Featured on our Center Stage

Rob Ruiz

Veteran bassist Rob Ruiz started playing multi-string basses in the late 1980’s, then added a 12-string bass in 1993. Currently with three 12’s in his arsenal, Rob rocks the San Francisco, California region with his monster 12-string bass sound!

Who is Rob Ruiz? How would you describe yourself?

I would describe myself as a Northern California guy (born in Oakland) who loves equal parts family, nature, and rock and roll. I have a real passion for music and the outdoors. I was raised in Concord, California and graduated from Humboldt State in Arcata, California with degrees in Natural Resources and Zoology. I’ve worked at a children’s amusement park, as a busboy at a steakhouse, the Eureka Zoo, Eureka Parks and Rec, PG&E, the US Forest Service in Gold Beach, Oregon, as a full time touring musician (with Rolls Rock based out of Eureka, California), and as a park ranger with Marin County Parks for 36 years. I retired in April of 2018.

I stay busy reading (during the pandemic I’ve read 20 books!), hiking, hanging with my family, playing bass and writing goofy rock and roll songs, volunteering as a wildlife educator with Project Coyote (a nonprofit organization that advocates co-existence with apex predators), and taking solo trips to the Mojave Desert to search for desert tortoises and other reptiles. I have four tortoises as pets and they have outlived all my dogs!

My motto has always been “If you don’t like me, there’s something wrong… with you!” Ha!

What is your musical background? When did you start playing bass, and what attracted you to it?

After seeing Paul McCartney with the Beatles and Bill Wyman with the Stones on the Ed Sullivan Show in the early sixties, I was just really interested in all things Bass! I took a few guitar lessons at a local music store, but found what Paul Samwell Smith (The Yardbirds), Noel Redding (Jimi Hendrix), Jack Bruce (Cream), Mel Schacher ( Grand Funk Railroad) and John Entwistle (The Who) were doing on the bass guitar spoke louder to me. The first time I saw a Fender Jazz Bass with its big shiny tuning pegs played at a school function by my friend Dave Ramos I was hooked!

I could not afford a Fender quite yet, but my Mom bought me a white Univox bass and amp before I left for college so I’d have something to do when I took breaks from studying (which was quite often).

A friend in college taught me to play ‘Foxy Lady’ and ‘Black Magic Woman’ and I was off to the races! I saved my money for a brand new Fender Precision bass and joined my first band, The Sunset Sour Mash Symphony. It was a college dorm band that was really more interested in drinking beer than anything else. In fact we usually were paid in beer, never money. At the time I was perfectly fine with that.

While I took string bass lessons at Humboldt State for a short time, I was (and still am) a meat and potatoes rock and roll bass player. I learned to play by listening to records constantly. James Jamerson, Carol Kaye, Willie Dixon, Randy Meisner from The Eagles, Greg Lake (ELP), Boz Burrell (Bad Company), Leland Sklar (The Section), Michael Lutz (Brownsville Station), Peter Cetera (Chicago), Tiran Porter (Doobie Brothers), and Joey Stampinato (NRBQ) helped make me the bassist I am today.

Before there were even bass magazines on the newsstands, I was cutting out articles and interviews with bass players, any type of player. If it was about bass, I cut it out and pasted them in a scrapbook. In the late seventies when magazines started featuring Cheap Trick’s Tom Petersson and his collection of Hamer 12-string basses, the wheels started turning in my head. I knew even then that one day in the future I would get my paws on one!

Prior to playing a 12-string bass you played an 8-string for a number of years. What led to your involvement in multi-string basses?

In the early 70’s I was looking through a guitar magazine and saw a Hagstrom 8-string bass ad featuring Noel Redding. I did not think much of it until I was touring Alaska with my trio Rolls Rock in the late 70’s when a musician came up to me in a bar I was playing in Juneau, Alaska and offered to sell me a Hagstrom for $175. By then, Tom Petersson was playing 12-string basses with Cheap Trick and I figured for the price that this was as close as I was ever gonna get to a 12-string. Rolls Rock played quite a few Cheap Trick songs in our sets (‘Southern Girls’, ‘Need your Love’, ‘California Man’, ‘Oh Caroline’, ‘So Good to See You’) so the 8-string gave us a bit more credibility.

As time went on the Hagstrom 8-string neck went to wacky on me; I was having severe tuning issues with it and let it go. I then played custom Moonstone basses (made by the late Steve Helgeson from Arcata, California), 50’s Fender P-basses, and Gibson Thunderbirds for several years before I bought a custom Hamer long scale 8-string bass in Hollywood. It had a beautiful gold finish. I played this bass on several UK tours with The Sorentinos. During sound checks as an opening band several times the sound person would ask me to turn the phase switch off my bass so they could dial in my tone - I told them, “I don’t have a phase switch on - it’s an 8-string bass”!

How did you first learn about the 12-string bass? Did you have any reservations about taking that next step to the 12?

I got into Cheap Trick in 1976. I am a master at reading rock and roll mags and it did not take long for me to read about Tom Petersson, Hamer, and 12-string bass guitars. Since I was playing in a rock trio I thought this would be great for my band Rolls Rock and add the full sound I was looking for, especially at the volume we played at! In the late 70’s / early 80’s we were opening for bands like Van Halen, Black Oak Arkansas, Rick Springfield, Eddie Money, Sammy Hagar, and others. I figured I would have a custom 12-string Hamer made as soon as the elephant dollars rolled in, but sadly, our band broke up in Houston, Texas in 1982. We were broke and burned out after three years of nonstop touring, bad stuff, and cheap motels.

I played a 1976 Gibson Thunderbird with a San Francisco techno/rock band called The Bats in 1983, a 58 P-bass with a blues band called Dana Hubbard and the Delta Twisters in 1984, and then joined The Sorentinos in 1985 when I first dabbled with multi-string Hamer basses. In early 1993, I bought my first Hamer B12A at a guitar show. Although I played the 12 in rehearsals with The Sorentinos, I mainly used the Hamer 8-string and used the Hamer 12 or a Fender P-bass as a backup.

The only reservations I had with playing the 12-string bass with an Americana band like The Sorentinos (think Tom Petty, Dylan, Neil Young, Rolling Stones) was that with two guitars and (sometimes) keyboards, I felt the 8-string bass could sit in the pocket a bit better than a 12-string for the type of music we were playing.

Of your three 12’s, which is your favorite?

I have a black Waterstone 12, a short scale Hamer 12, and a red burst Hamer B12A. I suppose if I could only take one to a desert isle to amuse myself, I would probably take the long scale Hamer B12A. It’s the heaviest bass of the three, but the neck is slim and it has great bottom end. Plus it looks pretty damn cool if I do say so myself.

How frequently do your play your 12 live? Do the other band members encourage you to use a 12?

If either of my bands (The Sorentinos or The Beer Scouts) is opening a show for another artist or playing a festival, I will usually play a Fender Telecaster bass with the short scale Hamer 12 as a backup. The reasons for this are that I just cannot rely on active bass batteries crapping out in front of 3,000 people. Plus, when I play a 12-string bass live, I really do like to sound check before a show. There are no guarantees of this as an opening act. If we are playing 2 to 3 sets, I will always bring a 12-string and play it for at least 3 to 12 songs a night.

Since The Sorentinos are an all original band; our leader, Danny Sorentino, does not write a set list and I don’t really want to play the 12-string on a country tune or a blues shuffle. It still sounds good, but I prefer to know what song is coming up if I’m going to play a 12-string.

I think 12-string basses are great for a rock and roll trio like The Beer Scouts. I’ve been lucky that Howard Vatcher (lead guitar, vocals) and Kenny Susan (drums, vocals) like the full sound of my 12-string and the fact that we don’t look or sound like every band in town. Sadly, playing rock and roll is an endangered art here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

What gear do you use for your live performances?

I have always been an Ampeg guy. I currently own five Ampeg amps, although just last year sold the Ampeg SVT bass stack I have used since 1978. That amp took me through several tours of the US and Canada, but when I got to my mid 60’s and without the luxury of a road crew, I decided to let it go - which hurt because my grandfather bought it for me. I think he will forgive me since he never had to load it up two flights of stairs in a club in Durango, Colorado!

For most indoor and outdoor gigs, I just use my Ampeg B15 which has a line out and has really served me well. I do not use any effects when playing live.

With The Beer Scouts I usually bring three bass guitars for a three set show. I always bring a 12-string (usually the short scale Hamer 12 because it takes up the least amount of space in the van), a limited edition 2019 Fender Telecaster bass, and either a 1976 Gibson Thunderbird or a 1980 Black Rickenbacker 4001. When I play with The Sorentinos, I’ll usually play a ‘55 or ‘74 Fender P-bass with my short scale Hamer 12-string or my black Waterstone 12 as a backup.

Besides my three 12-string basses, I have two Fender jazz basses, eight Fender Precisions (two fretless), three Gibson Thunderbirds, an Ibanez Black Eagle, Phantom teardrop bass, a custom made Hofner Beatle bass, a Dan Armstrong Lucite bass, and a couple of Danelectros. Every bass I have, I play - that’s what I tell my wife anyway.

What do you enjoy most about the 12-string bass experience? How do audiences react to the 12?

Well, during a quick sound check I admit that I love to see the reaction of folks when I hit an E chord on my 12-string. It makes them look up from their cell phones - at least for a minute! You know Mark, I’ve been playing bass (and multi-string bass guitars) for quite a few years, and I have never had many people come up to the stage and say, “OMG, that is the most beautiful bass I have ever seen or heard in my life!” It’s more like “Rob, you look terrible tonight, are you tired?” Ha ha!!!

What are the biggest challenges to this instrument?

Well, I do find that if I don’t touch the 12-string for two weeks or more, the strings kinda dig into my fingers. It is a physical instrument. It could be my imagination, but it seems the older I get, the heavier the basses get! I exercise daily to keep in shape.

I last played my 12-string bass in Mendocino, California on March 14th. When the Covid-19 stuff hit we lost all our gigs and I did not touch my 12-string for over two months. Man, when I picked it up after that time it felt like a boat anchor. Killed my fingers! I’m playing it daily now. I will be ready when / if my bands start to crank it up again.

You sing some lead vocals, which can be a tough thing for a bassist to do. Is the bass/vocal coordination any more difficult for you when you’re playing a 12?

It certainly can be. I’m quite impressed with the way Sting, Geddy Lee, Jack Bruce, and Paul McCartney handle it. I’m not a singer who plays bass, I’m a bass player who kinda sings. Ha-ha! I write songs I’m gonna sing on the bass, so I know my limitations going in. I just do it!

Do you have any cool “famous player” stories that involve the 12?

Well, I have been lucky enough to talk 12-string bass shop with Tom Petersson, Dug Pinnick, and Jeff Ament here in California, which was pretty cool.

When I was touring Canada with Rolls Rock in August of 1980 our promoter bought us tickets to see Loverboy and Cheap Trick play in Calgary, Alberta on our night off. We had met the guys in Loverboy at various venues across Canada so we were looking forward to seeing them again. In a hotel bar close to the venue, we noticed several roadie looking dudes wearing Cheap Trick satin jackets sitting at the bar. We thought this was kinda odd considering the show was supposed to be starting in about two hours. I walked over and asked them if they were with the band and they said, “Yes, they were”. They then told me that the show was cancelled. They told me that Tom was sick and that they had sent for another bassist from Chicago to finish the tour. I told them that I was in a band, knew the guys in Loverboy, played an 8-string bass, and knew their songs and was willing to join the rest of the tour (I’m sure I would have had at least three beers by then). They politely declined and headed out. Can’t say I didn’t try!

Finally, if you could go back in time and meet any historical figure, who would you choose and why?

If I could go back in time I would definitely like to hang out with naturalist John Muir (1838-1914). I really admire his passion for nature. Everyone is born with an inner bond to nature - most of us just don’t recognize it. Going out into the wild can free us from economic rank, authority, and stress. John Muir would head out into the wilderness with a back pack with three loaves of bread and be good for a month! There is more to the world than humankind and artificial crap. People need to get out in nature and do something REAL!

Rob Ruiz: rcnrob@gmail.com

www.beerscoutsband.com; info@beerscoutsband.com

www.thesorentinos.com