Ever wanted to sound just like your bass heroes? We all have those iconic players who shaped the way we hear and play bass. For me, it started with revisiting Voodoo by D'Angelo and getting lost in Pino Palladino’s buttery tone. That led me down the rabbit hole of dialing in his sound—and others—using the HX Stomp.

The result? A custom collection of 5 HX Stomp presets inspired by five of the greatest to ever do it: Marcus Miller, Pino Palladino, Tim Lefebvre, John Patitucci, and Victor Wooten. These players have shaped entire genres—and my own musical path—with tones that are instantly recognizable yet always evolving.

Rather than chase every tone they’ve ever played, I zeroed in on some of their most iconic recorded moments. These presets are my best attempt to capture those sounds—the ones that made me stop and rewind.

Check out all the HX Presets I have in the store, including this new collection of Bass Legends.

They’re designed as a starting point for your curiosity, and I highly recommend diving deeper into each artist’s discography to better understand their origin story. As the years unfold, the fascinating part for me is where they’ve all ended up on the journey.

With John Patitucci you might be a huge fan of the 80’s/90’s Ken Smith/Yamaha records, but haven’t explored the recent albums with the hollow body instruments. Marcus Miller might mean SLAP to you, but perhaps you missed his incredibly melodic finger style playing on fretless on records like Tales and Marcus.

Wherever you’re at in your listening and discovery, just remember that curiosity is key, and these sounds could open up a whole new world of music.

More soon,

Janek

Get full access to Janek's Newsletter at janekgwizdala.substack.com/subscribe