Ryan Martinie Soften The Glare Bass Rig – Korn and Fodera
Welcome back to part 2 of the Ryan Martinie Soften The Glare Bass Rig. In this episode we follow Ryan playing in Korn, Kuari, Bassists Alliance and Soften The Glare all the way up to the Mudvayne reunion. Finally, with news from Fodera we take another look at his standard signature basses.
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Why Mudvayne went on hiatus in 2009
Mudvayne would enter a hiatus shortly after releasing their self-titled album in 2009.
It remains difficult to obtain answers to why the hiatus occurred as no official reason has ever been given to this day..
Like many bands before Mudvayne, it would appear all members had their own reasons for winding things down. New musical commitments, lack of interest, litigation or simply, burn out.
What Ryan Martinie was doing during the hiatus
Ryan would share on The Ex-Man with Doc Coyle that many of his days after the fact was spent reading and embracing escapism.
With an abundance of free time Ryan spent much of it outdoors, embracing nature and even becoming a dahlia flower farmer.
Ryan Martinie Bass Rig in Korn (2012)
By 2012, Blabbermouth.net would break the news that Korn bassist Fieldy and his wife were expecting a child that summer.
Ryan, who is not one to sit on his hands, was invited to perform in Fieldy’s place.
He joined Korn for their summer tour and primarily played his 5 string black Warwick Thumb with the bubinga 5 as a backup.
Depending on the show you can either see Ampeg PR cabinets or your standard SVT 810s as usual.
As we discovered in part 1 Ryan Martinie And His Tippy Tapping Bass Rig in Mudvayne.He is partial to the old SVT 4 and PR ported cab combo, as his Ampeg Artist page suggests as much.
Even though Ryan was spotted with the Ampeg amplifiers, his artist page over at Warwick however, now included the Xtreme 10.1 amplifier head and 4 WCA 411 pro cabinets as early as 2011.
Additionally, Warwick includes Ryans 4 string thumbs in black and bubinga as well as the Vampyre bass which is probably a hangover from the Mudvayne days.
Ryan Martinie joins Kurai (2013)
During his time with Korn Ryan was introduced to Abel Vallejo, Korns drum tech.
Abel offered Ryan a guest slot on an album he was working on for a band named Kurai and the band released their debut EP in December 2013.
Ryan shared on the Doc Coyle podcast;
“It was one of those situations where someone asked me to do it. The thought was to see if it could work”.
Although Ryan enjoyed the session, he did not wish to continue it.
Ryan Martinie Soften The Glare bass rig (2013)
It was during this time in 2013 that Ryan would collaborate further afield and widen his typical musical repertoire.
He would collaborate with guitarist Bon Lozaga and drummer Mitch Hull forming the band Soften The Glare which would primarily play funk jazz fusion. Bon Lozaga would explain the genesis;
Soften The Glare materialised when I met Ryan in LA and found out he lived in North Carolina as I do. We talked about getting together and writing some tunes, which evolved into getting a drummer and getting out and playing live … We really didn’t know what to expect as I came from the Jazz/Rock world and Ryan from Nu-metal band Mudvayne.
Ryan still promotes Warwick basses
Ryan also maintained his relationship with Warwick and was taking part in the yearly Band Camp events and promotions.
Warwick released a video of Ryan demoing a Star Bass in 2013 but this is the only time you’ll see him play it.
Ryan Martinie Soften The Glare bass rig and early releases
Soften The Glare would slowly work towards a debut album release and playing live between 2013 and 2016.
A sneak peak of what to expect from the new venture would surface on Framus and Warwicks YouTube page in 2014.
Ryan using Warwick basses in Soften The Glare
Ryan is still strumming both his black and bubinga 5 strings. Behind him are three Warwick amplifier rigs, it’s unclear which ones he was using at the time or if they belonged to him at all as this was a Warwick showroom in New York City.
However, the equipment shown in this video would be used in some combination in the years that followed.
Eventually, Ryan would settle upon using a pair of WA 600 heads with 2 Warwick WCA 410 cabs rather than the 411’s mentioned on his Warwick artist page.
A Furman power supply and a Korg DTR tuner were also present.
Ryan Martinie Soften The Glare bass rig in 2013
In most Soften the Glare shows, this is the amplifier rig you will see, rarely changing albeit for one or two tweaks.
This show in 2014 happens to be one of those tweaks and behind Ryan is the Jonas Hellborg signature preamp which makes an appearance but is not a permanent fixture in Ryans rig.
Afterward, it was reported that the band had scheduled their very first live show for October 29, 2015, at the Pour House Music Hall in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Ryan receives new basses 2016
By 2016, the musical press had taken some notice of Ryan playing with Soften the Glare. During this time there were 2 changes to his basses.
Ryan introduced a new 5 string fretless custom NT bass with a natural oil finish. He regularly uses the bass with Soften The Glare and it was first seen on the music video “March Of The Cephalopods”.
Refurbishment of the black Warwick NT
Additionally, speaking at a Warwick Bass Camp in 2016. Ryan explained that his original black 5 string NT – his favourite. Had a complete refurbishment after the truss rod became spun out.
Essentially replacing everything but the body and neck wood. The bass returned with new electronics, frets, hardware, fingerboard and with the black paint removed in favour of an oil stain finish.
Ryan explained that Warwick was offering a new radius for the neck at the time, which also had a thinner shape compared to his original one that had a deeper U shape.
The public sale of the black 4 string NT
The black 4 string thumb first seen in 2002 was reportedly posted on Reverb.com at this time. It was sold for a hearty sum of about $10500 or £8000.
Ryan Martinie Soften The Glare bass rig on Making Faces (2017)
Soften The Glare would release their debut album “Making Faces” in September 2017. Ryan promoted the album on the road using his current line up of Warwick 5 strings. Bubinga, oil stain – previously all black and fretless.
Some change of amplifiers was also observed, from the typical pair of WA 600’s to the inclusion of one or two Warwick LWA 1000s.
Ryan began using the LWA’s as early as 2016 in either white, black, or both versions. He frequently ran a WA and an LWA rig in tandem.
Later on, just LWA heads solo. Ryan would confirm his tuning in Soften The Glare was ADADG and demonstrated his finger tapping technique in for the French Bassist Magazine in 2017.
Ryan contributes to Bassists Alliance (2018)
Bassists Alliance is an ongoing studio project led by Alberto Rigoni and Jeff Hughell.
Ryan contributed recording on a track called “Extreme Density” alongside idol Steve Di Giorgio and appearing on the album “Crush” in winter 2017.
He would also perform in the music video “Forecast” the following summer 2018 alongside fellow Bassist Alliance Member Leonid Maksimov.
Ryan gets his feet wet with his oil stain fretless.
Soften The Glare releases in 2019
In between the recent guest work, Ryan would continue sporadic shows with Soften The Glare.
Their second album “Glint” was released in March 2020 And footage from this period shows Ryan using his last remaining five strings, LWA head (both) and WCA 410 cabs.
It would also appear Ryan is still using DR strings after the band reposted a fan shot live video, tagging the company.
Ryan’s public appearances during 2021
The band would keep fans on their toes by regularly posting teaser photos from the studio as well as videos of Ryan performing playthroughs.
Photos of Ryan in the studio include the 5 string bubinga during recording alongside, the LWA and the 410 cab.
Ryan celebrated the arrival of his brand new Fodera basses that September, and reportedly used both of them for rehearsals with Soften The Glare
The Fodera basses also joined Ryan with Mudvayne that autumn.
Ryan Martinie in 2022
Recording with Soften The Glare
Photos emerged of Soften the Glare recording in the studio February 2022. The signature Blondie took centre stage during recording alongside black beauty. In the background is an Ampeg 4×10 with an LWA 1000.
Soften The Glare EP releases
The self-titled EP, STG was released 28 March 2022 and the follow up self titled volume two came out 5 August.
Soften The Glare NPR Sessions
NPR invited Soften The Glare to record live music sessions, during which Ryan Martinie was spotted playing with a Darkglass 2×10 and a Warwick 4×10.
Mudvayne summer tour 2022
Mudvayne has performed their final show for this summer and it is still unclear what Mudvayne will be doing after this current leg of their tour.
Chad Grey has hinted that Mudvayne might create new music, but they have not shared anything yet.
Ryan Martinie announces Blondie standard model by Fodera
Fodera released a follow up video with Ryan Martinie promoting his new in July 2022. In this video Ryan promotes his new Blondie Standard model.
Compared to Ryan’s signature bass first revealed in December 2021, the Blondie Standard is the more affordable market model.
This is important because, looking closely at Mudvayne shows in July and August 2022. You will find Ryan actually playing the standard model over his $11,000 signature.
- The main differences between the Standard and the Signature is the wood choice and construction.
- A decision to exclude ferrules on the standard and it is top loading only. Ryan explains he has always used taper wound DR strings to provide sustain and “have less mass in the saddles”.
How Ryan Martinie uses Taper Wounds
Generally speaking, due to the extended taper, one would need to string it through the body.
Ryan and Fodera considered that your normal day to day player doesn’t play taper wounds and the ferrules would be obsolete, thus saving time drilling more holes into the bass etcetera.
With the new change Ryan also included;
“Now what I’m finding is with the added mass sitting this way
there’s a bit more tension to the strings.
With the lower tuning I find it a bit more favourable playing conditions
to have a little more tension especially on these lower strings,
I can feel the tension change on the lower strings.
Ryan reveals that he is confident in the new-found tension and that the band will be using the original Mudvayne tuning from LD50 on tour, which is F# B F# B E. The band had previously changed to drop C tuning due to problems with this tuning.
Why Ryan choose a Standard Fodera bass
Fodera has improved the electronics on the bass by adding an active 4 band EQ and making dynamic improvements to the tone.
Ryans main motivation for the standard model was to put a high quality boutique bass into the hands of players for less money.
The manufacturer hand builds the standard to ensure the same quality and makes it financially accessible to consumers.
Fodera are top of the line instruments and taking a lick off the final price is better than nothing.
The standard models come in at $6700 or £5500 pounds. Still a hell of a price tag but considering the original signature model costs $11000 dollars and Ryan himself has used these on his summer tour. That is an improvement to say the least.
Catch up: Ryan Martinie Playlist
Watch the full Ryan Martinie Bass Rig series on YouTube. Additional show notes are available for Ryan Martinie And His Tippy Tapping Bass Rig in Mudvayne.
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