Colin Edwin

When I started my hunt for a good fretless bass, I had already been playing a fretted Wal for a couple of years, a solid ash model, originally made for my bass playing friend Martin Elliott. At the time, I was looking to replace a cheap and cheerful Westone Thunder 1A fretless with something a bit more serious. I opted for another Wal for two main reasons, one being that I was already comfortable with the string spacing and fretboard feel, so making the leap to playing fretless was, I reasoned, sure to be less problematic, and secondly, I was confident that in choosing another Wal I could be sure the craftsmanship and materials would mean I was going to find another really great instrument.

Wal basses have become very sought after in recent years, but at the time, a secondhand Wal could be found fairly regularly in the pages of Loot (…now replaced by Ebay and the like) for somewhere around the £400 - £500 mark, which seems amazing today given the prices they go for.

Made in 1984 at Electric Wood in the UK, my Wal fretless has a Brazillian Mahogany Core with American Cherry wood facings and an Indian Ebony fretboard.

In an interview with MusicPlayers, Colin Edwin, bassist for Porcupine Tree, discusses using the EBS TD660 bass amplifier head, highlighting its value in achieving superior sound quality without excessive spending.

Colin mentioned using this pedal in a few interviews. Notably he mentions it in this 2007 Interview with bassplayer.com:

https://web.archive.org/web/20080517032231/http://www.bassplayer.com/article/colin-edwin-riding/sep-07/31497

This pedal is also mentioned in this interview:

https://ebssweden.com/content2/interview-with-porcupine-trees-bass-player-colin-edwin/

I’ve been using the following pedals through the Gigrig system: Valvedrive, Multicomp, UniChorus, Multidrive, Tremolo, Octabass, BassIQ, and a Boss tuner. I’ve also just got a D-phaser which you’ll be hearing more of too. All this goes into a TD650 Head and two Neodymium 4 x 10″ speaker cabs.

Colin Edwin is noted for using a Spector NS-4H2 Fretless bass, as confirmed by the official Spector website.

There are multiple sources¹ that confirm that Colin uses Basslab Soul basses. The official basslab website also features Colin's playing as a sound sample for Soul-IV.

- http://www.colinedwin.co.uk/ - https://web.archive.org/web/20080517032231/http://www.bassplayer.com/article/colin-edwin-riding/sep-07/31497 - http://colinedwin.blogspot.com/2012/05/recent-stuff.html - https://basslab.de/sounds-more-bass/

Colin mentioned using this pedal in a few interviews. Noteably he mentions it in this 2007 Interview with bassplayer.com:

https://web.archive.org/web/20080517032231/http://www.bassplayer.com/article/colin-edwin-riding/sep-07/31497

This pedal is also mentioned in this interview:

https://ebssweden.com/content2/interview-with-porcupine-trees-bass-player-colin-edwin/

I’ve been using the following pedals through the Gigrig system: Valvedrive, Multicomp, UniChorus, Multidrive, Tremolo, Octabass, BassIQ, and a Boss tuner. I’ve also just got a D-phaser which you’ll be hearing more of too. All this goes into a TD650 Head and two Neodymium 4 x 10″ speaker cabs.

Colin mentioned using this pedal in a few interviews. Noteably he mentions it in this 2007 Interview with bassplayer.com:

https://web.archive.org/web/20080517032231/http://www.bassplayer.com/article/colin-edwin-riding/sep-07/31497

This pedal is also mentioned in this interview:

https://ebssweden.com/content2/interview-with-porcupine-trees-bass-player-colin-edwin/

I’ve been using the following pedals through the Gigrig system: Valvedrive, Multicomp, UniChorus, Multidrive, Tremolo, Octabass, BassIQ, and a Boss tuner. I’ve also just got a D-phaser which you’ll be hearing more of too. All this goes into a TD650 Head and two Neodymium 4 x 10″ speaker cabs.

Colin mentioned using this pedal in this interview:

https://ebssweden.com/content2/interview-with-porcupine-trees-bass-player-colin-edwin/

And in this 2013 bass musician interview:

https://bassmusicianmagazine.com/2013/04/colin-edwin-bass-musician-magazine-qa/

I’ve been using the following pedals through the Gigrig system: Valvedrive, Multicomp, UniChorus, Multidrive, Tremolo, Octabass, BassIQ, and a Boss tuner. I’ve also just got a D-phaser which you’ll be hearing more of too. All this goes into a TD650 Head and two Neodymium 4 x 10″ speaker cabs.

Colin Edwin uses a natural 2001 Spector (Czech) electric bass, as shown in a user-uploaded photo on Imgur.

Colin Edwin used this bass during Porcupine Tree's Fear of a Blank Planet tour in 2008.

Featured on Sontronics' official "Famous Users" page.

"I've been a very happy user of a pair of Sontronics HELIOS microphones for quite a few years, getting great results recording all kinds of things from tablas to trumpets.

"I decided to get hold of another good microphone versatile enough to capture the sound of not only my acoustic basses but also some of the flutes, saxophones and weird and wonderful instruments (Laotian Khene for instance) that I often record. The Sontronics SATURN fits the bill absolutely.

"The results are detailed, clear and very true. I am knocked out with how well it captures the sound of my double bass.

"I find the polar pattern and filter options are incredibly useful, the build quality is fantastic and the eye-catching retro cool look is a very nice bonus on top of all that, and not forgetting the sturdy box it can travel in, which comes in very handy too.

"The SATURN has become the first microphone I reach for, no question!"

Featured on Sontronics' official "Famous Users" page.

"I've been a very happy user of a pair of Sontronics HELIOS microphones for quite a few years, getting great results recording all kinds of things from tablas to trumpets.

"I decided to get hold of another good microphone versatile enough to capture the sound of not only my acoustic basses but also some of the flutes, saxophones and weird and wonderful instruments (Laotian Khene for instance) that I often record. The Sontronics SATURN fits the bill absolutely.

"The results are detailed, clear and very true. I am knocked out with how well it captures the sound of my double bass.

"I find the polar pattern and filter options are incredibly useful, the build quality is fantastic and the eye-catching retro cool look is a very nice bonus on top of all that, and not forgetting the sturdy box it can travel in, which comes in very handy too.

"The SATURN has become the first microphone I reach for, no question!"

Featured on Edwin's official UnitedPlugins artist page.

FrontDAW is a super fast and easy way to add that all the important analogue flavour to the signal path in your DAW.

Featured on Edwin's official UnitedPlugins artist page.

It's a remarkably quick sonic tonic for when you need a little extra sparkle, definition and depth.... A great new addition to the "Fire" series.

Featured on Edwin's official UnitedPlugins artist page.

Yeah, the Firemaster is great.....super simple to use and great results!

Featured on Edwin's official UnitedPlugins artist page.

I really, really like the Verbum, it's a nice interface which encourages you to fiddle and experiment. In fact I've spent waaaaay too much time playing with it! For me it's another time hole.... processing Drum/percussion loops, pads, textures and ambient sounds and I'll find something new or inspiring quite easily.

Featured on Edwin's official UnitedPlugins artist page.

It's a fun interface to play with, and sounds great too!

Colin made a post about this bass in his blog in late may of 2011.

....been experimenting with this old Ovation Magnum II Bass. It's bascially a later, active version of the Magnum I which came out in the early 1970's... I was lucky enough to find a Magnum I a couple of years ago, as I became interested in the different possibities offered by the passive pickups, foam mute and heavy flatwound strings. It's an instrument well suited to deep, heavy basslines, and sounds quite different to any other bass I own, having an almost rubbery quality to the tone.....

Colin mentioned this pedal in his blog

I've recently become a heavy user of the EBS FuzzMo pedal, it got a serious workout during the sessions for the next Metallic Taste of Blood album.

I've found it very useful not only for distorted, brutal bass sounds, but also for making ambient, textural and lead sounds in conjunction with a delay and either an ebow or a volume pedal.

Link: http://colinedwin.blogspot.com/2014/03/ive-got-fuzzbox.html

Link to the Sound samples Colin recorded using this pedal on EBS blog page: https://ebssweden.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/new-samples-on-the-ebs-fuzzmo-by-porcupine-trees-colin-edwin/

Colin mentioned using this pedal in a few interviews. Notably he mentions it in this 2007 Interview with bassplayer.com:

https://web.archive.org/web/20080517032231/http://www.bassplayer.com/article/colin-edwin-riding/sep-07/31497

This pedal is also mentioned in this interview:

https://ebssweden.com/content2/interview-with-porcupine-trees-bass-player-colin-edwin/

I’ve been using the following pedals through the Gigrig system: Valvedrive, Multicomp, UniChorus, Multidrive, Tremolo, Octabass, BassIQ, and a Boss tuner. I’ve also just got a D-phaser which you’ll be hearing more of too. All this goes into a TD650 Head and two Neodymium 4 x 10″ speaker cabs.

Colin mentioned using this pedal in this interview:

https://ebssweden.com/content2/interview-with-porcupine-trees-bass-player-colin-edwin/

I’ve been using the following pedals through the Gigrig system: Valvedrive, Multicomp, UniChorus, Multidrive, Tremolo, Octabass, BassIQ, and a Boss tuner. I’ve also just got a D-phaser which you’ll be hearing more of too. All this goes into a TD650 Head and two Neodymium 4 x 10″ speaker cabs.

Colin mentioned using this pedal in this interview:

https://ebssweden.com/content2/interview-with-porcupine-trees-bass-player-colin-edwin/

I’ve been using the following pedals through the Gigrig system: Valvedrive, Multicomp, UniChorus, Multidrive, Tremolo, Octabass, BassIQ, and a Boss tuner. I’ve also just got a D-phaser which you’ll be hearing more of too. All this goes into a TD650 Head and two Neodymium 4 x 10″ speaker cabs.

Colin mentioned using this pedal in this interview:

https://ebssweden.com/content2/interview-with-porcupine-trees-bass-player-colin-edwin/

I’ve been using the following pedals through the Gigrig system: Valvedrive, Multicomp, UniChorus, Multidrive, Tremolo, Octabass, BassIQ, and a Boss tuner. I’ve also just got a D-phaser which you’ll be hearing more of too. All this goes into a TD650 Head and two Neodymium 4 x 10″ speaker cabs.

Colin mentioned using this pedal in this interview:

https://ebssweden.com/content2/interview-with-porcupine-trees-bass-player-colin-edwin/

I’ve been using the following pedals through the Gigrig system: Valvedrive, Multicomp, UniChorus, Multidrive, Tremolo, Octabass, BassIQ, and a Boss tuner. I’ve also just got a D-phaser which you’ll be hearing more of too. All this goes into a TD650 Head and two Neodymium 4 x 10″ speaker cabs.

It is a TU-2 (and not a TU-3) tuner based on the pedalboard image - there is no "press&hold" written under "Stream/cent" on the left upper corner of the pedal.

Even though Colin only mentions his boss tuner in this interview, in the pedalboard photo you can clearly see a boss harmonist positioned just to the right of the tuner.

Link: https://ebssweden.com/content2/interview-with-porcupine-trees-bass-player-colin-edwin/

This pedal is also mentioned on his wikipedia page (however the source listed for it doesn't seem to mention this pedal)

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Edwin

Colin mentioned using this pedal in this 2013 bass musician interview:

Link: https://bassmusicianmagazine.com/2013/04/colin-edwin-bass-musician-magazine-qa/

And in this interview:

Link: http://www.bassfrontiersmag.com/interview-with-colin-edwin

My Amps and Other Gear:

EBS Fafner II, with 4 x 10″ Neodymium Cabs, Gigrig Pro 14 switching system with a selection of EBS pedals: Multidrive, Octabass, DPhaser, Tremolo, Bass IQ, Unichorus, Valvedrive and Multicomp. I also use a Digitech Timebender, Boss SL-20 Slicer and more recently the Electro Harmonix Ravish Sitar.

I love the Digitech Timebender for delay, and I use a Boss RC-20 Looper sometimes, although I am now going the laptop route with looping, having just bought a Keith McMillen Softstep to use with Mainstage, which I use for Ex-Wise Heads gigs.

In this interview Colin mentions using this pedal:

http://www.bassfrontiersmag.com/interview-with-colin-edwin

I use a Gigrig Pro switching system for my effects, with a collection of EBS pedals: a Multidrive, an Octabass, a Multicomp, a Multichorus, a Dphaser, a Valvedrive. a BassIQ and a Tremolo. I also have an EBS MicroBass II which I use as a DI box and Amp simulator.

He also mentions using this pedal in this way in another interview:

http://www.fretlessbass.com/edwin-colin/

... The MicroBass II is a great bit of kit and very useful, I use it all the time in the studio and especially for fly in gigs where I am having to use whatever amp is available, I can be confident the out front guy is getting the sound I want him to have if I am having to use an unfamiliar set-up.

Colin mentions using this pedal in this interview:

http://www.fretlessbass.com/edwin-colin/

I like to experiment with ebow on fretless which is great for textural and ambient sound and I also have a quite a collection of more creative effects too, Earthquaker Devices Afterneath is great on fretless and I like to use an EHX SuperEgo and Ravish Sitar at times too.

Colin mentioned this bass in multiple interviews and in his blog and on his website

I first became aware of Rob Allen basses on a visit to the bass department of Rudy's in New York City some years ago. I was extremely close to laying out for a very nice four string version, when a moment of realisation struck me that, at that point, I simply didn't have the money. These basses are not mass produced so sometimes a little hard to find, and subsequent "cashed up" visits to Rudy's and also Bass Northwest, in Seattle (the only other place that seemed to stock them) left me with the choice of either five strings, lined fretboards or fretted versions, and not the unlined 4 string fretless that I was really after. Eventually, after some searching, I bought this five string second hand in the UK, and realising the rarity of them, I was happy to forego my usual preference for four strings. I have no idea why it never occurred to me to simply get one direct from the source….but in any case it's proved useful for me to have the low B on occasion.

http://colinedwin.blogspot.com/2015/05/basses-part-4-rob-allen-fretless.html http://www.colinedwin.co.uk/ http://www.fretlessbass.com/edwin-colin/ http://www.bassfrontiersmag.com/interview-with-colin-edwin https://bassmusicianmagazine.com/2013/04/colin-edwin-bass-musician-magazine-qa/

Colin mentions owning two fretted wal mk1 basses (and one fretless) in multiple interviews and on his blog and website

I am lucky enough to own three Wals, my most recent acquisition being another 80's era fretted which was previously owned by Jack Monck and given a thorough working out on The Incident tour and album with Porcupine Tree.

https://web.archive.org/web/20080517032231/http://www.bassplayer.com/article/colin-edwin-riding/sep-07/31497

http://www.fretlessbass.com/edwin-colin/

http://www.colinedwin.co.uk/

http://colinedwin.blogspot.com/search/label/Wal