Terry Welty on the Road with Foreigner and Jeff Pilson’s Bass Setup

While on the road with Foreigner, No Treble’s own Kevin Johnson caught up with Terry Welty in Doswell, Virginia for a peek inside Jeff Pilson’s bass vault.

Front and center is Pilson’s main 1972 Fender Precision, which Terry proudly calls “the bass that will not die.” It has seen repairs, hardware swaps, and countless shows, but still holds the top spot. Next up is another 1972 wearing a bubble and castle paint job straight out of the seventies. Rounding things out is a mid-1990s Precision that comes out when Luis Maldonado takes over bass duties.

Kevin and Terry also talked through Pilson’s lean and mean live rig built around a Kemper SansAmp and DI so the front of house can shape the tone to perfection. Terry keeps the whole operation humming with spare parts for every possible emergency and a firm belief in never messing with an instrument’s mojo unless it is absolutely necessary.

When he is not out with Foreigner Terry is best known for his decades as Geezer Butler’s bass tech with Black Sabbath. He built and maintained Butler’s massive rock rig complete with multiple heads and cabs and managed every detail from switching systems to wireless setups. Terry points out that Geezer was the first to record a wah pedal on bass and that his tone helped set milestones that bassists still chase today.