Artist Spotlight :: Andy Svec

Bio

Andy Svec is a professional bassist based in Las Vegas. He is a former US Navy musician and spent many years serving throughout Asia and the Pacific, including Guam, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines and through the South Pacific, playing in elite rock, jazz, and funk bands. He has shared the stage with many major performers and is currently the bassist for up-and-coming country artist Dez Hoston and the Longwood Band.

What/Who inspired you to pick up your instrument?

I've been asked this a lot, and my answer is always Danny Bonaduce! We all know he didn't really play the bass, but growing up in the 70s and feeling a bit out of place as a young school music student he made it seem cool to be the bassist when watching the Partridge Family! Of course once I started playing I discovered Jaco, Geddy, Marcus, Flea, etc! These days Federico Malaman and Vincen Garcia keep me motivated to practice!

What piece of musical advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time to the beginning of your musical journey?

I've taken many lessons from different players through the years, if I could do it again I would try to take even more lessons from more players. Everyone has their way of teaching, it's impossible not to learn something from another bassist. I've been in situations where I was already working and still taking lessons when my peers would ask why would you still be taking lessons? I believe you can never stop learning, there's still so much I want to master on bass and time is running out!

What keeps you excited about playing?

As I've matured I've been lucky enough to be able to get into bigger gigs/venues, it's more stressful but more gratifying in the end. I want to keep gigging until I get on the biggest stages I can, there's nothing like the rush of the big gigs I can only imagine what it's like once getting to the next step!

Desert Island 3 pedal pedalboard (not including tuner)

Ha, I've done this recently! I've had tons of pedals/different pedalboards for different bands. I've now realized all I need is just a Noble preamp, Origin Effects compressor, and Shure GLXD16 wireless/tuner (or swap that out with a pedal tuner if not going wireless)

When you find yourself in a musical rut, what techniques do you do to break out of it?

I remember reading a Will Lee article in Bass Player years ago stating that when he was in a musical rut his best advice was to completely take a break from playing for a while and come back to it, I've done that many times through the years and finds it really works and helps to get everything back in order, like a bass fasting!

Who is your favorite artist/band today? And who was your favorite artist/band 10 years ago?

I stated earlier that bassists Federico Malaman and Vincen Garcia really inspire me these days, I've done a few vids of me doing a transcription of something of theirs in the past, it's gratifying when I can get it under my fingers. 10 years ago I was in a band doing lots of RHCP and 311, Flea and Pnut are amazing bassists and still inspire me today!

When you find yourself in a music store - what is your go-to riff when test drive gear?

Ha, I never know what to play when test driving something at NAMM or at a music store! My go to is always the break down to RHCP Aeroplane, then the Jaco two octave arpeggios from his video, maybe some Rush lines, ha!

What is your most prized/charished piece of gear? And why?

I have a Jaco custom shop fretless that I'll probably never be able to master playing it but still inspires me every time I pick it up and couldn't bear to sell it. But I own a Modulus Q5 that I bought new in 1992 that has done thousands of gigs all over the world with me and is still one of my favorites to gig, we've been through a lot together and I'll never sell it!

What is the next big musical purchase you're hoping to save for?

I've been looking at the new Modulus gear, and also the new Mayones basses, but I'm pretty happy with everything I have right now which is rare for any bassist. I've been using Gallien Krueger amps and cabs for years and love all the ones I have now. My pedal game is on point, maybe I just need a few more Rattlesnake Cables and I'd be set!

Gear Breakdown

After I got out of the military music program I owned a music store on the island of Guam for many years, as a dealer of all major brands I had access to all the best cables and never found anything that could stand up to long term gigging without giving out. I had gone by the Rattlesnake Booth at NAMM in the past and contacted Hank when I moved to LV as I couldn't take any chances on failure with the big stages. I found the Rattlesnake cables superior to anything I've used before, I have enough to run wired now on a big stages and he even custom made me one for my Shure wireless GLX.

Bands / Projects

Since moving to Las Vegas Andy has performed in a myriad of acts from a Neil Diamond tribute to rock trios. His current band is up and coming country recording artist Dez Hoston and the Longwood Band performing all over the Las Vegas strip and Fremont St stages and outer cities such as Laughlin NV and Lake Havasu AZ. Andy also subs with other Las Vegas acts on the LV strip.

Social Links

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All you need to do is contact us and we'll direct you to our submission form. If your submission is approved, it will be in the queue to be showcased!