Blink-182 drummer and pop punk production whizz Travis Barker is the latest subject of Reverb's ongoing My Career Through Gear video series, and while chatting with the online retailer, has revealed that he is come to rely on a bass gifted to him by none other than Green Day’s Mike Dirnt in almost every session he’s produced.
Barker built his Waiting Studio to provide a one-stop shop for all of the band's needs; they can record albums, rehearse for tours, shoot videos, play basketball, and ride BMXs all under one roof.
But the fun isn't just for his band: everyone from Willow, Machine Gun Kelly, and Avril Lavigne has recorded with Barker, and there's one bass guitar that is used on virtually every track he works on, despite the fact it’s not been seen much for over 20 years.
“It’s called the star bass,” he says, admitting that it has “a pretty generic name”. But comes from far less generic circumstances.
As Barker explains in Reverb’s clip, it dates back to Blink-182’s 2002 Pop Disaster tour, which they co-headlined with Green Day, supported by the likes of Jimmy Eat World and Simple Plan.
“Me, Mike [Dirnt, bass], and Billy Joe [Amstrong, guitar] from Green Day would jam all the time,” Barker relays.
“At the end of the tour Mike was like, ‘Dude, I want to give you this bass!’ It was so cool. Who knew it was going to be something that's used every day in the studio?
“I gave him a snare drum in return. Anything – besides pretty much a Blink album because Mark has so many basses that he's really in love with – was recorded with this bass.”
So what makes the bass so special?
“We've only changed the strings one time and we go to it ‘case it's kind of dead-sounding, in a great way,” he reveals. “It doesn't poke through too much, it's not too bright.”
One of Tom DeLonge's signature Gibson ES-335 models, with its striking brown and cream colorway, is his go-to recording guitar – although it like has its strings changed at least a little more often.
“I’ve had it [since] forever, since when these came [in 2006], out he gave me it. I've used it on a bunch of stuff,” he smiles. It doesn’t look like he’s been gifted one of DeLonge’s standout Fender Starcaster guitars, though. Perhaps he’ll have to wait until Christmas...
It's dead-sounding, in a great way. It doesn't poke through too much, it's not too bright
Travis Barker
Over in the Blink gear camp, last year Tom DeLonge revived a super-rare prototype that predates the original Fender Tom DeLonge signature Stratocaster.
While on the bass front, there has been some Fender love for Mark Hoppus too, who has combined Jaguar, Precision, and Jazz Bass parts on his new Fender signature model.
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