and solid low-end foundation, the drums can't deviate much without making it sound like a train wreck. The kick pattern is there to reinforce what the bass is playing, but I'll often play slap patterns to accent drum fills." Geoff generally plays a little ahead of the beat, but when working on the new album, he experimented with laying back more. "Laying back lends a cool feel to certain songs. It surprised me how dramatically it could affect the song's mood."
Tiger Army's guitarist and vocalist, Nick 13, writes most of the band's material, sometimes complete with bass lines-but Geoff feels free to change lines as he sees fit. "I'd say my live playing is very spontaneous. Slapping patterns and fills are all feel-based, so I tend to change things up on the fly. The energy coming off the crowd makes me feel confident enough to try new things. If I stumble across a particular line or fill I think is cool, I'll try to do it night-to-night, and I often incorporate those kinds of things into new songs." Kresge, who played electric bass with punk outfit AFI until 1997, joined Tiger Army in 2000. A self-taught player, Geoff modeled his rockabilly-rooted technique after Bill Black's playing with Elvis Presley, and he honed his skills by checking out other players in the Oakland, California rockabilly and western swing scene. "It seemed like every player had their own spin on slapping, and I just developed my own."
Geoff compares his right-hand technique to pulling back on an archery bow. "I pull a little away from myself, out from the bass. The first note you hear is the sound of the string slapping back against the fingerboard. Then, the more percussive part is fingers slapping the string against the fingerboard. When you are recording with a room mic, you can get some tonal variations depending on where you're slapping, but it doesn't really matter with the transducer."
Since Geoff's slapping forms the core of Tiger Army's sound, he makes sure it comes across live. His K& RB transducer system sends two separate signals from his bass to a K& Quantum Blender
preamp: his primary bass tone from a bridge-mounted transducer, and his slap sound from a fingerboard-mounted transducer. Geoff sends his slap sound to an Ampeg SVT-3PRO head and then on to the monitors and front-of-house. His fundamental bass tone comes through an Ampeg SVT-4PRO powering two 8x10 Classic enclosures. "On the 3PRO slap channel, it's all just high-end attack, with the mids and lows dropped right out. For my 4PRO bass tone, I cut all the highs. I boost the lower midrange to get a tight, punchy bottom end, and I cut the upper midrange to avoid feedback problems."
Kresge's new custom King Doublebass Road King has a thin neck with rounded fingerboard edges. To maintain the bass on the road, Kresge periodically tightens the screws on the tuning machines and makes sure his bridge is properly set. "Pounding the bass like I do, the bridge can shift a few degrees." While he likes low action for his right hand, Geoff prefers higher action for his left hand. "With the new bass, we experimented with the neck angle, and for this trial run, I'm really happy with the results."
Kresge's focus on upright has changed his electric playing. "I used to be pretty busy, and I played with a pick-but now I tend to play with my fingers, and I don't go for insanely fast figures anymore. It's more tasteful now." Nonetheless, Geoff is still inspired by electric bassists like Gene Simmons of Kiss and the late Arthur Kane of the New York Dolls. "The way their bass lines have their own little melodies under the vocal translates well to upright. And I'm at a place in my skill level where I can actually transfer some of those faster electric lines to upright."
-Brian Fox