play some dirty, weird shit." Certain songs have Shepherd using a pick to provide "different textures". Shepherd considers that he approaches guitars "like a horn section", split between rhythm and lead, while "Bass is more fluid; you're a lot more free to do stuff because it's a song within a song". Rather than the more common practice of synchronizing with the drummer, Shepherd's preference is to play the bass along to the vocals, as "it helps to harmonize". As a singer, Shepherd described himself as "trying to find out who I sound like, not like someone else." Composing is usually done by Shepherd on the guitar, given all other Soundgarden members play that instrument. Bass-minded tracks such as "Switch Opens" are rare because, as he explained "you don't want to write a whole wandering bass line wondering what the drum beat and the guitar chords are going to be." Musical equipment In 2008, Shepherd had all of his equipment stolen from Soundgarden's storage warehouse, forcing him to buy new instruments and amplifiers. Pre theft gear Guitars 1976–1979 Fender Jazz Bass - Originally owned by the Wood brothers and used by Andy while in Malfunkshun, Shepherd purchased this black Jazz Bass for the Soundgarden auditions, and nicknamed it "Tree" because of its heavy weight. It was his go-to instrument for his entire stint in Soundgarden from his initial tryout in 1989 to the band's break up in 1997. In addition to actually learning on the bass, it was used on the bulk of recording Badmotorfinger, Superunknown, and Down on the Upside, and saw heavy touring during the Badmotorfinger era as his main bass and later tours for alternate tunings. 1967–1970 Fender Jazz Bass - Black with a matching headstock and a "block & bound" rosewood fretboard, used as Ben's main bass during the Superunknown European tour. It was also featured prominently in the "Fell On Black Days" and "My Wave" videos. 1967-–1974 Fender Precision Bass - Olympic White finish, tortoise pickguard, rosewood fretboard and equipped with EMG PJ pickups, featured in the "Rusty Cage" video, used briefly as Ben's main before being adapted as the bass tuned to EEBB for "Somewhere", which it remained through the Badmotorfinger and Superunknown tours. 1981 Fender Precision Bass - Finished in "Capri Orange", part of a limited edition of colors Fender only did in 1981 known as the "International Colors". It had a maple fretboard