Gear

I am proud to endorse Markbass amplification, Music Man and Supro basses, DR strings, Pigtronix and Jim Dunlop effects, Evidence Audio cables, Mono cases and Levy’s Leathers straps.
BASSES

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My main axe, an Egyptian Smoke Music Man Bongo 5H

I’ve been playing a Music Man Bongo 5H for several years now, and love it so much I own three of them. These are my favourites. They’re super-versatile, easy to play, and have that nice musical high-end snap that I’ve always admired Music Mans for; and of course tons of sweet bottom end. They also seem to attract lots of interest wherever I take them. People are amazed when I tell them that this bass was co-designed by BMW.
I also have a stunning 25th Anniversary Music Man (below), three Supro Huntington short-scale basses, a lovely Moollon 4-string J Classic that is a really amazing Jazz bass, a 1971 Fender Precision, and a couple of custom-made G. Gould GGJ5 basses that I will always treasure. Oh, and a fretless Kala U-bass (bass ukulele), which sounds a lot like a double bass!

My 25th Anniversary Music Man
My 25th Anniversary Music Man

AMPS
I was the first endorser for Markbass in Canada, and went on to work for them for 8 years, managing international promotion, marketing and artist relations. I have tried pretty much everything Markbass has ever made! My main rig for gigging around town is a Mini CMD 121P combo, paired with a New York 121 cabinet. Love that rig. Unbelievably portable, clear, punchy, full-sounding. I love all the Markbass gear, but this particular rig really is “my sound.”
When I’m playing bigger gigs, one rig I like to put together is bigger and more complicated. It’s a custom MoMark 500W analog head with a high-end tube preamp through the Club 600F32 (front-ported 2×12) cabinet, with a line out going into a Little Mark Rocker 500 (with tube overdrive) and New York 122 (rear-ported 2×12). It’s sort of like a fake biamp setup, with the front-ported cab on the floor handling clean lows, and then the upper 2×12 EQ’d to add some grit to the high end. Works incredibly well, and of course gives me a ton of headroom.
Here’s my Markbass artist page: https://www.markbass.it/artist/peter-murray

My main smaller rig (left) with my Stealth Black Bongo 5H, and my bigger 1000W 4×12 rig (right)

EFFECTS
I met Pigtronix president Dave Koltai at the 2006 NAMM show, and quickly realized he was doing some really creative and intelligent things with effect pedals. So I bought a couple, and probably every year after that I’d visit his NAMM booth and fall for whatever his latest creation was. Eventually in 2013 we decided to work together and I became their Manager of Artist Relations and Social Media. Pigtronix makes very unique pedals that behave very musically. I’m particularly fond of the Infinity Looper, Philosopher Bass Compressor, Disnortion, Mothership, and Echolution 2 delay. Top quality products that inspire music!

Some other pedals that I enjoy: MXR Sub Octave Bass Fuzz, Markbass MB Octaver, Moollon Bass Drive, Moollon British Octah, Earthquaker Hummingbird.

Infinity Looper, Mothership Analog Guitar Synth, Philosopher Bass Compressor, Pignortion Distortion
Infinity Looper, Mothership Analog Guitar Synth, Philosopher Bass Compressor, Pignortion Distortion

STRINGS
I’ve been using DR strings for probably over 20 years! I’ve tried many other brands, but at the end of the day, the strings for me are DR Hi-Beams, 45-125. They somehow maintain an incredible sonic consistency over a long period of time. They only lose a bit of their crispness after a couple of months of steady use (inevitable), but they don’t ever really “die”. Seems like most other strings hit a point where you just really don’t want to play them anymore, because it ceases to be rewarding. Not so with these strings! They feel great, sound clear and full, and they never break. They’re incredibly consistent from pack to pack. Thanks to Rosa Daza and all the great staff at DR for the great strings and great support!

CABLES
I’ll never forget walking into a bass store in LA many years ago, in a shopping mood, but without the funds to buy a big ticket item. I was scanning the “less expensive” items on offer, and marvelled at the $75 speaker cables they were selling. I decided to ask the guy there about it, and he said “well, how much would you spend on a distortion pedal? $100? $200?” I said yeah, sure, probably. Then he said, “so, you’re willing to spend that money on a pedal that would distort your sound maybe 20% of the time, but you don’t want to spend a third the price on a cable that will improve your sound 30%, 100% of the time?” He got me with that logic—assuming, of course, the cable did sound significantly better. Well, subsequently I decided to research cables a bit. I discovered a company called Evidence Audio, and was very impressed with the way the product was presented, and the guy behind it, Tony Farinella. When I checked out Tony’s cables, I did an A/B test against the various cables I had at the time. And I was quite shocked at the difference. Some cables sounded dull, some had radio interference, some seemed to somehow exaggerate upper-mids and highs to create the illusion of clarity. But the Evidence Cables just sounded clearer and truer at all frequencies. Needless to say, I’ve been using them ever since.

CASES
Peter Murray Mono 3
My friend Eric Holden introduced me to Mono Cases at NAMM 2013, and since them I’ve been using their single case, knapsack and wallet(!) ever since. Beautifully designed stuff, perfectly functional, lightweight and durable.

STRAP
strap3If you play several gigs a week as I do—often onstage for long periods of time—you quickly realize the importance of having a comfortable strap. My strap of choice is the Ultra Comfort Strap (PM48NP3 is the model number, which coincidentally starts with my initials!) by Levy’s Leathers. It’s a supremely comfortable strap with a bit of “bounce” to it that I quite enjoy. Those who like a stiffer strap will find something they’d like from Levy’s as well. It’s a Canadian company, which makes me extra proud to be associated with them! Thanks to Glen Booth for helping keep my bass off the floor!