BassGuitar 129 April 2016

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Chic BRIAN ‘HARDGROOVE’ HARGROVE, PUBLIC ENEMY | LONDON BASS GUITAR SHOW 2016 REPORT PROMENADE MUSIC | ERIC BASS, SHINEDOWN | SOULFLY TOUR REPORT | MICHAEL MANRING

www.bassguitarmagazine.com UK £4.75 Issue 129 April 2016

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CONTENTS ISSUE 129 APRIL 2016 his time every year I find myself almost unable to type these words – specifically, after the annual London Bass Guitar Show. As you’ll know if you were there, this year’s event on 12 and 13 March was the biggest we’ve ever had in terms

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Roscoe Century 4 STD+

of numbers of bass players through the day – and it felt as if EDITORJoel McIver, I and theBGM team [email protected] SUB-EDITORS Kate Puttick, Nick Robbins knew every one of TECHNICAL CONSULTANT Stuart Clayton you. The community CONTRIBUTORSAngus Batey, Bob we all move in is at its best at the LBGS, with studio and session bassists Battersby,Duff Battye, Andy Baxter, Nick Beggs, Jeff Berlin, Jamie Blaine, Silvia Bluejay, – not to mention a whole raft of actual stars – rubbing shoulders with Mike Brooks, Joe Burcaw, Dave Clarke, Stuart luthiers, amp manufacturers and then people like you and me, who Clayton, Ben Cooper, Joe Daly, Hywel Davies, Jon D’Auria, Daryl Easlea, David Etheridge, Mike simply love the low end. Summing all this up in this introduction to the Flynn, Paul Geary, Ian Glasper, Joel Graham, Ruth new issue is almost impossible, so I’ll direct you to our full report on page Goller, Spencer Grady, Paolo Gregoletto, Hugh Gulland, Chris Hanby, Andy Hughes, Ken Hunt, 32. Suffice it to say that when we said to ourselves last year ‘How are we Kevin Johnson, Steve Lawson, Phil Mann, Lee going to improve on the LBGS 2015?’ we didn’t dare to hope that we’d be Marlow, George Martin, Michael McKeegan, asking ourselves the same question a year later. We’re grateful to each Stewart McKinsey, Greg Moffitt, Chris Mugan, Ellen O'Reilly, Franc O’Shea, Harry Paterson, and every one of you. Raz Rauf, Alison Richter, Steven Rosen, Kevin In this issue we celebrate the life and career of the mighty Bernard Sanders, Amit Sharma, Joe Shooman, Rob Statham, Scott Surine, Jon Thorne, Freddy Edwards of Chic – taken from us way before his time, 20 years to Villano, Ray Walker, Alex Webster, Sam Wise the month before this magazine goes on sale – and meet the bassists ADVERTISING SALES Guy Meredith from Public Enemy, Shinedown and Soulfly, as well as nipping up to GRAPHIC DESIGN Steve Dawson AD DESIGNMatt Smith Promenade Music in Morecambe, and meeting Michael Manring. Bass Getty Images COVER PHOTOGRAPH STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY Eckie OPERATIONS DIRECTOR James Folkard ASSISTANT PUBLISHER Ruth Burgess PUBLISHERWes Stanton ACCOUNTSDave Deo SUBSCRIPTIONS 01926 339808,

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gear on review ranges from a pair of state-of-the-art MTDs to a vintage Danelectro, and as always our world-class tutor s do their damnedest to make you the bass player you’ve always dreamed of being. Does life in bass world get better? Hell no. See you in May!

Schecter Stiletto Studio NT-8

Joel McIver, editor

[email protected]

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For all subscription offers and overseas prices visit www.bassguitarmagazine.com or call 01926 339808 Printed in the UK © Blaze Publishing Ltd 2016. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system or integrated into any other publication, database or commercial program without the express permission of the publishers in writing. Under no circumstances should this publication and its contents be sold, loaned out or used by way of trade, or stored or transmitted as an electronic file without the publishers prior written approval.

48 MTD Saratoga Deluxe 4 & 5

Mike Brooks road-tests two luxurious basses from the MTD stable...

52 Roscoe Century

...before turning his attention to this divine fretless!

DISCLAIMER While Blaze Publishing Ltd prides itself on the quality of the information its publications provide, the company reserves the right not to be held legally responsible for any mistakes or inaccuracies found within the text of this publication. Bass Guitar Magazine is an independent publication and as such does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of manufacturers or distributors of the products contained within. All trademarks are acknowledged.

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Ellen O’Reilly gets her metal on with this eight-stringed heavyweight

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60 Danelectro Longhorn

Joel McIver lassos this vintage beast – but can he tame it?

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MTD Saratoga Deluxe 4 & 5

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Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

Ampeg SCI-DI

Is that an Ampeg in your pocket, asks Ian Glasper

f/bassguitarmagazine

CONTENTS

o/bassguitarmag

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Tuition

Michael Manring

7 0 Frontline

Four pro bassists offer you their collective wisdom. Get smart here

BEGINNER

72 Ellen O’Reilly

Numbers symbolising

chords? Let’s do this, says Ellen

32 7 4

Eric Bass, Shinedown

Paul Geary

The mighty Geary says... let’s rock!

INTERMEDIATE

76 Stuart Clayton

More Aeolian madness with our man Clayton

78 Rob Statham

Tapping bass intervals with bass guru Statham

ADVANCED

8 0 Franc O’Shea

Digging deeper into Franc’s mind-bending bass solo

36 84

Brian ‘Hardgroove’ Hargrove

Bassists 22

Bernard Edwards

Twenty years to the month after his premature death, Daryl Easlea and Dave Clarke celebrate the life, work and bass talent of Bernard Edwards of Chic, a genuine contender for the title of the most accomplished bass player who ever lived. Meanwhile, Joel McIver sits down with Bernard’s friend and colleague in Chic, Nile Rodgers, for an insight into the lost legend’s personality

8 6 David Etheridge

Prof Etheridge gets us soloing on double bass

38 Promenade Music 40 Eric Bass, Shinedown

We head to Morecambe for a visit to a bass mecca by the sea

8 8 Steve Lawson

Let’s look at the big picture, advises effects maestro Lawson

Yes, that’s his real name. The USstadium-rocker talks the low frequencies

42 Backstage Bass

We meet four metal musicians from Soulfly, Incite, Lody Kong and King Parrot for a chat about all things low-end

Michael Manring The maverick bassist looks back (andforward) with another bass icon, Steve Lawson

90 Classic Bass Albums

Welcome to Brooksy’s new column, in which he celebrates a classic bass album. All together: “Is this the real life...?”

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‘Hardgroove’ Hargrove, 2 8 Brian Public Enemy Angus Batey meets the great hip-hop musicianHardgroove to discuss a nation of a million bass-lines

Philip Mann

Double popping, is it? The venerable Mann takes us there

32 London Bass Guitar Show 2016

NOW DETAILS PAGE 82


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LOW DOWN

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SUPER SHOW! Thanks to almost 2,200 visitors, the cream of the world’s bass players and exhibitors from around the world, the sixth London Bass Guitar Show was the most successful yet. Held at Olympia London on 12 and 13 March in association with this very magazine, the LBGS 2016 hosted Robert Trujillo of Metallica, Suzi Quatro, Jools Holland bassist Dave Swift, solo bass monsters Federico Malaman, Adam Ben-Ezra and Freekbass, Status Quo’s Rhino Edwards and Joy Division/New Order founder member Peter Hook. Watching Trujillo’s band Mass Mental, which also features ace bassist Armand Sabal-Lecco, jamming with Mark King of Level 42 blew our minds. And as for propping up the bar with

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News and views from the bass world, collated by BGM’s team of intrepid newshounds

Alex Venturella from Slipknot and Paul Turner from Jamiroquai... well, let’s just say that a chaotic night was had by all. How we’re going to top the LBGS in 2017 we have no idea, but then again, that’s what we said last time. We’re delighted to note that attendance has increased year on year since 2014, so one more time, hats off to all who came. If you made it along, thanks for coming – and if you didn’t, see you next year! Keep an eye on our social media for pics and film, and enjoy our in-depth report elsewhere in this issue. And see that pic of a crazed bassist holding a lovely Teambuilt Warwick Streamer? That’s David Sumeray, who won the Bassface competition and takes the bass home with him. Congrats, that man! Info: www.londonbassguitarshow.com, www.facebook.com/londonbassguitarshow, @bassguitarshow

HÖFNER HITS 60 Hofner has announced the release of their 60th Anniversary 500/1 Violin Bass, a sleek version of the instrument made so famous by up-and-coming ‘beat’ hopeful Sir Paul McCartney half a

century ago. A strictly limited edition of 60 instruments is now available from selected dealers, they tell us, adding that the 500/1, designed by Walter Höfner himself, was first shown to the public at the Frankfurt Musikmesse in 1956. Now we feel old. Info: www.hofner.com

BOOKED UP Bassline Publishing, run by BGM’s very own technical consultant and ace bassist Stuart Clayton, is releasing more essential instructional volumes devoted to the work of Stuart Hamm and Marcus

Miller. Stu Hamm – The Book of Lies Bass Transcriptions(£15 plus shipping) contains transcriptions for all of the tracks on Stu’s 2015 albumThe Book Of Lies, including a frankly incredibly-hard-toplay seven-song solo bass suite, and also contains a detailed biography, details on the instruments Stu has used and performance notes for each song. The transcriptions were personally checked for accuracy by Stu, who also provided added insights into the songs in the performance notes. Meanwhile, Marcus Miller – Highlights from Renaissance is a collection of five pieces from Marcus Miller’s 2012 album Renaissance, including popular bass -driven tracks such as ‘Detroit’, ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ and ‘Cee-Tee-Eye’. The bo ok also contains a biography of Marcus, details on the instruments he uses and a detailed analysis of his playing style. Each transcription is written in both standard notation and tablature and has extensive performance notes. Elsewhere in book world, Ove Bosch has released a tasty German-language tome called Bass Vertiefung (or ‘Bass Enrichment’ according to our 1976 Collins German dictionary from school) and Steve King has reissued Head To Head: Aerobics For Electric Bass. That lot should keep you away from your iPad for a while. Info: www.basslinepublishing.com, www.ovebosch.de, www.facebook.com/steve.kempking


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THE LOWDOWN

GOODBYE GEEZER Black Sabbath are bidding us farewell this year, as fans of heavy metal will know, after swinging around the globe one last time. Bassist Geezer Butler is accompanied on the tour, which is aptly named ‘The End’, by a splendid new Ashdown rig, put together by

with a few specific modifications: they needed to be able to split the signals to run four cabs for the full range signal into the 4x12s, so

Mark Gooday’s team over the last several mont hs. “The premise,” says the company, “was to be able to separate the high and low signals to suit his current custom stage cabinets which consists of four

1000s that would drive Geeze r’s on-stage 4x12s.” See Ashdown’s site for more details – and Sabbath on tour to c atch the full power of the new bass set-up. See you at Download!

4x12s and four 2x15s. We took an srcinal JE preamp and came up

Info: www.ashdownmusic.com

we modified the existing two-way crossover to a custom transformer derived crossover able to power four outputs

to feed the two APM-

O2 ACADEMIES Italian effects-makers Nemphasis have launched the 02 Oxygen Bass Preamp and the unit’s larger Pro Series variant. The preamp “delivers extreme flexibility and tonal overlapping with outstanding clarity”, it says here, so we’d better get hold of one for review. Controls include a Mode footswitch, gain and input levels, a ground lift switch to swerve earth loops and an XLR out. The smaller version has the same EQ as well as a toggle switch offering a preset boost or scoop of the mid frequencies. Grab them for £149 or £189 respectively. Info: www.nemphasis.com

SIX OF THE BEST Basses Loaded,the Melvins’ new album, features not one but six

bass players and is out on 3 June on Ipecac Recordings, the label owned by Faith No More singer Mike Patton. Lead Melvin Buzz Osborne is joined by Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, Redd Kross’s Steve McDonald, Butthole Surfers’ J.D. Pinkus, Big Business’s Jared Warren and Mr. Bungle’s Trevor Dunn, while drummer Dale Crover switches to bass. As we speak, we’re trying to get all six of them to talk to us for a mega-Melvins feature. Don’t thank us, it’s what we do. Info: www.themelvins.net

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Thanks to the great Nile Rodgers, we have a pair of tickets to the Nile-curated Fold Festival, which takes place at Fulham Palace in London on 24 to 26 June (www.foldfestival.com). Get themby answering this simple question about the late, great Bernard Edwards: ie k c E y b c i P

The famous Chic song is...? A Good Vibes B Good Times C Good Nights

Answers to the usual BGM postal address or via www. bassguitarmagazine.com/competition by May 17.

A ravishing Bruce Thomas Profile bass courtesy of the Bass Centre goes to John Jones. Thanks to all who entered.

BAYWATCH Every month, keen bass-spotter Ray Walker brings us an online bargain. Sandberg California TM4 Jazz £749 http://tinyurl.com/gl3ptcr Billed in the ad as a Fender killer, here we have a

lovely Sandberg California TM4 Jazz bass. This is a pro-quality bass for less than pro-quality bucks. It’s a versatile active or passive bass with an ash body, maple neck and a coil tap on the bridge pickup, so tone range galore. According to owners, the zero fret gives open notes a more consistent tone and the rounded-profile of the neck feels great in the hand. The individual locking saddles of this hefty brass bridge provide excellent height, spacing and intonation. A beauty!


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THE LOWDOWN

HEADLINING HEAD

London, the contemporary music college. This musical education space is equipped with a wide selection of Aguilar amps, cabinets and effects: as Alex Mew, Barnes & Mullins’ associate director of marketing,

Peavey has announced the immediate availability of the Headliner 1000 says: “Facilities such as BIMM are arguably largely responsible for the Bass amp head, available to order in the UK exclusively through Peavey incredibly diverse and ever more technically proficient songwriting

distributors Barnes & Mullins. The 1000W unit is loaded with features, including a seven-band graphic EQ, optical compressor with level control and bypass, a ‘Crunch’ feature that allows players to dial in a vintage tube effect, ‘Bright’ and ‘Contour’ switches and DDT speaker protection circuitry that detects the onset of clipping. Nab yours for £549. In other B&M news, the company has just announced the opening of the Aguilar Amplification performance and tutoring room at BIMM

and production techniques so prevalent in today’s music industry. As so many highly talented and dedicated young musicians study in these institutions, it is essential to ensure they have access to high quality, professional equipment. So with this aim in mind, we are delighted to have assisted in the creation of this Aguilar Amplification performance and tutoring environment.” Info: www.bandm.co.uk

STANLEY IN SUSSEX Jazz fusion legend Stanley Clarke returns to the Love

FOXY Sometime Jam bassist Bruce Foxton returns with a new album, Smash The Clock, which

features his old bandmate (and last year’s BGM cover star) Paul Weller, legendary pub-rocker Wilko Johnson and blues veteran Paul Jones and which was recorded at Weller’s Black Barn studios. Keep an eye out for his post-jam project From The Jam and their ‘A’s And B’s’ tour later th is year, which will include rare tracks from the Jam’s back catalogue. Info: www.brucefoxton.com

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Supreme Jazz Festival 2016, held on 1-3 July at Glynde Place in East Sussex. He’s joined by Grace Jones, Burt Bacharach, Lianne La Havas, Caro Emerald, Melody Gardot and Kelis among many more musicians of the jazz-ish persuasion. None other than the mighty Burt Bacharach says of the event “I’m thrilled to be returning to the UK this summer and performing at the Love Supreme Festival. I’ve heard great things about the festival and I’m looking forward to sharing my music in this beautiful setting with the stunning backdrop of Glynde Place”, which makes it all the cooler that we’ll be giving away a pair of tickets in due course. Info: www.lovesupremefestival.com

BASSICALLY

SPEAKING Bassists reveal the tricks of their trade faster than a snapping D string © S t u a r t J a m e s

GEAR BASSES Fender Precision, Epiphone Jack Casady, Fender Jazz, Cleartone strings EFFECTS Tech21 SansAmp, SolidGoldFX Beta Custom Shop, Vintage Russian Big Muff, MXR Bass Octave Deluxe, MI Audio BlueBoy Deluxe, TC Electronic Polytune, Bright Onion Pedals Mini Looper AMPS Ampeg SVT-AV, Ampeg SVT-410HLF

ANTONIO ANGOTTI TAX THE HEAT I’m a big advocate of groove and feel and love to hold down the rhythmic aspect of bass playing with the drummer while marrying that with the harmony. I understand my role in aband and I always play for the benefit of the song: it’s about the bigger picture. I still like to try and turn heads, though, and look for the right opportunities

I’m a rock bassist, but I’m much more us eful when I can chuck the pick and shred on with myfingers instead! I love to play afour-string bass. Even when I use my Fender Jazz Deluxe five-string for recording or function gigs, I’ll seldom use the Bstring because it usually has its own separate tone. Even with a great set of strings you can hear the difference. It’s fun to drop it inonce in a while, but unless theguitarist is using a seven-string I would prefer to stick to four. The rock and metal gigs I play don’t need slap lines, but have I thrown in a few cheeky slap fills when recording. I also slap when I’ve had enough of the guitarists noodling away tothemselves during soundcheck... Pay attention to detail. When practising, find ways torecord yourself and listen back. Even if it’s a low-quality recording on your phone, you’ll be able to hear the elements of your playing that you need to work on. My favourite bass is still my Rickenbacker 4003 which I’ve played for about six years. I still get awarm and mushy feeling when I see it. My bass heroes are GeezerButler (Black Sabbath), Cliff Burton (Metallica), John Entwistle (The Who) and Chris Squire (Yes). The greatest bass player that ever lived was Lemmy, not so muchfor his bass playing, but for his general greatness. Myrock band IDestroy recently released a debut EP,Vanity Loves Me ; my melodic metal band Control The Storm are writing the follow-up to our first album, Beast Inside; and heavy metallers Triaxis are still touring thethird album,Zero Hour.

in songs to play something a little more out there, whether it’s a fill, run, countermelody or sync up withthe vocals or guitar. A lot of it for me is finding the right tones to really make your bass part speak. The secret of playing bass well is having the right mindset. And of course knowing your stuff! But being a bassplayer is different from being a guitarist or a drummer. I know it sounds obvious, but each play their own different roles in a band setting. As abass player, you tread the line of laying down thefoundation of the arrangement as well as looking for those moments in the song to pop out with something killer. We’re not the guys that traditionally let off a threeminute solo mid-song, so it’s having that understanding (and a better handle on the old ego) to play more of a supporting role. Don’t get me wrong, there are many instances where the bass takes the lead – look at Tom Hamilton on Aerosmith’s ‘Sweet Emotion’ or John Deacon on Queen’s ‘Under Pressure’ and ‘Another One Bites The Dust’. My favourite bass to date is my 1976 Fender Precision bass. It’seen b my staple with Tax The Heat and 90 per cent of what you’ll hear on our debut album is that. Itwas quite a fortunate eBay acquisition and thankfully it arrived from the US in one piece! It has some real vintage mojo to it and everything on it is all srcinal. It has a slightly slimmer neck profile than most Precision basses, which I think was fairly common in the late 70s,and it makes for nice comfortable playing. My bass heroes would probably be John Entwistle, John Deacon, James Jamerson and Paul McCartney. I think the main thing that they all share is their melodic approach to bass playing as well as the incredible amount of creative flair each of themdisplay in their basslines. They also bring a great deal of individuality to the table, these guys were pioneers of their eras, styles and genres.But a big personal hero for me is my college music teacher and good friend Craig Gilligan. Not only did he inspire and help nurture my early growth as a musician, but he gave usmany great opportunities and experiences to play with other musicians at college. He still continues to be a great voice of guidance today. We ’re currently building up to therelease of our debut album,Fed To The Lions , on Nuclear Blast Entertainment.

www.beckybaldwinbass.com

www.taxtheheat.com

GEAR BASSES Rickenbacker 4003, Fender Jazz Deluxe V, Danelectro Longhorn EFFECTS SansAmp Bass Driver DI, MXR Custom Shop GT- OD Overdrive AMPS Ampeg SVT 3 Pro head, SWR Workingman 2x10 cabs, SWR WorkingPro 1x15 cab

BECKY BALDWIN

IDESTROY, CONTROL THE STORM, TRIAXIS

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stonefeld

GEAR BASSES F Bass VF4-P EFFECTS Tech21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI AMPS Traynor YBA300 heads, Traynor TC412 Cabinets

JON HARVEY MONSTER TRUCK I do not play five- or six-string bass, be cause I don’t play in Dream The ater. We don’t really play the type of music that requires it. I don’t slap. When I hear slapping all I can think of is the theme for Seinfeld, which isn’t a bad thing,but imagine JPJ slappin’ around.The secret of playing bass well is paying attention to your drummerand practising a lot witha metronome. My first bass was a Mexican Fender Jazz which Ihad to borrow the money for from abandmate. My favourite studio bass to date is myUnivox (MIJ) copy of a Fender P . It is a great piece of wood. I have put a lot of time and money into it. It also weighs 15 pounds so on stage, to save my back, I use the best playing bass I have evertouched, my F Bass VF4-P, with a rosewood fretboard. I would never play a show without it.My bass heroes are Stanley Clarke, GeezerButler, Paul McCartney and Steve Harris. The greatest bass player that ever lived was Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. If I could get the bass tone of any album ever released, I would choose Machine Head by Deep Purple. Roger Glover has the most raunchy yet clear tone. The bass is completely present in the mix. No weird midrange that gets confused with the organ or bass drum, which is quite a feat when dealing with a Leslie speaker and the frequency spectrum of a B3 organ crammed through a Marshall stack. We finished our sophomore album,Sittin’ Heavy, and the rest of this year will be spent touring, promoting, playing festivals andstaying busy. www.ilovemonstertruck.com

OWEN GRIFFITHS BLACKLISTERS I sound like a guitarist playing like a bass player, a bass player playing like guitarist, a with a plectrum, in drop tuning. Iplay four-string basses because anything elseis a bit unnecessary, especially if you’re already in a drop tuning and want to be audible. The sound of an E string tuned down sounds infinitely better than a low B string, in my humble opinion. It’s all about clarity and tone, man. I’m always throwing some hotLevel 42 funky grooves into songs but Ijust get threatened with violence. Seriously though, unless you’re Les Claypool, it’s a tough one to pull off in the sort of music I play. There is no secret to being good at anything, you just have to do it loads, which I have. Learning your favourite riffs is really important and the n jamming with a band is all you need to do. I’m a big fan of scales and arpeggios, but there’s too many really good guitarists and bass players out there that don’t know any of that stuff to say it’s es sential to learn. My first bass was the biggest piece of crap you’ve ever seen. I bought it off some kid at school when I was 13, he’d nicked it from his dad and soldit to me for £5. As crap as it was, I loved itand played it every day. Memories... All Fenders rule, Stratocasters, Jaguars, Telecasters, Precisions, Jazz basses. I just love them all. I also like the Gibson Ripper and anything by Travis Bean. When I was younger I didn’t really have bass heroes, itwas more about bands that Iliked or just people in bands. First I wanted tobe in Nirvana, then RATM,then Funkadelic, then Melvins, then Jesus Lizard, at the moment it’s Fleetwood Mac. The greatest bass player that ever lived was Jaco Pastorius, obviously. We’ve just released our second album,Adult. www.blacklisters.co.uk © S a r a h D a v e y

GEAR BASSES Fender Jazz EFFECTS SansAmp Bass Driver, Boss Bluesbreaker AMPS Hartke HA3500 head, Ampeg 610 cab


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BASSICALLY SPEAKING never yearned for that extra low end. I’m pretty satisfied with my current quantity of low end. I came to bass with a guitarist’s background, so I think that slap playing was just lost intranslation. When I picked up a bass, I immediately erred towards what felt familiar to me as a guitar player. The idea of slapping andpopping my instrument felt completely foreign. Necessity never really dictated that I learn how to do it, so I never did. To this day, I still can’t slap, and I regret nothing. As a convert that srcinally started as a guitar player, I struggled for a long time with feelings of being a phoney. I did feel like there might be some secret to bass playing that I hadn’t unlocked yet. For me, the biggest step towards finding comfort and confidence on my instrument was finding a sound that I could identify as being my own. Zeroing in on specifically how I liked my bass to sound, and allowing that to shape my playing has definitely led me to feeling better as a bass player. I’m not an exceptionally flashy player, so having a bass sound that I’m stoked about can go a long way. The first bass that I ever owned was a Fender 70s Jazz reissue. I borrowed friends’ basses before that, usually either a Squier or a Samick, or something of that ilk, but that Jazz was the first Nil bass that I owned. I used it for about three years, and completely abused it. It’s my at-home bass now, because it’s pretty unfit to take on the road at this point. It needs a lot of work. I used to slam it around a lot and the skunk stripe started to pop out of the back of the neck. My favourite bass ever is the Gibson Grabber. I’ve got two of them. The 1978 is my backup bass, and it’s incredibly light. It feeds back like a dream. I can stand at the front of the stage and it can still produce really musical, easily controllable feedback. The 1975 is my main bass, and it’s much heavier. I’ve worn most of the finish off the neck in the two years I’ve had it, so it feels great. Both basses sound essentially the same. They’ve

GEAR BASSES Gibson Grabber EFFECTS None AMPS Traynor YC-810 8x10 cab, Traynor Monoblock B, Traynor Monoblock II, Sunn Concert Bass

got the growl of a P-Bass, but they play more like Jazz basses. I like that it’s not the most common bass to see people playing. That’s always a nice bonus. As far as style, taste, and tone go, Cliff Burton was pretty untouchable. There’s a reason why Metallica moved to San Francisco

DAVID N ARDI THE DIRTY NIL

just to get him in the band. His snarling fuzz wah sound is amazing. It

None of the bands I was listening towhen I was starting to play ever can’t really be emulated. The dude also wore nothing but denim, which played five- or six-string basses, and I’ve never really seen a five- or six-string bass that I particularly liked. Nothing against pe ople that use them, it’s just not something I’veever felt the need or desire for. I’ve

always gets points in my book. We’ve just released our debut album, Higher Power, and we’ll be doing lots of touring. www.facebook.com/thedirtynil

KE L THE EMPTY PAGE

I would describe my bassstyle as punky, fuzzy and song- rather than ego-driven. I played guitar in previous bands; this time I wanted to switch to bass for a challenge. Imainly consider myself a singer and songwriter, so when I write I’m usually thinking about catchy hooks and the vocal melody. It was a challenge to gofrom playing rhythm guitar while singing to playing bass while singing. Huge respect to bassists that slap, I love towatch it but I guess I just don’t have the funk! The most important thing for bassists to master is grooving with the drums. I could get away with being a bit sloppy as a second guitarist, but now I have to be part of a rhythmic driving force. Even ifwhat you’re playing is simple, especially then, it has tolock in and keep that power. The bass I currently play is a short-scale Squier Jaguar as it was easier to transition from guitar tobass with a smaller instrument, and easier to play and sing at the same time. It’s a budget guitar as I’m skint, but I actually love it and can’t see myself changing to a great big bass any time soon. It’s lightweight so I can jump around like an idiot onstage. I love the Jaguar shapeand it’s currently black on black, which is classic cool, but I’m thinking of adding some sparkle. My bass heroes are the cool Kims: Gordon and Deal. The greatest bass player that lived was Lemmy, obviously. We’v e just released our first proper single, ‘Deeply Unlovable’ , and a really cool video with it, a commenton the unrealistic beauty standards threatening all women’s self-esteem from an early age. We recorded itlive after I’d only been playing bass for about six months. This year we release our debutalbum and tour as much as possible. We have some UK dates in June, come see us! www.theemptypageband.com

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GEAR BASS Squier Jaguar EFFECTS Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff AMPS Ashdown MAG300

© G iz

BASSICALLY SPEAKING GEAR BASSES Anaconda Crusher CXE4 Elite, D’Addario strings EFFECTS Boss OC-2, TC Polytune 2 Blacklight, Boss BB-1X, Boss BC-1X, all on a Pedaltrain Nano powered by a T-Rex Fueltank Jr AMPS Amps Ashdown ABM and Rootmaster

MIKE PRINCE DR MEAKER My bass style is solid with the occasional slap outburst. Always in the pocket. I personally think four-string basses slap better, and I can get the lower notes by detuning to C# or even B. I used to re-string to tenor (ADGC), like Stanley Clarke does, for a different taste. There’s nothing better when you’re rolling off some delicious 16th-note triplets with a groovy drummer! The secret of playing bass well is locking in with the drummer, but also listening to all styles and genres of music, particularly melodic instruments. This gives you a good harmonic and melodic foundation and is easily transferred to bass, where it can then help with solo and melody ideas. Also, learn another instrument such as piano, even if just the basics. My first bass was a £75 Maxtone P-Bass copy that my dad bought for me off eBay back in 2005 – bargain! I’ve still got it, but the neck is as warped as anything, the action makes it unplayable and the strings are like telegraph wires. My favourite bass ever to date is my Anaconda Crusher CXE4 Elite. It’s been on every recording session, gig, tour, and festival I’ve done since Andrew built it for me. I was his first customer back in 2013 and I’d never part with it! My old Status Graphite Kingbass Artist was a cool bass too, a real slap machine. The greatest bass player that ever lived is Mark King: his rudimentary drumming approach revolutionised bass playing in Europe in the 80s and he continues to do so. Some of his riffs and licks are just outrageous. I really love Chris Wolstenholme’s bass tone on the early Muse tracks. Lots of low-end growl and high-

© S im e o n B o y s L a y to n

GEAR BASSES Gretsch White Falcon, Gretsch Broadkaster, Ernie Ball Music Man EFFECTS None AMPS Various

DANIEL MANZANO BOYCE AVENUE For me it’s always about supplementing and supporting the band and the rhythm section.I’d always prefer to keep it simple, powerful and driving than to be playing a part that is all over the place, or is distracting from the main messageor emotion of the song. I play fourstring. I just think that five- and six-string bassesare too unwieldy. I would be drawn to having access tothe lower notes if they’d make a bass that has the B string but gets rid of the high G string, so that it still only has four strings and is as compact as a regular bass. The secret of playing bass well is to keep it simple, and to really connect with the music and everything that’s going onaround you. My favourite bass ever to date is my Gretsch WhiteFalcon. It’s gorgeous. It’s really fun to play hollow-body basses. We just finished anew album calledRoad Less Traveled, and it will be out in April! We’re really excited about the new music, and we can’t wait to share thesongs with everyone on our world tour, which kicks off in India this month. http://boyceavenue.com/

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end fizz but still perfectly clear in the mix. I play for Bristol drum’n’bass collective Dr Meaker: our second album Dirt and Soul is nearly finished and should be released in time to gig it over the festival season. We played loads of festivals last year including Glastonbury, so fingers crossed we’ll be there again this year. www.drmeaker.co.uk

THE LOWDOWN The Luthier

Scottmaking SurineofofaSurine Basses completes his column on the state-of-the-art bass guitar

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elcome back! We’re now at the point where we cut out the top of our Surine, but oversized to the overall body shape. The ‘S-Curve’ area is cut to exactly match the fingerboard extension. The top is then dry-fitted to the assembly to ensure its fit. Once the top fits snugly, it

is then glued to the assembly, using virtually every clamp in the shop. When dry, the excess top wood is routed until flush with the wings, then rounded over and pre-final sanded. After the top has been glued to the assembly, its edge is routed flush to the profile of the wings, then rounded over for comfort and aesthetics. The holes for the controls are then drilled through the body, and the neck heel is carved by hand with rasps and files. Once carved, the neck heel is then refined with various grits of sandpaper until its overall feel is comfortable to the hand in several positions. Using a template for the control cavity’s outer shape, the lip is routed to depth. A second template for the inner shape is screwed in place and routed using incrementally deeper passes until its final depth is achieved. The pickup cavities are located on the body, then routed to depth similarly to the process for the control cavity. Once all prior tasks have been completed, including drilling for the bridge mount holes and shaping the fingerboard extension, the entire instrument is final sanded. Once this is complete, the serial number is stamped on the back of the headstock. The bass is now ready for finish. The bass is then finished with either a gloss polyester by Pat Wilkins, as in this example, or with a handrubbed TruOil finish for a satin look and feel: it is then assembled and set up by master luthier Kenneth Scott Lofquist. For this bass, the Sonova bridge was installed – a proprietary design by Scott Surine. Once assembled and set up, the bass is tested for playability and sonic versatility. If needed, minor adjustments are made at this point. The bass is photo-documented for archive and marketing purposes. Both warranty and certificate of authenticity documents are produced for the purchasing customer, and once all is approved, the bass is now ready for performance! www.surinebasses.com


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THE LOWDOWN Rockschool

Applied Improvisation with

Rockschool Nik Preston at Rockschool discusses teaching (and learning) music

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hroughout the series so far we’ve cover ed a lot of harmonic ground, providing a sound platform from which to develop fretboard knowledge, aural skills, chord/scale theory and ultimately develop as improvisers and more rounded musicians. Something that underpins a lot of the teaching methodology that practitioners like Joe Hubbard, myself and many of the great players and educators found in BGM use, is our experience of teaching a great many players, be it in universities, conservatoir es, colleges or privately. You’ll hear lo ts of theory o n how various indiv iduals learn: VAK, or sometimes VARK, is one such theo ry, based on research that seemed to show that many students have a propensity towards visual, aural or kinaesthetic stimuli to learn new skills or knowledge. Different teachers have different theories, but often a great teacher is not just someone with a great command of the subject matter, but also one that can assess the particular

the defining factor in your chance of success is one that I have seen demoralise less experienced players who don’t believe they have ‘it’: it also gives lazier instructors a reason not to focus on a particular student as much as another. Very rarely have I come across any student who could not achieve at a professional level if they would only be methodical, address their weaknesses, find ways to motivate themselves and ultimately increase their own level of confidence. Confidence increases with competence, and competence will always come with dedication and a clear mind. If clarity is something that eludes you, as it does for many of us from time to time, that’s a good time to return to the fundamentals. Above all, stay true to your own personal goals – returning to your favourite records will also bring you back to focus quite quickly. Here’s a concept: each of us should always aim to be our own favourite player. Although at first that may seem to be unachievable (and it may well be), there is logic in that

needs of the student. From my own perspective, there are a multitude of factors that influence how someone will learn most effectively: in certain cases the person that develops the fastest is often the one that has come across the most effective methods for themselves as individuals, or a great educator who can join the dots for them. In educational terms, an individual that prefers to develop devoid of tuition is referred to as an ‘autodidact’ , and to b e honest, we all need to be autodidactic to a certain degree to achieve in contemporary music. My point here is that unless we’ve drawn these conclusions for ourselves, the best approach is to immerse ourselves in as many different opportunities for learning and development as possible, and ultimatel y start to choose those which resonate the most. The world is full of musicians who gave up on their aspirations all too early, because the teaching methods that they were introduced to weren’t effective for them as individuals and subsequently they started to doubt their own potential – or what is often ill-defined as ‘talent’. I’m a passionate believer that your true ‘talent’ is your ability to stay focused, patient and open-minded. Every musician, no matter how great a player they may be, can find they have any number of weak points in the early stages of their development. The majority of the areas in which we need to develop to be able to perform, compose and improvise are actually skills – fundamentals that can be learned and refined, which many will refer to as talent. The idea that talent is

statement. It is only each of us, as individuals, who truly knows what we want to be able to play and study. As such, it ” follows that if we make the choices to study our favourite players and repertoire, we ultimately create a style or voice that is the sum total of a whole host of our favourite voices. If you’re not sure, look at someone such as BGM’s own Steve Lawson. It takes courage and dedication to chart such an individual path, assimilating all of the various musical influences that have been instrumental in forging that unique voice, and I’m sure he hasn’t been without his detractors along the way. How does this help me improvise, I hear you say? Well, this is not unique to improvisation, it is applicable to all areas of our development. Whether you’re a Grade 1 sight reader, a Grade 5 improviser or a postgraduate level composer, if you’re prepared to study, imitate and analyse the music of your idols, and you are determined to stay the course, you’ll quickly find that the term ‘talent’ takes on a whole new meaning. In my next column in two months’ time I’ll outline some potential ideas for developing a practice routine from which many of you will benefit. I have employed this approach with many students, of all different instruments and stylistic preferences, a great many of whom are now professional musicians. Until next month, stay focused, be patient and try at the end of each practice session to spend some time being purely creative – it works wonders.

“

THE WORLDALLIS FULL OF MUSICIANS UP ONMETHODS THEIR ASPIRATIONS TOO EARLY, BECAUSEWHO THE GAVE TEACHING THAT THEY WERE INTROD UCED TO WEREN’T EFFECTIVE FOR THEM AS INDIVIDUALS AND SUBSEQUENTL Y THEY STARTED TO DOUB T THEIR OWN POTENTIAL

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THE LOWDOWN The MU and Basschat

THEMU BASSCHAT

Plan your rehearsal space carefully, say the Musicians’ Union

The live scene for bass players – explored by Basschat’s Silvia Bluejay he constantly evolving music business triggers

ny musician who has set foot on a stage in the last few decades will doubtless have spent some time in a rehearsal studio – but finding one that suits you and your band’s needs requires research. Read our top five tips for finding and making the most of your rehearsal space.

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Know your objectives Before setting foot in a rehearsal studio, discuss the band’s aspirations to ensure you share the same goals. Do you want to go pro? Are you preparing for a tour? It’s important to get this out of the way early to make sure you use your rehearsal time well.There is a legal reason for setting clear goals too. Even if you’re an amateur, you may find yourself in a legal partnership. Working with other musicians has legal, tax and other implications, and it is important you protect yourself. Are you an MU member? We can advise on protecting you and your assets. Get in touch with your Regional Office (theMU.org/contact). Review your options When it comes to sourcing a good rehearsal studio, research matters. Ask around for recommendations, dig out reviews, and be sure to visit the premises before parting with any cash. Work out who and how you are going to pay for it. Check if the studio offers discounts to MU members. And make sure it’s convenient and accessible to all members of the band – nothing will sap your will faster than booking a studio hours away from home. But it’s worth remembering that state-of-theart equipment and dazzling aesthetics do not necessarily mean good rehearsal spaces. “Good facilities make the process more enjoyable,” says Paul Gray, MU regional officer for Wales & South West England and former bassist with The Damned and UFO. “That said, I’m currently rehearsing with my band in a garage with curtains pinned to the walls, and that suits us just fine. Remember, the plushest places are not necessarily the most conducive to getting down to work.” Set up as if you’re on stage Spend time experimenting with the sound levels and positioning of the gear. You want to find the combination that allows everyone in the band to clearly hear what they and the other members are doing. Make a note of the equipment positioning and settings for the next time you rehearse. Make sure there’s a good PA “In 40 years of experiencing the dampest and dankest (with The Damned) to the plushest and most expensive (UFO), I’d say there is one consideration that overrides everything else, and that’s the quality of the PA,” adds Paul. “Unless you’re working on song struc tures in advance of a recording session, rehearsals should be used as a way to replicate the sound you individually and collectively intend to make on stage – so a decent PA that doesn’t feed back, with adequate headroom, decent mics and a good mixing desk is paramount.” Look after your hearing Keep an eye on the volume. Excessive sound levels can do irreversible damage to your hearing, and create friction within your band, so it is vital to keep amps and PA systems at a comfortable level. Use hearing protection – find out more about this and hearing protection services that the MU provides for its members via theMU.org.

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changes in the live performance scene, especially at local level, where most Basschatters are active. In General Discussion we see posts bemoaning the decline or the death of the live scene: will thousands of musicians end up playing in their bedrooms, or posting videos on Youtube for the enjoyment of disembodied audiences, instead of going out to pubs and clubs, both as punters and as gigging bands? Or are we needlessly panicking and being overdramatic? The debate is on, primarily in the regularly updated thread ‘Is the live scene dying?’ One view expressed bysome posters is that, with easily availab le home entertainment through the TV and the internet, fewereople p are going to the pub for an evening out. Many small music venues are closing down as aresult, especially in desirable areas, where the land once occupied by a pub can be sold to developers at a massive profit. At surviving venues, more and more ‘proper’ music nights are axed as they are too expensive tosustain. More often than not, ‘live music’ means

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a lone singer with an acoustic guitar, or even a DJ playing recorded tracks. However,other Basschatters find that in their ne ck of the woods there are in fact too many music pubs chasing too fewpunters: some pubs offer poor-quality bands, are quickly abandoned by discerning audiences and soon fail, while others select thebest bands and thrive. Another group reckons that the overall number of music pubs in their area is not changing at all, in that there are as many pubs starting to offer live music as there are pubs axing it. So, short of becoming pub owners ourselves (there’s a thought…), what can we do to keep hold ofour live audiences and, as a consequence, our localmusic venues? Basschat’s collective wisdom suggests that, with more and more music acts vying for attention, bands need to identify what their target audience is, and try to tailor their setlist accordingly. Spread the word about the band’s existence, which does include being active on the much-maligned social media. Oh, and don’t forget to bemusically proficient, too! Nobodywants to cringe while hearing their favourite songs playedlive. Some younger Basschatters are unimpres sed by the plethora of unentertaining pub covers bands playing the samehackneyed classics while gazing at their fretting hands, with long, awkward silences between songs. It’s far preferable to play songs that the audience recognise, as long as they’re not sick of them. Finding those ishita and-miss process, so gauge each audience’s reaction to each song over time, and drop less successful numbers from your setlist. Also, be entertaining on stage: some friendly banter with the band and crowd can do wonders for the atmosphere. Adding a light show, however basic, also makes the place more welcoming and tempt in passers-by. Other, more subtle changes noticedby Basschatters on the live scene are, on the one hand, the trend towards venues booking acoustic covers duos and trios, orunplugged bands and requiring the cripplingly low volume imposed bysound limiters in residential areas. On the other hand, there is growing demand for srcinals acts, which mayebdue to many of them accepting ‘exposure’ as opposed to ‘sterling’ as payment. What’s your own experience? Let us know on the forum. www.basschat.co.uk

h ic occasion, C e th k r a m s. To the ard Edward once and for all that n r e B t is s s ated . ic ba death of Ch e man who demonstr eneath the dis co ball.. ly e m ti n u the of th ut b years since celebrates the legacy lub or the mos hpit, b 0 2 n e e b ’s c It a zz Daryl Easle ot in the ja biographer ass-lines are found n coolest b

G

reat claims are made, often

Dance Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah)’ and

downtown New York, produced by Rodgers

within these pages, as to

‘Everybody Dance’ were wowing the clubbers

and Edwards as the Chic Organization Ltd and

who is the greatest bass

inside, they were denied access.

engineered by Bob Clearmountain.

player of all time. To these

As they turned up their collars to the

ears, the answer is simple:

snowy cold, Rodgers and Edwards bought

space of those records: there is no bass at all in the

it is Bernard Edwards, who

some champagne, cocaine and marijuana

chorus, but the fluid way Edwards effortlessly

was, between the years of

and decided to throw their own private party

reintroduces it at the hook’s dénouement

1976 and 1983 and 1992 to 1996, the bass player

back at Rodgers’ apartment on 52nd Street.

creates an air of pathos andexcitement. The

in a group called Chic.

Picking up their instruments the pair started

instrumental passage is a repeated eight-note

to jam, screaming the phrase ‘Ah, fuck off!’

bass motif, nagging, insistent, andconveying

You’ by Sister Sledge, or what is simply one of

Soon, it had mutated into ‘Awww... freak out!’

more than a thousand bass solos.

the most influential bass parts of all time, ‘Good

and they had the skeleton of ‘Le Freak’, which

Times’, from Chic’s 1979 albumRisqué. They

went on to b ecome Atlantic’s biggest selling

Edwards’ upbringing. He was born on 31

are, when you break them down, ridiculously

single ever when released in the US on 10

October 1952 in Greenville, North Carolina.

straightforward, and the latter, especially, is a

July, 1978. Within a year, with that one single

His father Wilson was a handyman, while his

certain kind of player’s ‘Smoke On The Water’

tune, Rodgers and Edwards were to capture

mother Mamie was a homemaker. The family

when testing a new bass. But to play them right

the zeitgeist like two funked-up Samuel Pepys-

relocated to New York for work when Edwards

there in the pocket, with all that air around them,

es, recording for posterity ‘54’ in the lyrics:

was 10 years old. One of the key reasons why

Good heavens, just listen to ‘Thinking Of

is very difficult indeed, as many will testify.

‘Le Freak’ is a testament to thequality and

There is not a huge amount on record about

there is little recorded detail regarding Edwards’

Edwards performed with elegant simplicity. The economy of his playing was reflected

“Like the days of st omping at the Savoy, Now we freak, oh what a j oy,

childhood is that he simply would not talk about it. His eldest son, Bernard Jr, told me in 2003: “It

in his personality: while his partner in Chic,

Just come on down to 54,

seemed to be something he tried to avoid. I wish

Nile Rodgers, was always the more garrulous

Find a spot out on the floor...”

I knew why. My dad was just like everybody

man of the night, Edwards was laconic and private – the one who returned home to his

saw him in the world, a very private person, ‘Le Freak’ is one of those gorgeous records

and if it was anything that was going to make

young family rather than hitting the clubs.

that never fails to grab you. Its irresistibility is

him emotional, he would rather be quiet about it

Not that he didn’t have his party animal

due to how much time Edwards and Rodgers

than to deal with it.”

streak: he at least tried to get into the shindig

spent working on it, with a trusted ensemble

at New York’s prestigious Studio 54 nightclub

of players. Chic worked as a band with regular

from the very beginning. He played reeds at his

on New Year’s Eve 1977, but he and Rodgers

players, as opposed to the faceless session

school in Flushing, took up tenor sax in junior

were infamously turned away. The duo were

musicians who formed the backbone of late-70s

high and moved to electric bass at the High

outraged, as they had been invited as guests of

dance. The works of Chic were painstakingly

School of Performing Arts in New York. He took

Grace Jones, and while their early hits ‘Dance

constructed at the Power Station Studios in

over the bass when the bassist in the school

022


Edwards had an enormous interest in music

BASSISTS Bernard Edwards, Chic

“The music ha s a life beyond us – it almost has nothing to do with you and me at all now”

© G e tt y Im a g e s


023

audiences would appreciate. I would rewrite parts so they could have more of a groove.” After hawking their first single, ‘Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)’ round for months, the group was signed to Atlantic Records in September 1977. Taking its ‘Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah’ refrain from the harrowing 1969 filmThey Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, ‘Dance Dance Dance’ sold a million copies

in a month. The follow-up, ‘Everybody Dance’, reinforced their popularity. This song opened with Edwards’ most explosively exciting bass part, which at first sounds incredibly complex – and then you realise there is hardly anything to it. From then on in, Chic enjoyed two years at the very apex of the charts, with hits such as ‘I Want Your Love’, ‘My Forbidden Lover’ and ‘Good Times’ – the latter’s remarkable bass part later recreated by the Sugar Hill Gang for the groundbreaking ‘Rapper’s Delight’. When disco crashed out of fashion, Chic fell quickly from grace. Rodgers recorded bass on David Bowie’s song ‘Without You’, on the Let’s Dance album from 1983, andalso on Madonna’s

album Like A Virgina year later. After spending the rest of the 80s apart, a period in which Edwards produced the Power Station and Robert Palmer’sAddicted To Loveamong others, Rodgers and Edwards reunited in the early 90s on record with Chic-Ism, an acknowledgement of how their sound had been incorporated into house music. Sadly, the album failed to chimewith the public. It all came to an abrupt end in April 1996. Chic were playing a series of concerts in Tokyo, and Edwards was suffering from pneumonia, but true

“We are ‘Chic’ – we are beautiful people”

© E c k ie

to his professional roots, he refused to cancel the performance. At the side of the Budokan stage, on the final night of theconcerts, Edwards reached for Rodgers and held his lifelong friend close. Fighting back tears, the bassist said, ‘Man, we did it. This music is bigger than us’. Rodgers replied, ‘What are you coming up with thisphilosophical

group was drafted to Vietnam. “The bass is part of

Chic was like. Our costumes made us look like

stuff for, Sophocles?’ Edwards whispered back,

the foundation, the driverin the band,” Bernard

bankers and businesspeople. To us, it was just as

‘The music has a life beyond us – it almost has

Jr said, “and my dad was definitely a natural born

over-the-top and flamboyantas Kiss.”

nothing to do with you and me at all now’.

leader. Any chance to be a partof the foundation, my dad would be all for that.” Edwards and Rodgers started working

Within five years, Chic were number one on

The rest of the touring party departed

the Billboard Hot 100. With Tony Thompson on

for America the following day. However,

drums, Alfa Anderson and Luci Martin on vocals,

Edwards was too ill to travel and spentthe day

together in the mid-70s when they formed a

they were a mixed-gender soul and funk band

recuperating. Rodgers stayed behind and checked

friendship on the New York music scene. Rodgers

who rode by way of thedisco express. The choice

on his partner that night before he went out to

was a precocious talent who by this period had

of name was apposite: a black band modelled on

eat. He asked him if he needed anything, and

been a Black Panther, jammed with Jimi Hendrix

a white band, calling themselves ‘Chic’, located

Edwards assured his friend that everything

and taken acid with Timothy Leary. He had also

blackness as glamorous and sophisticated. In the

would be fine. ‘It’s all right.I just need to sleep,’ he

begun playing in the Big Apple Band, who backed ‘I’m Doin’ Fine Now’ hitmakers NewYork City,

1950s and 60s it was civil rights; in the 60s and 70s it was the Panthers – and now Rodgers and

said. They were his final words. At 1:30am on 18

and got his friend Edwards into the band with

Edwards were saying “We are ‘Chic’ – we are

him. After hatching a plan to marry the larger-

beautiful people.” In their tuxedos and evening

the influence of Chic was duly noticed and

than-life stage antics of Kiss with the glamour of

wear, they neither dressed nor dumbeddown.

appreciated. By the middle of the second decade,

Rodgers and Edwards married the string

they were positively adored once more, given an

washes of Philly to thefunk of JBs and P-Funk.

enormous lift by Rodgers’ ubiquity and the Chic-

happening’,” Rodgers told me in 2001. “If we could

The Chic sound was sparse, nuanced and often

by-numbers homage, ‘Get Lucky’ by Daft Punk.

take this sophisticated, cerebral stuff, put a beat

bleak. The songs would evolve from jams.

to it, make it black and our own thing, we could

“Bernard and I would just startto play. If anyone

probably hear it on a regular basis. It remains a

really be happening, too. We also idolised Kiss.

were around us, they would go, ‘Wow, it sounds

thing of great beauty.

When they were on stage, they had a certain vibe

like Chic!’” recalled Rodgers, adding “We were a

Everybody Daryl Easlea is the author of

and image, and once they left that stage, you had

small rhythm section that had to turn these big

Dance: Chic And The Politics Of Disco (Helter

absolutely no idea who they were. That’s what

orchestral dance records into something live that

Skelter, 2004).

Roxy Music, Chic was eventually born. “I went to see Roxy. I thought ‘This shit is

024


April 1996, Edwards died of pneumonia. It was only as the next century dawned that

Listen to Bernard Edwards’ playing; you


Master Of Funk Disco king Dave Clarke digs deep into Bernard Edwards’ gear and technique

one live clip I’ve managed to find of Chicplaying their debut single ‘Dance, Dance, Dance(Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)’ shows Edwards chucking away on a white Precision. The Stingray didn’t come into play until Chic’s second andthird albums, 1978’sC’est Chicand 1979’s Risqué, along with Sister Sledge’s 1979 albumWe Are Family,for which Edwards recorded hisbass tracks by DI-ing straight into the desk. While Edwards played basses by G&L, Spector

F

rom readingBGM’s

incorporating this rhythmically percussive style

and Sadowsky in later years, his live es t-up in

Bassically Speaking feature

into his impressive chord repertoire, creating

the early days centred around his Jazz, Precision

each month, it’sabundantly

what he would later describe as ‘Nile’s style’. This

and Stingray, which were usually plugged into an

clear that Bernard Edwards

didn’t simply influence the Chic sound; it would

Ampeg SVT and 810 rig. Edwards was alsopartial

is regarded by bassists as

inform the sound of some of themost popular

to playing a BC Rich Eagle in the late 70s and early

one of the greatest bassists

records of the 20th century.

80s, apparently because ofits pleasing aesthetics

of all time – and deservedly

Chucking aside, most of Edwards’ bass-lines

more than any tonal preference. I’m pretty sure

so. In an age when there appears to be an

were played using a conventional fingerstyle,

you could have handed Edwards the worst bass in

abundance of technically gifted players out there

with his slapping technique only making an

the world and he’d have made it sound fantastic.

who, as their respective Youtube channels testify,

appearance when the song demanded it – or, more

are capable of mindboggling bass-gymnast ics, rare

precisely, when the groove demanded it. This is

is the bassist who seamlessly combines killer

typical of the approach Edwards and Rodgers took seems to know for sure – but I’m pretty sure

technique with a God-given aptitude for grooves.

with the music they created: keeping the parts

Edwards was the person who cared theleast.

To this end, Edwards was top of the class.

as simple as possible and serving the song. It was

Duran Duran bassist John Taylor inherited

Sure, many of us can play perfectly credible

this mindset that separated Edwards and Rodgers

Edwards’ ‘Good Times’ Stingray, which had an old

versions of selected works from Edwards’ back

from the rest of the disco crowd, where a kitchen-

set of roundwounds on it. Rumour has it that JT’s

catalogue, but playing anything that involves

sink production was often de rigueur.

bass tech took it upon himself to replace these

his legendary chucking technique (using his

When it comes to basses, ‘Bernard’ and

But what strings did he use? I ask this question with tongue firmly in cheek, because nobody

hallowed strings. I asked Taylor about this and his

forefinger as a guitarist uses a plectrum) is an

‘Stingray’ go together like ‘gin’ and ‘tonic’.

reply said it all: “Bernard would have said, ‘Ah, it

altogether different sport. Few of us will ever

However, this association is misleading, often

doesn’t matter.’ He wasn’t precious about that sort

truly master this unorthodox style without

overlooking his regular use ofFender Precisions.

of thing.”

dedicating many hours of practice, and ac quiring

In fact, Edwards’ first bass was a Fender Jazz: to

an index finger that’ll look as if it’s lost an

see a rare clip of him playing one, check out a

made Bernard Edwards. Noother player has truly

argument with a lathe. It is, however, worth pointing out that while

clip on Youtube of the Big Apple Band playing a cover of the Bee Gees’ ‘You Should Be Dancing’

sounded like him, before or since. And all those bass-lines… it’s easy to forget that he wrote some

Edwards ‘chucked’ his hand over basses like a

in 1976. The majority, if not all, of Chic’s 1977

of the most influential parts of all time. Can you

wizard waving his wand, he wasno one-trick

self-titled debut album was played using this Jazz

imagine the world without ‘Good Times’? That in

pony. He used the technique he is best known for

and a Precision – and you can hearit. Indeed, the

itself is his greatest legacy.

The bass gods broke the mould when they

on surprisingly few tracks, perhaps mostnotably on Chic gems such as‘Everybody Dance’,‘Dance Dance Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah)’ and ‘Happy Man’. Still, this hasn’t stopped thousands of bassists across the globe obsessing over these sublime creations for almost 40 years. Edwards was a guitarist before heswitched to bass, but not wanting to use aplectrum he’d play as if he was holding one, with the tip ofhis index finger striking the strings as he strummed a non-stop rhythm of sixteenth notes. This allowed him to flirt with time withuncommon finesse, instantaneously changing the dynamic ofa song’s groove to devastating effect despite beingsubtle to the ear. Jumping on and off the beat with such apparent effortlessness allowed fordeceptively complex syncopations, not unlike a boxer switching from orthodox to southpaw to deliver an unpredictable punch. Just listen to the instrumental section of ‘Happy Man’ and try playing it using traditional fingerstyle. Goodluck with that! You could do it with a pick, ofcourse, but the attack willsound completely different. Edwards showed his chucking technique to his musical partner Nile Rodgers during their pre-Chic days, when the pair played together in the Big Apple Band. After taking acouple of days to get a feel for it, Rodgers immediately began

John Taylor of Duran Duran with Bernard Edwards’ legendary Music Man Stingray

© T in a K


025


the band’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I feel the same about you – you’re a natural bandleader’. He asked me my name and then said, ‘Are you that dude I talked to about putting together a band? Oh wow. I didn’t know you were that funky!’ Ever since that moment , we were never really apart. Even when Chic broke up I called him to record with Madonna and Bowie: we were always friends.

Tell us about Bernard’s work with David Bowie. I had a bet with David that Bernard would knock out the song he played on from the Let’s Dance album in 15 minutes, and Bernard

did it in one take. Afterwards he looked at me and Bowie with a little bit of an attitude, and said, ‘Is that what you motherfuckers were looking for?’ Ha ha! I said to Bowie, ‘You got any problems with that part, David?’ and he said ‘Sounds great to me!’ I looked at my watch – and Bernard had done the take in 14 minutes exactly.

What did you and Bernard have in common? We had serious respect for each other’s ability to make music. One thing that was absolutely certain in my mind was that there was never, ever a job that I couldn’t call Bernard up to play bass on, and that whichever artist he played with would b e completely blown away. And that’s how he felt about me. He would tell people, ‘You want some unique guitar parts that are going to make the music groove? Call my boy Nile!’ We were proud of each o ther. I’d say to people, ‘You want to see some serious bass playing? Watch this.’

Chic Talk

Did you and Bernard ever swap instruments? We would swap instruments sometimes, to teach each other songs. I would say ‘I hear the bass-line going like this’ and he would do the same for the guitar part. He wrote songs on the guitar, too, because he was a guitar player first. That’s why used that

The great Nile Rodgers was Bernard Edwards’ partner in Chic, and closest friend for many years. Joel McIver asks him to look back

weird chucking style where he acted like he was holding a pick but he was using his forefinger.

Did he use tape to protect his finger? t’s been 20 years to the

How did you meet?

Nah! The blood would just drip down. At the

month since Bernard

We became friends the first night we met

end of the Chic era at the end of the 70s, we

died, Nile. What are your last memories of him?

in person. However, the first time we spoke

had hit records by Chic and Sister Sledge, so

on the phone, he told me to lose his number!

our concerts became very long, and some

I love you guys for

He told me never to call him again and

of them would have a lot of chucking, like

putting Bernard on the

hung up the phone. I was a hippie and I had

‘Everybody Dance’ and ‘Happy Man’. Many a

cover! The last night

told him I wanted to put together a band

night, we’d finish the show, bro, and there’d

Bernard played with me, who was he on stage

which combined Fairport Convention, the

be a little pool of blood on his shoes or

with? Steve Winwood, Simon Le Bon, Sister

Mahavishnu Orchestra and Country Joe

dripping down his bass. Just try to play the

Sledge, and me, his best friend. He told an

& The Fish. But when we met at a gig, we

bass parts on those songs. Knock yourself out

interviewer at the time, ‘I never have more

didn’t know who the other one was, and I just

and try and play them!

fun than when I’m playing with Nile. I like

plugged in and started playing with the band.

playing with other people, don’t get me wrong,

He and I organised the musicians between

Nile Rodgers and Chic will be performing at Nile’s Fold

but no one is as much fun as Nile. I’m his bass

us and told them what to do, and at the end

Festival at Fulham Palace in London on 24 to 26 June.

player and he’s my guitar player’. That made

of the night he said ‘Man, I really dig what

Info: www.foldfestival.com. Win a pair of tickets to the

me cry, but it was exactly how it was.

you did. I really love how you were leading

event by entering the competition on page nine.

I

026


Groove is in the

Public Enemy bassist Brian ‘Hardgroove’ Hargrove brings the noise: Angus Batey asks the questions

028


BASSISTS Brian ‘Hardgroove’ Hargrove

hen an already established and hugely successful band

W

recruits a new member, it’s always going to bedifficult for the arriving musician. Fans have an expectation of how the music ought to beplayed, so the newcomer either has to subsume their ego and replicate the parts people want to hear, or risk messing with the magicby imposing their style on the collective. For Brian

‘Hardgroove’ Hargrove, though, the problemswere magnified when, in2002, he joined an iconic, world-famous band who had never had a bass player before. “I didn’t approach it, firstly, asa musician,” says Hardgroove who, nearly two decades into the band’s existence, became the first bassist and musical director of a live band incarnation of Public Enemy. “I approached it first as a producer. That was the only way.” A long-term fan of the band, multi-instrumentalist and producer Hardgroove understood how their music worked. Public Enemy’s first four albums, released between 1988 and 1991, earned the band ahuge global audience, the strident politics of leader Chuck D’s lyrics as important to their fans as the dense collages of samples crafted by their production team,the Bomb Squad. After 15 years of touring in the conventional hip-hop format – rappers using instrumental backing tracks, with a DJ the only musician performing live on stage – Chuck had decided to take the group’s shows in a new direction. After meeting Hardgroove through mutual friends, and working together on a side project called Fine Arts Militia, Chuck invited Brian toreimagine the Public Enemy hits and work out how they could be performed by afull band. “You have to approach the music as an instrument – you have to be the instrument,” he explains. “The instruments that played this music were programmed. There were samples thrown on top of samples, maybe in an experimental fashion, and I’m sure the Bomb Squad put things together and stripped things away 50 times before they got what they wanted. That explains why some things feel a bit weird. But it works.”

"I remember l ooking up at the stage, and I reali sed that music was such a positive force on me that it would be better for me to be up there and help people before they get in trouble" Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

029

BASSISTS Brian ‘Hardgroove’ Hargrove

"It's the best-sounding instrument of any I own" After accepting the job, Hardgroove went

He came to bass late, arriving at the

During the preparation of Public Enemy’s 2002 album Revolverlution, plans for a new incarnation of the group to perform on theirextensive global tours were put in place. Known as thebaNNed, the live musicians were first intended to take some of the weight off Chuck’s shoulders while his co-rapper and on-stagefoil, Flavor Flav, was in prison. The experiment proved a success, and Public Enemy continue to tour with them today, although Hardgroove stepped down in 2011 to pursue other opportunities. He certainly hasn’t been idle. Through a digital radio show where he got to interview some of his musical heroes, Hardgroove has ended up working with two of them. He spent part of this year recording with B-52s vocalist Fred Schneider – with Hardgroove playing every instrument except saxophone. And in September, at the Future Music Forum in Barcelona, his other big project of the year was unveiled: a competition to find a vocalist for music he’s made with Stewart Copeland. “It’s a global search for a vocalist good enough to be in a band with a rhythm section comprised of the Police and Public Enemy,” Hardgroove says of the competition. It’s being billed as “the world’s biggest audition”,and will see vocalists submit performances via the WholeWorldBand.com app/website. Sponsors include Gibson, Sennheiser and Yamaha. Getting Copeland to agreewasn’t difficult. “He’s 62, but he’s like an 18-year-old,” Hardgroove says. “He’s game, he’s energetic, he’s up for anything –

back to the Public Enemy records he already loved, and methodically deconstructed them, reverse-engin eering the sounds with the aim of recreating the intricately assembled songs using a completely different set of musical equipment. Along the way, he discovered that, often, what’s left out is as important as what’s put in. “For example, ‘Fight The Power’ has this huge, what I call ‘funky hole’ in the middle of it,” he explains. “You get a big snare drum, then a ghost note which is the hole, which would normally be the four. That’s one of the main powers of ‘Fight The Power’. It’s not for the audience to know or even care about it – they just need to move to it.” How Hardgroove reached a point where he was the perfect musician to take on the task is a story in itself. He remembers seeing Earth, Wind & Fire on their first arena tour in 1974,

instrument via guitar – onhis mother’s orders. “My older brother had a very fleeting interest in the bass, so I wanted a bass because I wanted to follow in some footsteps he never took,” Hardgroove recalls. “But my mother was wise enough to say, ‘I won’t buy you a bass until you learn how to play guitar.’ Because my mother’s a pianist, she realised the inherent limitation of just learning the bass. I needed to learn an accompanyinginstrument.” With a summer course of guitar tuition duly completed, Hardgroove’s mum sent his dad out to buy Brian a bass. His Carlo Robelli Fender copy cost $221 – “I remember because that’s exactly what Joe Frazier weighed throughout every fight he had that year” – but bythis stage he had already found a place in a local Long Islandband, as a drummer. Bass became thefocus, though, because he couldn’t afford a drum kit. He was given his nickname in 1985 by John

he’s everything you would think he was.” After years of playing an srcinal Steinberger (“serial number 458”,since sold) he began using Gibson Steinberger Synapses, “which sound better than the srcinal but they’re nowhere near as bulletproof.” His current guitar is a $3,000 custom model, called the Colonel, made by California-based Watson, modelled on Firebird and Thunderbird guitars. “The electronics are brilliant,” he says. “It’s the best-sounding instrument of any I own – of any of the drums, or the guitars that I have. I had it made for my work with PE and also my tours with Bootsy Collins, but I’m gonna ask Watson to do another run, with less high-end electronics. It’s very sensitive, and I don’t like travelling with it.” He also uses TC Electronic amps and effects, in particular the BG250-115 Toneprint-enabled combo and the Ditto X2 Looper.

at the Nassau Coliseum on his native Long Island, and thinking music might be what he wanted to do with his life. Up to that point, the 14-year-old’s ambition had been to become a police officer. “I remember looking up at the stage, and I realised that music was such a positive force on me that it would be better for me to be up there and help people before they get in t rouble,” he says. “As a police officer I’d be dealing with people after they’d committed a crime or been victimised by it, so that’s all negative, but up there I could help inspire people in a positive direction, as music had done for me.”

Golden, who at the time was bassist for Meat Loaf. Playing in a succession of bands, in a wide array of styles, Hardgroove wound up at Chuck D’s door via the short-lived rock-rap group Confrontation Camp. Already a huge Public Enemy fan, he was spotted by Chuck’s friend, and former Confrontation Camp leade r, Kyle Jason, during a Long Island show. He became more involved with the PE machinery in the early 2000s, and collaborated with Chuck on the Fine Arts Militia album – essentially a series of Chuck’s political writings set to rockflavoured, full-band music, which Hardgroove wrote, arranged and produced – in 2001.

His primary bass’s name comes from one of the more curious accolades Hardgroove has collected over the years. In 2008, the state ofNew Mexico (8 May) and the city of Santa Fe (7June) recognised one of their favourite sons by creating two Brian Hardgroove Days. At the same time, the clearly still delighted musician was appointed Colonel aide de camp toNew Mexico governor Bill Richardson. “During the Richardson administration I had open access to hisoffice, but it’s a lifetime title,” Hardgroove chuckles. “I can put iton my letterhead, on my driver’s licence – on any official document: Colonel Brian Hardgroove!”

030


LONDON BASS GUITAR SHOW

2016

Well, it was the show we were all waiting for, folks – and what an awe-inspiring event it turned out to be. Olympia London was the venue; 12 and 13 March the dates. Read on for the gear, the stars and the vibes that the bass community helped to make the best there’s ever been Words: Mike Brooks, Silvia Bluejay, Joel McIver. Pics: Eckie

T

he London Bass Guitar

basses on the stand. We’ve had phenomenal

Show attracts

interest in what is a new company displaying

manufacturers and

new instruments.”

distributors from around

Each year seems to attract new facesalong

the globe, and this year’s

with the established exhibitors, but one exhibitor

show was no exception. A

who has gone from newbie to seasonedregular

perfect example is Tomm

is Marc Vanderkley , whose range of bass

Stanley fromStonefield Musical Instrument

amplification has proved immensely popular

Company, who had travelled all the way from

since his first appearance at theinaugural show

New Zealand with his new range of instruments

five years ago. As he tells us, “In 2011, nobody

– and thankfully his journey wasn’t wasted, as

knew me, and now my stand is busyall day on

he explained. “We’ve had so much great

both days. Saturday was crazy, but the whole

feedback on the instruments, which has been

show has been very good: the single 1x12 cabinets

gratifying, but the high point of the show for me

still appear to be very popular and make up 80

was having Michael Manring come and play our

per cent of the cabinets I sell.”

032


LONDON BASS GUITAR SHOW 2016 The Report

Adding to the international flavour was

“2016 is the company’s 40th anniversary, and

Marvit Guitars from Italy, with their Modern

we’re celebrating!” he said. Federico Malaman

range of basses catching many an eye and

and Lorenzo Feliciati (on a break, and sharing

ear – expect a review in these pages very

a bag of crisps) paused to have a better look. To

soon. Chris May fromOverwaterhadn’t

the side of the stand,D R Stringsshowcased a

The Metallica and Mass Mental man talks about

exhibited at the show for four years, but with some bass exotica in tow, instruments

selection including their impossible-to-ignore coloured series.

the inspirations of his film Jaco... I’ve been very hands-on with the film. I financed the

were leaving his clutches from the moment

B&M also introduced Aguilar’s new SL410x

whole project and believe me, that was a challenge,

Robert T�ujillo

the doors opened. “Saturday was completely

cab: bass lovers were also treated to one of

because I’m not [Metallica founders] Lars Ulrich or

manic,” he says, “but it’s been a very

Alpher Instruments ’ jewels plugged into it. The

James Hetfield and I didn’t write ‘Enter Sandman’! I’m

worthwhile exercise for us. One customer

other half of the stand was devoted to S pector,

just like an ybody else: I ha ve a family to feed and bill s

walked in on Saturday morning and bought a

with Stuart talking to customers throughout

to pay, and I actually ran out of money at one stage.

bass off the stand immediately, and we even

the weekend.

Fortunately we got it done with a lot of love and a lot of

The Peaveystand had the new MiniMEGA,

support, and I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve

we had here based on photos we’d uploaded

MiniMAX and Headliner amplifiers ondisplay,

achieved with this film. It needed to be made: Jaco’s

on Friday evening. That’s how it works these

all of which garnered significant interest from

legacy is too important for all of us.

days! It’s been a very productive weekend,

visitors to their stand.

had an online order from the US for a bass

I saw Jaco play four times. In 1985 I went to a guitar show in Hollywood, not knowing

that Jaco

very enjoyable and thoroughly worthwhile.”

Jason How of Rotosoundcould be seen

Both Spectorand Peaveycould be found

darting across the exhibition hall, and when

was going to be there, but I walked into the room

on the Barnes & Mullins stand, with Stuart

we finally caught up with him for a chat, he

and there he was! I was spee chless. I sat down

Spector in attendance to offer information,

had this to say of the whole weekend. “The

right in front of him. He turned up his bass amp and

flanked by an array of Spector Signature,

show has been great for usthis year, really

started making all this feedback. He was looking at

Euro LX, Legend and SpectorCore models.

busy – we’ve seen lots of people and lotsof

everybody like he was about to go to war. I swear, he was staring at us, right in the eyes, like he was saying, ‘I got you now. You’ve heard the rumours: well, I’m here, and I’m gonna kick your ass!’ Like Jaco, I was a no-rules kind of guy: I liked a lot of the English bands li ke Bow Wow Wow and bassists like Mick Karn from Japan, Pino

Palladino

and Nick Beggs from Kajagoogoo, who now plays with Steven Wilson. Mark King of Le vel 42 was a massive influence on me too. He jammed with my band Mass Mental at the LBGS last night, and I hadn’t met him before that. I thought to myself, ‘Why would Mark King come and play with us?’ but he came down and played with us – and his bass playing completely blew my mind! Interview: Joel McIver


033

Stuart Spector The great luthier shares his wisdom

No stranger to the London Bass Guitar Show is the venerable Stuart Spector, all the way from Woodstock in upstate New York. Stuart was quick to express his excitement at being here and his gratitude to the public who showed a keen interest in his Spector products. “It’s been a wonderful show, the attendance on Saturday was extraordinary, it was just a beautiful crowd of people. We had a great opportunity to meet and talk with them and show them various things, all of which made it totally worthwhile coming over here. This is very much going to become a part of my annual itinerary, because it makes great sense to come to the show and then hop over to the continent and spend time visiting my distributors – so it’s a productive annual jaunt.” With a constantly changing product range, Stuart was pleased that various instruments from the Spector catalogue were raising eyebrows at the show. “It was really gratifying that people were interested in the whole range, but were most surprised with the Legend 8 Classic and the SpectorCore instruments. It was great to see them try those out. We’ll begin delivering the Rudy Sarzo signature model, which features a Jazz-type body but with all of the Spector neck construction. He checked out our Euro basses and loved the sound of them, but wanted a different body, so that’s where the whole impetus a full instrument range, this was the company’s

guys fromOnkartgromtwere exhibiting

came from. He is an extraordinarily wonderful

first appearance at the show. Jorg Feser was on

their tasty effects pedals before they have

person, a great musician and a great guy.”

hand to discuss all things Schack withus. “The

even been released to market – watch these

show has been amazingly good, and the feedback

pages for reviews in the near future.Westside

are also working on a 40th Anniversary Euro

has been awesome: for a lot of people, this has

Distributioncultivated a lot of interest in their

LX model to commemorate the company’s

been their first contact with the Schack name.

Schecterbasses, Mesa Boogieamplification,

forthcoming celebrations. As Stuart explains:

The neck connection is attracting a lot of people,

MXR pedals andDunlopStringswith a

“We’re going to be doing relatively short runs

and we’ve had lots of compliments on the finishes

number of endorsees such as Dave Swift, Steve

of it and rotate the different finishes. The first

too – plus people like being able to dial in certain

Lawson and Paul Turner in attendance at the

edition of it has solid maple wings with a red

frequencies via the circuitry.”

show. Phil Jones Bass, represented bySynergy

And that’s not all folks, the team at Spector

transparent finish, but the entire neck section is

The Markbassstand was exceptionally busy on

Distribution , was exhibiting its amplification

painted opaque black with the number 40 inlaid

both days, with some excellent demonstrations

for the first time, as wasOliver Langand his

into the fingerboard at the twelfth fret. We’re

of the current product range. Over atS trings &

enticing range of instruments. Many a player

also working on a new USA single cutaway,

Things, there was much anticipation as thethree-

waited to try out theRikkersbasses that seemed

through-neck instrument and a short scale,

piece female band includingBGM writer Ellen

popular, as were the basses on theMannestand.

extremely lightweight bass which will probably

O’Reilly blew everyone’s socks off with their

Fans of high quality bass cases were keen to try

be produced in Asia.”

performances on an hourly basis – equippedwith

out Mono and Dixonproducts.

Interview: Mike Brooks

Ernie Ball guitars and basses, natch. New models

endorsees too. Our foil packaging has received

ElsewhereEdenwas busy showcasing the new

from the Modern Classic range were available

Terra Nova series, while the equallypopularEich

to test via the headphone testing set-up, which

stand had their Bass Board for additional good

worked very well.

vibes, andMarleauxbasses to play through it. I

nothing but good comments, and we’re happy

Rob and Dawn fromStatushad prepared a

to be paperless, cardboardless and moistureless.

stand of bass goodies that had most attendees

Now we can get the products to the customer

licking their lips. Alex Venturella from Slipknot

anywhere in the world in perfect condition.

was on hand to sign for fans, while Dawn

bass with a steel fingerboard. Reiner Dobbratz,

Sales of flatwound strings are very high: they

confirmed that a number of basses had sold at

owner with his brother Meik, was pleased with

were used on so many big albums that people are

the show, with a lot of interest for the Chris

the attention they received: “We love this show,

rediscovering thatsound.”

Wolstenholme Signature model and the ever-

it’s so convenient to reach from our hometown

popular Kingbass.

of Hamburg. Saturday was absolutely crazy, in a

Schack Guitars has the ring of familiarity, due in no small part to their excellent circuitry

Torun and Smooth Hound Innovations both

spotted Alex Lofocojamming there with Jay-Tee Teterissa between stints at their sponsors’ stands. Full marks for weirdness toLeFay’s fretless

good way!”

and pickup packages, now used by many

received a lot of interest in their instruments

His stand neighbour, Sander DeGier, was

manufacturers. Having recently relaunched with

and wireless systems respectively, while the

exhibiting his versions of the classic Jazz and

034



Precision models. “I didn’t want to work on

said Nick Smith. “Luckily he’s doing OK now.” Best

traditional shapes at first, but when Marcus

wishes to Martin from all at BGM and the LBGS.

Miller bought my first Jazz prototype, and

AC Guitarsand John Eastpreamps had a new,

Adam Ben Ezra

Richard Bona the second, I decided that I must

larger home. Alan Cringean was showcasing his

be doing something right, so here I am. I add my

new acrylic resin-treated fingerboards and tops,

own srcinal textures and coloursto the design.”

and John offered a choice of his preamps. “This is

The man from Tel Aviv reveals his bass

the only show we attend; we’re here every year

philosophy

Nearby wasD’Addario , introducing the new NYXL series of bass strings.Andrew Needham

because we do good business and we can meet

(a bassist himself, and a Basschatter) and E laine

our clients face to face.”

Your music is a fascinating mixture

Smith were happy: “D’Addari o UK led the way in

Debutant exhibitorChownyintroduced the

beta-testing the new strings, also thanks to our

CHB semi-acoustic bass. Owner Stephen says:

influences?

involvement with Basschat, and the response to

“I’ve sold a good number of basses and I’ve spoken

I like all kinds of styles – classic, jazz, Middle-

the product is overwhelmingly positive. ”

to many people who absolutely loved the CHB.

Eastern… I play the oud, you know, the Arabic

I’m expecting lots of hits on the website in the

mandolin, and I like to combine all those

next few days!”

elements in my own playing style. My own

andSims Pickups were in Enfield Guitars their usual spot. “Business has been brisk, but Martin Sims getting injured just before the show unfortunately spoiled the weekend somewhat,”

After saying hello toAndrew TaylorCummings ofAnaconda Basses , at the show as

of east and west. What are your

style is difficult to pigeonhole, but I think we can call it Mediterranean fusion! I’ve played the doub le bass s ince I wa s 16, after learning the violin , the pian o, the gu itar and th e cajon. I try to apply the styles of those instruments to the do uble bas s as much as possib le, with percussion on the body, guitar-l ike plucking, and so on. I’d like to know more about your fivestring double bass. It’s strung E to C, so it doesn’t have a low B like a five-string bass guitar. The first time I saw a double bass tuned like that, I immediately knew it was what I needed. I want to be able to play very high notes and reach the range of the cello or even the viola, and I play lots of chords, and the high C on the bass sounds amazing. Tell me more about that special detachable neck.

Suzi Quatro

The neck comes off, and it’s a very convenient system for when you’re travelling. You just loosen the strings, remove the bridge, slide out the neck , and in 1 5 minutes it’s ready to trav el.

The Girl From Detroit City speaks out...

My specially made flight case has room for

You’re still working hard and doing new things: what are your current projects?

neck and the bow.

the body of the ba ss and a lso for th e detach ed Last year I released an 82-track, four-CD box, The Girl From Detroit City , as a celebration of my first 50 years, and a book that came out last year called Through My Eyes. I’m recording with a few people at the

Does that set-up affect the sound in

moment, with somebody else singing – which I’ve never done before – and I’ve finished theQuatro, album

any way?

Scott And Powell [with Andy Scott of Sweet and Don Powell of Slade], which has turned out superb.

While it might not be the perfect solution for

All that still playing your trusty Fender Precision?

because I mostly play amplified, and the sound

On stage I’m using a Fender Jazz at the moment. I won’t take the old one out any more, because it’s too

I get is very consistent.

those wh o play cla ssical, it’s fine in my case ,

valuable. I prefer the Precision, but when I do the bass solo, the Jazz is slightly quicker. Do you do a lot of bowing? You were my first role model, up there on stage with that big bass.

I use the bow with French grip sometimes, but

That’s funny, but that’s to do with the fact that I’m little and the bass is a big instrument. I didn’t deliberately mostly I do fingerstyle and percussive style. pick up a big bass, it’s just that that was the one I like. I don’t like small basses. I don’t like short scales or headless guitars. Fenders are probably the only bass that you can plug directly into a console for recording What are your current projects? and you don’t need to do anything; you can just plug it in, and it’s correct. That’s amazing.

I do a solo show, with effect pedals, and a show as part of a trio, with guitarist Adam

Thanks to your presence at the show, we’ve seen more female bassists than usual.

Ben Amitai and percussionist Gilad Dobrecky,

I was the first one. Not the first bass player, of course, but the first one to have success as a woman. So I

with whom I recorded my album Can’t Stop

put it on the map. I love it that more women are playing. I feel real good about that.

Running . I have just finished a tour, which started and ended in London; it’ s a new

What advice would you give to women who want to be professional bass players?

project, a duo with Spanish flamenco guitarist

It’s a very physically demanding job. Make sure that’s what you want to do. I don’t like people who pretend

Dario Casares. I use the percussive bass style

to play or who don’t play well. If you gonna play, play. Be good. Don’t take it backwards. Because then

a lot with him.

people say ‘she’s good, for a girl’, and that drives me fucking mad.

Interview: Silvia Bluejay

Interview: Silvia Bluejay


035


Rhino Edwards The Quo bassist goes down down, deeper and down... We caught up with Rhino Edwards after his masterclass performance for a few words about the state of bass playing and music in general. “I think a lot of people coming to a show like this are going to look at what I do and think it’s a pile of crap. But they’re wrong! I’m no slouch, I’m up on my bass. I was pleased to be asked to do this, but it has been a chastening experience. I was a more technical player before I joined Quo, I came through in a real golden period for music and I have had the most incredible run. All I ever wanted to be was in an insular band and that’s why I loved being in Dexy’s Midnight Runners so much. I’ve always been a big attitude player, I want to get on that stage and go ‘Here we go, this is it – cop this!’” Rhino has long been associated with Status Graphite basses and he still owns an early model, as he explains. “I bought my first Series 2000 Status, a black one, serial number 007, in 1982 I think. I sold it to Barry Moorhouse at the Bass Centre and then bought it back six months later as I missed it. I used that with Judy Tzuke a lot: her stuff was great fun for me as a player. I used that and my Alembic on Quo stuff for years and years, but the Statii do the job every time.” Being out there, doing it, is clearly what Rhino is all about, as he is quick to affirm. “Music isn’t the social force it once was: it’s been watered down and it no longer defines a generation. I’ve always been an attitude player,

cheerful: “I’m still building everything myself

quiet; we have a keyboard and people come and

that’s why I like metal. I’m a huge Anthrax fan,

by hand; my Bass Mute hasbeen incredibly

jam with our basses!” said owner Michael. When I

I love the technique of Frank Bello. But I love

successful, and I’m going home to over 600 emails

pointed out that the basses were all right-handed,

Quo, I’ve played some of those songs 3,000

with enquiries and orders!”

he added: “Yes, we missed an opportunity. Here

times now but I still go on and give it 110 per

Besides admiringAshdown’s new Rootmaster-

at the show we’ve received a lot of requests for a

cent. We go on to have a good time and I want

Evo and AAA-Evo models, Isomehow couldn’t

to see people with a smile on their face when

take my eyes off their tiny Tourbus 10 practice

Located outside the main hall, bothWarwick

we play: it doesn’t matter if the sound is bad,

amp. According to the guys at thestand, I wasn’t

and Promenade Music were located perfectly and

as long as we’re playing well. Someone asked

the only one. I also wasn’t the only one inthe area

experienced considerable footfall andinterest.

‘What’s the secret?’ and it really is luck, luck,

saying hi to Dave Swift, who was surrounded by

Ove Bosch from Warwick had this to say afteran

luck… and talent! I’m a firm believer that you

admirers at every step.

exceptionally busy weekend: “The show has been

make your own luck.”

Bass Directwas very busy indeed, with

lefty, so we’ll be making one soon!”

great, the audience have beenamazing and we’ve

owner Mark Stickley rarely having a break from

had a lot of interest in the brand itself, the basses,

welcoming customers. Periphery bassist Adam

the amplifiers and the Bass Campin September.

‘Nolly’ Getgood was there too. Two more words:

Of particular interest have been the Custom Shop

a visitor, I noticed late addition AGS Straps with

SheldonDingwall . In fact, make it three: Sheldon

models fitted with USB chargers soyou no longer

their reversible leather straps. “We usually don’t go to shows, but we make an exception for this

Dingwall’s D-Bird – the first of its kind. “That bass is a prototype and it’s not for sale, butsomeone

need batteries for the electronics.” Promenade Music dealt admirably with a

one, and we’re very glad we did this year too!”

managed to post on social media pretending

problem they experienced before the show as

said director Manta Bose. AtP roel International ,

they’d bought it!” laughed Sheldon.M ayones

the bass community rallied round. “Theshow

visitors were checking outC ort’snew Artisan and

basses were showcased by bass starFederico

has been absolutely brilliant, typical bass playing

Action basses. The guys were busy and pleased to

Malaman, whose presence drew a largecrowd.

people, we have a fair few repeat customers who

see interest from an increasing number of female

I managed to catch educatorJon Liebman in

Interview: Mike Brooks

buy from us year after year but the wholebass

bassists and hard rock fans attracted by Robert

a rare quiet moment at his table. His books and

community is amazing,” said owner David Wood.

Trujillo’s presence at the show.

instruction DVDs had been flying off the shelves

And who are we to argue? Seeyou next year!

Bassline Publishing ’s two new transcription

all weekend. “The hottest seller has been the Bass

books, Stu Hamm’s Book Of Liesand Marcus Miller’s

Aerobicsbook, followed by literally anything to do

See you next year for the London Bass Guitar Show 2017! Dates,

Renaissancewere popular, and so was anything

with Jaco!” he said.

exhibitors and artists will be confirmed as time passes at

concerning Robert Trujillo (Iwonder why…). Dutch luthierEllio Martina had reason to be

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New exhibitorGillettintroduced their Contour electro-acoustic basses there. “We love it here, it’s

www.londonbassguitarshow.com, www.facebook.com/ londonbassguitarshow and @bassguitarshow.

BASSISTS Promenade Music

MORECAMBE WISDOM Behind the scenes with Gary Thistlethwaite of Promenade Music in Morecambe, home of more basses than we can shake a stick at...

romenade was founded by David Wood back in 1989 and I’ve been in charge of the bass guitar floor for longer than I care to remember. We’ve got space here for a lot of basses and bass amps – but the clever part is

P

deciding which ones to fill it with! We get people coming from all over the UK and Europe, though, so we must be on the right track. Fenders have been consistently popular over the years, of course, but we stock all kinds of basses from Marleaux, Rickenbacker, Overwater, Gibson, Music Man and Warwick as well as entry-level guitars from Westcoast, Levin, Squier and Yamaha. We also have dedicated rooms for amps from Markbass, Ashdown, Gallien Krueger, Warwick, SWR, Peavey, Orange, Marshall and Fender – i t really is a bass player’s paradise down there. A lot of bass players come to see me for repairs, or just for a recommendation about good bass gear: they know that I’ve got a lot of history as a bass player myself. I’ve told this story before, but in 1988, the band I played in at the time toured and lived in America. We were playing at a club in Newport News, Virginia and I was given Victor Wooten’s phone number, so I called him to ask if he gave lessons. ‘Yes I do,’ he politely said and asked for $20 an hour. ‘Sounds good,’ I thought. I had a Kubicki Ex Factor at the time and Victor asked if I wouldn’t mind if he tried my bass and I tried his. ‘Fodera?’ I asked. ‘Where are these made?’ ‘Brooklyn,’ he replied... his bass was amazing, but what was even more amazing was his patience and modesty. At no time did he make me feel any lower than him as a player or a person. The hour, which actually turned into over two, flew by, but I wasn’t going to leave in a hurry. When I finally

038


did leave, he wouldn’t take a penny more than agreed. A big thanks to my wife Gina, who sat in the car with our three daughters for over an hour, for being very patient and understanding. Morecambe is a lovely place to be: it’s a long drive from London, of course, but when

you get up here you’ll see why people keep coming here. The Queen unveiled a statue of Eric Morecambe, who was born here, on the seafront back in 1999 – and 10,000 people came to see it. If only they’d all been bass players! Info: www.promenademusic.co.uk

G N I N I H S E H T 040


BASSISTS Eric Bass, Shinedown

American stadium-rockers Shinedown are poised for stardom on this side of the pond. Bassist Eric Bass (yes, that’s his real name) talks the low frequencies ’ve always been into

I

Ampeg. I tried out a couple of Ampeg amps

building things up again: I

and the rig I have from them is monstrous:

built my first bass guitar

two rackmount 4 Pros which I EQ a little bit

when I was 12 years old,

differently. On stage I have a couple of Diamond

although it was pretty

cabs: it’s a big, bad rig on stage.

rough and didn’t play very

Dean to the PRS, because the necks are really

they sounded horrible. So in the two months off

different. The new ne ck is a little wider at the

which Shinedown had earlier this year, I worked on a muscle truck back home. I have

nut, because I designed the Dean neck around an Ernie Ball Sterling neck. The PRS’s ne ck is

the same attitude towards gear: I built my own

more like a Stingray neck all the way up, but I’m

studio myself, too. I always have to have a

not opposed to that at all: I’ve gotten used to it

project of some sort. If I’m not busy I don’t know

pretty quickly.

I used to play my own Dean signature model,

I completely purged my pe dalboard for this record. Before that I had a lot of effects – a

which was a dream come true, but we parted

chorus for ballads, and so on – but I always

ways amicably a while back and now I’m with

like to give the front of house engineer what

PRS; I was introduced to them because our guitar

he needs, and after talking to him, I realised

player plays them. They sent over some Grainger

his need for consistency in the low end is

basses – and man, you want to talk about a tone

more important than my own preferences.

monster? I’m not just saying that because I play

Essentially he’s the delivery system for the

them: I A/B-ed them with everything.

music, so I ask myself what he nee ds to make

My initial plan was to go out with a bunch

our band sound amazing. I had a whammy

of Fender J and P-Basses on this cycle, and

pedal, a wah pe dal, a phaser... but I wanted to

some Bill Nash Tele basses and Gibson SGs that

make it more simple this time around so I took

I love, and I was really excited about that, but

everything off, minus the channel-switcher

we got to rehearsals and I started comparing

to cut the distortion off and on. I have an old-

all of those with the Graingers, and they just

school Boss distortion pedal, the orange one

blew everything away. They normally come

which I love, and I run it through a Radial

with two pickups, but I found myself using the

Bassbone which stops you losing the low end

neck pickup most of the time, and that was

when you use the distortion.

the tone I liked – big, boomy and not overly

y b ic P

It was a bit of a learning curve going from the

well. I wound my own pickups too, although

what to do!

y h p a r g o t o h P e ir w e v i L , s m a lil i W s e m a J

It’s so great. And I also moved from Hartke to

tearing things apart and

Previously I had a Marshall JCM 800 guitar

midrangey, which is something that I don’t like,

rig in line too, and I had an A/B/C switch so I

for live anyway. In the studio it’s different. So I

could flip that on and add a guitar tone to the

called PRS and asked them to unwire the bridge

bass sound. I’m really considering going back to

pickup and leave just a volume knob, which

that now. When I produce Shinedown tracks

they did, and now I have three basses like that.

that’s exactly what I do, blending it with a

I don’t yet have a signature model with

Sansamp. It works great!

them, but they asked me what I would like on a bass in that situation, and they made me this

Shinedown’s album Threat To Survival is out now on Atlantic.

fantastic custom bass that I’m in love with, man.

Info: www.shinedown.com

April 2016 Bass Guitar Magazine

041

BASSISTS Backstage Bass

A new feature in which we ask bass players of similar tastes to get together and talk shop... the bass shop. This month: heavy metal titans Mike Leon (Soulfly) , Christopher ‘El’ Esten (Incite), Wayne ‘Slatts’ Slattery (King Parrot) and Noah Shephard (Lody Kong) What bass gear are you using on this tour?

What was your first bass?

El I play ESP basses, Mesa Boogie amps, Dunlop strings and the Darkglass

Noah It was a four-string Antares from a pawnshop. It had an Explorer

B7K and B3. Darkglass keeps coming out with all this awesome stuff, but I don’t have the money to buy it! Mike I played the new B7K Ultra at NAMM, it’s incredible. It’s loud,

body shape. SlattsThat sounds adorable! The first bass I actually owned was a headless Steinberger Alien.

clear and low. I used Sansamps for years to get that drivey sound, but Darkglass does so much more for my tone. I also play ESP, and I use Peavey amps, Aguilar, Tech 21 and SIT strings. We’re all sharing my Peavey 8x10 cab on this tour with our own heads and pedalboards. SlattsI play a very old Rickenbacker 4003S and BC Rich guitars. I’m endorsed by Aguilar and I run Ibanez distortion pedals, Dean Markley strings... and I’m powered by electricity. Noah I play an Ibanez SR506, SIT strings and also a Darkglass B7K.

Mike What? SlattsI wound the strings so hard on it that I broke a machine head and

Are you four-string players or do you dabble in ERBs?

To slap or not to slap?

El Four strings is all I can handle.

Mike I am an aficionado of slap, and I slappa da bass every night. It’s the

Mike In my old band Havok I played four-string, but because Soulfly

plays in A and B tunings, I went to five to make it a little smoother. SlattsFour strings here. Noah Six strings. SlattsYou show-off...

coolest sound a bass can make, in my opinion, and I’ve incorporated a lot of it into Soulfly’s music. El I can’t do all that stuff: I just watch him slap every night. SlattsI’m not a slapper, but I’m certainly a fan of the art. Noah I’m getting there!

Who’s the greatest bass player who ever lived?

What would your dream bass be?

El Steve Harris.

El I had my dream bass, until I switched. I used to be endorsed by

SlattsGeezer Butler.

Jackson and I had two Rhoads V custom shop basses with EMGs. The

Mike Cliff Burton. Noah Geddy Lee.

basses I play now are still really awesome, though. Mike My signature ESP, which I don’t have yet but one day I hope I will. Fingers crossed. Noah The Carl Thompson bass that Les Claypool used to play. Also anything by a luthier called Evan Nichols in Phoenix: his basses are amazing. The tone is ridiculous. SlattsThe Rickenbacker that I play every day. I broke the pickup cover off: things can get fiercely physical out there. Mike That thing helps with the resonance, not meaning to get too nerdy. El They should call it ‘the science bar’!

Mike Tim Commerford is another one of my all-time favourite bassists.

He was a Fender P dude for ever. If you could get the bass tone of any album ever, which would you choose? Mike Any Rex Brown or Justin Chancellor albums. Or Flea. El He’s taking up all the good answers. Also Stuart Morrow from New

Model Army’s No Rest For The Wicked. Noah Rex’s tone on Down II is my favourite tone ever. SlattsDamaged’s Do Not Spit album: they were a band from Melbourne and you could scratch your face off with that tone. Heavily distorted and thin as fuck!

042


it cost $200 to buy a new one. Mike My first bass was a starter Yamaha pack. It had a bass and an amp. I still have it, and it still shreds. I still love it. El Mine was a black 1988 Charvel. I wanted the blue one because David Ellefson of Megadeth played a Jackson in that colour, but they only had black. I still have it too, it’s a good studio bass.

Info: www.soulfly.com, http://minushead.com/bands/incite, www.facebook.com/ lodykong7, www.facebook.com/kingparrotband. Incite’s new album Oppressionis out in April.

ON THE

In a unique meeting of minds, effects prodigy Steve Lawson interviews the great Michael Manring. Stand clear: bass profundity overload warning

W

ithout doubt one of the

Do you have material ready to release?

grateful to the folks out there who put things up,

greatest innovators in the

I have a ton of new solo music! I have about

because I learn a lot from listening back to them.

short history of the bass

six new solo pieces recorded and ready for

guitar, Michael Manring

mastering, and I have about 10 more that I’m

Other than that documentary process, what

has been exploring the

working on.

other things have been helping to shape the direction of your new music?

outer edges of the potential

of our instrument for over 30 years. From his early association with acoustic

The last few times I’ve seen you play, you’ve combined older compositions with open

It’s odd: I’m at a place in my life where I’m actually trying not to do too many new things. I

guitar legend Michael Hedges, through his avant-

improvisation. Do you find that you play tunes

have a set of ideas I’ve been working with and I

improv supergroup with Tim Alexander (Primus)

in a more formalised way when they’re new?

want to focus on those. Somy new stuff probably

and Alex Skolnick (Testament), Michael’s musical

I’ve had an odd relationship with composition

won’t come as a huge shockto anyone, but it’s

breadth and relentless curiosity has amazed and

over the last few years. I love composing set

definitely challenging for me. Earlier in my career

inspired thousands of musicians and musiclovers

pieces and that’s something I’m sure I’ll always

I tried to work through big, obvious ideas. These

across the planet.

do, but I don’t quite feel right doing a concert

days it’s a bit more subtle.

Michael’s last solo album,Soliloquy, set the solo

of mostly through-composed music. Somehow

bass bar several notches higher for the rest of us.

that just hasn’t been making much sense to me!

That’s a fascinating choice – in aworld obsessed

All this made the prospect of Michael’s visit to the

I think it may be to do with the popularity of

with novelty, refinement and continual

London Bass Guitar Show 2016 a very exciting

YouTube. Parts of most of the shows I do end

engagement with an idea is rare and valuable.

one indeed. Interviewing your heroes is often

up there, so perhaps that’s making me feel like I

I’ve gone through different periods with this

easier because you know what they’ve been up

need to keep things varied. In any case, I haven’t

myself. I remember in the early 90s feeling

to, whereas interviewing your friends is hard

played any of the new through-composed pieces

like doing much improv live would be a bit

because you can’t get any distance. Whenyour

live, but I’ve been having fun dabbling with the

pretentious, almost. Then, I got to where I wanted

friends are your musical heroes, everything gets

more opened ended ideas and several of those

it all to be improv! Now I’m trying to find a

mixed up. That said, let’s dive in...

I’ve recorded as well.

balance, and to let that balance shift from night to

You’re right, though – tunes generally start out

There has been a flurry of releases that

following a plan and then take on alife of their

you’ve been a part of over the last couple of years. Was that a conscious decision to do

own. Some go through radical changes, some just a little and some stay mostly the same.

more collaborative work, or just how things

night if it wants to.

Have any of your recent collaborations influenced the music you’re making? Do you find collaboration to be a source for solo

worked out?

That’s interesting. I’m fascinated by how the

ideas too?

A little of both, I suppose. With the economics

web, and possibilities for releasing music in

I always learn a lot working with otherfolks. It’s

of things as they are, I’m tending to do a lot of

multiple ways, can shape our notion of what

a great way of getting pushed outof your own

session work, but I also feel a bit shy about how

we do. Improvising to make sure that the

comfort zone and that, I think, helps me keep

much of my own music I’ve putout there. I don’t

digital document of each show is varied is a

from just going around and around the same

want to overtax people with my solo thing.

lovely consequence of the ‘b enign surveillance’ ideas in my own stuff. I like getting used to having of YouTube. Do you routinely record your

to think in a new way all the time. I’ve learned

Wow, really? Given my own work-rate, that’s shows now?

a lot from Indian music over thelast few years,

a very alien concept. It’s been quite a few years I’d like to record my shows, but I’m almost always

working with both Carnatic and Hindustani

sinceSoliloquy, and I’ve heard you exploring

so occupied with just trying to get my act together

musicians. But I honestly try to learn something

some new music in a live setting since then.

I’m not able to pull itoff. I’m actually quite

from everyone I work with and figure out how to

044


BASSISTS Michael Manring


045

BASSISTS Michael Manring

Great question, and it gets to this idea that the world really is more “abstract” (musical) than “literal” (linguistic). We are deeply enamoured of this ability we have to put things in little linguistic categories, but we know that’s not really how things work. Technique in music is like that, isn’t it? We like to think of it as a separate entity, but in a way, the technique is the music – at least, in the sense that if there was no technique at all there’d be no sound. But for me, yes, I still work very hard on moving my fingers in more precise and specific ways, but I don’t tend to see that as necessarily less pure musicmaking than anything else. Usually I’ll have the desire to play a certain idea and discover I don’t have the ability, so that will set me off on a long process of isolated exercises. Hopefully that will fix the issue, but it often opens up a lot of other things to think about.

That process of music leading to the development of exercises to fixit is one I’ve been working on, and teaching, for a while. It’s an amazing way to feel enveloped by your own practice, in the sense of ‘having a music practice’ rather than practising. Ooh, I like that! I’m going to use that phrase ‘having a music practice’ . That really gets tothe bring those lessons into my own music. Some of

kanjira. Basically, I just try to learn as muchas

heart of the issue. There’s no real getting around

the lessons are straightforward, like trying to pick

I can about any kind of music from any source

the integration of music in the rest of life. Music

up a rhythmic idea or approach to harmony, but a

that’s available. In terms of application to the

is just a kind of lens through which we process

lot of it is more abstract.

bass, there’s a general approach in bothforms of

the experience.

Indian classical music that really transfers well

Do you see listening to recorded music as a conscious part of your development process?

to the bass. It’s insanely highly developed there, but also very idiomatic. I’m thrilled by being

How does equipment fit into thatintegrated view of music?

I have very little time to listen to recorded music

able to use those ideas without having to stick

Actually equipment has that same resonance

these days, so I try to make it count. And yes,

to the conventions that are necessary to play

we’re talking about. It has that venal notion

it’s a conscious part of the process. I try to listen

‘authentically’.However, all rhythmic ideas are

to it, but I sound awful without my bass! And

to what I want to incorporate. Lately I’ve b een

valuable and there’s just so much more to do.

amp. And EBow. And strings… So the gear is

listening to a lot of drummers. Perhaps I’m one

part of that same process. I think you and I are

of the few people who’d rather listen to a drum

You often reference the vastness of music and

solo than a band tune. Most of the time I’d rather

of the possible areas for exploration. How do

both into this notion that the effects are part of

so powerful it pushes you into a certain kind of

the instrument. You certainly have mastered you maintain that as a motivation, rather than this concept in a way thatI don’t think has yet allowing it to distract you? been fully appreciated and it’s one of the many

playing. That kind of playing is ajoy, but it’s been

That’s an interesting question. I’m not sure I

things I adore about your music. I’ve been using

done a lot, and done very well. When you play

ever think about it! I’ve come to feel that music

the Roland VB-99 for my live shows lately and

with a lighter rhythmic accompaniment it opens

occupies an incredibly central place in human

having a ball. It’s another areawhere there’s so

some other possibilities. But man, there are some

experience. I think you’ve heard my spiel about

much to do! The Zon basses are still at the heart

amazing drummers out there these days.

understanding the phrase ‘music is alanguage’

of my music. Joe and I are working on a new

but feeling the converse is more true – language

Hyperbass to allow me to leave theprototype

play with a percussionist, because drums are

In the run-up to a new recording, I see what I putis a music. It’s often assumed that language is

I’ve been playing all these years at home, before

in my ears as a diet. I specifically choose things

a large part of who we are, but if language is a

it gets destroyed by the airlines. The EBow is, of

that will help shape the direction of thework,

subset of music, then music is even more deeply

course, essential. I’m sticking with th e D’Addario

and open me up to a greater set of possibilities. I like that! You gotta be careful what you put in

ingrained in what it means to be human. I

strings that have worked so well for me all these

suppose this a long way of saying that I find the

years. My collaboration with Markbass has been

your body. Why not be careful what you put in

musical process is intuitive, or beyond linguistic

wonderful and Marco tells me he’s just about

your soul?

scope, and I do my best just to participate as well

completed a signature system for me.I can’t wait

as I can.

to give it a spin! From what we were working

I’ve always loved your rhythmic sensibility,

on the last time I was there, it will likely be very

one of the least-talked about elements of your I’m interested in your approach to practising. I music; and yet that percussive influence is was deeply influenced by your exploration of

different from your average bass amp, and they

apparent in so many of your techniques. Did

may choose to market itmore generally. The goal ‘technique’ as more of a ‘gestalt’ thing, a way of is to have something thatsounds transparent yet

you ever learn specific hand drum techniques being with the instrument. Do you still have to warm that is very portable, flexible and adaptable to transfer to bass? get surgical in your practice at all, to fix things, to many situations and configurations. It might Thank you! Yes, I’ve had some training in or develop specific technical affordances for just be really cool! Afro-Cuban rhythm and I’ve tried to learn as

new music, or does that emerge in the context of

much as I can about the tabla, mridangam and

music-making?

046


Info: www.manthing.com

GEAR Introduction

52 Roscoe

GEAR REVIEWS

Century 4 STD+

48 MT D

B

ehold our world-beating bass gear review section, where we bring you the crop of each month’s new, interesting or otherwise relevant bass guitars, bass amplifiers, bass speakers and bass effects. Occasionally we’ll review a guitar effect if it’s particularly useful for bassists, and we’ll test recording equipment and general accessories every now and then as well, but generally speaking, this zone is for bass-specific gear. We take the ratings that we g ive each item very seriously. BGM is the

Saratoga Deluxe 4 & 5

60

56

Danelectro

Schecter

Longhorn

Stiletto Studio NT-8

only print magazine devoted to bass in this country, and we have readers from all over the world, so we’re responsible about our conclusions. If a product is worth your investigation, we’ll say so; if it’s flawed in some way, we won’t hold back from making that clear. We’re not beholden to advertisers in any way and our conclusions are entirely independent of the views of manufacturers, musicians and distributors. When you read about a bassrelated product here, you know you’re getting a sensible, balanced review from an experienced bass tester. Value for money is at the top of our agenda in these cash-strapped times, but on the other hand, we believe in paying for quality. Right, that’s enough from me. Remember, this is just about the only place that it’s good to have GAS!* Joel McIver, editor *GAS = Gear Acquisition Syndrome (a malaise often suffered by bass players)

64 Ampeg SCR-DI


047

MTD Saratoga Deluxe 4 & 5 How do these two MTD basses stack up in today’s crowded marketplace? Mike Brooks runs the rule over these sub-£700 offerings Bass Direct www.bassdirect.co.uk

T

hese upgraded Saratoga Deluxe models demonstrate the quality of instruments being produced in China on behalf of bass manufacturers the world over. Gone are the

days of ill-fitting

hardware and poor craftsmanship – in order to be competitive,

Chinese production lines have had to up their game, which is why the likes of Michael Tobias of MTD and others have confidence in their production. Who knows, perhaps this improvement in far eastern technology will lead to a reversal of the current situation, where western lutherie is prized? Only time will tell... These Chinese-made basses now feature flamed maple tops and three-band active circuitry and up the ante in terms of what a customer purchasing a mid-range instrument can expect, especially from the MTD stable.

Build Quality Both basses are similar in design and features, although the gloss finish of the five-string makes the figuring stand out far more, almost like a hologram. The satin finish of the four seems like a bit of an afterthought and looks and feels a little uninspiring. Both instruments are comfortable to wear with the same curves and contouring. The front facing of each bass exhibits a bevelled contour that adds to the general aesthetic along with the matching headstocks, while the deep cutaways offer excellent access to the dusty end of the fingerboard. The four-string feels far slinkier and compact when compared to the five-string, but neither bass shows too much headstock bias, and

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GEAR MTD Saratoga Deluxe Prices £625, £699

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION Price | £629, £699 Made In | China Body | Basswood with flame maple top Neck | Maple, 34-inch scale Neck Joint| Bolt-on, four-bolt Nut Width| 38mm / 44mm Fingerboard| Maple / rosewood Frets | 21 Pickups | Single-coil x 2 Electronics| Active, three-band EQ Controls| Volume, pickup pan, passive tone, bass/ middle/treble cut/boost, active/passive switch Hardware| Smoked chrome hardware Weight| 3.8 kg / 4.1 kg Case/gig bag included? | No, optional MTD bag £50 Left-hand option available? | Yes

WHAT WE THINK Plus | Solid workhorse basses, well constructed with strong fundamental tones Minus | Lacking the X factor slightly Overall | These are good basses that can certainly put in a shift, but do they stand out from the crowd?

BGM RATING BUILD QUALIT Y SOUND QUALIT Y VALUE


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GEAR MTD Saratoga Deluxe Prices£625, £699

“

NEITHER BASS IS PARTICULARLY OSTENTATIOUS, BUT I CAN’T DENY THAT BOTH PUT IN A VERY SOLID PERFORMANCE AND ARE BOTH WELL UP TO THE JOB

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both balance well on and off a strap. I was pleased with the remarkably good set-ups, with no obvious sharp frets, comfortable string actions and 19mm string spacing. The neck profiles differ slightly: the fourstring has a full, round C-shape profile while the broadness of the five-string’s rosewood fingerboard lends itself to a shallower D-shape profile. Both make use of MTD’s asymmetric neck design, which in theory reduces strain on the wrist, fingers and forearm. Both necks are very comfortable, making them highly playable: neither feels like hard work to get to grips with. Both basses are fitted with smoked chrome hardware, a graphite nut and a zero fret but no front-facing position markers, although black (fourstring) and white (five-string) side markers have been used. The control set is identical, with pots for volume (stacked with a passive tone control), pickup pan, bass, middle and treble and an active/passive switch.

Sounds and Playability Both basses displayed a fair amount of natural spring and ‘bounce’ in their acoustic tones: hold them close while playing them and

it’s evident that they resonate very well indeed. Despite the same circuitry and pickups, there was some differentiation between the two examples: plugged in, the four-string sounded big and ballsy with plenty of articulation and definition, and a good response across all four strings. The five-string has a far more guttural, aggressive tone that doesn’t lack punch or growl: the low B string benefits from this, making it sound distinctive with good projection in the lower register. Panning between the pickups highlights the obvious tonal differences that a pair of single-coil pickups provides: the pickup in the neck position provides plenty of warmth and rounds the tone out nicely, while the bridge pickup provides extra clarity and honk. For all of its bottom-end authority, which is impressive, the fivestring lacks a glass-like high end, but it does have plenty of definition with which to cut through a band mix. The EQ on both basses is not radically extreme, although the bass EQ definitely adds a lot of power to your armoury. Having said that, the E Q is usable and flexible with a good range of tone-shaping options. The passive tone control adds some variation when in passive mode, which is useful if your circuit battery goes down – so you do have some light and shade to play with.

Conclusions Neither bass is particularly ostentatious, but I can’t deny that both put in a very solid performance and are well up to the job. The styling is contemporary, and both basses are very playable: in terms of comfort, they don’t really put a foot wrong. However, at the £600 to £700 mark, players may want more bells and whistles: I’m not convinced that either of these basses have enough to project them above the crowd of contenders at this price point. Nonetheless, if you’re shopping in this price band, give them a try – they just might tick your boxes.

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION Price | £2,325 Made in | USA Body | Spanish cedar with buckeye burl top Neck | Maple five-piece, 34-inch scale Neck joint | Bolt-on, four-bolt Nut width| 38mm Fingerboard| Birdseye maple diamondwood Frets | 24 Pickups| Bartolini CB x2 Electronics| Bartolini active preamp, threeband EQ Controls| Volume, pickup pan, bass/treble stacked, middle (push/pull for different mid frequency adjustment 250-800Hz) Hardware| Gotoh tuners, Hipshot B bridge Weight | 3.5 kg Case/gig bag included?| Hardcase Left-hand option available? | Yes

WHAT WE THINK Plus | A top-notch fretless bass, tones to die for, comfortable and highly playable Minus | A little pricey but it’s the going rate. Lively nature occasionally needs reining in Overall | A rewarding instrument with an extremely pleasing tone, wise choice of timbers and a flexible electronics package.


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GEAR Roscoe Century 4 STD+ Price £2,325

ROSCOE Century 4 STD+

Anyone up for some fretless fun? If so, this ‘mwah’-drenched beauty from Roscoe might be just what you’re looking for, as Mike Brooks finds out Bass Direct www.bassdirect.co.uk

retless bass, whichever way we look at it, issimply a different bass flavour, a different tonal voice all of itsown – yet it comes acrossthese

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fingerboard a hard coating that not only protects the timber from string wear but also adds a singing quality as the string vibrates in contactwith

days as a poisoned chalice, just as much as slap bass. But used wisely, it can make songs and their respective bass-lines come to life. Its

it, which has led to thismaterial being termed ‘diamondwood’ . The Gotoh machine heads operate as smoot hly as you would expect,

popularity may have waned in recent times but a great fretless can be just that… great! This offering from Roscoe certainly has the credentials to be

and the Hipshot B bridgeoffers two-way string adjustments. Bartolini CB pickups and a three-band EQ Bartolini circuit are well matched on this

a solid performer, but does it stand out from thecrowd?

particular instrument, the voicing of b oth helping to convey the woody

Build Quality The Century range models from Keith Roscoe have always been real ‘plug and play’ instruments, easy to adjust to and play from the word go; this bass is no exception. The comfortable body shape, rear contouring and sensibly slim dimensions make this an easy instrument to wear, while the overall set-up and attention to detail deserve a serious

fretless tones. Aside from volume and pickup pan controls, the bass and treble controls are stacked while the middle control offers a push-pull facility to select between mid frequencies in the 250Hz range or 800Hz range – a sensible arrangement.

Sounds and Playability Immediately, a lively acoustic tone is very apparent: the notesimply s

thumbs-up. The thin buckeye burl top adorns the Spanish cedar body

jump off the fingerboard – soearly indications would imply that getting

giving the bass a head-turning appearance, although the view from the rear is a little uninspiring.

your intonation correct is going to be fairly important. The upper and lower cutaways provide easy access to the upper frets: overall, this bass

The five-piece laminated neck is connected witha tight four-bolt attachment and has a shallow D-profile shape, feeling long and slinky

has ‘extremely playable’ written all over it. The neck is silky smo oth but the resonant tone of thewhole instrument draws the player in: the

with immense amounts of bouncein its natural character, coupled with a classic fretless fundamental tone. To achieve the fretlines, the resin-

woody tones are smooth without too much bark. Plug in and opt for the bridge pickup with some low mid boost, and

impregnated birdseye maple fingerboard has been fitted with regular metal frets which have then been ground down. The resin gives the

you’re instantly in fretless nirvana: the woody tones are wonderful without sounding thin or brittle, but with somenatural warmth. Opt for

April 2016 Bass Guitar Magazine 053

GEAR Roscoe Century 4 STD+ Price£2,325

“

KEITH ROSCOE SHOULD BE CONGRATULATED ON CREATING AN OUTSTANDING INSTRUMENT THAT IS HIGHLY PLAYABLE, IMMENSELY COMFORTABLE TO WEAR AND A REAL JOY TO PLAY ”

some upper mid help from the circuit, and tight fingerstyle lines with a fair amount of presence for projection are instantly on tap. It should be noted that this bass is available with single coil pickupsif an extra honky fingerstyle tone is your preference, but with these pickupsfitted, some of the inherent warmth from the bass’s delivery ismaintained. With the pickup pan control centred, amore rounded tone is achieved: the Bartolini electronics package keeps this bass lively at all times. Rolling off the treble EQ and adding some bass EQ helps totemper some of the livelier aspects of its character. The hardness of the fingerboard really adds to the exemplary delivery of what this bass has to offer. When a bass is this comfortable to wear and play, the obviousdifficulties in navigating around a fretless fingerboard can be concentrated on, without having to fight the physical difficulties that the instrument poses.

Conclusions Keith Roscoe should becongratulated on creating an outstanding instrument that is highly playable, immensely comforta ble to wear and a real joy to play. At just over £2300 it’s hardly cheap, but this is in the ballpark for a hand-crafted instrument from the US – and when a bassplays as well as this, you’re getting what you pay for. If you’re looking to dip your toe into the world of fretless bass, put this onyour list.

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SCHECTER Stiletto Studio NT-8 For some, four strings are just not enough; Ellen O’Reilly gets to grips with an eight-string Schecter Westside Distribution www.westsidedistribution.com

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alifornian guitar compan y Schecter has enjoyed a40-year long career and boasts many high-profile players, particularly from the rock and metal genres. David Schecter opened Schecter Guitar Research in 1976, which was primarily a guitar repair shop: later, it became a guitar parts

manufacturer, and began releasing its first fully-assembled guitars in 1979. Since then the company has grown to produce guitars en masse in South Korea, which are then shipped to the USA for the finishing touches, as well as fully US-produced models. Produced at the company’s South Korean factory, the Stiletto Studio series ofbasses are a particularly good-looking family , and with its doubled-up four strings, EMG pickups andsatin translucent black colouring, it’s a bass withrock and alternative bass players in mind.

Build Quality The NT-8 is definitely a sturdy bass, with a mahogany body, and a heavy one at that, weighing in at a hefty 4.3 kilos. The neck-through design also adds to the overall rock-solid stability of this instrument. There are also a number of nice design perks such as the headstock, which is angled backwards to pull the strings over the nut towards and around the tuning pegs: this eliminates the

need for string trees. The headstock design itself isquintessentially Schecter, with small Schecter and Grover tuners. The bridge and hardware are all Schecter’s own brand chrome: these give the bass atough, industrial look. The body itself has a chunky feel, and the face of thebody is quite flat, but the smooth edges and deepcutaways compensate for this. Reasonable string spacing allows for the inevitable pick playing that this bass will be subjected to, while the neck is a thin, comfortable C-shape design. The woods used have a silky feel to them and the trans-black satin paint effect complements the flame maple top wood of the body. For this price, the bass is builtto a high standard: everything about it suggests quality and strength. For me, it’s the build quality and value for money of this bass that’s the real winner here.

“

IT’S BUILT TO A HIGH STANDARD: EVERYTHING ABOUT IT SUGGESTS QUALITY AND STRENGTH 056


”

GEAR Schecter Stiletto Studio NT-8 Price £775

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION Price | £775 Made in South Korea Body | Mahogany with flame maple top Neck | Five-piece maple with walnut satin finish, 34” scale neck Neck joint | Neck-through Nut width| 40mm Fingerboard| Rosewood Frets | 24 Pickups| 2x EMG 35HZ Soapbar pickups Electronics| EMG three-band active EQ Controls| Volume, Blend, Bass/Mid-treble cut/boosts Hardware| Chrome Schecter and Grover tuners, Diamond Custom two-piece bridge Weight | 4.3kg Case/gig bag included?| No Left-hand option available? | Yes

WHAT WE THINK Plus | Great looks, rich tone and great value for money Minus | It’s a little on the heavy side and there’s some neck dip Overall | If you want to delve into the world of multi-stringed instruments, then this is a perfect bass to start from



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GEAR Schecter Stiletto Studio NT-8 Price £775

Sounds and Playability

When played standing up, the BT-8’s balance is acceptable, although there is a slight neck dip when playing seated. It’s a typical eight-string, as if there is such a thing, in that the four bass strings are tuned as normal but are coupled with a string pitched an octave higher, guitar strings in other words. Eight-string basses can be notoriously difficult to play if you’re using any technique other than with a pick. Thankfully the designers are aware of this fact and have allowed for roomy string spacing: you’re also assisted by the slim, fast neck, which helps you get around the fretboard more efficiently. This is not the instrument for you if you like to get slap happy or play traditional fingerstyle: you’ll just have to dust off your plectrum and get picking. Thanks to the double soapbar EG pickups and active circuitry, this bass has a powerful output and a three-band EQ where you can dial between bass, mid and treble. As well as a volume control, there is also a blend pot where you can mix or select between the neck or bridge pickups: selecting the neck pickup gives you a predictably warmer, beefier tone, whereas the more you blend towards the bridge, the thinner the tone becomes. The doubled up strings make for a choral, melodious sound, which sounds glorious with some reverb effect added. Note that on each downstroke you hit the low octave string first and on each upstroke the higher octave: this results in plenty of tonal and musical possibilities. Listen to John Paul Jones’ first solo albumZooma for examples.

Conclusion At only £775, the NT-8 is a real bargain for such a well-made instrument – and an eight-string to boot. It’s a great instrument to add to your arsenal, but it’s probably going to be a niche instrument rather than one for everyday use. It is a bass built with a very specific style of playing in mind and sounds otherworldly with those doubled-up strings and warm tones.It’ll take some getting used to, but fora medium-priced instrument, it really is great value for money. Thanks to the Great British Bass Lounge, www.greatbritis hbasslounge.com.

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION RRP | £499 Made In| Korea Body | Masonite, laminated wood frame, hollow body Neck | Maple, 29.75” scale, 24 frets Neck join | Bolt-on Fingerboard| Rosewood Pickups| 2x Danelectro Lipstic k pickups Controls| 2x stacked volume/tone Bridge | Traditional, rosewood saddle Hardware| Danelectro Weight | 3kg

WHAT WE THINK

Plus | Unexpectedly wide tone range, highly playable Minus | Looks weird, feels a bit plasticky Overall | Faithful, low-cost reissue of a classic bass


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GEAR Danelectro Longhorn Price £499

DANELECTRO Longhorn Joel McIver tackles a classic reissue. Insert your own ‘Ride ’em, cowboy!’ quip here John Hornby Skewes www.jhs.co.uk

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ike eating your greens and going for a run, some things in life are good for you even though you don’t enjoy them, and reviewing basses you don’t like is another one of them. I’ve never been a fan of the Danelectro

Longhorn body shape or its cola-bottle headstock, but as JHS are reissuing them at only £499, it behoves us to set aside our prejudices and give the thing a chance. After all, Tom Petty played one in the Traveling Wilburys, so they must have something going for them. Let’s have a look...

Build Quality Lightweight bass bodies and short scales have come into favour at the BGM command bunker lately, after years of playing massive coffee-table basses with plank-like necks, so the Longhorn is doubly refreshing when you pick it up. At only three kilos it’s a doddle to swing around, and that

“

IT’S ALWAYS NICE TO HAVE YOUR PRECONCEPTIONS OVERTURNED, AND DANELECTRO HAS DONE A FINE JOB OF RECREATING AN ANCIENT DESIGN THAT FULFILS MODERN REQUIREMENTS ”


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GEAR Danelectro Longhorn Price £499

there’s definitely a feeling about the Longhorn that once you get past the Happy Days aesthetic, there will be quality under the hood. But who am I kidding? You wouldn’t be buying this bass, or indeed reading this review, if you weren’t a fan of the whole early-70s look.

Sounds and Playability

tiny 29.75” scale – into which a two-octave neck has somehow been packed – is a lot of fun to run up and down. Does this bass feel substantial? Not at all. Would you want to throw it casually to your roadie after your solo at Madison Square Garden? Not remotely. The body, a hollow unit made of Masonite (wood fibre hardboard – thanks Google), is pleasantly light but doesn’t feel particularly tough. So go easy on it. If you’re not a fan of tiny machine heads, don’t buy this bass, but then again large ones would look ridiculous on that dinky little headstock. The lipstick pickups and bridge look pretty but also well-engineered, so

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I realise that last paragraph was slightly patronising, but don’t get angry with me, because I’ve been converted (at least partly) by the fun I’ve had playing the Longhorn. Even the most sausage-fingered of bassists will enjoy the short-scale neck, and the bass balances perfectly on lap or strap despite the location of the forward strap button at the heel of the neck. If you plug in the bass with the EQ set flat, you may be disappointed by the lack of low end the Longhorn possesses. Well, that’s where your expectations will be overturned. Sure, the controls feel a touch plasticky (well, they are made of plastic...) but they add a lot of boost at both ends. Fire up the bass frequencies and you’ll be rewarded with a stomach-shuddering rumble that no bass made of wood fibre has any right to make. There’s plenty of zing at the treble end too, but where the Longhorn excels is with its high-mids tone, a beautiful, self-evidently vintage sound that cuts through everything else with great ease. Finally, what the Longhorn obviously has in its favour is unparalleled access to the upper frets, only bettered by a Zon Hyperbass, its polar opposite in every single way I can think of. Solo to your heart’s content: find the right tone and your guitarists won’t know what’s hit them.

Conclusion It’s always nice to have your preconceptions overturned, and Danelectro has done a fine job of recreating an ancient design that fulfils modern requirements. Sure, you’ll need to be a devotee of that crazy body shape and materials to get the most out of the Longhorn, but you could say exactly the same thing about a Rickenbacker 4001, couldn’t you? Check this unusual bass out – at the very least, it’ll broaden your horizons.

AMPEG SCR-DI Ever wondered what it would be like to carry an Ampeg in your back pocket? Ian Glasper finds out Polar Audio

www.polaraudio.co.uk

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s soon as you heft this slab of a pedal in your hand, you’re struck by its super heavy-duty construction. It’s housed in a corrosionresistant die-cast zinc chassis and screams ‘indestructible!’ with beefy metal foot switches that clunk securely and satisfyingly

when stomped on. When used in a rehearsal room with a shiny wooden floor during the review trial, it literally didn’t move an inch, thanks to some seriously non-slip rubber feet. It comes with exactly the same circuits as all those classic Ampeg pre-amps, so you’re able to dial in formidable tones with a minimum of fuss. In fact, this is the best bass pedal since the SansAmp – if you’re after a thick, chewy sound, but own a substandard amp, this pedal won’t let you down. It may not make every single amp you play through sound – or feel – like an Ampeg, but it enables a close enough approximation to rattle fillings and put a smile on the face of any honest bassist. The three-band EQ is bolstered by Ultra-Lo and Ultra-Hi switches, for extra depth and/or clarity, and if things still aren’t dirty enough for you, open fire with the Bass Scrambler circuitry, which – depending on how you’ve set the drive and blend knobs – will kick in anything from a snifter of grit to a howling twister of distortion. I quite like the latter, it has to be said, although this pedal does subtle too. A sassy purple LED lets you know when you’ve got the EQ activated, and a green LED reminds you that the Scrambler is in effect. But believe me, you won’t need reminding… you’ll be too busy peeling your bandmates off the wall. Both the E Q and Scrambler are foot switchable, so you can kick them in and out as required. Another really great feature of this box is that if you plug in your headphones, it doubles as the best-sounding practice amp you’ve ever played through, and no one needs to get annoyed because the walls are shaking. The auxiliary input even allows you to plug in an MP3 player and balance the volume in your cans, so you can jam along to tunes all night long without waking anyone. Other features include two parallel line outs, a balanced XLR and an unbalanced jack, so you can send the XLR to the desk and the jack to an amplifier: a volume knob on the EQ dash controls the level of these outputs. There’s also a power supply input, if you prefer that to using batteries – albeit a trifling concern when faced with a DI pedal of such quality.

“

IF YOU’RE AFTER A THICK, CHEWY SOUND, BUT OWN A SUBSTANDARD AMP, THIS PEDAL WON’T LET YOU DOWN

”

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GEAR Ampeg SCR-DI£208

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION Price | £208 Made In | China Features| Three-band EQ, Bass Scrambler, Ultra-Lo and Ultra-Hi circuits, 1/4 ” and 1/8 ” auxiliary inputs and separate volume, XLR line out jack, ground lift switch, 1/8 ” headphones jack, ext ernal power c onnector Weight | 1.2 kg Dimensions| 2.2” x 7.6” x 4.3”

WHAT WE THINK Plus | Built like a bomb shelter; delivers a meaty Ampeg oomph through whatever you’re playing Minus | Maybe a hefty price tag for a pedal – but you get what you pay for Overall | If you’re after serious bass tones, this effortlessly delivers



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BASS

TUITION Making you a better bass player

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Ellen O’Reilly is a freelance bassist and vocalist currently studying at ICMP. Ellen has extensive experience in gigging, studio and television work. www.lowendlady.com

72

ELLEN O’REILLY BEGINNER’S THEORY

Paul Geary attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston and the Musicians’ Institute of Technology. He also heads up the Academy Of Contemporary Music’s bass school. www.paulgeary.com

PAUL GEARY BEGINNER’S TECHNIQUES

74

the electric and upright bass world. We’re fortunate enough to have

Stuart Clayton is a professional bassist and writer with over 20 years of experience in the industry. He runs the bass department at BIMM Bristol and Bassline Publishing, which has published a range of tuition and tab books.

some serious talent on the team, from world-class music educators

www.stuartclayton.com www.basslinepublishing.com

elcome to our redesigned tuition se ction, in which Bass Guitar Magazine collates the wit and wisdom of the crème de la crèmeof

to experienced touring musicians, who between them have laid down

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STUART CLAYTON INTERMEDIATE THEORY

the low notes in every studio, club and arena in the civilised world. Note that we’ve divided the columns according to Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced level for easy reference. Whether you’re looking to improve your playing technique, expand your awareness of theory, set up your rig to sound like your particular bass hero or simply get on a bus and tour, we provide the answers you need here. What are you waiting for? Dive in... Joel McIver, editor

Rob Statham has amassed over 25 years as a professional freelance bass player. He has played in a wide range of musical settings, including jazz, blues, prog and classical, and he has taught for the past three years at BIMM London.

ROB STATHAM INTERMEDIATE TECHNIQUES

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Head of the Bass Department at BIMM Brighton, Franc has worked with artists such as Steve Howe (Yes), Lisa Moorish, and Mike Lindup (Level 42). Franc uses Jeff Chapman basses and Elites strings. www.francoshea.com

FRANC O’SHEA ADVANCED THEORY

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Say hello to advanced techniques columnist Philip Mann, star of studio and stage. Ready to get those fingers flying? Mann up...

PHILIP MANN ADVANCED TECHNIQUES

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David Etheridge studied double bass at the Royal College of Music. Since then he’s worked with musicians such as Nigel Kennedy and Martin Taylor. David teaches double and electric bass and is the MD of two big bands and a 55-piece jazz orchestra.

DAVID ETHERIDGE UPRIGHT BASS

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Steve Lawson is the UK’s most celebrated solo bass guitarist, with 15 years of touring and 36 solo and collaborative albums to his name. He also lectures at colleges around the world. www.stevelawson.net

STEVE LAWSON EFFECTS MAESTRO

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Mike has written for BGM since 2004 and has been a bassist since 1987, clocking up over 3000 gigs around the world in the process. He has played for and worked with the likes of Bonnie Tyler and Toyah Willcox, and has a bass collection to rival a small shop.

MIKE BROOKS CLASSIC BASS ALBUMS

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Bass Guitar Magazine February 2015

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TUITION Introduction

BGM Notation Legend The following is a guide to the notation symbols and terminology used in

Bass Guitar Magazine

The Stave: most music written for the bass guitar uses the bass clef. The example to the right shows the placement of the notes on the stave. Tablature: this is a graphical representation of the music. Each horizontal line corresponds with a string on the bass guitar, with the lowest line representing the lowest pitched string (E).The numbers represent the frets to be played. Numbers stacked vertically indica te notes that are played together. Where basses with five or six strings are required, the tablature stave will have five or six lines as necessary. Notes shown in brackets indicate that a note has been tied over from a previous bar.

PLAYING TECHNIQUES

SLAP AND POP TECHNIQUE

ADVANCED SLAP TECHNIQUE

PLECTRUM TECHNIQUE

TAPPING TECHNIQUES

Notes slapped with the thumb are marked with a ‘t’, notes popped with the fingers marked with a ‘p’

Fretting hand slaps are marked ’lh’ and double thumbing upstrokes are shown with an upward pointing arrow

Where necessary, down and upstrokes with the pick will be shown using these symbols (down-up-down-up)

Fretting hand taps are shown with a ‘+’ in a circle. Picking hand taps are shown with ‘+’. Specific fingers will be shown with numbers if necessary

FRETTING TECHNIQUES

HAMMER-ON AND PULL-OFF

SLIDE (GLISSANDO)

TRILLS

VIBRATO

Hammer-ons and pull-offs are shown with a slur over the notes. Only the first note is plucked by the picking hand

Slides are performed by playing the first note then sliding the fretting finger up to the second note

Trills are performed by rapidly alternating between the two notes shown using hammer-ons and pull-offs

The pitch of the note is altered by repeatedly bending the string up and back with the fretting finger

BENDING NOTES

PLAYING HARMONICS

NATURAL HARMONICS

ARTIFICIAL HARMONICS

BEND

BEND AND RELEASE

The note is played as a harmonic by lightly touching the string above the fret indicated

Pluck the string while fretting the lower note and placing the edge of the picking hand thumb an octave higher (the note shown in brackets)

The note is bent upwards to the interval specified: ½ = semitone, full = tone

The note is bent up to the interval indicated then released back to its srcinal pitch


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Th e

FRONT LINE

THE METALHEAD IVAN MUNGUIA

Deeds Of Flesh bassist Ivan talks tone

Want to make it as a professional bassist? Listen up as BGM’s world-class bass team reports back from the tourbus THE JAZZ BASSIST RUTH GOLLER

Jazz warrior Ruth relaxes after a stint on the road I’ve recently been on tour with a band called Let Spin, one of the few bands I’m in that functions really well as acollaborative project. I think this is because it is based on our characters, and a trust between each other which comes out musically. The music we do is a mixture of rock, jazz and riffbased tunes with open improvisation sections. As with all open music, trusting and knowing each other’s playing is an important factor. As much as I enjoy being on stage with someone I don’t know, and playing improvised music with them for the first time, I feel that with someone whose playing I do know there is always the chance for things to develop a step further, as long as I feel inspired by that person’s musicianship. With Let Spin I can say that I feel that with each and every one of the musicians. Our recent run of gigs in the UK was in small venues, but to good crowds. It was perfect for a band like us todevelop further musically, because most of the timewe weren’t even using a PA, basically playing as if we were in a rehearsalstudio with strangers coming in and listening. These are thegigs I enjoy the most: small, sweaty, packed and full of energy. Even as a listener those are always the best gigs to me, as you can feel a band moving and finding their space with each other. It’s really amazing how the same gig, with the same setlist, can develop between gig number one and gig number six. We recorded those gigs: listening back to them, we can really tell when the ‘getting to know each other again’ phase is over and when we really start taking risks and playing music in the most dedicated way. Of course, these low-budget tours usually end with sleeping on someone’s living room floor – and as hard as that can be, sometimes it adds a lot to feeling connected, and really giving everything to the music that has been created, without any compromise. www.ruthgoller.com

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The most important part of my tone? Strings. I us e stainless steel as opposed to nickel. Stainless steel strings are a hell of a lot brighter, and when used in conjuction with a heavy pick attack they put out a very crunchy tone. Conventional wisdom says stainless strings wear out your frets faster, but I call BS! I’ve used them on my basses for years and have yet to refret a bass. I use D’Addario Pro Steels 45-135 with my bass tuned down one step for Deeds Of Flesh, and one and a half steps for my other band Arkaik. The Pro Steels go onto my Spector basses, which I play exclusively. To my eyes, ears, and fingers they are the best basses for metal. I simultaneously run my Spectors into a SansAmp Bass Driver and a Darkglass Microtubes B7K, although I know I’m breaking some unwritten rule by doing so. I used a SansAmp for years, but when the Darkglass came out I knew I had to step up my preamp game. It turns out that combination gave my tone the extra kick it needed. My bandmates were impressed, so I ended up keeping the SansAmp and the two-preamp set-up has been a part of my tone ever since. I set the SansAmp’s EQ settings flat, with the Blend maxed out and the level adjusted as needed. The Darkglass provides the overdrive, with the EQ settings (lo mids, high mids, low, and treble) slightly boosted at about one to two o’clock, the attack switch set to Boost 2, the Grunt switch set to Fat, and the Drive at almost three o’clock, but I dial back the Blend knob to noon or below to keep the tone from getting too nasty and distorted. I run my Spector

“THIS AMP HAS BALLS OF STEEL. THE DOWNSIDE OF PLAYING SUCH A VINTAGE AMP IS THAT IT’S FRAGILE AND HEAVY AS HELL” and preamps into an early 70s Ampeg SVT Blackline 300W head that I found at a shop in the San Francisco Bay Area. For those of you that don’t know the history behind this amp, it is the second version of the srcinal Ampeg SVT ‘Blueline’ amps. When other bass heads at the time were putting out 100 watts or less, this behemoth came onto the market, pushing 300 watts. This amp has balls of steel. The downside of playing such a vintage amp is that it’s fragile and heavy as hell. Death metal tours are a circus, and so all my gear takes a severe beating on the road. Consequently, it’s been to the ER three times now, but the tone from it is well worth the upkeep. The head pushes a single 6x10 Ampeg SVT cab that I prefer over the 8x10 version because of the adjustable horn that helps out with the top end of my sound. I hope that this serves as a reference point for your journey in finding the ultimate metal tone: the best piece of advice I can give is to take people’s opinions about gear with a grain of salt, and not be afraid to experiment. You might find the most badass tone in the most unexpected of ways. www.facebook.com/deedsoffleshofficial

THE FRONT LINE

THE ALTERNATIVE ROCKER

THE EXTENDED-RANGE SPECIALIST

MICHAEL MCKEEGAN

STEWART MCKINSEY

Therapy?’s bass ninja Mike explores cover versions

Ten-string-wielding Dementor McKinsey gets plucky

I was recently looking forward to hearing a favourite band of mine doing a cover of a song by one of my other favourite bands. It sounded like a dream concept and thankfully the result wasn’t that bad, just a tad uninspiring. It got me thinking about covers and how they can be a great way to learn about music, develop a style and refine influences. I also realised how hard it can be to do a good, distinctive cover version. We’re big music fans and over the years we’ve covered a wide range of songs,

Now that you’ve had a chance to hear how your attack and plucking hand placement create specific results, let’s work on refining them to get the effects you desire. For now, focus on eighth notes at a medium tempo. Choose a note on your lowest string and play two measures, then move up an octave on the same string. You’ll note that the high note doesn’t open the same way as the low note. Start alternating, playing two measures of the low note and then two more of the high

admittedly with varying degrees of success: here’s a few pointers that

note, working with your attack and where you hit the string along its length until you get the different notes to respond similarly. Once you get them happening the way you would like, play two measures of the higher note and play the same note in the same range on the next higher string. Again, it will take you a bit of time to get them to sound the same. Don’t rush the results. You need to be able to do this smoothly and evenly. When you’re happy with how the notes in the same octave sound, play two measures with the next octave up. This time alternate between all three notes, so you will play two measures on your second lowest string; two measures an octave up from there; and then, rather than returning to the second lowest string, play the lower note on the lowest strings. Once these sound even to you, continue working up and down the neck. This is not the most exciting exercise you will play, but as you explore one note played in as many places and in as many registers as you can, you will begin to hear how much work you have to do in terms of playing consistently, but you will also start to feel your hands making these adjustments faster and faster as your brain processes what it is you want from the bass. To develop the exercise, do the same thing with other notes, with note duration (quarter notes, half notes and sixteenth notes) and then change to a single measure before alternating. Then shift the position of your plucking hand. You’ll find

m o -c d ri b y le h s -a w w w ©

challenges both moving closer to the end of the fingerboard and closer to the bridge. Remember: there’s no deadline, and pushing too fast will actually slow your progress. Next month, we’ll start work on your fretting hand. www.facebook.com + search ‘Stewart McKinsey’

might keep your reworking on track. The main thing is to work out what elements of a song you’d like to keep. The joy of a good cover is making it your own, so the rule book, while not necessarily going out the window, can be disregarded for a bit. Lyrically it’s probably wise not to change much, if anything, as you’ll run into the sticky world of having to speak to a publisher or an artist to approve any amendments. I’d also steer clear of doing a ‘genre’ version: it’s very tempting to do a tune in a stylistically different way. For example, as a punk band you might be tempted to double the tempo and crank the guitars. I feel we’ve all heard too many wacky musical takes on great songs. One nice thing about doing a cover is that you can sometimes see the tune a bit more clearly than your own material, and so can be a bit more brutal with deciding what stays and what goes. Note which bits of the song you feel are overplayed or don’t work; chop that double chorus at the end; and try and find some elements that could be made more of. If there’s a cool melody lurking somewhere, try and bring that out in a bass-line or guitar solo. Another approach is to start with the vocal, record it first and then begin to fill in the arrangement around it. It is amazing how sometimes so little is needed to flesh out a song instrumentally, so try different keys and tempos and don’t be afraid to add extra chords or parts. Understanding why songs work is a great tool in helping you put together and tighten up your own songwriting: doing a unique cover of a song can be a positive exercise in arrangement and instrumentation. www.therapyquestionmark.co.uk


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Beginner’s Theory

in a given key signature. Let’s take the key of C major, for example. I’m sure you’ve noticed how often this particular key is used in examples, this is because it has no accidentals (sharps or flats) present to complicate things. Now each step in the scale (or scale degree) is as follows: C, D, E, F, G, A and B. Chords are built up on each of these scale degrees, and the process of how we do this is known as harmonising the major scale, which we’ve covered in previous columns. In order to keep things simple, I’ll look at these chords in their most basic form which is as triads. As we’ve seen before, a triad is a basic chord made up of three notes: the root, third and a fifth. What kind of third and fifth we have determines whether the chord is major, minor or diminished. For example, we know C is C major as it is made up of a root, a major third and a perfect fifth; E is E minor as it is made up of a root, a minor third and a perfect fifth; but we know B is diminished as it is made up of a root, a minor third and a flattened fifth (aka a flat 5). In the key of C major, the sca le degrees in triads are C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor and B diminished. Now, with this system we give

ELLEN O’REILLY

Into the bass charts wit h top of the poppers Ellen

C major triad

O

ver the last few columns I’ve fried your brains with talk of scales and suchlike, but now I’m going to take it back to basics: it’s time we had a look at how to put all this new knowledge into practice and navigate a chord chart. Now, you may or may not have been in a musical situation where a guitarist or keyboardist has shouted out ‘five’ or put up three fingers, expecting you to know what that meant. Well, these guys and girls are trying to tell you what chord they’re on by using numbers allocated to each chord. This is a really handy way of communicating with your bandmates: all it’s telling you is that a number represents a chord

EXAMPLE 1

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Bass Guitar Magazine October 2015

E minor triad

B diminished triad

each of these chords a number in Roman numerals so that we know where we are in a given key – th is means that the one chord is I, the two chord is ii, the three is iii and so on. Note that when we add a Roman numeral to a chord, the minor and diminished chords are written in lower case, whereas the major chords are written with upper case Roman numerals, e.g. G major is V and D minor is ii. As you can see in the example I’ve given, each scale degree is given a number. You can see how the triad looks on the stave, and the root notes are given for you in tab as I want you to find the rest of the notes yourselves. Let’s put this chord numbering system into practice. If you were asked to play a I, IV, V sequence in the key of C major, you would play C, F and G. If you were asked to play a VI, iii, V, I sequence in the key of C major you would play A, E, G and C. Try mixing up the numbers and see if you can find the corresponding root notes and triads yourselves.

EXAMPLE 1

Set your metronome to 100BPM on a quarter-note pulse. Play the note A at the fifth fret of the E string. Try to keep the notes even and in time with the click. Try choking the notes and experiment with the actual

PAUL GEARY

Commander Geary gets his rock on... and so should you

length. You can get a lot out of tonal range out of a single note. Think about the tone and how you play the note with the plucking hand. Consider the position of your fingers over the pickup. How much pressure are you using to produce the note? Is it clean? How far is your hand away from the bridge? All of these things will affect the sound of the notes you are playing. Playing nearer the bridge creates a mid tone: the strings feel tighter. Playing closer to the neck gives rounder tone with more bottom end, but the strings feel looser. Make sure your fretting hand fingers fret the note cleanly without any fret buzz. hand fingers.

Try adjusting and dampening the note

a

by lifting your fretting-

I remember one particular recording session many years ago where I had to replace a section of bass-line I had recorded on a track the day before. No surprises there, I just needed to remember the part. This was called a ‘drop-in’ , and involved the engineer punching in your bass on the reco rding desk at the exact point in

T

his month I would like to take a look at incorporating some

the song where the bass-line needed to be replaced. This would then make a nice clean edit on the finished recording, so I recorded the section with the correct notes, in time, appropriate feel and so on. The engineer

eighth-note grooves into a rock chart. Sometimes, some

said ‘Great. Now play it with the sam e pressure!’ At the tim e I really hadn’t thought it would matter. When I heard the track back before the edit, the actual feel and volume of the notes didn’t sound right at all. He was

of the seemingly simple aspects of bass playing can actually turn

spot on! These days with the various software available for recording you can cut and paste almost anything, and adjust the individual volume and timbre, but I miss the days of the good old drop-in: I think it presented

out to be the most challenging. Playing eighth notes to a click or

a greater challenge to the musician.

drum machine accurately, in time, with good feel and meter, can be

EXAMPLE 2

harder than you think. It is the meat and potatoes of bass playing, but drastically underrated. The following examples demonstrate how much variation you can get out of a single note.

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Let’s try using a tie on the A note to extend the value and keep the forward motion feel happening. Keep the pulse steady and don’t move on until the line is even and consistent. Try recording yourself on your phone. This will give a pretty good representation of your overall sound.

“

SOMETIMES, SOME OF THE SEEMINGLY SIMPLE ASPECTS OF BASS PLAYING CAN ACTUALLY TURN OUT TO BE THE MOST CHALLENGING. PLA YING EIGHTH N OTES TO A CLICK OR DRUM MACHINE ACCURATELY, IN TIME, WITH GOOD FEEL AND METER, CAN BE HARDER THAN YOU THINK ”

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TUITION Beginner’sTechniques

EXAMPLE 3 This is where we add some extra notes to the line. The first is a low E played on the open E string, followed by a G note at the third fret of the E string. We then have a tied A note over the bar line and continue with an eighth-note pulse. The last grouping of eighth notes start with the low G, followed by an open E, and then we take the repeat.

ROCK CHART

We can start to apply these grooves to an actual chart. Make sure you establish a good 3/4 pulse before you attempt the first bar. The low B is a dotted quarter note played on the second fret of the A string, followed by three eighth notes. We then drop down to a low F# played on the second fret of the E string. The third bar is the same as the first. In the fourth bar we use a high E eighth note played on the second fret of the D string followed by F#, D, B and A, all utilising the open strings. On lines two and three we have tied dotted half notes. The trick is to make sure you hold them on for the complete bar. Don’t be tempted to rush. On line four we switch to a low G played on the third fret of the E string. This note ties over to the third bar where we play a dotted D quarter note at the fifth fret of the A string. The last bar we play a high G octave, which leads into th e A7 sus chord. At the end of that line we take the repeat at the sign. Play through everything again and go to the drum solo vamp section. This is the main riff broken down. At the DS al coda, go to the (S) sign and play through to the coda. The co da is the last bar at the end, where we play the riff and finish on a low B at the second fret of the A string. Try to keep a steady pulse when playing this chart and don’t rush. Until next time...!


075

Modes maestro Clayton continues his Aeolian expedition

W

elcome back to my column on de mystifying the modes. We’ve made significant progress in this endeavour now and the end is in s ight. In this month’s instalment we’ll be taking a lo ok at a longer piece that features the Aeolian mode, which is the third minor mode that we’ve covered. So without further ado…

This piece is an upt empo rock track that exclusively uses the A

Aeolian mode, which as you will now know

is the sixth mode of the major scale – in this case, the C major scale. As such, it contains only natural notes, since these are the only notes that occur within the key of C. You’ll hopefully also be aware that the Aeolian mode is another name for the natural minor scale. If you need a recap on the construction of the Aeolian mode or the theory behind it, be sure to refer to my column in the last issue.

STUART CLAYTON

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The track opens with the A section, a melodic line played in the upper register which descends along the G-string. When playing each phrase, be sure to allow the open A-string to ring underneath, creating a foundation. You should also follow the phrasing marks that are written: playing the hammer-ons a offs as shown will be a big help in making this line sound smooth.

nd pull-

TUITION Intermediate Theory

“

BY CAREFULLY STUDYING THE MATERIAL PRESENTED IN THESE COLUMNS YOU SHOULD BECOME WELL ACQUAINTED WITH THE UNIQUE SOUND OF EACH MODE At letter B a new riff begins, again based on the open A-string. The last two bars of this section suggest a chord progression moving from Am – G – F – Em, which is a common turnaround in a minor key. This line is then repeated. At letter C a new riff begins, implying a faster moving chord progression. The second bar of the two-bar phrase is important here, as it is repeated at the end of the section (bars 18-20). Note that rhythmic displacement and a bar of 3/4 are used here to add interest. This section is also repeated. The final section of the piece – at letter D – is a restatement of the main melodic motif from letter A, this time played an octave lower. Again, phrasing indications should be observed where possible in

”

order for the line to sound smooth. Have fun with this piece. It’s a simple line to learn, but I’m hoping that the ideas presented here will inspire you to come up with Aeolianbased riffs of your own. Hopefully through what we’ve covered in the last two columns you can hear that the Aeolian has a noticeably different sound to the other two minor modes (Dorian and Phrygian). Each mode has something different to offer and by carefully studying all of th e material presented in these columns you should be well acquainted with the unique sound of each one. Next time we’ll be making a start with the seventh and final mode of the major scale – the Locrian. Until then…


077


ROB STATHAM

Tapping compound intervals with the great Statham

O

ne of the attractions of playing tapped arpeggios is that, by using two hands, we are able to play wide intervals

that would be difficult – if not

The first example is indeed major tenths on a I-IV-V-IV progression, and so while this could be played

impossible – to play fingerstyle.

fingerstyle, it will serve as an example of how a tapping technique can be used for this concept. In each

Usually when we play arpeggio

triplet group the first two notes are hammered on with our fretting hand, while our plucking hand, now our

patterns we play the notes in the

tapping hand, taps the tenth of the triad. While, as mentioned, this could be played fingerstyle, we would

same octave, but it is possible to

likely use a different fingering, so, for instance, playing the E in the first arpeggio at the ninth fret on the G

take one or more of the notes in any given arpeggio and play them

string. However, using a tapping technique it makes more sense to play it at the 14th fret on the D string. Our second example is based on the same chord progression, but now the compound interval in the triad

an octave higher. These are called

is the fifth rather than the t hird. This makes for an even wider intervallic

compound intervals: you are

third between the third of the chord and the compounded fifth. While I have tabbed the root and third to

probably familiar with this idea

be played on one s tring, stretching a majo r third, you might prefer to play the third where you would likely

from playing tenths, an attractive

normally play it in relation to the root. For instance, the second note of the first triplet group could be played

sound on the bass, where we play

at the seventh fret on the A string rather than the 12th fret on the E string. Try it both ways and see which

the third of a chord an octave

you prefer.

higher. So, for instance, we might

sound, an octave and a minor

The next example gets us away from the triplet figures and into groups of four notes, in this instance on a

play the note C, then G a fifth

similar chord progression, I-IV-V-I. In fact, the first bar of this example is similar to the first bar of the first

higher, and finally E, the third of a

example with the addition of the ninth between the fifth and compound third. Here again I am just tapping

C major triad, but an octave higher

the last note of the group, and so you’ll see that the root, fifth and ninth are two consecutive perfect fifths, all

than we might usually play it, so

hammered on, with the 10th tapped. However, the second bar is played somewhat differently. Here we play

a major sixth above the G. This

a seventh chord arpeggio, a G7, hammering on the root and the fifth and now tapping two notes, the seventh

pattern fits nicely into one position

and the compound third.

on the bass and, albeit with

This requires us to make a tritone shape with our tapping hand. In the second half of the bar we return to

some string-skipping involved, is

a triad, but this time it is played in first inversion with the compound octave making the fourth note. Here,

comfortable to play fingerstyle.

as in the first half of the bar, I am hammering on the first two notes, the third and octave, and tapping the

But by using a tapping technique

fifth and compound octave, this time a perfect fourth shape in our tapping hand. Again, this makes for a wide

we can expand on this concept

intervallic sound and would be a tricky pattern to play using fingerstyle but is reasonably comfortable using

and play more notes in any given

a tapping technique.

arpeggio an octave higher, beyond

The final example consists entirely of seventh chords and, as in the second half of the previous example,

what might be possible using a

I am hammering on the first two notes in each group of four and tapping the last two. The example is based

regular finger technique.

on an ‘Autumn Leaves’ set of chord changes and s o uses four types of seventh chord – minor seven, maj or

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TUITION IntermediateTechniques

seven, dominant seven, and half

EXAMPLE 1

diminished, or minor seven flat five. In this example we get into some particularly wide intervals on some of the chords, and fingerstyle would not really be an option. The first chord, a D minor 7, has a compound third and seventh which, as you can see, results in two perfect fifth shapes a minor sixth apart, a particularly

EXAMPLE 2

wide intervallic sound. The second chord, a G7, has only one compound interval, the third which is played as a 10th – in fact, this is played in the same manner as the G7 in the third example. The third chord, a C major 7, is configured like the first chord – root, fifth, compound third, and compound seventh, so here again a wide intervallic sound. Again we have two perfect fifth

EXAMPLE 3

shapes, but now a major sixth apart. The next bar is an F major 7 configured like the G7 arpeggio with just one compounded tone, the third played as a tenth. As you can see, there is an alternating pattern of compound patterns in the first four bars. In the fifth bar we get into an even wider intervallic sound by inverting the third and the seventh in our tapping

EXAMPLE 4

hand on the B half diminished chord, the third now a full two octaves higher. This means that the E7 that follows it still has two compound tones, the third and seventh, and the A minor seven chord that follows that is configured like the B half diminished chord with a compound seventh and a double compound third. We are now well beyond what would be possible to play fingerstyle, and this is where the tapping technique comes into its own, making patterns possible to play that would be otherwise unplayable and thus providing fresh possibilities. By making use of a tapping technique we can play wide

familiar arpeggios in differing configurations. There are many possibilities, so use these examples as a

compound intervals and arrange

starting point and experiment with your own ideas.


079

FRANC O'SHEA

More exotic territory explored with Big Franc

I

n this issue I will be analysing the second half of a bass solo that uses an exotic scale for all its melodic and harmonic

content. For the last few issues I have been using th e A Mixolydian b6 as an example of h ow to get the most out of a scale by unpacking it: however, it is worth remembering that this type of analysis can be applied to all scales. The first half of the solo, which appeared in my last column, showed bars one to 27, and since this is the second half of the solo I have started this month at bar 26 to provide some context before continuing with the rest of the solo. Bars 24 to 25 showed a figure based on a D melodic minor scale, which is the parent scale of A Mixolydian b6. This figure was repeated in bars 26 and 27, which, as you can see, is a motif created using minor and major 10ths. This motif provided some relief and stability as it came

in bars 28 to 31. These unsettling mirroring motifs are still based exclusively on notes from the A Mixolydian

after an intense triplet chordal

b6, but since this scale shares similarities with the whole tone scale, these figures highlight this. In fact, if

section based on a G Prometheus

you were to strip out the perfect 4th and perfect 5th interval degrees from the A Mixolydian b6 scale you

hexatonic scale with an open A

would be left with the notes A, B, C#, F and G, and all it would take to create an A whole tone scale would be

pedal.

the simple addition of an Eb.

However, this is just the calm

So why do whole tone scales create such an atmosphere of unsettling eeriness? Imagine a film scene in

before the storm gathers again,

which Freddy Krueger is just about to pounce on a scared victim who has been hearing strange noises in

as can be seen in the rather

their house at night. As the psychological tension mounts before the final pounce, augmented triads running

disconcerting figures appearing

up and down the whole tone scale are employed to underpin the suspense. Nothing is actually happening

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Advanced Theory musica )

as far back as the early 1700s, but few know that this term was also often applied to the more dissonant semitone interval. The chord in bars 35 and 36 employ both intervals. It has a tritone (C# to G) and then its octave, which is followed by the semitone interval of C# to D. Surprisingly, the resulting chord exudes a hauntingly beautiful quality. This is, in part, due to the fact that the notes are arpeggiated but also because

THE FACT THAT THE WHOLE TONE SCALE HAS ONLY ONE MODE “ THAT THE EAR CAN’T FIND A TONAL CENTRE. THIS IS WHAT MEANS CREATES THE UNSETTLING AND UNCERT AIN FEELING ” within the action of the film – but the film-makers are implying that something is about to through the soundtrack. You just don’t know when. The fact that the whole tone scale has only one mode (as on every other scale degree is another whole tone scale, and also because every note is a whole tone apart) means that the ear can’t find a tonal centre. This is what creates the unsettling and uncertain feeling, since there is no natural resolution point in this scale. Bars 32 to 34 create a different dynamic which is equally intense, this time through the use of syncopated rhythm and interval inversions. This actual phrase appeared as example 7 in my column in BGM 124. Bar 32 is comprised entirely from 6th intervals built on each degree of the scale. However, the 1st interval is ascending from low to high, but the second 6th is inverted, i.e. it is descending from the 6th to its root. The third 6th in the same bar is, like the first, ascending too. Each of these 6ths appear at consecutive scale degrees. Bar 33 uses the same idea, only this time with 7ths, and also highlights the fact that there are four minor 7th intervals a whole tone apart in succession. Bar 34 highlights the two different tritones inherent in the scale, which is part of what gives the Mixolydian b6 its unique flavour. There is no let-up of the tension in bars 35 to 40, where some arpeggiated chords are rendered with quaver triplets. Rather than create suspense as in bars 28 to 31, which use the whole tone scale, these bars use tension instead, by employing voicings that feature tritone intervals and semitone clashes. Many musicians will be aware of the fact that the restless tritone interval was regarded as the “devil in music” ( diabolus in

our modern ears are used to ‘dissonances’ that would have been considered unpalatable in older times with their different tuning temperaments. On the third beat of both these bars a low open E string replaces the lower C# that appears on the first beat, creating a min6/7 chord with the 5th omitted. The upper part of the chord that appears in bars 37 and 38 uses a similar tritone and semitone combination: however, the configuration is now reversed with the semitone (E to F) appearing first and the tritone (F to B) appearing above it. Bar 39 is less tense than the previous four bars and is a n Fmaj7b5 chord with the b5, B, its lowest note, placing it in second inversion. An E-addb9 chord in the next bar brings back some of the tritone and semitone tension, although the root and b9 are separated by an octave, before the tension is finally broken in bar 41. In comparison to the previous bars, bars 41 to 50 create a fairly easy-going and harmonically pleasing run down the scale by employing simple rhythmic figures, double stops and an open A string drone, topped off with a dramatic flourish and subsequent harmonic chord in bar 51. Using the entire scale, the A11b13 arpeggio, which starts on the ‘and’ of beat four in bar 51, culminates with a low A and its 3rd and 5th in the high octave, creating a simple, hap py, A major triad which lets you know that everything has turned out fine in the end. Until next time…


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rhythm is commonly associated with Iron Maiden’s veteran bassist Steve Harris). Initially the movement can feel a little awkward and cumbersome under the hand, but with a little patience and perseverance you’ll master it soon enough. If your reading skills aren’t particularly strong, try saying and playing the syllables “black-cur-rant” on each beat of the bar to help produce the desired rhythm.

EXAMPLE 1

PHIL MANN

Double popping? The great Mann has to be having a laugh... Wait. He’s not?

T

raditionally, a high percentage of slap bass players predominantly use just their index finger (p1) to ‘pop’ the strings. Although this is a very effective and efficient approach to the technique, it is possible to develop the methodology further to include other digits. This month we’ll be taking a look at the inclusion of a second finger to the mix by introducing ‘double popping’. Conventionally, you will be used to pulling the strings with your index finger (p1). Double popping is really just an extension of this, introducing a second pop additionally produced by the middle finger (p2). The first of our exercises is designed to develop your basic understanding of the ‘double popping’ technique. Rhythmically, it’s quite straightforward to perform and shouldn’t cause you too much trouble. On each beat you’re required to play an eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes: use your index finger to pop the first octave note of each beat and then your middle finger to pop the second (this ‘galloping’

GUITARGuitar MAGAZINE Magazine 84 BASS Bass October 2015 84

EXAMPLE 2 This month’s second example combines elements of the double thumbing technique acquired in last month’s column along with this issue’s subject area. On every other beat you’ll notice rhythmical similarities to those found in example 1: however, on the adjacent beats you’ll be required to play all four sixteenth notes. The first two pitches are produced via a ‘down-up’ movement from the thumb, the second two notes are then produced via two ‘pops’ in succession, one from your index finger (p1) and one from your middle finger (p2).

“INITIALLY THE MOVEMENT CAN FEEL A LITTLE AWKWARD UNDER HAND, BUT WITH PATIENCE YOU’LL MASTER IT SOON ENOUGH ”

TUITION Advanced Techniques

EXAMPLE 3 Playing three evenly spaced sixteenth notes within the same value as an eighth note produces a semiquaver triplet. You’ll notice the inclusion of this rhythm in the third beat of bar four of example 3. Again, a simple way to interpret the rhythm with ease is to articulate ‘tri-p-let’ on each eighth note of the beat and play its syllables. As there are two eighth notes in every crotchet, repeat the methodology twice to produce the desired pair of semiquaver triplets.

EXAMPLE 4 The continued occurrence of both double thumbing and plucking does make example 4 a little tricky to play in time with a metronome. Initially, always try to work through newer and more complex patterns out of time first as this will allow a period of processing time to learn the phrase. Once under hand, you can then practise the phrase to a timekeeping device.

EXAMPLE 5 Focus your attention on the first beat of bar one in this month’s final example: hopefully you’ll be able to decipher the quaver followed by a semiquaver triplet. First, strike the low E string with your thumb then simultaneously mute all four strings with your left hand while performing a semiquaver triplet with your right hand. In order to execute this cleanly, your thumb will need to strike the E string once again (while muted by the left hand, don’t forget!) and then be succeeded by two ‘pops’ – one from your index finger (p1) and one from your middle finger (p2). Once overcome, the remainder of the exercise is reasonably

straightforward. I’ll leave you to try and conquer the rhythm in bar four by yourself for now as a bit of facilitated learnin g and a teaser for next month! Until then, practise hard!


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EXAMPLE 1

EXAMPLE 2

EXAMPLE 3

DAVID ETHERIDGE

Introducing the noble art of soloing on double bass, with EXAMPLE 4 David Etheridge

M

any years ago, while studying at music college, I was playing folk clubs

EXAMPLE 5

in the evenings with jazz

legend Diz Disley. Double bass players were rather thin on the ground, so I was interested to meet one at a club in South London. “What kind of music

EXAMPLE 6

do you play?” I asked the other bassist. “I’m a New Orleans jazz specialist!” he proudly announced. I was impressed. I hadn’t the faintest idea what one was, but as a specialist he had to be good. Diz was a great one for jam sessions,

EXAMPLE 7

so I waited with interest for this bass player’s solo: when it came, it was terrible. A random series of notes in no particular key, with no sense of melody or chord progression – or was he

EXAMPLE 8

the avant-garde branch of New Orleans jazz? Once I found out exactly what that type of jazz actually was, I never looked at it the same way. The point of this preamble

but louder, to technical wizardry from the likes of Stanley Clarke and John Patitucci (just to name two) that

is to ask some fundamental

leaves one spellbound. If you look at their work on YouTube, you’ll see that their approach to double bass

questions about soloing on double bass. Over the years, I’ve seen a

differs quite markedly from the same player’s work on bass guitar. It’s a truism that you can whiz around o n bass guitar far more than on double bass, simply due to the latter’s sheer size and string weight, so trying

variety of approaches, from guys

those Jaco licks on double bass may not be as easy as you think once you get down to trying them out.

who just play the same bass-line

GUITARGuitar MAGAZINE Magazine 086 BASS Bass October 2015 086

When we’re soloing, we’re basically providing instant musical

composition. Like any language , it will have

TUITION Upright Citizen

the musical equivalent of words

Example 4 shows a development of the basic idea: you don’t have to start a phrase on the root of the

and sentences, and make sense

chord. In this example, every bar starts on the third of the chord and still follows the chord sequence. As

to the listener. Trying to be flash

you can see from the fingering, the majority of this example is in half position, only changing for the high C

and play 1,000 notes a minute

and D. Example 5 shows a similar riff, but here we’re starting on the fifths of the chord, and we stay in the

(we all try that sooner or later)

same position throughout.

can be wearing for both listeners

With example 6I’ve introduced some new ideas: chromatic runs, and triplet crochets (quarter notes) to add

and other players, so contrast

rhythmic variation and contrast . Although there’s a lot of triplet action in the

can be the name of the game: fast

illustration: the choice is up to you. In practice, on a solo, you might want to stay in one particular rhythmic

sequence, I’m using it as an

bits, slow bits, cross rhythms,

groove – say swung quavers – and only add triplet quavers for a fill at the end of an eight-bar phrase.

syncopations, funky phrases and

Example 7 shows the kind of thing you might try. Remember Victor Wooten’s maxim that just about

even rests and silences can all be

anything can be used as a fill at the end of a section of music, from the most subtle to the most flash. Don’t

used in solos on double bass.

think that you have to fill a solo with notes, either: sometimes spaces in a solo can be very effective.

Let’s have a look at some

Have a look at example 8 for some ideas, and the syncopations can add to the groove very well by

approaches and see how we can

pushing the feel along, particularly if you use them as contrast to more regular phrasing. Contrast is the

get to really express ourselves. The

important word here.

‘road map’ of a solo will follow the

These examples are just basic building blocks for your musical vocabulary, and as we’ve seen, they’re all

form and the chord sequence of

playable in one or two positions. Don’t worry about ‘difficult’ keys either. Just substitute a position shift or

the tune you’re playing, so you’ll

two for the open strings and you’ll see that you have a lot of potential in any key. This month we’ve only

know where you are at any given

looked at basic ideas on chord tones: next month we’ll expand it further.

point, and that gives you the choice of notes to play. You can follow various approaches: chord tones, scales, chromatic runs and even musical quotes. They all have their place and the latter can be great fun. To start off with, let’s have a look at a basic I-IV-II-V progression. Keep in mind that in jazz and blues the quavers (eighth notes) are always swung. In example 1, this might be the bass part to the chords: pretty standard fare. If we use chord tones only as a starting point, we might come up with example 2. Here we have some

syncopation to add to the groove. This line is easy and can be played all in half position. We’ll develop our line as we go along and try higher-register work, but a good rule of thumb is to try and group as many notes in the same, or adjacent positions where possible. In example 3I’ve added some triplets to break up the basic feel, and included some scale passages and semitone runs to add interest. You can see from the fingering that this can be played in half position, moving up to second position for the high Bb and C in bar three, and using the open G to move back to half position at the end of that bar. At the end of bar four we move up a semitone to get the G and Ab at the end.

Bass Guitar Magazine BASS GUITAR MAGAZINE087 October 2015 087

TUITION Laying Down The Lawson

With any pedal – or multi-FX, or preamp or anything – I do the same. I (fairly) methodically go through as many possible combinations as I can. With overdrive pedals, I spent a long time finding out where the break point is, where they actually start to dirty up your sound. It was this process that helped me find the amazing warm clean tone I can get from the Markbass MiniDIST. With the ‘dist’ control off and level control full, it sounds beautiful, outside of the distorted tone it was built for. It’s the same with the new MXR Bass Distortion: the point where it starts to break up produces some extraordinary sounds, which are unlike any distortion pedal I’ve used before. And it’s all happening in the first maybe five to 10 per cent of the sweep of the ‘dist’ control. Tiny tweaks, technique and volume adjustments to see how it interacts with the rest of the signal chain... explore, modify, apply, repeat... Sometimes within that process you discover things that maybe weren’t planned but are still inherent in the complex design of the pedal: I’ve been spending a lot of time recently with the TC Electronic Flashback delay. The one control I’m most interested in with all delays is the delay time knob: what happens when you turn it? On some units, it makes amazing spacey bleepy noises – the Line 6 DL4 does this, and some analogue and tapebased delays do too. On others, the delay just resets and starts from scratch. On the Flashback, the material

STEVE LAWSON

Looking at the big picture with Dark Lord Lawson

that’s currently repeating gets extended to the length of the new delay time (through multiple repeats, not time stretching) and the new stuff gets added over the top. If you turn the control down to its shortest delay time, and turn the feedback and FX level controls up, you get an amazing granular filter sound, which you can then ‘trap’ and use as part of a longer delay... Again, this is not something you can do if you’ve got your pedal on the floor to operate with your feet, but you’ve all stopped doing that already, right? So this month, go extreme. Turn everything up, everything off and everything in between and see what freaky sonic treasures lie at the boundaries of your favourite toys. You may find something unrecognisable and beautiful!

e’ve talked before here about treating pedals as instruments: about the need to see them not just as an on/off effect, but as a way of changing how the sound is produced – something that requires us to modify the way we play, and often adapt the rest of our signal chain to acommodate the new

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possibilities. The end point of this is that I don’t see the bass as my instrument and the pedals as some external boxes that ‘do things’ to my sound. I see the whole signal chain, from fingers to speakers, as my instrument. This means that I explore the possibilities of each pedal pretty much the same way I do each aspect of my bass. When I’m working on a new technical issue on my instrument, I vary every parameter to see what it makes possible: I vary how hard I’m hitting the strings, the angle I hit the strings from, and I move my hand up and down the neck from right next to the bridge to right down over the fingerboard. All of it to explore the extremes of what’s possible in order to find the bits that make the sounds I can use. I don’t want to second-guess where those are, so I look for all of them.

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ie k c E ©

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A brand-new column in which Mike Brooks celebrates a classic album. Let’s begin by jumping back 40 years to what is arguably Queen’s finest record...

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elcome to my new column. Each month I’ll be taking an in-depth look at a classic album, which may have broken records around the world, changed the course of musical

history or been a turning point in the history of the bass guitar. Either way, it’s all about historic bass! When Queen began writing material forA Night At The Operain 1975, they faced a real dilemma. Their management were fleecing them of their royalties, they had to write a hit single that could improve upon ‘Killer Queen’, a number two hit; and their fourth LP had to do the business in terms of sales, otherwise they were facing being dropped by their record label, EMI. They needed a great album to send them into rock’s stratosphere – but nobody could have foreseen what a milestone the band would produce in their hour of need, let alone a magnum opus single that would propel sales to over 10 million worldwide. The great John Deacon used his familiar Fender Precisions for the bulk of the bass tracks, and although he was using Acoustic 370 amps paired with Acoustic 301 Reflex cabs and a HiWatt amp driving Sound City 4x12 cabs at the time, the album was predominantly recorded direct via the desk and a DI box, while his basses were fitted with flatwound strings for less string noise and a thick tone. The album ope ner, ‘Death On Two Legs’, is singer Freddie Mercury’s attempt to put down on record his vitriolic feelings about the band’s ex-manager: check out the smooth and tasty bass run at 2’54” that eventually matches Freddie’s vocal part. ‘Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon’ and ‘Seaside Rendezvous’ were early indicators that Queen might be pushing the envelope in the studio in much

90


the same way as the Beatles had done almost a decade before: over time, this album has become Queen’s equivalent. Deacon’s bass part

Rhapsody’? Indeed, would Queen have become the colossal band they became, and continue to be, were it not for Freddie’s masterstroke, perhaps

and note choices on ‘Lazing…’ are particularly McCartney-esque. ‘You’re My Best Friend’ shows just how much this band was a collective of equally talented songwriters, with Deacon (on bass and electric piano, no less!) chipping in with a song that has become a radio favourite around the world. The staccato runs in the bass-line totally fit the arrangement. ‘’39’ features our hero on one of his very few recorded outings on double bass: when he played the song live, he resorted to a sunburst fretless Precision. ‘The Prophet’s Song’ features a drop-D tuning and is a feast for stereo lovers. Queen essentially made technology work for them and used the studio like an extra instrument, ably assisted by engineer Mike Stone and producer Roy Thomas Baker. ‘Love Of My Life’ is draped in a piano arrangement with guitar flourishes, while the icing on the cake is some exemplary, tasteful bass playing from John, playing exactly what the track requires, giving the arrangement some space and dynamics. With ‘Goo d Company’, listen out for the part between 1’09” and 1’29”, where John’s bass part mimics a tuba. ‘God Save The Queen’ brings the album to a close – but rewind to track 11… Who knows how big this album would have been without ‘Bohemian

his defining legacy? How they managed to keep a rein on each instrument, with no musician standing on another’s toes, isremarkable. As for the bass part, listen to the single notes and slides in the first two verses, through to Deacon’s underpinning of Brian May’s guitar solo from 2’36”. Feel the extra weight which thebass brings to the operatic section, with its pushes and runs finishing with the pulse and syncopated lines in the rock section up to 4’50”. Finally,there’s the delicate mid-neck work on the outro. Nothing would be the same for Queen from this point forward. Turn the volume up to eleven,revel in John Deacon’s masterful bass playing and enjoy this album loud! Will we ever hear a song like this again? Possibly not.

BassGuitar 129 April 2016

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