Bootsy Collins

Used with Parliament and Funkadelic, as mentioned by Collins in this excerpt from a 1979 Guitar Player interview as transcribed TalkBass here and here from a reprint in Bass Heroes: Styles, Stories & Secrets of 30 Great Bass Players.

What kind of amps do you use in your setup?

The entire system is divided into three different parts - high, mid, and low. But we're not just talking about amplification, we're talking about the effects in each part. On my highs I use a Big Muff fuzz, a Mu-tron III [envelope-following filter], an MXR digital delay, a Morley Fuzz/Wah, a Morley Power Wah, and an Eventide Harmonizer. The Harmonizer sits in a case that looks like R2D2 from Star Wars. It looks just like a little robot, so I call it R2FunkU. There's a sign hanging on it that says, "Can I Play?" Inside of it, there's also a keyboard for the Harmonizer that enables me to preset harmonized intervals to what I'm playing. That way I can play a note and have a fifth or a third coming out at the same time.

All of that equipment just for the highs?

Right. For the mids, I have a Big Muff fuzz, a Mu-tron III, and an MXR digital delay. On the lows, I use a Mu-tron Octave Divider, two Roland Space Echos, a Big Muff fuzz, and a Mu-tron III. I keep all my effects in one box called the Space Case. The highs and mids each have an Alembic preamp, two Crown DC-300A amps, and four Cerwin-Vega speaker cabinets.

What's in each cabinet?

The cabinets used for the highs are called V-32s. They have two 12s, one midrange horn, and two tweeters. The midrange cabinets are basically the same, except there's one 15" speaker instead of two 12s. Those are called V-34s. On the bottom end are three Acoustic 370 heads and six Cerwin-Vega cabinets. Two have one 18" speaker and one 12", two more have an 18 and a 10, and two have one 18" and an 8.

Isn't that a lot of equipment for onstage?

I don't play it that loud. I've just got it there so that I don't have to strain the equipment and everybody can hear. As a matter of fact, the whole stage is set up like that. The guitar player, the keyboard player, everybody is set up like that so there is no real strain.

Mentioned in this 2007 Guitar Center interview and listed in this November 1, 2010 Bass Player interview.

Guitar Center

I have a certain setting for each amp and output from the bass. It's pretty simple but hard to explain... Hughes and Kettner amps is what I use for recording and also on the road. But on the road I need some additional power for which I add Alembic pre-amps and two Crown Macro Tech 5000 and two Macro Tech 3600's...that's the Bootzilla monster sound.

Bass Player

STUDIO GEAR

Bass Warwick Bootsy Collins Infinity Signature Bass

Rig SWR Mo’Bass, Hughes & Kettner BassBase 600, Warwick Hellborg preamps and power amps, four custom-made 4x15 cabinets with Electro-Voice speakers

Effects Electro-Harmonix Bass Micro Synthesizer, Musitronics Mu-Tron III, Gig-FX SubWah, MXR Bass Envelope Filter, Chunk Systems Octavius Squeezer, Akai SB-1 Deep Impact, MXR Bass Blowtorch, ModTone Extreme Metal, Boss RE-20 Space Echo. “I used all these pedals on the new record, although I never use a single pedal by itself. I always use a combination of pedals in order to create my own unique sounds,” says Bootsy.

STAGE GEAR

Basses Space Bass, custom F Bass

Rig Alembic F2B preamp, two Crown Micro 5000 power amps, two Crown Micro 3600 power amps, eight custom-made cabinets with Electro-Voice speakers: two 4x18s, two 4x15s, and four 8x10s

Effects, Alembic Super Filter, Roland Space Echo, MXR Digital Delay, Pro Co Rat II, Electro- Harmonix Big Muff distortion, DOD Thrash, DigiTech Grunge, DigiTech Whammy Pedal, Boss BF-3 Flanger, DOD Envelope, two Mu-Tron IIIs, Electro-Harmonix Bass Micro Synthesizer