Rig Rundown with Oliver McEwan

We met up with the bass player and musical director Oliver McEwan during soundcheck at Voxhall (Aarhus, DK), where he showed us his set-up and shared his thoughts about how he gets his bass to sound the best. Oliver is one of the busiest bass players in Denmark, playing with top acts like Medina, Mads Langer, Johnson and many more.
Pedals & Effects used live.
Oliver is always trying to improve his bass tone and is constantly searching for the right tools to help him improve his sound.
The newest addition to his pedalboard is the Caveman Audio BP1 Bass Preamp. Oliver explains why he is using the BP1:
"Before I started using the BP1 Bass Preamp, I thought I needed more options on the pedal. But it turns out the gain knob does more than turn up and down.
It has everything I need because the gain at 12 o'clock is neutral, but as soon as you go above 12 o'clock, it starts adding harmonic distortion, which beefs up the whole bass sound.
It has almost an EQ quality that I loved when I tried it.
My first experience with it was when I added the BP1; it took this "woollen blanket" off my sound.
It just opened up the sound, which I loved because not only was there like an EQ difference, there was a dynamic difference that I had to play a few concerts before I noticed. It was like it placed itself better in the mix for every song."
Learn more about the BP1 Bass Preamp: caveman-audio.com/bp1/
Oliver also uses the Dark Glass Vintage Deluxe and Super Symmetry on his pedalboard. When playing with Johnson, he uses it as an always-on compressor.
He also uses two different Drive pedals and an Octaver and a bass Wah for this current tour because there are only three musicians on stage in this particular Hip-Hop set-up. A Talkbox/synth player, drummer and bass player, so there's a lot of space for bass fills.
TC Electronic Sub 'N' Up Octaver adds both low end and a bit of octave above, used for solos in the show.
The T-Rex Bass Juice adds a bit of crunchy sound, used as a distant mild overdrive for the groovier punchier songs.
The Dunlop Bass Q Crybaby Wah is used for solos and fills.