Partners

RHEINGOLD MUSIC

The German company “Rheingold Music” is a manufacturer of handmade tube bass amplifiers, bass cabinets, stomp boxes and high quality cables. We have been friends since the Weidner family started the company in 2009 and I started using their cables around that time because I simply love the quality of sound and the fact that the original characteristics of an instrument are transferred with no loss and no colouring of the sound.

In 2017, when I became a full-time member of the Henrik Freischlader Band, my back then amplification setup did not seem to be the right fit anymore for the sound I wanted to hear in the music. So, it was obvious to finally switch to using Rheingold Music amps and cabinets. What I said about the cables also goes for the amplifiers and cabs: never before in my life I was able to hear that clearly and honestly what I am playing, so the Rheingold-rig became my constant companion and I ain´t planing on changing that.

Additionally to the “B100” tube amplifier, in early 2024 I added the new “Aurum” class-d amplifier, which you can see in the picture, to my setup. To me it really is the first class-d amp which sounds really amazing, and at the same time has the stability which is crucial for long tours!!!

 Basically, you can hear the Rheingold sound in any recording or live show I have done since 2017.

SADOWSKY BASSES

My main bass these days is a wonderful Sadowsky „Metroline“ 5-string J-bass.

Obviously I have always been an admirer of Roger Sadowsky´s craftsmanship and art of building unique instruments of the highest quality. In the Summer of 2022, I became very curious when I found out that the „Metroline“ series is now being hand-built by Warwick in Markneukirchen, Germany. After having played 4-string P-basses as my main basses since 2017, I wanted to go back to J-style and 5-string for a change. By all I had heard about the new „Metroline“ series, I felt it would be exactly what I was looking for.

Luckily, Mr. Hans Peter Wilfer and his son Nicolas agreed to my request of a cooperation – my bass arrived in March of 2023, and it turned out that my guts were right about it:

Killing sound, spotless workmanship all along the way, a very stable neck, and the low B-string is off the chain. For me, this instrument is the best 5 string bass I ever layed my hands on, and the perfect all-around bass, which easily works in any musical setting, on stage and in the studio.

You can check it out in the video of the “WDR Rockpalast” performance with Henrik Freischlader. I also played it on the new Henrik Freischlader Band studio album, which will be released some time in late 2024.

HÖFNER VIOLIN BASS

Back in 1992, the first bass I ever really played on was put together of a Höfner-neck and electronics, and a piece of plywood for the body. You can see a picture of it on the „Welcome“ page.

So it is quite a beautiful full-circle moment, to be cooperating with Höfner somewhat 30 years later.

Although I never was much of a „Beatles“ fan, I was always fascinated by the Höfner violin bass. In the fall of 2022, when we recorded the Henrik Freischlader Studio Live Session at the Little Big Beat Studios in Liechtenstein, there was a violin bass in the backstage room. I played it a lot those two days and I loved the feel and sound of it.

So I decided to contact Mr. Thomas Jordan at Höfner, whom I got to know through our mutual friend Michael „Kosho“ Koschorreck some years earlier.

Once again to my delight, Thomas agreed to cooperate with me, and sent me this beautiful violin bass, which was hand-built in Baiersdorf, Germany.

It is very suitable for someone like me, who has fairly little hands. It feels and sounds great, and is just fun to play.

I use it when I want to go for a flatwound-sound and an old-school vibe. It also works great when resembling a double bass sound, in absence of a double bass!

RAMSAY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

This wonderful fretless bass goes by the name of “Hummingbird” and was custom made for me in 2014 by English master luthier Mark Ramsay.

I had met Mark while working at Musikmesse Frankfurt for Kala Ubass and I could not believe the beauty and quality of his instruments. As Mark is also a great guy and we got along really well, it was only a question of time. The “Hummingbird” happened to be the first fretless bass in my life, and still love it very much and play it with pleasure. It sounds as beautiful as it looks like.

Most recent recording is the “Damir Imamović & Royal Street Orchestra” single “Mošćanice, vodo plemenita”. It also was my instrument of choice for the third, upcoming Royal Street Orchestra album “netamorphose”, which will be released in late Summer of 2024.

RF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS CONTRABASSO

I met the Italian master luthier and bassist Roberto Francheschini many years ago while on tour in Italy with Henrik Freischlader. I was immediately impressed by the instruments he is building. It felt to me that every instrument has a soul of its own.

The „Contrabasso“ caught my attention especially, since I was searching for a great sounding and yet affordable double bass. At over 40 years of age, and over 30 years of playing all kinds of electric basses, I felt like it was finally time to embark on the double bass journey. Roberto´s approach, the playability and the sound of the instrument, both bowed and played pizzicato, answered all the questions I had, so we easily agreed to work together.

My „Contrabasso“ was finished in April of 2022, and me going to Italy to pick it up was my first after-Covid international travel.

Since then I am playing it and working on it as much as my schedule allows it… Chances are that I will dare to play it in public some time in 2024!!!

ELIXIR STRINGS

For many years now I have been playing Elixir Strings only, for three very simple reasons:

They provide a tonal presence and clarity like no other bass string on the market does, my sound, even on a very long tour, stays the same forever, and they hardly ever break!  I use “Nickel” sets of different strengths, depending on the instrument and the musical situation.

In the video section you can find some video workshops which I did for Elixir Strings in German language a while ago.

KLOPPMANN PICKUPS

My P-bass by K.Bass / Knut Reiter is loaded with “Kloppmann Electrics P63 aged” pickups.

If we are talking about old-school P-bass sound, there is no better pickups in my opinion. Andreas Kloppmann is a real expert within the field of guitar- and bass-pickups, and any kind of guitar electrics.

Andreas and his son David were also very kind to build a custom pickup for my “RMI Hummingbird” fretless bass – you can see it on the picture above. With the pickup which the bass was loaded with before, I always felt that it did not exactly transcend the beauty of the instrument. Andreas and David made me very happy by achieving just that.

 I am very grateful for our cooperation, exchange and friendship.

Andreas was one of the guests in the first season of my “Talking Spirits Podcast”. Very interesting episode for all German speakers!

PETERSON STROBE TUNERS

Unmatched precision combined with many different sweetener presets for different instruments and an amazing visibility on any stage make the “Strobo Stomp HD” my tuner of choice. I also use the “Strobo Clip HD” at home, in the backstage room, or for the double bass!There is as well a highly practical app version which you can use on your phone!

HEYDAY STUDIO – ANDREAS HERR

For almost 20 years now Andreas Herr´s Heyday Studio in Wuppertal, Germany, is my studio of choice for any project I am not doing in my home studio.

Andreas is a masterful recording and mixing engineer, and over the years we have cooperated on countless projects, some of which you can listen to in the “Discography” section. Andreas is a great guy with amazing ears and great taste, always lots of fun to work with, and always willing to look for quick solutions to problems which can occur in any kind of audio production.

Whenever someone asks me to recommend a studio for their project, the Heyday Studio is always the first name I will suggest!

PLANET K – KULTUR FÜR ALLE e.V.

The association “Planet K – Kultur für alle e.V.” was founded in 2013 in Wuppertal, Germany by German drummer, music educator and networker Björn Krüger, along with myself and some more musicians and like minded people.

Planet K´s aim is to enable and facilitate access to culture and cultural participation for everyone, and especially so for people who do not actually have it. In this function, we are, among many other things, organising cultural events like festivals, concerts, workshops, and are also a network accessible to everyone interested, in order to strengthen the local music and culture scenes in and around our hometown Wuppertal, Germany.

For the last couple years, Planet K is also a local base in our area for “create music NRW”, a government funded institution with the goal of supporting and enabling the young pop music scene.

CREATE MUSIC NRW

“create music NRW” is a fairly new, government funded institution, initiated in order to support and enable the young pop music scene in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Since January of 2021, our association “Planet K – Kultur für alle e.V.” is in charge of the local “create music NRW” base for the Wuppertal area, and it is a huge pleasure and lots of fun to me to be a part of it.

“create music NRW” offers project funding to young musicians and bands, as well as to event organisers, and is serving as a network to connect young musicians from all of NRW.

What we do locally is providing support to musicians and event organisers by helping them with their funding applications, by organising real life and online workshops with experienced musicians and experts from the music industry, and by being open to sharing advice based on our experience in the music business.

In 2021 I have also, in cooperation with “Planet K” and “create music NRW” produced two seasons of the video talk show “Show Them What You Are Made Of”, where I introduce young musicians and bands to the public, and have conversations with already established musicians and other experts working in the music industry.

Additional pictures on this page by Mark Ramsay, Andreas Kloppmann and Andreas Herr – Logos courtesy of “Planet K” and “create music NRW”