Innehållsförteckning för December 2021 från Bass Player

Sly & The Family Stone, ‘Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)’ (1970) With Bootsy Collins his only real contender in terms of The Funk, Larry Graham delivered line after devastating line with Sly & The Family Stone. This ludicrously butt-shaking song kicks off with a simple slap and pop line which drills into your skull and refuses to let go. After a few minutes of this, you’ll be dying to play it yourself—and it’s simple enough that you’ll probably nail it, too. But will you have as much funk in your soul as Larry?…

In the Eighties, ‘heavy metal titans’ Metallica were a musical phenomenon, but since 1996 they have released a series of acceptably interesting albums rather than classics. At least two of these have sucked so badly that our knees give way and we sink weeping to the ground whenever we think of them. One of them is St. Anger, released in 2003, with its terrible drum sound and schoolboy lyrics. Still, the bass playing on St. Anger is pretty decent. While singer James Hetfield worked out his demons in the lyrics, drummer Lars Ulrich replaced his snare with a garbage-can lid, and renowned shredder Kirk Hammett was essentially banned from doing anything creative, producer Bob Rock picked up the bass and recorded some tasteful bass parts. Why him? Because bassist Jason…

“Back in 2015 I was approached by Brian Ball, who’s the grandson of Ernie Ball, and he wanted to make me a bass. He gave me this Music Man StingRay—I think they call it the HH model. I was blown away by the construction, by the way that it sounds, the way it plays acoustically in my living room. I plug it in and I have to drastically change my settings on my amps: It sounded really, really good with my set-up. “For Prophets Of Rage, Music Man made me these Stingrays, which are the HS models. They are the closest thing I have ever felt to a Steinberger bass. There isn’t a single dead spot on the neck, because they have this integrated nut so everything on the bass…

The solo and collaborative bass player Helen Svoboda has been on an unorthodox musical journey since she began her recording career, finding inspiration in areas where most of us wouldn’t think to look. Recently returned to her native Australia after overseas study, she continues to add to her resume with Meatshell—a duo with her partner, the saxophonist Andrew Saragossiand with her work as a solo artist, in a chamber trio called Sprout, and in an upcoming large-scale audiovisual work about mass food production. Where are you based these days, Helen? I’m in Melbourne, Australia, but I was studying in Europe for two years before that. I count myself really lucky that I moved to Europe when I did. I was studying in the Netherlands and in Cologne, Germany for two…

Rufus Philpot has a long list of incredible musicians on his resume—Allan Holdsworth, Tony MacAlpine, Tool drummer Danny Carey, Virgil Donati, Derek Sherinian, Simon Phillips, vibes legend Roy Ayers, Reggie Washington, Scott Kinsey, Kirk Covington, Joel Rosenblatt, and Randy Brecker among them. He also plays with jazz guitarist Scott Henderson as part of the Nomad Trio, and was a member of Planet X and the Virgil Donati Group for five years. He can currently be seen in the acid-jazz/funk band Down To The Bone, a trio, B.A.D., and a flamenco group, and he has taught masterclasses at the Musicians Institute, the Los Angeles Music Academy, and in Australia, England, and Sweden. Tell us about your career as a bass player, Rufus. I’m originally from London, and I moved to the…

My first real band started around 2002 or 2003 when I was a freshman in high school. We would walk from school to my buddy Paul’s house every day to write weird songs and rip off the Misfits. His dad had a bunch of rad vintage guitars, including an SG-style bass, so I spent hundreds of hours messing around with those—thank you, Eric. As a kid I always wanted to be a drummer, but that was way too loud for the neighbors, and way too expensive. I was able to get an acoustic guitar when I was about 12 years old, and from then on I’ve just always wanted to play everything. The first band I started as a bassist was short-lived—I think Skald played one show in Portland—and that…

Price| $1099 Made In| Mexico Body| Alder Neck| Maple, 34” scale Neck Join| Bolt-on Fingerboard| Maple, 20 frets Pickup| 2 x Player Plus Noiseless single-coils Controls| Volume, pickup blend, three-band active EQ (1 x mids boost/cut pot, 1 x stacked treble/bass boost/cut pot), active/passive toggle switch Hardware| Fender tuners, HiMass bridge Weight| 9.9 lbs Left-hand option available| Yes Case/gigbag included| Deluxe gigbag WHAT WE THINK Plus| Neck dimensions, tones, build quality Minus| A tad heavy, and costly, for young bassists Overall| A beautiful, amped-up J... but will the kids go for it? BP RATING BUILD QUALITY SOUND QUALITY VALUE…

Price| $349 Made In| USA Controls| Mute, Engage, Volume, Contour, Treble, Mid, Mid Frequency, Bass Features| Switchable impedance on the input for electric/upright bass, -20dB pad and pre/post EQ DI out Power| 15V AC power adaptor (included) Dimensions| 165 x 101 x 44mm Weight| 2.5 lbs WHAT WE THINK Plus| Pristine studio quality sound in a sturdy pedal format Minus| May not offer radical enough tone shaping for some; very heavy Overall| A vital new addition to the ranks of the preamp pedal BP RATING BUILD QUALITY SOUND QUALITY VALUE…

Hello again! As you no doubt know, tuneable instruments such as bass guitars abide by a tuning system known as ‘equal temperament’. This simply means that we slice up an octave into 12 equal portions, which we call semitones. This widely adopted system is the basis for the majority of the music heard in the Western world. Why? Well, the most convenient part of this system is that any arrangement of intervals you play will have the same sound, no matter where you start within those 12 semitones. It also allows us to transpose music and play it in a different key without having to retune our instruments. You’re going to point out a flaw in this system, aren’t you? Yes I am! It turns out that instruments tuned using…

Eender has announced the expansion of its Player Series of bass guitars, in a bid to cater towards and nurture the next generation of players—the Player Plus Series. A new active Precision and two active Jazz models take inspiration from the familiar shapes, but with improved playability and comfort. Of the latest made-in-Mexico lineup, EVP Fender Products Justin Norvell commented, “We designed the new Player Plus series to match the unique characteristics of today’s players and creators. We’ve delivered a line of performance instruments that exemplify Fender’s ethos: Honoring our past while looking to the future.” The new Precision, pictured with the acclaimed bassist Blu DeTiger at right, aims to deliver the punch and growl that defines Fender’s four-string tones. A three-band active EQ features a switchable active/passive operation for…

Hi all! This month’s story about unhelpful assumptions comes from a bassist called Reed, who once applied to teach bass at a well-known music college. Reed has a teaching qualification, and teaching experience in colleges of similar prestige, as well as years of playing experience in different genres, so he felt as if he had the chance of an interview. However, he was told that because the students were predominantly into rock, he was ‘not suitable’. This was a shock to him, especially as his resume stated that he had plenty of experience as a rock bassist. He tells us that while his default response is not to consider racism as the underlying cause, as a person of color he feels that he can’t discount unconscious racial bias. Sometimes, he…

MUST-HAVE ALBUM DAVID BOWIE Blackstar (2016) “The way this came about was that the musical director Maria Schneider said to David Bowie, ‘Check out Donny McCaslin’s band’, and gave him a CD, so he came to see us play at the 55 Bar in New York. “With a track like ‘Lazarus’ there was already a demo bass-line to follow, and I took it to a few different places. ‘Tis A Pity She Was A Whore’ also had David’s bass-line on the demo, but ‘Blackstar’ was more freewheeling, so I had licence to do more of what I wanted to do within the confines of the song. “It’s three sections. The first I approached like Tony Levin’s playing on Peter Gabriel’s ‘Don’t Give Up’, with big slidey lines and sustain. The…

Welcome back, bassists! Let’s talk about one-off shows. Many of us have a regular gig with our own bands, or we may be fortunate enough to join a touring band for an artist’s album promo cycle. These scenarios allow us to relax into the familiarity of the material and live show, often providing plenty of repeat performances which increase our confidence and potential earnings. They also make it worth the time we invest in learning the material, curating the right sounds, building an appropriate rig, and then attending the rehearsals—as we know that there will be some longevity to these gigs. With one-off shows, however, we don’t always have that same comfort and ease—and so we perhaps need to reframe how we approach these situations. You might initially think ‘What…

‘BULLET IN THE HEAD’ “It’s very much like Cypress Hill: Listen to their first record and ‘How I Could Just Kill A Man.’ It’s almost the same bass-line. Zack [de la Rocha, RATM singer] and I would listen to that album when we were driving to Los Angeles from Orange County to Rage rehearsals. We wore the cassette out, we played it so much. Those bass-lines were completely sick. Hip-hop has never really been as good since then.” ‘TAKE THE POWER BACK’ “Every band that I’ve ever been in, whether it’s Rage, Audioslave, Future User, whatever, everything is organic and starts in the room. Some idea, whether it’s a drum beat or a bass-line, happens, and we’re like, ‘How about this? And how about this? Oh, that’s cool’ and then…

“To have the ability to improvise, you have to be a good listener and pay attention to others” There are supergroups, and then there is PAKT, named after fretless bassist Percy Jones, guitarists Alex Skolnick and Tim Motzer, and drummer Kenny Grohowski. It’s a unique line-up, and fortunately their new, self-titled album lives up to its promise. Jones, a long-time member of fusion band Brand X—famously, once the home of drummer Phil Collins (see pic below)—until his departure in 2020, is on stunning form: As a reminder of why he’s been in demand with Suzanne Vega, Brian Eno, and many other musicians over the years, the new album serves an important purpose. We asked him about the genesis, no pun intended, of the two-hour, improvised recording session, as well as…

Price| $299 Made In| China Power| 50 watts RMS Features| Pad (-6dB) switch, gain, blend, bass (+/-15dB), mid-frequency (300Hz-2.7kHz), middle (+/-15dB), treble (+/-20dB), volume Speakers| 1 x 12” speaker and reflex port Dimensions| 490 (H) x 425 (W) x 275mm (D) Connections| 1/4” input (0/-6dB), 3.5mm auxiliary input, 1/4” headphones output, 1/4” Send/Return FX loop, 1/4” jack Blend input (footswitchable) Weight| 32 lbs WHAT WE THINK Plus| Flexible, easy to use, monstrous tones Minus| Lacks an XLR DI and speaker connections Overall| A fine performer at a very good price BP RATING BUILD QUALITY SOUND QUALITY VALUE…

I SPY... RYAN MADORA Dig into your favorite bass parts... and discover treasure! Ryan Madora is one of Nashville’s most sought-after touring and session bassists. Recent touring and session credits include Robben Ford, Kyshona Armstrong, and her instrumental trio, The Interludes. For the past five years, she has served as musical director for Bobby Bones, and has played with Garth Brooks, Darius Rucker, and Carrie Underwood. In addition to instructing at Nashville’s campus of Musician’s Institute, Ryan has taught at Gerald Veasley’s Bass Boot Camp, Rock’n’Roll Fantasy Camp, and at universities across the USA. She has contributed columns to No Treble for over a decade, and in 2019, published her first book, Bass Players To Know: Learning From The Greats. Ryan offers online education at TrueFire and her website. www.ryanmadora.com…

Welcome! In all my years of teaching, the one style that students associate most with flashy bass playing is funk. Thanks largely to a number of pop bands who drew heavily on funk ideas and grooves such as Level 42 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, we have this idea that funk is a style that hangs on the virtuosity and extravagant dexterity of the bass player. Though important in many kinds of music, in funk, the lock between the bass and the drums is elevated to an art form all of its own However, even a cursory journey into purer forms of funk, into the bands that effectively invented the style and developed it from the various groove innovations happening in soul music in the Sixties, shows us that…

The great Doug—or dUg if you prefer—Pinnick has revealed a new solo album, Joy Bomb, alongside fresh, ZZ Top-inspired material from his Grinder Blues project. Pinnick, the bassist and vocalist of hard rockers King’s X, says: “Joy Bomb is a collection of tunes I’ve been writing for the last two years. The pandemic has made me go deeper into myself, and how to deal with everything and everyone in a new way. These songs are all about truth the way I see it, and I’m thankful that at 71 I can still make music that hopefully matters.”…

The fusion, rock, and R&B bassist Tim Lefebvre is a master of both the electric and acoustic bass. He has worked constantly with a variety of high-level artists, lending his skills to projects by the likes of Sting, the Sleepy Jackson, Jamie Cullum, Elvis Costello, and more. One of the higher-profile projects he has been involved with is David Bowie’s final album Blackstar, and he is also known for working on a number of soundtracks for big and small screens alike. He counts 30 Rock, Analyze That, The Departed, and Ocean’s Twelve among his credits. Lefebvre, originally of Foxbro, Massachusetts, has around 150 recordings under his belt, and also spent five years and three albums with the blues-rockers Tedeschi Trucks Band. His improvisational side is worked to the max on…

Despite having never offered active pickups in any of our basses, we are regularly confronted with the question, ‘Do you ever use passive pickups?’ If we have, in fact, never offered active pickups, why are these inquiries so persistent? There is a pervasive misconception among many guitar and bass players that any pickup without exposed poles or visible magnets is an active pickup. This is simply not true, as the overwhelming majority of magnetic pickups available on the market are actually passive devices—so how did this fallacy become so commonplace? Most bass players’ first exposure to pickups without exposed poles was in the early Seventies, when companies like Alembic and Bartolini began offering passive pickups without visible magnets. Then, in 1976, active pickup manufacturer EMG appeared with their now well-known…

Price| $2,999 Made in| USA Body| Ash Neck| Select maple, 30” Neck joint| Five-bolt, sculpted neck joint Nut width| 38.1 mm Fingerboard| Maple Frets| 22 high-profile stainless steel Pickups| Single humbucker with neodymium magnets Electronics| Three-band active 18-volt preamp Controls| Volume, treble, mid, bass Hardware| Custom Music Man tuners, string-thru-body bridge with mutes Weight| 7.3 lbs Case/gig bag included?| Yes Left-hand option available?| No WHAT WE THINK Plus| Big sound, great feel Minus| There aren’t enough of them Overall| You don’t have to be a Tim C fan to appreciate a bass that’s this well done; it just helps BP RATING…

7D7D This project, featuring Mathias Wakrat on drums and Laurent Grangeon on guitar, combines hardcore punk and jazz fusion. As Tim told us, “I’ve never been in a band like this. Laurent and Mathias write the arrangements, work it out and they hand it off to me. That’s how we got started—they asked me if I wanted to play bass over their tracks and I was like, ‘Let me hear them.’ When I heard them I said, ‘Wow, that’s some seriously crazy music!’ It’s pushed me to try to play 16th notes with three fingers. For the album we did, I recorded the music with a Lakland Joe Osborn Jazz bass.” How does he cope with delivering vocals as well as bass, we ask? “Wrapping my head around odd time…

“In a youthful way, we thought to ourselves, ‘Lets make Sikth absolutely mental!’” “I started playing bass in 1993, when I was 12, and my first bass came from a junk shop. It had a Fender-style neck and someone had tried to make the body. It had a single Jazz pickup and a square bit of plastic with a knob—it was pretty terrible—but once I proved to my parents that I could play it a bit, they got me a Bass Collection. Remember them? It was a pearl-white passive four-string, and obviously I sold it after a while, but I’ve actually started searching for them on eBay—even though it wasn’t that good—because it was my first one. I’d love to buy another one, just to have it again. “Before bass,…

Price| $3670 MAP Made In| Germany Body| Lightweight American swamp ash Neck| Maple, 34” scale Neck Joint| Bolt-on Nut width| 47.5mm Fingerboard| Maple Frets| 24 Pickups| Two passive Sadowsky hum-cancelling soapbars Electronics| Sadowsky active 9V preamp Controls| Volume, pickup pan, Vintage Tone Control with push/pull function for preamp bypass, stacked treble and bass (boost only) Hardware| Chrome quick-release Sadowsky bridge, lightweight Sadowsky branded tuners, Just-A-Nut adjustable nut, S-Security straplocks Weight| 8.4 lbs Case/gig bag included?| Deluxe Sadowsky portabag Left-hand option available?| Yes WHAT WE THINK Plus| Tones, balance, playability Minus| None Overall| Perhaps the ultimate working bass: Looks awesome, sounds even better BP RATING BUILD QUALITY SOUND QUALITY VALUE…