Tchad Blake (second from right) with fellow Playboys Mitchell Froom, David Hidalgo, and Louis Perez

"We needed a bass player," laughs producer Tchad Blake. "So the day before tour rehearsals I sat down with the record and learned as much as I could." Unfortunately a close listen to Dose—the Latin Playboys’ dense, moody sophomore release—created more problems than it solved. "A lot of what I thought was bass was actually drums," Blake admits. Case in point: The sweet, lilting bass to "Cuca’s Blues," one of the album’s most accessible tracks, was actually played by David Hidalgo on a pair of tuned drums. The gorgeous, slinky "Lemon ’n Ice" was another trouble spot. "That’s a slow tune, and to me that’s the hardest kind to get greasy on—that really slow, in-the-pocket groove."

Few folks realize Blake is a full-fledged member of Latin Playboys, the experimental studio quartet he formed five years ago with fellow producer Mitchell Froom and Los Lobos guitarists David Hidalgo and Louis Perez. Blake has been there from day one, although he was only recently tapped to fill the bass chair. He makes his living twirling knobs and pushing faders as an engineer/producer. His credits include Sheryl Crow, Tony Levin, Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, and Los Lobos. His role in the Playboys is that of sonic tweaker, and he had his ADAT ready to roll for the scheduled road show. So when Hidalgo—who lays down the bulk of the Playboys’ tracks—told him he’d pulled bass duty, Blake hit the woodshed. (He also had studio vet Wendy Melvoin ready to join the tour in case he couldn’t cut it.) "Luckily for me most of the bass lines on the record aren’t standard; they’re very simple, almost like repetitive guitar lines. There’s not a lot of walking and passing notes, which is good. If I had to follow melodies I’d be in trouble."

Right after he found out about his road responsibilities Blake made his way to Guitars ’R Us in Los Angeles and started bringing 4-strings home. He went through over a dozen before finding a ’78 Fender Precision and a short-scale Fender Bullet. Then came rehearsals and Blake discovered that "the Bullet with flatwounds was really stiff—it killed my fingers—and the P-Bass was okay, but floppy for some reason." He finally settled on a ’63 Precision, an original SansAmp, and an Ampeg B-15 combo.

Although Tchad has never added bass lines to his productions, he soon realized his studio experience comes in handy onstage. "I’m sure all the years in the studio help me to not overplay—to know it’s okay to just play three notes and then lay out for a bar. I’m not a groovemeister, but I’ve learned about the groove by being around so many great musicians. I don’t think I can groove so hard myself—but at least I can hear it when it happens."