Contents Issue 56 July 201 2 010 0
20 NATHAN EAST Having played on over 1,000 albums, we quiz one of the bass world’s most established players on the business of bass
Regulars
Interviews
08 THE LOW DOWN
36 TOM HAMILTON
Keep up with all the latest new gear and industry news…
We catch up with Tom Hamilton as Aerosmith’s ‘Cocked, Locked and Ready to Rock’ tour arrives in the UK
14 BASS TO THE FUTURE: SIMON SMITH Introducing the talents t alents of Simon ‘Spud’ Smith.
16 TAKE FIVE: ADAM DUCE Machine Head’s bassman muses over his favourite bass albums.
18 BASSICALLY SPEAKING We talk to bassists Jesse Wood, Matthew Cohen, Troy Heaton, Jonny Thornton, Jay Gibby & Yves Fernandez. Bassically Speaking
Bassically Speaking
Bassically Speaking Bassically Speaking Bassists tell us what they do in a minute or less!
Jesse Wood e Black Swan Effect
‘Iuse a black Fender Jazz that my old mangave me,with HomeBrewelectronicsif possible.Iuse a pedalcalled a Hematoma BassOverdrive with e Black SwanEffect, made by that company.My amp isanAmpegSVT-R, which givesme a wicked tone at any volume.e secret of playingbasswellisto have a good groove and feel.I don’t play 5-or 6-stringbass; I’ve never tried either,to be honest.Ilike 4-stringsat the moment –maybe Ishould start watchingNathanEast a bit.My bassheroesare Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett,JohnPaul Jones,NoelRedding,Bootsy Collins,DarrylJones,Willie Weeks,JohnHogg,Alonza I’dsaymybassplayingis –makingsurethatwhatyou Bevanand my dad.’ rocking,riff-orientated, playdoesn’toverwhelmthe www.theblackswaneffect.com melodicandgrooving.I overallfeelormelody.Ialways useYamahaTRB6Pand remembersomeonetellingme TRB6bassesplusaWarwick thatthegrooveiseverything, StreamerLX6Customand andtheywereright.Myfirst aMIJFenderPrecision.Iam basswasaMarlinSlammer officiallyendorsedbyHartke 4-stringinblack–aFender anduseaHartkeLH1000amp Precisioncopy.Ilovedthat inconjunctionwithaHartke bassdearly,andwishIstillhad HyDrive810cab.Isolelyplay it!Myfavouritebasstodate 6-stringbassbecauseIfindit ismyYamahaTRB6.Istill givesmetheabilitytocoverall can’tbelievehowwonderful thesonicandmelodicaspects itfeelsunderthefingers,plus requiredwithinmystyleof thesoundisjustamazing.e rockmusic.Ilovethefactthat constructionissecondtonone Icanhitthelownotesandadd andthisbassjustrocks.Mybass thatwonderfulbottom-end heroesareSteveHarris[Iron heavinesstotheguitars,but Maiden],JohnMyung Igotthisbadboytwoyears stillhavetheoptionofplaying [Dreameater],JohnPaul chordsandmelodylineswith Jones[LedZeppelin],John agoandIstillloveit. It’sgota Deacon[Queen],Chris greatsoundandagreat neck. theinclusionofthehighC string.eyareveryversatile Wolstenholme[Muse],Pete It’squitesturdytoo,which instrumentsindeed,andI Trewavas[Marillion]and ]and canbeusefulfortours. e haveneverlookedback.e SteveLawson.eyareall greatestbassplayerthatever secretofplayingbasswellis extremelymelodic,excitingand livedwasJohnEntwistle:the tounderstandwhentohold tightplayerswhounderstand onemanwhocouldgele off andwhentoletthemusic theirinstrumentsandroles Whotogether.Heplayedso hardandwithrelativeease; breathe–thesimplestoflines fantasticallywell.egreatest canreallymakeasongcome bassplayerthateverlivedis hecomplementsthedrums sowellandnomancouldfill alive.Itisalsoimportanttofind SteveHarrisofIronMaiden. hisshoes.Islap,because there thegrooveandnottooverplay. eguyjustblowsmeaway. isnothingquitelikewalking Acleverapproachdoesn’t EverytimeIhearhimorsee havetomeanplayingamillion himplayIamutterlytransfixed: aroundyourhousewithyour bass,playingold-schoolChili notesallthetime,butitdoes hemakeseverythinghedoes requireanunderstandingof looksoeffortlessandexciting. Peppers.’ exactlywhatisneededwithin www.myspace.com/ www.myspace.com/ thereasoninguk thecontextofagivensong aplasticrose
Matthew Cohen e Reasoning
TroyHeatonAPlasticRose TroyHeaton APlasticRose ‘Iwoulddescribemybassstyle asaggressive,withplentyof grooveandtoomuchfuzz. IuseaFender JazzBass2008 withErnieBallHybridSlinkys, anEHBigMuff Piwiththetone rolleddown,anEHDouble Muff withthetonerolledup, aBosschromatictuner,aBoss SuperPhaserandanAshdown T15-250S.esecretofplaying basswelliskeepinginthe grooveandmakingthecrowd bounce.Myfirstbasswasared MarlinPrecision.Itwasinthe cornerofmybrother’sroomfor agesandwaseventuallyhanded downtome.Myfavouritebass evertodateismy FenderJazz.
Jay Gibby Escape To Sea Jonny ornton Night By Night ‘Iuse my Gibsonunderbird 5-stringlive,but Ialso have aWarwickStreamerLX 5-string.Inthe past Iused a choruspedalto give a little more character to the tone,but at the moment I’m just using the great,solid sound ofthe Gibson.My current rigisa Peavey Nitro through a Peavey 4x12 cab.e great thing about thisamp isthat it’sa no-nonsense amp and great for rock.It really givesthe higher
AsI’m a huge 80sfan,Billy Sheehanisa biginfluence.In my opinion,he epitomisesthe notionofplayingfor the song rather thanoverusinghisvast bagoftricks.Tom Hamilton ofAerosmith isthe reason Istarted playingbass.eir solid,bluesy rhythm section iswhat inspired me tojoina band:they’ve got such subtle groove and solid rhythms.’
www.myspace.com/ nightbynightmusic
more–Iwillstudytheother twostrings.egreatestbass playerthateverlivedisJaco Pastorius.WhenIlistenedto Jaco’sfirstalbumandheard “DonnaLee”Iwasblownaway. Iwasjustlearningjazzthen, soIcouldn’tunderstandwhat onearthJacowasdoing.His groove,tone,feelandchoice ofnotesamazedme,andstill do.It’salmostlikehecreated andcomposedanewlanguage onhisinstrument.e secretofplayingbasswellis ‘Iwoulddescribemybassstyle 4-stringRuachbass,a4-string dedicationandacommitment asmelodicandgroove-based. USFenderJazzandaWarwick tohardpractice.ereareno Itrytoachievea liquid,fluid Streamer.AlthoughI’mnot realsecrets:itcomesdown stylewithadeeppocket.Ilike currentlyusinganybasseffects, todisciplinedandfocused togivemybasslinesacrackle thisisanareathat Iwouldlike practice.Afterthepainbarrier andbuzzwithenergywhen toexploreinthefuture.I’ve offrustrationcomesprogress. playing.Iaspiretoplaywith played5-and6-stringbassesin Slapbassisanimportantsound empathyandsensitivityaround thepastandenjoyedit.Players thatallbassplayersshouldtake othermusiciansandartists. likeAnthonyJacksonand thetimetolearnandmaster. AtthemomentIamplayinga JimmyHasliphavemadethese FromLarryGrahamandLouis 4-stringactiveCortbass.On instrumentstheirown,and JohnsontoVictorWootenand theJurojinalbumIusedthree maybeinthefuture–whenI’ve MarcusMiller,learnitall,man.’ www.myspace.com/jurojin differentbasses:acustom masteredmy4-stringsalittle
YvesFernandez Jurojin
18 BassGuitarMagazine
asically peaking_1nw.indd 18
notesthat crisp,clear sound withoutlosingpower. Iwould love tohear my Gibsonthrough anAmpeg, though –possibly the SVTPRO4.I’ve alwaysbeena big fanofJohnPaul Jones:he was one ofthe first bassplayers Istarted tolearnfrom,and Ialwaysloved hisbluesy basslines.Mark Kingisanother personalhero,but more for hisfluid lead basslinesthan the funkier side ofLevel42.
‘Iwould describe my bass style asprogressive.Itry to find a place betweenthe rhythm and lead guitar.Iget bored followingroot note progressions,soIdo my best tofind notesand chordsto offset the guitarsa little and develop my playinginto somethingthat buildsup throughout the song.Ialso only play with my fingers, which ispartly todowith the fact that Ialwaysused to drop picks,but Ireally prefer the warm sound you get from fingerstyle. Iuse anAmericanFender PDeluxe.Iused toowna vintage 5-string,but it was fairly cheap and the lowB sounded terrible,soItook it off and changed the set-up toEADGC.e high Cwas really cooland Iused it to play jazz.Ihave noeffects: Ibelieve that the basshasa tone ofitsown– it’sthere todrive the band.Iuse an Orange OBC410 cabinet, anOrange BassTerror head and a BossTU-3 tuner.Idon’t slap,because it doesn’t really suit the style ofmy current band,and it getsme introuble.When we recorded our second EP,Imade the mistake of slappingwhile the engineer wasfiddlingwith my bass tone inthe live room –it almost got me kicked out of thestudio…’ www.myspace.com/ escapetosea
Bass Guitar Magazine 19
24/05/2010 a 1s0ic :1a6 lly peaking_1nw.indd 19
4 Bass Guitar Magazine
24/05/2010 10:16
26 MIKE MONDESIR A vital force within the international music scene, we track down the ultratalented Mike Mondesir.
30 JOSH 30 JOSH DUNHAM The Prince bassist tells us about life backing one of the world’s most celebrated performers.
34 VERDINE 34 VERDINE WHITE The legendary EWF bassist talks bass, boogie and about his recent induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
39 IAN PERES Joel McIver meets Ian Peres of Australian hard rockers Wolfmother
40 KASIM SULTON We meet one of the unsung heroes of American bass playing.