BassPlayer_2017-06

GENTLE GIANT’S “MOBILE”

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N R A E L Y A L P

C ontents JUNE 2017

| VOLUME 28, NUMBER 6

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COMMUNITY

Lowdown, Dig My Rig,

S T N E M T R A P E D

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S T N E T N O C

the Real World, Court of Opinion 26

NEW GEAR

Mitchell, D’Addario, Rainger FX 50

TECH BENCH

The Inquirer 66

THE INNOVATORS

Joe Zon of Zon Guitars 12

BUNNY BRUNEL & STANLEY CLARKE

Having a Ball with other bassists 14

ED FRIEDLAND

Triple doubler with the

F O

S E T O N S S A B

E L B A T

28

Mavericks

18

JENNY LEE LINDBERG

Trying new colors with Warpaint

22

BP RECOMMENDS

44

STONEFIELD 1-5S 5-string

46

CHADWICK Folding Bass

48

API TranZformer

THUNDERCAT With a Grammy, diverse high-profile collaborations, and heaps of critical praise at his back, Stephen Bruner just might be emerging as the bass voice of a generation. By E.E. Bradman

38

DUG PINNICK

The King’s X 12-stringer is rocking a lean four strings with his mean supergroup trio, KXM. By Freddy Villano

56

GENTLE GIANT’S “MOBILE” Ray Shulman winds his way through rollicking odd-time grooves on this tortuous

1975 gem.

D R A G G A H L U A P

LX preamp

Cover photo: Thundercat photographed in Comix Experience, San Francisco, by Paul Haggard

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D E H S D O O W

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JAZZ CONCEPTS

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Been there, Dunn that

www.bassplayer.com Vol. 28, No. 6, June 2017

Editorial Director Michael Molenda, [email protected] Editor Chris Jisi, [email protected] Consulting Editor Karl Coryat Senior Contributing Editors E. E. Bradman, Jonathan Herrera Contributing Editors Ed Friedland, John Goldsby Web and Contributing Editor Jon D'Auria Staff Writer Jimmy Leslie Art Director Paul Haggard Production Manager Amy Santana THE NEWBAY MUSIC GROUP, BUSINESS VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL MANAGER: Bill Amstutz [email protected] GROUP PUBLISHER: Bob Ziltz [email protected], (212) 378-0471 ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Jon Brudner [email protected], (917) 281-4721 ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Mari Deetz [email protected] , (650) 238-0344 ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Jeff Donnenwerth [email protected], (212) 378-0466 ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Jason Perl [email protected], (646) 723-5419 ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Scott Sciacca [email protected], (646) 723-5478 ADVERTISING DIRECTOR - NON ENDEMIC: Anne Triece [email protected], (646) 723-5491 PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT MANAGER: Beatrice Weir FULFILLMENT COORDINATOR: Ulises Cabrera ADVISORY BOARD Kenny Aaronson, Jeff Andrews, Steve Bailey, Jeff Berlin, Brian Bromberg, Ron Carter, Phil Chen, Stanley Clarke, Art Davis, Nathan East, Mark Egan, Andy Gonzalez, Barry Green, Stuart Hamm, David Hungate, Anthony Jackson, Darryl Jones, Dave LaRue, Will Lee, Michael Manring, Christian McBride, Marcus Miller, Pino Palladino, John Patitucci, Josh Paul, Dave Pomeroy, Chuck Rainey, Rufus Reid, Steve Rodby, Billy Sheehan, Lee Sklar, Steve Swallow, Gerald Veasley, Verdine White, Gary Willis, Doug Wimbish, Victor Wooten

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N R A E L Y A L P

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H C E T E C A F

LOWDOWN

Web Slingin’ THERE’S SO MUCH TO COVER WITH THIS JAM-PACKED ISSUE, BUT I SUPPOSE IT’S ABOUT

K N I L

time to properly introduce myself in these pages. I’ve been on board as a writer at B�� P�� for six years now, but for the past two ye ars I’ve taken over as the we b editor. So along with writing ar tist features and reviews, I post all the content to our social media and website, bassplayer.com. Whether it’s through digital articles, web exclusives, breaking bass news, or the fuel that makes the internet run—memes—we’ve been trying to build our community online and bridge the gap between writers, artists, and readers. We love all of your support in following us and being part of our online discussions. In the spirit of uniting print w ith the web, digital to analog, emo jis and cat gifs (the internet is r uining me), this issue is full of opposites connected by central themes. From E.E. Bradman’s candid cover story dissecting Tundercat’s intricate playing and even more complex headspace, to bass maestro Ed Friedland describing the merits of playing simply. Bunny Brunel discusses his new album that’s based solely on collaboration, while working alone was the impetus behind Jenny Lee Lindberg’s latest album. No matter how different our approaches and musical identities are, we’re all here for one reason, and that’s that we love bass. If this issue helps further your passion for it, then we’ve done our job. I’ll see you on the web!

Y T I N U M M O C JON D'AURIA

DIG

MY

RIG!

I WAS 15 YEARS OLD AND JUST

purchased a Fender MIM Jazz Bass when I received a life-changing FedEx document stating that I had won the Grand Prize giveaway from B�� P��’� February ’01 issue. Tat Warwick Infinity LD 2000 will be with me until I die. While studying at Berklee, I sold the Warwick 4x10 with Quad VI head for the more manageable Epifani UL502 head and UL212 2x12 cab. Also in this picture is a 1980s Kawai FIIB, Yamaha John Patitucci RBJP1, fretless P-Bass copy with EMGs, Jazz Bass copy with Fender Reissue pickups, and a Kala SMHG U-Bass. I hope I don’t insult too many mariachi musicians by playing this Lucida guitarrón like a bass. —CHRIS JOYE Got a rig you think we’d dig? Send a photo and description to [email protected] .

10


THE

REAL

WORLD

Bryan Dean

Home base San Francisco, California Occupation Bassist Main gigs Felsen (Indie rock) Jesse Brewster Band (Americana) Main basses Lakland Deluxe 55-94, Bass Mods 535, Xotic XJ-1T5 Rig TC Electronic RH 750 heads with RS 2x10 and 2x12 cabs Effects MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe, MXR Bass Octave, DigiTech Bass Synth Wah Strings Dunlop Super Brights (.045–.125) Heroes and inspirations As far as bassists go, there’s a gang of them, but

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the cats who stick out the most are George Porter Jr., Doug Wimbish, John Paul Jones, and Meshell Ndegeocello. I was also inspired by movements like the Black Rock Coalition and 2 Tone. Speaking of the BRC, Fishbone was a

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huge influence, and a couple years back, I was in an eclectic project called

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the Madd Vibe Orchestra, led by the one and only Angelo Moore. Working

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Website bdeanmusic.com How did you come to play bass?

What’s a lesson you’ve learned along the way?

What are your musical goals?

A few days before the start of my junior year in college,

Be prepared, be dependable, be nice, and never

I’ve been a bandleader, but for the last 15 years,

I mentioned to a high school friend that I always wanted

stop learning. If I were to do it all over again, I

I’ve been more or less a sideman. I’m getting the

to play bass. He was kind enough to give me one, and

would have hit the books harder and sooner.

hankering to bring my own tunes to life aga in. I’ve

just like that, I went from finance major to bass player.

been in projects ranging from country to metal,

(Thank you, Mike Weiss!)

and I would like to tap into that diverse talent pool to manifest some unique beauty!

COURT OF OPINION

What’s more important: becoming a knowledgeable and proficient working bassist, or developing a singular style? Depends on the circumstances. If you’re a session musician, you’re

Some players are fortunate enough to come up with a truly

going to need to be proficient in m any styles. If you’re part of a

original style (as Larry Graham did), but the odds of doing so are

single band in a particular style, you don’t need such a broad range of skills. Cliff Williams, for example, had no need for slap or advanced

remote. It’s better to concentrate on understanding the fundamentals of music and be a versatile player. —Mel Dugas

chordal techniques. —Jeff Ussher Each bassist can only s peak for him/herself. I am driven to develop Carving out your own niche in a world full of technically proficient

my own unique style. I feel this is the highest calling of an artist.

yet unknown bassists is better. I’d rather be Steve Harris, Geezer

—Blair Barbero

Butler, or Geddy Lee than some guy who sounds like Victor Wooten or Jaco. Actually, I’d rather be me and let my audience decide if they like me or not. —Chris Ewers

Being a knowledgeable and proficient working bassist is more important. —Ben Rollans

Being knowledgeable and proficient will get you work and may also lead to a singular style, but I’m not convinced that a singular style, in and of itself, will assure that you work very much. —Jeff Peters

The singular style will naturally evolve from a solid knowledge base and proficiency. —Jay Michael

Style comes first. You won’t become a knowledgeable and proficient working bassist without it. —Tim Miller It’s an apples a nd oranges comparison: You need both. —Doug McNamara

Being a working musician should be first and foremost, whatever the instrument. Learning many genres helps to keep one working, but also helps to develop a style. —John Hefty

The most appropriate answer is “neither.” What’s most important is that one finds happiness in the music one makes, never stops

Style is everything. —Andrew Wilson

learning, and shares the gift for others to enjoy. —Mark Macio


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N R A E L Y A L P H C E T E C A F K N I L

S E T O N S S A B

B

S E T O N S S A B

Bunny Brunel & Stanley Clarke Teaming Up To Celebrate Bass BY CHRIS JISI

|

PHOOGRAPH BY ARUN NEVADER

BUNNY BRUNEL AND STANLEY CLARKE HAVE

been best bass buddies since meeting at the late-’70s wedding of Chick Corea’s manager. Back then, Clarke was amid his School Days-fueled solo glory, and Brunel was Chick’s new bass ace (thanks to keyboardist Patrick Moraz bringing Corea to see Bunny play with ania Maria in London). Although the two have played together countless times, it has taken until now for them to team up on a project—one that serves as a stewardship of the instrument they helped revolutionize. Bass Ball sports a loaded lineup, with ten top bassists who field new and classic compositions by Brunel (on fretless, fretted, and piccolo 5-strings) and Clarke (on standard, tenor, and piccolo electrics, plus acoustic bass). “Slap & ickle” boasts Victor Wooten, Hadrien Feraud, and drummer Dennis Chambers; “Lopsy Lu” is revisited with Steve Bailey, Billy Sheehan, and drummer Simon Phillips; “Stand Out” and “Nothing But the Bass” feature Armand Sabal-Lecco; and five of Brunel’s plucking pals from his native France, including the excellent Marc Bertaux, also appear. We asked Bunny about the big dance. How did this project get started, and what was the concept? Te title came first, many years back from the late George Duke, who thought “Bass Ball” would be a good name for a bass project. About five years ago, Stanley and I began talking about making a bass-centric album that would feature other bassists, as well. Te idea was to start out with our two basses and a rotating chair of great drummers, and then fill out the roles typically played by other instruments with additional bassists. Due to Stanley’s

12


label obligations, we put out the record under my name. You and Stanley have contrasting but complementary styles. We have the experience to know how and when to support the other, and when to step forward. We were both fortunate to play with Miles Davis’ ’60s sidemen— Chick, ony Williams, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter—who all know that ultimately, if you make the whole band sound good, you sound good. You also both have a gift for soloing outside of the changes. We’re jazzers using classic chord substitutions in th e tradiF I tion of Miles and John Coltrane— R S T A Stanley is a master of it. As I tell K E P R my students, on bass we have a distinct advantage over the trumpet, the sax, and even the piano in that we have a visual, geometric grid that we operate on. We can play a C major scale and move up a fret and play a C # major scale; that’s very complicated to do on other instruments. Whether you’re playing a scale, a pattern, or a melodic phrase, those kinds of half-step shifts will make you sound “out” in a hurry. What’s next for you? Stanley and I would like to take Bass Ball live, and the plan is to do a Bass Ball 2, with the bassists we couldn’t get in time for the first album—everyone from Marcus Miller to Federico Malaman. I’m also trying to get the original CAB back together, with Brian Auger; I borrowed some of Brian’s arrangement of “Freedom Jazz Dance” for our cover on Bass Ball. And I’m working on a new project with Patrick Moraz and Virgil Donati calle d iNow. BP

i

INFO

N E T S I L

Bunny Brunel, Bass Ball [2017, Nikaia]

Basses ESP Bunny Brunel Signature LTD BB-1005 fretted and fretless; BB-1004 fretted and fretless; Bunny Brunel Electric Upright Bass; Carvin BB75 piccolo bass P I U Q E

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Strings La Bella M42 Hard Rockin’ Steels (.040, .060, .080, .100); La Bella 7720 Series Upright Bass

Other DigiTech pedals, ART preamps, Snap Jack cables

• Watch Stanley Clarke interview Bunny Brunel. • Check out Bunny’s electricupright bass site. • See Bunny’s collaborations with ESP Guitars and Eden T C E N N O C

Amplification.

bassplayer.com/june2017


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N R A E L

B

Y A L P H C E T E C A F K N I L

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INFO

N E T S I L

The Mavericks, Brand New Day [2017, Mono Mundo]

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HE’S HAD A STORIED CAREER AS ONE OF

the bass world’s top educators, thanks to his 20-plus books and instructional videos, his tenure teaching at Berklee and other universities, his columns and reviews in this magazine, and his influence on his well-known students John Myung (Dream Teater), om Hamilton (Aerosmith), and David Dyson, among others. Now, Ed

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Friedland has finally decided to take on a gig worthy of his full calendar. As a highly accomplished sideman, Friedland has played with greats from pretty much every genre imaginable, which is why he is the perfect fit for the wide-encompassing sound of the Grammy-award winning Americana/country-pop rockers the Mavericks. After being asked to sub for a gig with the

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S E T O N S S A B

B Nashville-based outfit, Friedland—who has equal skills on upright and electric—played to a crowd of around 20,000 fans without a rehearsal. Apparently the Mavericks liked what they heard, as he was asked join their lineup permanently. Many tours and packed concert halls later, Friedland hit t he studio with the Mavericks to record their ninth studio album, Brand New Day. Te diverse record finds Friedland supplying a firm backbone with a woody, earthy tone, and lines that perfectly underpin hooks, guitar solos, horns, and accordions. With so much going on in the music, it’s hard to say exactly what the Mavericks’ sound truly is. But for a man who has held a hundred different gigs in the bass world, that’s exactly why he likes it. How did you capture your tone in the studio? I used three different uprights, and we used a lot of different techniques to capture them. We recorded “I Tink of You” at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, and we put a condenser mic inside the body of my Chadwick Folding Bass by opening up the back panel and running the cable out of the ƒ-hole. We put the pickup through an old [Ampeg] B-15, and then we used a condenser mic in front of the bass and blended them all. Tat’s my favorite bass sound on the whole album; it’s got that classic 1950s studio upright tone. Given your technical ability, is it hard rooting down for simple grooves? You simply have to commit to it. I’ve learned how to find enjoyment in playing simply and staying in the background. Duke Ellington used to say, “I play the orchestra,” and that’s kind of how I feel. Every note I play is connected to

everything else going on. If you were to analyze what I do in this band, I play mostly triad walking lines, or root–5–octave Latin patterns. But while I’m deliberately working within set parameters, the most important part of my job is to inhabit the rhythm and play with my full presence. How did you have to change your technique for this music? his kind of upright playing is very different from the Scott LaFaro school I came out of, where the focus is on articulation and freedom. With the Mavericks, I supply a big, fat, thumpy tone that takes up a lot of space. It forces you to play less and pay more attention to note placement and length. I often use a “monkey grip” left-hand technique that is purposely inefficient. It decreases sustain and accentuates the thump at the front of the note. It may look bad to technique snobs, but it sounds right. I also employ several different right-hand techniques like “the hook” [one-fingered plucking], a two-fingered pluck, a classical pluck, and more. I want to play with the sound that best complements the demands of the music at that moment. BP

. m o c . s r a t i u g d n e r e v e r

t a y e n r u o j y r a d n e g e l n w o r u o y t r a t S . s i e s l e e n o y r e v e t a h w g n i y a l p e r ’ u o y f i l a n i g i r o n a e b t ’ n a c u o y t a h t n w o n k s y a w l a s a h t t a W e k i M

N R A E L

B


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INFO

S S A B N E T S I L

Warpaint, Heads Up [2016, Rough Trade]; Jenny Lee Lindberg, Right On! [2015, Rough Trade]

Bass 1978 Rickenbacker

4001, 1950s Kay bass Rig Fender Bassman,

Fender Bassman 610Neo, Ampeg SVT-CL, Ampeg SVT-810E Pedals Boss CE-2 Chorus,

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PHOTOGRAPH BT ABBEY RAYMONDE

JENNY LEE LINDBERG IS ALL ABOUT

opposites. She loves traveling the world, but hates flying. She feels cramped up in a tour bus, but loves spending time in her tiny bunk ( she calls it her “cozy coffin”).

18


She plays a Rickenbacker bass, but opts for a deep, low tone, rather than its signature treble-heavy sound. And on her band Warpaint’s upbeat album Heads Up , she unleashes brooding and contemplative bass lines instead

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S E T O N S S A B

B of succumbing to the radio-friendly pop creations of her genre contemporaries. A lot of her confidence to experiment and write boldly on Warpaint’s third

because of that. I like a lot of bottom end, but not to where it’s too muddy. A chorus pedal is a big com-

album came from her exper ience in releasing her first solo record, 2015’s Right On!, during a break from the band. aking on a different role as the sole songwriter brought out an independent creativeness that stuck. Perhaps because she felt inspired and more grounded in her musical identity than ever, Heads Up is

ponent of my sound. I leave it on most of the time, which started as an accident because I had one built into an amp I used to use. Ten when I got a new amp, I had to go out and get a chorus pedal. How and when did you first start playing bass? I had just moved to L.A. when I was 18, and I wanted to start playing an instrument, but I didn’t

the band’s most poised and bass-driven album yet. Her entrancing rhythms, interesting chord choices, and airy vocals very much put her in the lead of a tal ented quartet that isn’t interested in playing it safe.

How did creating your solo record impact your mentality going into Heads Up? It showed me that I am capable of doing things on my own, which is really important being a bass player in a band. I showed myself that I can do it and that I can be fully in charge, direct other musicians, and produce songs. It was extremely liberating and empowering, and when I came back to work with the girls on this record, I was able to relinquish more control than I had in the past because it wasn’t my only outlet to express myself. Instead of the classic bright and punchy Rickenbacker tone, you get a deep, warm sound. I like a big, well-rounded tone. I don’t want any type of pluck sound in what I’m doing. I play with my fingers, and I keep my fingernails really short because I don’t like the sound of them on the strings. I personally don’t like using picks

want to play the guitar. Randomly a friend said they had a bass and an amp to give me, and the y taught me a few songs so that I could play on my own. It gave me a boost of confidence, and then I started writing my own bass lines nonstop for years. I absolutely loved it. It was really natural for me, but I had to work hard at getting decent on it. It can be an easy instrument to learn, but a hard instrument to get really good at. Why do you love the bass guitar? Whether I’m playing bass or not, it gets my bottom half moving and it always makes me dance. It’s very grounding when I hear it, and even more so when I play it. It just hits you right in the root chakra and gets you going. BP

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Peter Hook

R O T O W N . C O M

BP RECOMMENDS

is a bit more refined, of course, with Hooky’s voice a bit rougher around the edges than a young Ian Cur tis or Bernard Sumner, but all the compelling dynamics are there, from the spacey, spreadout low end of Unknown Pleasure’s “Candidate” to the bright opening bass line, clean-picked to perfection, of Movement’s “Dreams Never End.” Pristinely recorded and impeccably performed, this is Peter Hook in his prime. If you’re gonna bootleg yourself, why not do it in style? — B I L L M U R P H Y

S S A B

MEK

RED SPRIT E LIGHTNING

PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT

UNKNOWN PLEASURES: LIVE IN LEEDS 2012 CLOSER: LIVE IN MANCHESTER 2011 POWER, CORRUPTION & LIES: LIVE IN DUBLIN 2013 MOVEMENT: LIVE IN DUBLIN 2013 [Let Tem Eat Vinyl/Westworld Recordings] Only a guy as singularly audacious as Peter Hook would task himself with reinterpreting four classic albums—all of which he had a vital hand in creating—on the road and without a net, and then release the results as a limited-edition set of LPs and CDs. But that’s what we love about Hooky: He essentially invented an unheard-of approach to punk-rock bass on Joy Division’s 1979 debut Unknown Pleasures, making use of the upper registers and repeating melodies that were plucked straight from a rhythm guitarist’s vocabulary, with the discerning ear of a self-taught bassist whose only desire was to rock, and screw the consequences. Recorded with his band the Light behind him—featuring his son Jack Bates on bass, with Hooky himself taking up the requisite accents and filigrees when he’s not belting out the vocals— these four albums come damn close to what Joy Division and New Order, in their heyday, actually sounded like live. Te musicianship

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[Crown own] Ex-Alien Ant Farm bassist Tye Zamora has always been a superb talent both in the studio and onstage, which is why we were excited to find him in a new progressive alternative trio, mēk. Te band’s freshly minted concept album seems less like a debut effort and more like a later release from an established band. Frontman Zamora shines with his drifting presence on “Dreaming,” gritty riffs on “We’re In rouble,” and speedy fingerwork on “Rise & Fall.” —JON D’AURIA AT THE DRIVE-IN

IN�TER A�LI�A [Rise] Reunion albums are always a risky proposition, especially when it’s been 17 years since your last one and your music is as customarily pugnacious and volatile as At Te DriveIn’s. Hardcore post-rock in particular ain’t a young man’s game, but none of that seems to matter to ADI; just take a listen toPaul Hinojos’ propulsive P-Bass lines on the single “Incurably Innocent,” or the way he locks up a seamless, punch-laced groove with drummer ony Hajjar on “Continuum”—does this sound like a guy who’s lost a step? Didn’t think so. — B I L L M U R P H Y

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ALIEN KNIFE FIGHT

JUDITH OWEN

SOME GIRLS [AKF]

SOMEBODY’S CHILD [wanky]

When it comes to big sound, Monique Ortiz knows how to make a lot out of a little. Whe ther she’s riffing on her two-stringed slide bass or wildly plucking her fretless 4-string, Ortiz has an uncanny knack for making an impressive wave of sound in her drum and bass duo. On their latest EP, the exas-based pair blends a bold mix of soulful blues and vintage rock that’s all ignited by Ortiz’s massive presence. —JON D’AURIA

Leland Sklar’s playing on Welsh-born Judith Owen’s latest is a masterclass in accompanying a vocalist/pianist in the singer–songwriter genre. he brilliance of his bass lines on tracks like “Send Me a Line,” “We Give In,” “Arianne,” and “More Tan Tis” may seem effortless and obvious, but Sklar’s virtuosity sneaks up on you. He complements piano parts, enhances vocal melodies, and establishes killer grooves with fluid tone and a pop sensibility that remains simply unmatched. —FREDDY VILLANO

ECHOTEST

FROM TWO BALCONIES [ julieslick.com] Julie Slick and Marco Machera are back with a new album from their two-bass outfit Echotest, where they’ve switched gears from their previous two records’ predom inantly instrumental vibe. With heavy pedal use and experimental composing still at the root of their sound, t he duo welcomed talented guests to contr ibute to an album that uses vocal-based structure and hooks. “Supercell” and “Sense of Urgency” are two great examples of how well Slick and Machera complement each other as partners in low end. —JON D’AURIA


ROBERT “BUBBY” LEWIS

1UP! ADVENTURES & QUESTS EPISODE III [robertbubbylewis.com] Robert “Bubby” Lewis’ long-awaited solo album has come to fruition, and the soulful bass ace has packed his church-grown chops, booming grooves, and vibrant personality into a 25-song powerhouse of a debut. Trough short burst tracks and longer compositions, Lewis takes you on a journey using odd chord phrasings and finger-twisting lead riffs, all captured with his distinctive MD bass tone. Even with lots of great guest cameos, some of our favorite moments come from Lewis’ lone bass moments. —JON D’AURIA BP


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Rainger’s new Deep Space Pulsar allows you to sync your bass tone so it dips with each hit of a kick drum (by a drum machine, a DJ, or live drummer), thanks to correctable tap tempo, or tempo input via a Rainger FX pressure pad or a microphone on your drummer’s kick drum. There are also controls for the amount of dip and speed of release, an LED display showing the dip amount and release speed, and an invert switch to do exactly the opposite (releasing a pulse of sound with each drum beat) Street $182 Contact

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D’ADDARIO

Chromatic Pedal Tuner D’Addario’s new tuner boasts vertical-sweeping LED pitch display for easier reading, a 32-bit chip with four times the processing power of a standard headstock tuner, and true bypass. Street

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MITCHELL BASSES

TB500 4-strings & TB505 5-strings Mitchell’s latest basses—which feature customcontoured alder bodies, one-piece 34"-scale maple necks, and Indian rosewood fingerboards with 20 jumbo frets—sport standard split-single and single-coil, paraffin-dipped Alnico-V pickups. Other highlights of each instrument: separate volume controls for each pickup, and a master tone control; a high-mass, adjustable bridge; a Graph Tech TUSQ XL friction-reducing nut; and high-ratio, Y-type tuning machines. The 4-strings are available in trans white blond and black, with the 5-strings available only in black. Street

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By E.E. Bradman PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL HAGGARD

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Thundercat Astral Traveler IT’S IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO NOTICE THUNDERCAT. IN A COMIC-

book world, he’d be the stocky, bearded black superhero wear ing flashy socks with sandals, low-slung black jeans, a smart piece by Rad Hourani or Dries Van Noten, and a knit cap with Ewok ears; onstage, he might sport a Native American h eadpiece atop his custom-made Dragon Ball Z suit or perhaps a black -shirt, shawl, and red satin shor ts. You couldn’t miss him if you tr ied. In the last few years, however, it has become just as unlikely that you haven’t heard Tundercat’s music. Tanks to his soulful falsetto, distinctive bass sound, and stellar work with high-profile artists equally comfortable in forward-thinking R&B, jazz, and hip-hop, 32-year-old Stephen Bruner’s appeal has grown far beyond the circle of bass nuts who’ve worshipped his gorgeous Ibanez archtop 6-string and dazzling chops for years. Witness the 118,000 witter followers, the GQ Style profile, the Rolling Stone, NPR, and Billboard raves, and the jam-packed rooms full of club kids who couldn’t care less about Bruner’s jazz credentials. For someone who doesn’t take himself that seriously, he certainly knows how to make an impression. Raised by flautist Pam Bruner and dr ummer Ronald Bruner Sr. in L os Angeles, Tundercat picked up bass at a ge four, spending his teens and 20s playing with Snoop, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Erykah Badu, J* Davey, Sa-Ra, Bilal, and Suicidal endencies. For many listeners, Bruner’s breakout moment was his appearance on studio soulmate Flying Lotus’ 2010 Afrofuturistic masterpiece, Cosmogramma . Bruner followed up with three albums on FlyLo’s Brainfeeder label: 2011’s Golden Age of Apocalypse (with its Stanley Clarke and George Duke homages, plus a bass duet with Hadrien Feraud), 2013’s Apocalypse (with “Heartbreaks + Setbacks” and “Oh Sheit It’s X,” a Mu-ronflavored jam about being on ecstasy), and Te Beyond/Where the Giants Roam EP, released in 2015 (with “Tem Changes,” viewed three million times on Youube). Tey all showcase the basic elements of his sound: ’70s/’80s jazzfunk fusion, arpeggiated bass chords, distinctive harmony, bebop guitar-like solos, and vocals that set him apart from every other bass hero. Meanwhile, Bruner’s headlining tours and growing list of sideman/cowriting credits continue to elevate his profile—with Jhené Aiko, Wiz Khalifa, Kimbra, y Dolla Sign, aylor McFerrin, Mac Miller, plus appearances on Grammy-nominated albums by Childish Gambino ( Because the I nternet,


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THUNDERCAT

INFO

BASS IN THESE STREETS THUNDERCAT’S MAIN AXE, CREATED by Ibanez’s L.A. Custom Shop in 2012, is a highly customized 34"-scale Ibanez Artcore 6-string. It’s a neck-through with a maple top and back, five-piece maple/jatoba neck, rosewood fingerboard, Graph Tech Ghost Modular MIDI pickup system with a Quickswitch, and custom EMG-HZ pickups. The controls include master volume, tone, piezo volume, volume for the MIDI system, a 3-way Les Paul-style switch, and a dark/mids switch. Onstage, he strings it with La Bella 760FM-CB Deep Talkin’ Bass Flats (.029, .049, .069, .089, .109, .128) and 750GCB Gold White Nylon Tapewounds (.043, .050, .065, .085, .105, .135). In the studio, he uses medium-light Dean Markley SR2000 strings (.027, .047, .067, .087, .107, .127). His Ibanez 6-string/8-string double-neck, built in 2015, is also a 34"-scale neck-through. Both necks are five-piece maple/bubinga with maple fingerboards, and the body consists of a spalted-maple top, ash middle, and crotch mahogany back wings. The preamp is an Ibanez EQ; the controls include a 3-way toggle (for the neck selector switch) and two 3-way toggles (for Aguilar 6P-60 P-Bass pickups on the 6 and Seymour Duncan NYC humbuckers on the 8). The double-neck is strung with a mix of La Bella RX and SN nickel strings. Both the 6-string and the double-

2013, Glassnote/Island) and errace Martin (Velvet Portraits, 2016, Ropeadope). Last year, Bruner’s pivotal role on Kamasi Washington’s widely acclaimed Te Epic (2015, Brainfeeder), as well as the Grammy he took home for “Tese Walls,” his collaboration with Kendrick Lamar, brought Bruner a new level of attention. Concurrently, he and a tight circle of L .A. friends, including Washington, Martin, upright star Miles Mosley, and older brother Ronald Bruner Jr., were warmly praised for jumpstarting a new generation of jazz excellence. He’s insanely busy, with no end in sight: Look for him with WOKE, a supergroup with Flying Lotus, George Clinton, and Shabazz Palaces; on the soundtrack to FlyLo’s first film, the surreal Kuso; and on his brother Ronald’s explosive Brainfeeder debut, riumph. Out of this dizzying maelstrom of activity comes Drunk, a 23-track peek into the mind of a man-child/wizard/supernerd who spends lots of time pondering relationships, anime, his friends, partying, video games, his cat, alcohol, technology, drugs, and scatalogical humor. More hi-fi than its predecessors, Drunk is concise (only one track makes it to the four-minute mark), but it packs all of Tundercat’s favorite flavors. Tere are spacey songs about death (“Lava Lamp,” “Jethro”), nods to Motown (“Where I’m Going,” “3AM”), cool guest spots (Pharrell Williams on “Te urn Down” and Kendrick Lamar on “Walk On By”), fleet-fingered excursions (“Uh Oh”), complex vocal arrangements (“Inferno,” “Blackkk”), a cat fantasy (“A Fan’s Mail”), a love letter to Japan (“okyo”), advice for a would-be friend (“Friend Zone”), and, of course, songs about getting wasted (“Drink Dat,” “DUI,” and “Drunk”). Te sparkling retro gems “Bus in Tese Streets” and “Jameel’s Space Ride” bear the mark of cowriter/Knower mastermind Louis Cole, but the album’s sweetest ear candy just might be the yacht-rock throwback “Show You the Way,” featuring Michael McDonald and Kenny Logg ins. Live, Bruner’s vocals and stage presence are more confident than ever. It’s a thrill hearing him grab fistfuls of notes while locking in with drummer Justin Brown and singing over unusual harmonic colors. Although Bruner’s muscular approach guides the music as much as (if not more than) key boardist Dennis Hamm’s sophisticated parts, a high-flying Tundercat solo is always around the corner. Between songs, he’s funny, self-deprecating, and honest, and off stage, he’s exactly the same—a just-passingthrough astral traveler who’s bemused by all the attention but definitely having a good time.

neck have jumbo frets, Hipshot tuners, and Hipshot bridges. Thundercat amplifies his instruments through Aguilar DB 750, DB 751, or Tone Hammer 500 heads with two DB 410 or GS 410 4x10 cabinets. He uses a Pigtronix Bass Envelope Phaser and a DigiTech Whammy pedal.

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You’ve been getting lots of praise from the mainstream press. How does it feel? It’s been pretty trippy, to say the least. I don’t know what to think of it. Congratulations on the Grammy for “Tese Walls.” Did it change your life? Everything got crazy. It was so intense! I needed some sort of buffer, so I changed my number. I looked at it like selfpreservation: I try to stay focused and stay sane.

PORTRAITS

IN TONE dUg Pinnick. Unmistakable in every way --that voice, the songwriting, his style, and, of course, the dUg tone. Since the formation of King’s X in the ‘80s, dUg has been one of the most influential players to garner attention for the then hardly used, 12-string bass. dUg also devised his own method of using guitar and bass amps together to merge high-end distortion with low-end bass. The combination resulted in a sound as subtle as a freight train, yet ironically musical and sensitive. Just like dUg. And just like dUg, there is an unconventional structure to the design of his Signature Ultra Bass 1000 bass amp head. The intent is to use both channe ls mixed or the Bottom channel by itself. The Top channel handles distorted guitar amp tones and the Bottom provides a clean (yes, clean!) pre-amp and compressor for more conventional bass amp sounds. Mixed together, you get dUg. We are honored dUg chose Tech 21 to collaborate with in the creation of his own signature amp, the dUg Ultra Bass 1000. For uncontrollable smiles and endless grooves, get one of your own today. dUg Pinnick King’s X, KXM, Pinnick-Gales-Pridgen, Grinder Blues

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You certainly seem more comfortable onstage these days. For the most part, I feel comfortable but I never get used to it. I was very quiet as a kid—this is like, the opposite. Every now and again, singing freaks me out just a little. Nonetheless, I enjoy every part of it. You’re singing a lot more on Drunk. On the first two albums, there were lots of instrumentals, and I was trying to convey ideas that way. Now songwriting has taken a front seat. Has focusing on vocals changed the way you play while you sing? Dennis and I were just talking about what your brain has to focus on be tween playing and singing. Usually, you don’t think when you’re pl aying, but singing forces you to think. It’s always like, How am I supposed to play this and sing at the same time? Te lines you’re singing are so … Juxtaposed against what I’m playing? Yeah, it’s pretty messed up [laughs]. Singing and playing looks easy when you see guys like Sting do it, but having two different melodies going at the same time is always difficult. One comes first, you put them together, and then you have to figure out how to improvise and still hit the changes. One thing I do enjoy about touring is that it’s an open practice. You get better with repetition. Your live bass tone is gigantic. How long have you been using Aguilar amps? [Aguilar rep] Justin Huth recommended Aguilar gear to me four or five years ago because it was straightforward, and I like that. Te DB 750 [head]

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with two 4x10s—that’s the one. Aguilar’s stuff is known for being really powerful, and that’s what I need onstage. People are telling me to turn down, and I’m like, No! I’m trying to burn down the stage. Tat’s the whole point! [Laughs.] Are you still using heavy-gauge strings on your Ibanez signature bass? I dance between two sets of strings, one for live and one for recording. In the studio, I still use tapered, medium-light Dean Markley SR2000s, and live, I’ve been using a custom flatwound 6-string set by La Bella. I use La Bella nylons a bit now, too. How do you like your Ibanez double-neck? It’s fantastic. It’s got this Pink Floyd-ish tone that’s really open—it rings out because there’s the 6-string on top and an 8-string on the bottom, both with EMGs. I wanted to go for that vintage P-Bass sound, but there’s hardly any lacquer on the wood, and it’s like this open “baaaaang!” It’s pretty funky; it has its own life. How often do you play it? Weirdly enough, I wind up playing it at really big shows, like when I did the Hollywood Bowl

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Advance Rock Bass by Mark Michell

Funk Bass Fills

In this exciting new video/ audio/book combo, Mark Michell, bassist for the progressive-rock band Scale the Summit, breaks down the techniques that make him one of the most skilled bassists on the prog-rock scene.

by Anthony Vitti Berklee Press Make your bass lines more creative, unique and memorable. This book brings you beyond the basics and helps you incorporate figures into your lines that are natural to the groove, and applicable to many styles.

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Bass Fretboard Workbook by Chad Johnson Do you play the bass guitar, but find parts of the fretboard to be uncharted territory? This book will teach you how to conquer your fretboard’s rough terrain, and no music reading is required! Take your playing to new levels with this systematic, comprehensive method! 00696603 Book .........................................$16.99

Bass Grooves by Jon Liebman Build your bass vocabulary in a variety of styles with this comprehensive collection! Styles covered include blues, jazz, rock, funk, R&B, country, Latin, hip-hop, gospel and more. The online audio files include all 150 grooves for demonstration and play-along. 00696028 Book/Online Audio ........................$24.99

Tony Grey Bass Academy Music Sales America Bass Academy features hundreds of musical examples and exercises, as well as step-by-step guides on theory and playing approach. It includes hundreds of specially-composed exercises and musical examples; a DVD of exclusive video tutorials – your own one-to-one master class with Tony; and more. 14042758 Book/DVD Pack ............................$24.99

How to Create Rock Bass Lines by Steve Gorenberg Explore common rock drum beats, popular rock chord progressions, and the scales and techniques you’ll need to add melody to your playing. You’ll learn how to create bass lines that complement the other instruments.

Play Like Jaco Pastorius by Jon Liebman Study the trademark songs, licks, tones and techniques of the world’s greatest jazz fusion bassist, Jaco Pastorius. This comprehensive teaching method provides detailed analysis of Pastoruis’ gear, techniques, styles, songs, riffs and more. 00128409 Book/Online Audio ........................$19.99

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Rockabilly Bass by Johnny Hatton Learn the tricks and technique of playing rockabilly bass from one of the world’s foremost masters, Johnny Hatton. In this book, along with video lessons online, he will teach you: the snap • the slap • straight eighths • the double slap • slap patterns • and more. 00122245 Book/Online Video ........................$19.99

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Bassist’s Guide to Scales Over Chords

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with Michael McDonald. I did something for Com plex [magazine], and I play it live in L.A . It’s so specific. Te first time I played it was in London at the Koko, and it was intimidating—it sounded so open that I was trying to bring it back. But I figured out over the course of the show that it’s just something you have to embrace for what it is. I love it to death. You don’t use a pick, even on the 8- string? Nah. otal fingers. I’m curious to see how it settles in. How was your main 6 changed since you got it in 2012? It’s definitely done some morphing. I broke a couple tuning pegs, bent the neck in a little … every time I bring it in to Ibanez, I’m like, “Can you guys redo the frets a bit?” And I’ve added a ramp inbetween the pickups. Why? o be honest, having played like this for almost 30 years, my hands hurt every now and again. I’m not gonna lie—sometimes I have to have somebody carry my bass. I had to start taking glucosamine, and I’ve slowed down drinking a lot. Do you feel a difference? Now I can feel how terrible everything is! [Laughs.] Yeah, on this tour, they have a whole bunch of vegetables and stuff. I had to stop drinking because of the wear and tear on my hands. I’m not super old, but it was one of those things where I can feel it. How do you like playing with the ramp? It’s low, but it’s not super low. Te truth is th at I still feel pain, but there’s more of a flat surface, so I don’t have to worry about where I’m playing on th e

pickups; I can stay in one area and it’ll be the same amount of intensity on each pickup. Sometimes I’m strumming and sometimes I’m playing fingerstyle, and with the ramp, it’ll feel seamless. I still move my fingers closer to the neck to dig in. It’s a small change, but it keeps my hands a bit more preser ved. How do you find melodies over your chord changes? Do you come up with the melody first? Tey go hand in hand. Sometimes, I’ll hear the changes first, and I’ll ask myself what I’m supposed to find inside the harmony. Every once in a while, I’ll be hearing a melody, and I’ll try to create the changes around it. It comes from different places, and I try not to be scared or put limitations on myself. I’ll tr y anything, even if I hear something I don’t like. I’ll go for it. Tere ’s no wrong way. Dissonance is such an essential part of your sound. I like to try to think naturally, even if something is completely dissonant. And there’s a way to convey dissonance: If you play a major #11 chord, for example, hitting the #11 at a higher frequency may freak someone out because it sounds so dissonant, but if you play it as a b5, it’s more comforting. When you’re writing a song, do your vocal lines affect your harmonic choices? Te more I sing, the more I try interesting harmony. A lot of the time, it has to do with reference points, the things you listen to that influence your ideas. One of my favorite melodies is “Descent to Madness” from Flying Lotus’ You’re Dead . I knew it made sense harmonically, and the melody was


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within the changes, but I remember thinking, What the fuck am I singing? [Laughs.] I’m very influenced by guys like Gentle Giant. Te Power and the Glory — that’s my album right there. And of course, groups like Yes. My heroes! And Cream. What is it you like about those bands? he way the harmony and the melodies sit together. One of my favorite songs is Cream’s “White

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Room,” because of what Jack Bruce is singing over that descending harmony. Tose are the things th at I draw from, those bands and guys like Gino Vanelli, the Bee Gees, Kenny Loggins, and Michael McDonald. It’s about writing songs instead of attacking a moment and trying to say everything at once. Your chords are so thick. How do you keep things from getting muddy?

Live, I’m using a Digiech Whammy pedal with the octave up, because if I don’t, it’s a bit muddled. My bass still sounds super-thick like a P-Bass, but I have to give some sense of openness, so I have to have that octave up. And that’s why my Ibanez basses are made a certain way; some basses wouldn’t do as well with chords. Tey’d be going all over the place. What other effects are you using onstage? Just the Whammy and a Pigtronix Bass Envelope Phaser. Te Pigtronix is powerful—it reminds me of a Mu-ron Bi-Phase, but it’s nice not to have to deal with the weight of a Bi-Phase. I’ve also played with a Moogerfooger MF-103 12-Step Phaser, and I used to have a Boss SYB-5. Let’s talk about the album. Why ’d you name it Drunk? It’s a bit cheeky, but I’m a touring musician, and everybody I know is an alcoholic. It’s just a reality. I’ve had friends die because of it, and I’ve had lifealtering moments with people thanks to alcohol. It’s interweaved in our profession. Why are the songs so short? People think a song has to be three minutes so it can be “radio fr iendly.” Come on, man! B ands like DRI exist. Bad Brains exist. Suicidal endencies. It comes out the way it does, and you let it be the way it is. One of my favorite sayings by Erykah Badu is that this is not a race. A song is supposed to come out the way it’s supposed to come ou t. What are you thinking when you sit down to write songs? Flying Lotus and I try to create without bias. Te process becomes like a current, and I pick from it. I try to see things through. Somebody else may see something else, and I’m open to that; that’s how I write with my friends. But I try to go as hard as I can with what I have. How was working with Kenny Loggins an Michael McDonald? Tey’re the kings of cool! I was a bit nervous at first because they are who they are, and what the hell do I have to offer those guys, you know? At the same time, they’re looking at me like, What are you talking about? Michael McDonald is a songwriting genius—the ideas would just be flying. Kenny was very precise about what we we re doing and how we were doing it. By the time we finished “Show You the Way,” I didn’t want to play it for them because I didn’t want them to change a thing. When I saw Kenny later, at Sundance, he was like, “Good job, man. Good stuff.” I was like, “Tank you for even taking the chance.” We also worked on a couple tunes other than “Show You the Way”; they might

come out someday. You definitely turned up the production on this album. Yeah, we sp ent a lot more time on that. T ere was a funny moment: I had been sitting with “Tem Changes” for some time, and I loved it. I brought it to Flying Lotus, and he said, “I don’t think there can be a better mix than what you’ve done with it.” I was like, “Flying Lotus thinks I’ve produced a song very well, and there’s nobody there to see it. Where’s the studio audience? Tis isn’t fair!” I realized that my ears had started tuning in to the production side of things. What software are you using? Ableton [Live], always. I went from Pro ools to Ableton. It was the game-changer and still is, especially for the songwriter. It makes your process easier. Te band is sounding tight. How long have y’all been together? About four years. Justin and Dennis are two of the main reasons I love doing this. We communicate a lot onstage, and it’s great to have people that you can genuinely talk to and understand. We’ve lived

life together. Plus, they’re better than me. I t’s like an ass-whippin’ every night! Tere were a few shows wh ere you had another bass player. Yeah, Joel Whitley was playing bass for me for a second. When I played with [upright player] Miles Mosley in Kamasi’s band, we complemented each other, and it wouldn’t clash because the frequencies were so far apart. I did it with Stanley Clarke once, and the truth is, you have to be cogniz ant of the other person’s tone and the role they’re playing; you have to be constantly watching them but also thinking about how to keep it funky. At first, I was cool with having two basses in the band, but then I needed to have more control over things. As much as I enjoyed playing with Joel, it just felt like the trio was the format. Who are you listening to these days? I noticed that you gave a shoutout to Mononeon on witter. Mono’s a sweet dude. He should move to L.A .; it’s cool that he’s removed from everything and living in Memphis, but being in L.A. will allow him to dig in in a different way. He can be himself and nobody will mess with him. He’s such a beautiful individual, and his ears are massive. I want to see th e best shit happen to him. What’s in the future? I’m very excited for a couple things that are in the works. I’ve been working with Anderson .Paak a lot. Now, there’s a guy who can sing and play! Lotus and I are working on stuff. And I’m interested to see what people think of this album, because I’m singing more. Besides that, trying to keep a level head and trying not to die—so many of my friends have. And I’m already ready to start writing again. BP


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dUg Pinnick DUG PINNICK IS A MAN AHEAD

of his time. His band King’s X broke through in the late ’80s with masterpieces like Out of the Silent Planet [1988, Megaforce] and Gretchen Goes to Nebraska [1989, Megaforce], both of which were championed by peers as the future of rock music. Even when he was just 18 years old and first started playing in rock bands, he had his first taste of being somewhat radical. “Black kids didn’t play rock very much, aside from Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Miles,” he recalls. “So, I was a little outside of my community playing rock music with all the white kids.” Tese days, he’s got a slew of highly revered collaborations under his belt, ranging from Pinnick Gales Pridgen to Grinder Blues to KXM—his collaboration with guitarist George Lynch (Dokken) and drummer Ray Luzier (Korn)—all deviating from the norm in one way or another. Pinnick’s bass playing has been no exception to this rule, either. Tose early King’s X records established him as a singular voice on bass. Trough meticulous, prog-inspired song craftsmanship and an attempt to emulate his childhood hero, Chris Squire, Pinnick inadvertently crafted one of the most distinguished, influential bass tones of a generation. Songs like “Faith Hope Love” [Faith Hope Love,

By Freddy Villano PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEX SOLCA

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1990, Megaforce] and “Human Behavior” [Dogman , 1994, Atlantic] feature shimmering highs and subterranean lows wrung from a Hamer 12-string bass, an instrument that became his calling card for a time. Pinnick grew up in Joliet, Illinois, and got his first taste of touring when he joined the Sperlows, a nationally touring vocal group that held tryouts after a show he attended. “I tried out and made it,” he recalls. “I traveled with them for six or seven months, but I quit because I wasn’t happy. It was choreographed, op 40 music, playing high schools, two shows a day, barely any money. But it was the first time I e ver did anything like that, and I got the bug. I left the city and got to play with people, and that was the obsession after that.” He went on to play bass with several Christian artists, including Petra, Phil Keaggy, and Morgan Cryar and bounced from Joliet to Springfield, Missouri to Houston, exas in the process. It was with Keaggy that he met King’s X drummer Jerry Gaskill. Later, after King’s X was forged with y abor on guitar, the trio backed Cryar for a time. Tese experiences helped Pinnick formulate his own game plan. “When I star ted King’s X, I decided we were not going to be a Christian band or play Christian music. I decided it was not the world I wanted to play music in. I felt judged, and I wanted to be free to say what I wanted and be what I wanted to be. So we kept on moving forward.”

Now, with KXM’s most recent release, Scatterbrain , dUg brings his distinctive playing and gospel-tinged vocals to another project that’s sure to fire up the fan base and ignite accolades from his musical peers. Songs like “Scatterbrain” and “Noises in the Sky ” feature Pinnick’s distinctive tone anchoring some crazy riffs and rhythms, courtesy of Lynch

KXM: dUg Pinnick, George Lynch, Ray Luzier

Walks the Plank With His New Supergroup,

KXM bassplayer.com / j u n e 2 0 1 7

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and Luzier—demonstrating that while the context and musicians may change, dUg Pinnick remains the auteur at the heart of all these projects. How did KXM come together? I was at Ray’s house. He was having a birthday party for his son, and George was invited, too. We were just hanging out talking, and Ray said why don’t we do a project together, and we all agreed. George rented a studio, and we went in and wrote 12 songs in 12 days. Te next thing I knew, we had a record done. It was so quick—no thought. We just went in and had fun. When you first got to gether with George and Ray, were there any preconceived ideas about what you would play? Nope. We just walked the plank. On paper, it sounded cool, so we just wanted to see if we could make it happen. Nobody brought any songs in—nobody had any ideas. We just started jamming , and everybody came up with w hat they came up with at that moment. We overdubbed guitars and I wrote lyrics later, but we basically wrote all the songs in 12 days. Did you follow the same template for Scatterbrain? Yeah, pretty much. Te only difference with Scatterbrain was that we would jam a part and record it, then j am four or five more parts and go into Pro ools and cut and paste them together until the songs made sense. Ten Ray would go back in and play the whole song straight through, so we’d have a full drum take, and then we’d overdub everything after that. Are you coming up wit h voc al par ts whe n you’re jamming, or does that come later? Vocals always com e later. I never t hink of vo cals until we’re done with the music—which is the wrong thing to do, but I do it. When you make up melodies and lyrics, it dictates what the music is going to be. You might not be able to make the music as creative because the melody requires a whole other thing. So, for me, I like to do music first and then tr y to figure out what I want to say and how I want to say it in the song. It makes me think outside the box. Your bass playing takes up a lot of sonic space. It’s big rather than busy. Has this always been your approach, being a singer? When I first started playing bass, Chris Squire was my favorite bass player. He’s probably the guy I imitated more than anybody else. James Jamerson was the other bass player I loved, but C hris Squire had a way of holding out notes and making space between the notes. If you listen to “Close to the Edge” by Yes [Close to the Edge, 1972, Atlantic], there’s a part where he just plays whole-notes every four measures—he had a unique way of playing great lines but knowing not to overstep. He had a real creative way. Even on 90215 [1983, Atco], he plays some of the most amazing bass lines. Every time I listen to Yes, I laugh because I can hear how much I sound like him. “Roundabout” [Fragile , 1971, Atlantic] is a perfect example. It’s probably my favorite song in the world and the template for everything that I write.

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You created one of the most influential bass tones of the ’90s. Was this the unintended result of trying to emulate Chris Squire? I saw Yes in 1976, when I had just started playing bass. I was mesmerized by his tone and did not know how to get it. And then he came onstage with his Rickenbacker that had two pickups and two cords coming out of it, and one went to a Marshall guitar amp and the other went to an Acoustic bass amp, and he blended the two. From that point on I started doing that. Ten, about two years ago, ech 21 made me my own signature bass amp. It has two preamps, one high EQ and one low EQ, made to sound like a guitar head on top with low end on the bottom. It’s exactly what I used to do, but now it’s in one little box that weighs only about 12 pounds. You are one of rock’s great purveyors of the 12-string bass. How did you gravitate towards that instrument? Tat was because Cheap rick was another one of my favorite bands; om Petersson is probably my second-favorite bass player. I’ve never seen Cheap rick without om playing a 12-string— even back in the day when they didn’t have a record deal in Chicago. om originated the 12-string. He got with Hamer, and they started making them for him. We [King's X] were on tour with them in 1988, and I was standing at the side of the stage talking to him as they were getting ready to walk on, and I was like, “Dude, that 12-string is so cool.” And he just handed it me and said, “ry it out.” I played it upside down because I’m le ft-handed, but I loved the way it felt. He said, “Call Hamer and get one,” and then he walked onstage and started playing. Do you play 8-string as well? No, 8-strings don’t have enough high or enou gh low. Tey don’t sound right. Tey have this ugly midrange thing that I can’t deal with. Do you always play with a pick? I started with my fingers, but Chris Squire changed that. I’ve been ridiculed in the past for the use of the pick. But I went to Joliet Junior College for one semester and took music theor y, and the first thing the music te acher said to us was, “All rules in music are meant to be broken. Before you learn any thing, I want you to know that.” And from that point on I decided to do whatever I want. You are currently playing left-handed instruments, but you used to play right-handed instruments strung lefty. Any reason for the change? I never played a left-handed bass until 1984, I think it was. We were doing cover music in some town in Arkansas, and a guy in the opening band had a left-handed Peavey bass, and I said, “Can I play that?” y laughed because I pl ayed leads on it all night. But I could never get up that high before because of the cutaway on the right-handed instruments. From that point on, I thought I should get left-handed instruments, but when I started working with Hamer I continued getting right-handed basses, strung lefty, because I was just used to it. When I started playing Yamahas, they started making me left-handed basses, and from that

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point on I never looked back. What was your method of tracking bass on Scatterbrain? For room volume and sound, I had an SV cab and I used my ech 21 dUg 1000 amp, but for recording we just ran my amp straight into the board. Tat’s how I always do it. I’ve been doing that since I got the amp. It’s made to be plugged straight into the board.

Ray Luzier is a much different drummer from Jerry Gaskill. Did you have to adjust your approach to crafting bass lines to accommodate his busier style? I did. Ray has so much going on that I can find multiple licks in all the rhythms that he’s doing, which made it completely different for me. With Jerry, I have more freedom to do more things if I want to

because Jerry plays a lot simpler. With Ray, I really must listen to what he’s doing, because whatever I come up with, it’s got to match him. It’s been cool to close my eyes and listen to everything that he’s doing and try to find a part in it. Do you have any advice for someone who wants to be a singing bass player? Te thing is, both should be natural to you. It takes time. I don’t remember ever working hard at singing and playing. Every now and then there was something that I couldn’t get. I remembe r “One Ting Leads to Another” by the Fixx. We were going to do that as a cover tune back in the day, and I could not get that melody and bass line together. I tried and tried and just couldn’t do it. I think that’s the only thing I’ve ever been defeated by. BP

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INFO KXM, Scatterbrain

N E T S I L

[2017, Rat Pak]

Basses Schecter dUg Pinnick Baron-H Bass LH, Schecter Model-T, Yamaha Custom AES 12-string

P I U Q E

Amps Tech 21 dUg Ultra Bass 1000 head, Ampeg SVT-810E cabs

Strings DR Strings Hi-Beams (.040–.100)

Picks Custom-made medium-gauge

Check out official KXM videos for the songs “Scatterbrain” and “Noises in the Sky.” bassplayer.com/june2017

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Stonefield 1-5S BY JONATHAN HERRERA

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RARE IS THE DAY I’M TASKED TO REVIEW A BASS

that’s as thoroughly unusual as the Stonefield M-series instrument here. In nearly every facet of its design, the Stonefield takes a left-of-center approach. Tere are so many dizzying differences between this bass and the average axe, I’m not sure the space allotted is sufficient for a deep dive. First, its origin. Bass player and designer omm Stanley (see, even “om” gets an unusual twist at Stonefield!) builds his instruments in New Zealand, and they are the end result of a yearslong quest that deeply tested Stanley ’s commitment to realizing his vision. Trough early imagination, trial, error, and perseverance, a set of key design principles emerged for Stanley, and he spent the ensuing years refining his processes to crystallize his at-times amorphous design ideas. Te tenets of Stonefield’s approach include excellent ergonomics, innovative passive-electronics packages, the pervasive use of genuinely exotic woods, and a visual aesthetic that pays homage to his adopted country. Where to begin? First, the look. Te Stonefield is a big bass. It’s about two inches thick and three inches longer than the typical Fender-ish bass. Stanley’s inspiration for its assert ive contour was both the waves on New Zealand’s beaches and sinuous Maori koru patterns. It has a headstock and what look like tuning machines, but further inspection reveals that the tuning machines are merely anchoring posts, and that tuning actually happens at the tailpiece. Te trademarked omm Stanley uning System does not function as the bridge, however; that duty is left to a much lower-tech floating bridge, akin to that of an orchestral stringed instrument. Te q" jack protrudes from the body— it sort of looks like an inverted Stratocaster design—and three

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lower-bout knobs are joined by another on the upper horn. Flipping the bass around reveals that t he neck-through instrument’s body wings are not flush with the neck, wh ich itself is composed, unusually, of numerous vertical laminations. Viewing the bass on its side reveals that the neck is back-angled about three degrees relative to the body, which among other things, places the strings remarkably high—like, one inch—above the body. So yes, as I mentioned earlier, the Stonefield is strange. Yet, closely scrutinizing each eccentric design decision reveals a unifying purpose and pervasive thoughtfulness. For example, the bass has amazing balance. Most instruments neck dive on my lap, but the Stonefield’s proportions and lightweight tuner-free headstock planted it firmly in playing position. Tat saved lefthand effort that would otherwise be partially dedicated to holding up the neck. Its length and neck angle combine to place the strings and neck in an idealized playing position, too. Its ergonomics are excellent, except for my one major beef: I don’t get the crazy neck profile. Granted, neck shape is subjective, but I’m not drinking the Kiwi Kool Aid on this one. It’s a really deep Dprofile, with a nearly flat back and steep sloping shoulders. It’s way thick, almost like an upright. Your mileage may vary. Te Stonefield uses a variety of proprietary anodized aluminum and stainless steel parts, and its bespoke tailpiece is a thing of machining beauty, placing each string on roller bearings as it travels to the ferrules on the body’s back. uning is precise, easy, and stable. String changes, while not difficult, do require a special tool that’s included with the bass. I dig the floating bridge, and could possibly even be convinced that it imparts some sort of organic Old World vibe to the instrument’s sound, but it is

inarguably less precise to intonate than the more typical saddle-based system. You have to loosen the strings and nudge it around, checking intonation in typical fashion, until you get close. In a bass filled with notable features, one of the Stonefield’s most remarkable is its electronics package. It’s an elaborate passive design that, despite the single humbucking pickup, is capable of coaxing a remarkably diverse array of sounds out of the instrument. here are bass and treble controls and a 6-position rotary sw itch for sweeping a midrange notch filter. Strangely, the bass control is a push/pull pot that changes the behavior of the midrange switch. Since the system is passive, no boost is on offer; any perception of boost is merely the result of the attenuation of frequencies around the “boosted” frequency range. Bass players are used to seeing passive tone controls, consisting of a simple lowpass circuit built from a potentiometer and a capacitor. Yet, many more frequency -selective filters can be made out of various combinations of pots, capacitors, and inductors, and that’s the approach taken with the Stonefield. Analyzing the exact means by which this is accomplished is well outside the scope of this review, but suffice it to say, the system does dramatically alter the instrument’s sound. It’s just not predictable in the way we’re accustomed to with opamp-based onboard circuits that offer precise e qualization. he Stonefield’s electronics are highly interactive, imprecise, and require significant experimentation to grok. But, given that it’s passive, the system has an immediacy, speed, and dareI-say organic quality that’s a joy of its own. he installation is also top-notch, and the anodized aluminum covers, extensive use of conductive shielding paint, and humbucking pickup combine for a beautifully noise-free instrument.

GOOD ON YA, MATE I could go on and on about the Stonefield’s many little design details, but it’s a musical instrument after all. For my fretless tester, I used a variety of amps, including high-end rigs from Bergantino and Aguilar and vibe-y vintage amps from Ampeg and Klemt. In my studio I paired it with a ube ech MEC-1A, a Universal Audio SOLO/110, and a Kern IP-777. Out of the gate, I could not get a sound that worked well for me. Usually, when I’m testing a bass, I set everything flat and check out the instrument’s essential personality. But the Stonefield’s elaborate electronics defied that strategy, initially, as I didn’t have much precedent for its peculiar idiosyncrasies. I persevered, though, and was quickly rewarded. My Stonefield tester was capable of an impressive variety of excellent tones, from a thumpy and dark upright-style sound to a assertive and punchy, midrange-focused attack. Te “EQ,” such as it is, shapes the overall sound immensely, and its high interactivity meant there was a learning curve. I found a handful of tones I dug, remembering what knob cocktail got me there, and sticking with those as I played. he Stonefield had a rich and blooming quality, with a harmonically dense midrange that somehow seemed analogous to the instrument’s aesthetic. Te B string was taut and well controlled, and the bass exhibited excellent evenness throughout its range. While I was initially apprehensive that its single-pickup design might be a substantial sonic limitation, I found myself able to emulate a range of tones that evoked two-pickup circuits. With time, I came to appreciate the Stonefield. Its holistic coherence evinces a visionary designer with an undeniable commitment to detail. It obviously won’t be for ever ybody, but any imaginative player open to new concepts may find a companion with the Stonefield. BP

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SPECIFICATIONS 1-5S Street $4,800 Pros One-of-a-kind boutique bass that

hosts a plethora of intriguing design ideas; D L E I F E N O T S

full-throated and beautifully textured sound; excellent balance Cons Neck profile is unusually chunky and

deep; unique passive circuit takes time to make sense of Bottom Line If you’re in a rut of Fender-

style basses or same-old coffee-tabletopped boutique beauties, the Stonefield will shake things up. It’s as quirky and lovable as New Zealand is to us Americans. Construction Neck-through Body Salusalu Top Anigre Binding Fine line, Australian blackwood

sap; thick edge, black maire Nut Black maire Bridge Solomon ebony Hardware Titanium Neck Aircraft-grade okume & marine-

grade keruing, vertically laminated S C E P S

Fingerboard Solomon ebony Neck width at nut 52mm Neck width at 24th fret 73mm String spacing 16mm Pickup OEM humbucker Scale length 34" Controls All passive: volume, 6-position

midrange notch filter, treble, bass (push/pull to change midrange filter center frequency range for 10 total positions plus bypass) Weight 9.5 lbs Made in New Zealand Contact stonefieldmusic.com


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Chadwick Folding Bass BY ED FRIEDLAND

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WE UPRIGHT BASSISTS HAVE CHOSEN A TOUGH

life. Not only are we confronted with the challenge of mastering a beast that stands six feet tall and kicks our butt on a daily basis, it influences the type of car we drive, where we can live— and invites total strangers to comment that we probably wish we’d taken up the harmonica instead. We have to transport this giant but relatively fragile creature, hoping it will be playable when we arrive at our destination. For those brave souls who tour with upright bass, the perils are exponentially greater. We’ve all heard the stories and seen the pictures of basses destroyed by slippery-fingered SA security screeners, careless baggage handlers, or drunk local crews—not only is it gut-wrenching to see an instrument in pieces, it also represents a significant loss of property and income potential to the owner. Given the instrument’s indispensable nature, trying to make the upright bass more portable has been a driving market force for many decades, but many attempts fall short of satisfying upright bassists. Charlie Chadwick, a Nashville-based player with a penchant for tinkering, came up with a unique solution that not only falls within most airlines’ limits for oversize baggage, his bass fits into one case, sets up in minutes, and feels and sounds like the real thing—because it is. Frustration with bad rental instruments on fly gigs inspired Charlie to start disassembling basses to develop a mechanism that allows the neck to pivot into the body through a remov able panel on the back. Chadwick dialed in his first folding bass in 2005 for personal use, but despite demand from his touring brethren, the modifications were too complex and expensive to go into production on his own. In 2008, Chadwick connected with Sam Shen, the world’s largest producer of upright basses, and had the company craft parts with all of the pre-cuts necessary to build the Chadwick Folding Bass. Te raw instruments are sent to Chadwick’s Nashville workshop, where the critical assembly, setup, and testing occur. With over 800 instruments out there on the road, Charlie has used player feedback to continuously refine his concept, resulting in a fool-proof, player-friendly instrument that can boldly go where no bass has gone before.

ALL IN THE DETAILS Te standard Chadwick is built from the platform of the Shen

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SB100, a high-quality plywood instrument with a spruce veneer, inlaid purfling, and lacquer finish. Te African ebony fingerboard attaches to the maple neck with a row of aluminum hooks that securely hold it in place, while making removal for storage a simple task. Te Suzhou tuning machines are reliably smooth, while the ebony tailpiece, braided tailpiece wire, high-quality maple bridge (with adjusters), and graphite endpin round out a pro-level feature set that clearly separates the Chadwick from the infamous “CCB” category. A hybrid model based on the Shen 150 offers a carved top for an additional $400. Te Folding Bass comes stocked with your string of choice (up to $300), and while not included, most commercially available pickups can be installed at the shop. Tere are a lot of moving parts on the Chadwick, but much care has gone into preventing rattles that could affect the sound. Te back panel and fingerboard usecompressionfittingstokeep things tight, and a polyester gasket seals and cushions the back panel. Internally, there is an acetal framework (an extruded material similar to nylon) that holds the neck in place during storage and secures the fingerboard in its resting place. he removable endpin has its own recessed cup to hold the rubber end, while a clamp makes sure the rod stays in place during transit. Vibrationstopping urethane rubber sockets suspend the neck-storage framework in

place. Te entire mechanism can be easily removed in seconds. he soundpost is loosely pinned in place so it stays put when taking down the string tension, but it can be moved if an adjustment is needed. Te Chadwick Folding Bass also comes with a removable internal travel brace that fits between the back and top, providing extra strength in the event a SA gorilla decides to stand on your case— and it offers a significant, though unintended, advantage I will discuss later. Because the Chadwick was designed by someonewho actually plays it, there are many seemingly small but practical features that address the realities of setting up and breaking down an instrument on a daily basis. At the peg box, a holder keeps the strings secure around the tuner post, and felt washers hold the ball end in place behind the tailpiece to keep your strings in place when you break down the bass. Te bridge feet are strapped to the bridge top so the adjuster wheels stay put, the bridge-feet placement is clearly marked on the top to eliminate guesswork, and Charlie installs a simple piece of shrink wrap on the E string behind the bridge to help visually adjust the bridge perpendicular to the top. Te Chadwick’s price includes a crushed-velvet-lined, reinforced fiberglass case with recessed wheels and low-profile metal latches. Empty and open, the case seems flimsy, but the bass fits tightly inside the strategically padded interior and gives the final package surprising sturdiness. Te price also includes free shipping to 80 countries.

SIMPLY LEGIT For the sake of full disclosure, I must mention that I am one of those road dogs wh o relies on the Chadwick Folding Bass to do my job. As a touring member of the Mavericks, I have logged hundreds of shows with the instrument, including countless miles by air, sea, and land (overseas and domestic), and I have always been happy with w hat came out of the case. Te Chadwick has never failed to meet the musical demands of my gig, and the design’s tight tolerances have shown no signs of loosening up after two years of heavy use. Te slick paint on the fiberglass case gets scuffed up quick ly, and after two years of hard use, rough treatment has created some wear spots in the fiberglass that were easily repaired with epoxy. It ain’t pretty—but the case has protected my instrument, and I project it will survive several more years of brutal treatment.

For my situation, perhaps the most critical advantage the Chadwick offers is purely serendipitous. Put bluntly, the Mavericks are a loud-ass band, and I spend two to three hours a night standing in front of a Genzler Magellan 800-powered Greenboy F215 pumping out the world’s loudest quarternotes. Feedback is my enemy, and the Chadwick’s internal travel brace has been my Excalibur in the fight against howl. Te tightly fit brace effectively cuts most of the body vibration, leaving the instrument practically silent when played acoustically— but in the high-volume world I inhabit, my sound is all amp and pickup, anyway. Tere is no discernible change in the tone that comes out of my amp with the brace installed, but without it, I couldn’t play two notes. Conversely, in the studio, I leave the brace out for the full acoustic volume, and the Chadwick sounds as good as any plywood bass I’ve ever played. I’ve even used the storage clamp that holds the neck in place to mount a condenser mic inside the bass, with great results. While I haven’t traveled with one, I have played several of Chadwick’s hybrid models, and the carved top produces a richer, more complex tone that would satisfy someone looking for a more “legit” classical or jazz sound. Unlike some mail-order instruments that require additional tweaking, Charlie personally sets up each instrument to your preference—as a result, my Chadwick played perfectly right out of the box. Assembling the Chadwick seemed complex at first, but I can now go from “zero to 60” in under four minutes without breaking a sweat. I’m always amazed at how consistent the instrument feels from one day to the next, but your choice of string will influence how much time you need to let it settle in to pitch. While I initially used gu t strings, they took many hours to stretch out. Next, I tried synthetic-core strings that emulate gut, but I still

found myself tuning up all through the gig. Eventually I switched to steel -core D’Addario Helicore Orchestra strings, which cut my total setup time down to ten minutes. In addition to the potentially fatal damage an airline could do to your bass, they will also make you pay dearly for the privilege if your instrument is considered oversize. Southwest Airlines’ published guidelines for size and weight limits require the instrument to be under 50 pounds and under 62 linear inches total (L+W+D). Te Chadwick is a pound short, and while the total inches add up to 82, my tour manager confirms that it has escaped any oversize fees for the past two years. Naturally, there is no guarantee it will fly as regular baggage, but based on my experience, the Chadwick stands a better chance of flying without extra charges or damage than other full-size travel basses. he Chadwick Folding Bass is an ingenious solution to the upright bassist’s greatest logistical problem, but it also sounds and plays great. Some of the top touring players in the world rely on it every day, and the peace of mind you get from knowing it will show up in good working order is immeasurable. BP

S

SPECIFICATIONS Folding Bass

K Street $3,800, $4,200 (hybrid) C Pros Full-size acoustic upright that flies I W easy D Cons “Show and tell” time whenever you A H set up or break down C Bottom Line A sup er-convenient way to

travel with a real upright bass. Body Maple plywood w/spruce veneer

top, carved top w/plywood sides (hybrid model) Neck Maple, “D neck” Fingerboard African ebony

S C E P S

Scale length 41.25" Upper bout 20" Lower bout 26" Thickness 9" Hardware Suzhou gears Weight 49 lbs (with case) Made in China, USA Contact foldingbass.com


47


M O O R D N U O S

48

S API TranZformer LX BY JONATHAN HERRERA

|

NOW THAT I’VE BE EN RUNNING

a recording studio for a couple years, I’ve become keenly aware of the heightened level of voodoo associated with certain gear brands. If you think the averagealkbass.com thread or B�� P�� meetup gets geeky, it’s nothing compared to the discussion typical among recording engineers, and like u s bass players, certain brands are universally associated with good tone. It makes sense, given that some gear’s mythical reputation is due to its historically integral role on the legendary recordings that are the very definition of “killer tone.” Near the top of the gaga-gear pyramid lies API, short for Automated Processes, Inc. Te American answer to England’s Neve (another equally legendary studio gear brand), API consoles, EQs, and compressors have lent their muscul ar, rich, and tight sound to countless recordings we all know and love. Te API ranZformer LX is API’s first purpose-built piece of bass gear, although that doesn’t mean its products haven’t been a part of thousands of bass sign al chains on record. At the heart of API gear—and a lot of highend studio gear, generally—is a proprietary discrete operational amplifier (opamp). Opamps consist of bundles of components that, when packaged together, produce a remarkably versatile and high-performing amplifier, easily tasked to provide a dizzying array of functions in analog circuits. Most modern opamps come as a single chip in an “integrated circuit,” although boutique audio brands like API still produce opamps consisting of discrete components, sometimes packaged together in what looks like a small box. Much of the aforementioned voodoo that follows certain pieces of gear can be traced to these discrete opamps. he above digression is to contextualize the fact that brands like API have reputational baggage, and that baggage is largely due to certain proprietary bits, like discrete opamps. It’d be easy for API to slap its hallowed brand on a bass pedal, stuff it with jellybean parts, and rake in the dough from our somewhat less finicky


demographic, but I’m happy to report that the ranZformer LX is ever y bit the sexy pedal it ought to be. he ranZformer is essentially a floormounted bass channel strip. It’s a preamp, not a DI. While it does have a balanced �� outpu t, it sends a line-level signal—don’t go connecting this to a mic pre, like you would with a DI. While simple, the API offers an effective combination of tone-enhancing features, whether live or in the studio. o me, the two obvious use-cases are in front of a power amp as part of a live rig, or in a studio with its output going straight to tape or to a digital system’s A/D converters. Te ranZformer LX is built to a standard that’s uncommon in the bass market. API uses three of its legendary 2520 discrete opamps and two 2510 line drivers, bespoke input and output transformers, and an EQ (based on API’s own 553 EQ) that utilizes custom-wound inductors for the low and midrange bands. Te surface-mount board is beautifully laid out, and overall construction is top-shelf. While big for a stompbox, popping open the pedal reveals a thoughtful layout that’d be easy to repair, should the need arise. Te big question, obviously, is whether all the API’s fanciness combines for good tone. Does it ever! Te ranZformer is uncommonly smooth and sophisticated-sounding. Its overall personality is balanced and full, with a precise and tight

bottom end that is authentically among the better I’ve heard in a bass preamp. Te thoughtfully chosen EQ frequencies are further enhanced with the circuit’s musical and creamy sound. Te one-knob compressor, based on API’s slightly eccentric 525 design, goes from subtle to aggressive, and makeup gain is built into the circuit, with the 6-position switch essentially controlling threshold. It’s not flexible, but it imparts delicious harmonic richness and control over a peaky sound. Given the astronomical cost of most API gear, the luxurious components and construction on offer, and its unimpeachably great tone, at under $500 the ranZformer LX is a remarkably good deal for such a serious piece of gear. If you want a small taste of that sauce that makes studio nerds swoon, it’s a no-brainer. BP

S

SPECIFICATIONS

TranZformer L X Street $492 Pros Super-sweet and sophisticated tone;

good price, considering the quality on I P A

offer Cons None Bottom Line A worthy member of the

legendary API family, the TranZformer LX is a carefully designed piece of serious studio gear disguised as a stompbox. Input q" Input impedance 500kΩ Outputs q" unbalanced, variable gain;

XLR

balanced, line level S C E P S

EQ ±16dB @ 100Hz, 400Hz, 2kHz Compressor One-knob, 6-position circuit

with 2:1–20:1 ratio, depending on setting Power 18 volts @ 250mA, adapter in-

cluded Made in USA Contact apiaudio.com

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N R A E L

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H C N E B H C E T

THE INQUIRER

Studio Skills

H C N E B H C E T

50

BY JONATHAN HERRERA

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your bass and the recorder without degradation. It may seem first real recording session at a proper studio, I do remember counterintuitive to convert the signal to mic level, given that how I felt. I know I wanted to seem slick, like the session was it’s lower than instrument level, but consider that most record just a another b lip in my thriving music caree r, but in truth ing consoles and other studio gear are designed to work with I spent the whole time trying desperately not to betray my microphones. Te DI tricks the signal chain’s next step into intimidation, deep sense of inadequacy, and general bewilthinking it’s “seeing” the output of a mic, which is where the derment. Tere’s a big difference between making music in gear is optimized to work. the warm embrace of a familiar room and entering the cloisIn addition to a DI, you may also be given the opportunity tered confines of a well-outfitted recording studio. Te potento mic an amp, resulting in two recorded bass signals that are tial sources of anxiety are numerous, whe ther it’s the pressure later blended together at the mixing phase. Te engineer will to track fast and clean, the racks of esoteric knob-laden gear, undoubtedly have a selection of preferred mics for this purthe awareness that a good performance might weigh heavpose, with the E-V RE-20, AKG D12, Sennheiser MD-421, or ily on future opportunities, or the intrinsically permanent, Neumann U-47 being especially popular options. While you’ll tangible nature of record-making. While this anxiety may be likely be given the chance to mic your own amp, don’t dismiss inevitable initially, I hope this column helps a bit. Tink of it the in-house options too soon. Te studio is a singular envias rhetorical Xanax. ronment, and amps that you’d never use on a gig may surprise It’s useful to roughly divide the recording process into two you when you listen back to their sound on tape. Te undisbroad categories of equal importance: technical and social. puted king of studio amps is the all-tube Ampeg B-15, particI’ll talk tech in this column and dive into the softer side next ularly if you’re after a fat and warm sound. month. Whether you’re recording to tape or to a computer, the Te engineer will likely apply a small amount of compresstudio is at its core a sort of sound laboratory, with all the sion to your bass to help even out our instrument ’s unusuattendant specialized equipment one might expect. ally broad dynamic range. I’ll leave the details of Unlike most live gigs, the sound you get to tape compression for another column, but suffice it to (I’ll refer to all recording media as “tape” for consay that this is another practice that may differ venience) will be the result of a collaboration from your habit on a gig. Stay open-minded and between you and a recording engineer. Acquiremember that the end result of your session escing control can seem initially unusual, but is not a solo recording of your bass, b ut rather it’s for your benefit—engineers know their gear a mix that needs to balance the sound of multiand room. Despite this, it’s still cr itical that ple instruments. o that end, an engineer may you advocate for your vision in the studio, and further sculpt the sound “on the way in” with B�� P� �� Senior that’s only possible if you have a basic working EQ. Allow this process to unfold before rushing knowledge of the options. Contributing Editor Jonato judgment; the engineer is likely envisioning than Herrera is the magaUnlike most acoustic instruments, bass is what will work from the aggregate perspective. surprisingly easy to record. Tere are essen- zine’s former E ditor-in- Chief. It’s weird, but good bass tone on record is often An accomp lished play er, tially two ways. First, you’ll likely plug your bass not as lovely alone. into a direct box or “DI.” A DI is a simple device Jonathan has been a fullOnce your signal chain is set, be sure to contime musician and producer that performs a single function: It converts sistently advocate for the tone you envision. since first leaving the magthe high-impedance, unbalanced instrumentGiven how easy it is to record bass, it’s often the azine’s staff in 2010. His level output of your bass to a low-impedance one instrument at a session that an engineer latest endeavor is Bay Area balanced mic-level signal. Te impedance and may under-think while contemplating which balance transformation is important to ensure recording studio Airship Labten mics they’re going to use on the drum kit. oratories. Catch up with him the noise-free, high-fidelity integrity of your Te challenge of this advocacy is gracefully balsignal. Among other benefits, it allows a recordat jonherrera.com and at ancing your concept with the engineer ’s expeairshiplaboratories.com . ing engineer to use long cable runs between rience. More on that next month. BP WHILE I DON’T REMEMBER THE SPECIFICS OF MY


N R A E L Y A L P H C E T

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D E H S D O O W

J A Z Z C O N C E P T S

E C A F K N I L

D E H S D O O W

52

Mixed Up! Playing Odd & Mixed Meters BY JOHN GOLDSBY

|

DO YOU GET MIXED UP WHEN YOU

play something not written in 4/4? Common time is another name for 4/4, and common it is—4/4 has been pounded into our brains and feet for generations. Te fat downbeat on beat one , the comfort of thunder-clapping backbeats on two and four — what’s not to like? Other time signatures also feel good, if you spend time learning to relax in those meters. Come on, free your mind and fingers from the 4/4 shackles. Tis month, let’s look at a chart I recently played with saxophonist Bob Mintzer. His tune “In the Canyon” uses mixed meters — a combination of several time signatures. ake a listen to our version (see Connect), and hear how Mintzer’s bass line flows. On the first listen you might not notice anything rhythmically odd, even though the meter is changing from 4/4 to 3/4 to 7/4. Before we tackle the chart, let’s review what the two numbers in a time signature mean. Te top number indicates the number of beats in each bar (also called a measure). In Ex. 1, the first three bars are in 4/4 time. Te number 4 on the top means that there are four beats in every bar. Te beats in a bar can be filled up with any combination of notes and rests, provided they add up to a total of four beats. In bar 4, the time signature changes to 3/4. Tis means there are only three quarter-notes, or subdivisions of three quarter-notes, in this bar. Te bottom number of a time signature indicates which kind of note corresponds to the value of one beat. In this example, the bottom number in each time signature is 4,


i which means a quarter-note pulse underpins every measure of the chart. Even when the top number changes from 4 to 3 to 7, the underlying beat remains a quarter-note because the bottom number is always 4. Tis is important, because the bottom number points to the groove—in this case, a quarternote pulse anchoring the entire bass line. Look at the chart without your bass. ap quarter-notes slowly with your foot while you sing or clap the rhythm of the bass line. Te first trap you might step into is the rest on beat three of bar 1. Remember that rests should be in time, just like the notes. If the rests are in time, the line will groove. If the rests are too long or too short, the line will sound jerky and labored. Te second trap comes in bar 2. Te quarter-note rest on beat one is also an important component of the groove. o frame the rest on beat one, you have to play the last e ighthnote in bar 1, and the two eighth-notes on beat two of bar 2, precisely. If the notes surrounding a rest are precise, you’ll feel the rest as a strong part of the groove. Te time signature in bar 4 changes to 3/4. Now there are only three quarter-notes in the bar (indicated by the top number), and the pulse (indicated by the bottom number) remains a quarter-note. Te tendency when we see a time signature change—especially a new time signature with fewer beats—is that we rush the tempo in an effort to not miss any notes. Remain calm! Remember that the quarter-note pulse is steady, chugging down the canyon road at 150 beats per minute. Besides the change to 3/4, the other

INFO For a straightahead guy, John Goldsby

Y B S D L O G

has played a lot of odd and mixed meters in his career. Check out his

new video lesson N H series, The Upright O J Bass Handbook , at

truefire.com and johngoldsby.com. • Sharpen your studio chops! Read real-life examples of studio bass parts that use mixed meters. • Listen to John Goldsby glide through the mixedmeter bass line of “In the Canyon” with Bob Mintzer and the WDR Big Band.

T C E N N O C

• Hone your oddmeter rhythmic skills with this classic text from drummer Louie Bellson: Odd Time Reading Text: For All Instruments.

bassplayer.com/ june2017

tripping point in bar 4 is the quarter-note rest on beat one. Te same principle applies here as in bar 2 on beat one: Feel the quarter-note rest as if it were a full-length note. Te eighth-notes on beats two and three lead into bar 5, which changes back to 4/4. Te tune’s bridge begins in bar 10, and the meter changes to 7/4. You could subdivide the beats in

Straight eighths, flowing

the bar, regrouping the 7/4 time signature as 3/4 + 2/4 + 2/4. Subdividing might help you keep your place in the ever-changing line of eighth-notes and harmonic changes. Count: 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 1, 2. Sometimes I will mark a couple of bars of a part with a particular clave (CLAH-vay, a repeated rhythmic pattern) if I think subdividing might help lock in the groove. More often, though, I’ll read

Bb6/9

= 150

through a part almost as if there are no bar lines. If the note-lengths and rests are correct, the line will be spot on. How can you get comfortable playing mixedmeter and odd-meter bass lines? Te goal is to feel the groove, and not have to actively count. Internalize the pulse, don’t forget to breathe, honor the rests, and concentrate! BP

Bbmaj7(#5)

Fsus4

2 1

1

3

1

1

3

1

1

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Fm7

7

3

5

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1

3

1

1

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3

5

1

3

6

1.

Bbmaj7(#5)

Fsus4

Cm7 F13(b9)

2.

5

3

3

1

1

3

1

1

Ebm9(b6)

1 3 4

3

5

3

3

1

1

3 4

1

1 1

Eb/G

3

3 3

2 3

5

5

5

3

17

3 1

5

D13(#11)

3

5

4 3

5

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2

5

2

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7

0

3 5

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Cm9(b6)

2 5

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5 5

5

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Bb13(b9)

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2 1

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3 3

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3 1

1


53

N R A E L

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D E H S D O O W

R&B GOLD

Duck & Cover |

BY ED FRIEDLAND

long before then. Te Duck-fueled MG’s were the we’d walk out and listen to the playback, and the default house band for Memphis’ Stax label, pl aybass would be as round as it could be. Somehow, ing on a slew of Southern soul/R&B cornerstones, our sound always made it to tape.” such as Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour,” While there are many classic MG’s tracks tracks to Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay,” Bay,” Sam and Dave’s check out, one that caught my ear is the rela“Soul Man,” and Albert King’s “Born Under a Bad tively unknown non-album track “Be My Lady ” Sign.” Although not as technically oriented as from 1965. Te mix is particularly favorable to Jamerson, Duck’s simple directness and his magthe bass, and you can really hear Dunn’s muscuical lock with drummer Al Jackson were a perfect lar right hand pushing the amp into the brown recipe for hit-making grooves. His tone was thick zone. Te track is based on a 1– b 3–4 progresand round, but with a clear top sion that reeks of groovy ’60s vibe, end that brought out the attack. and the agile bass part is well played INFO Duck attributed this in part to 1 is the basic idea by Duck. Example 1 is the Stax studio’s room dynambehind “Be My Lady” : Tis riff moves Ed Friedland is ics: “I thought we sounded terto the IV chord to give the A section D N currently touring rible in that room—I hated it,” a blues-like feeling. he B section A with Grammy L he told B�� P��. “Tey were ( Ex. 2) 2) cuts back to a simpler, dot D Award winners the E I always asking me to play with ted-quarter-note rhythm over a b3– R Mavericks. F a lot of highs, and it sounded 7– b 6–5 progression, but Duck is b edfriedland.com D too trebly for me. he drums pumping the crap out of each note, E never sounded right, but then creating an almost square-wave-like

HAVING SPENT A FAIR AMOUNT OF INK

perusing the early-’60s Motown/James Jamerson archives, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at what was happening in other parts of the country during that time. W hile Motown acquired the trademark “Hitsville, USA,” Memphis was also a major hot spot for R&B music, earning the sobriquet “Soulsville, USA .” We We looked at some of “Memphis Boy” ommy Cogbill’s work last month, but undoubtedly the most well-known 4-banger from that hallowed city is Donald “Duck” Dunn. Born in Memphis in 1941, Dunn’s high school band, the Royal Spades, would eventually change its name to the Mar-Keys and have a national hit with their recording “Last Night.” Te Mar-Keys also featured guitarist Steve Cropper, who would eventually bring Duck into the legendary instrumental outfit Booker . & the MG’s in 1965. While most people know Duck from his appearances in the Blues Brothers Brothers movies, his significance to the world of music was established

i

Ab

= 107

Db

B

1 . X E

6 4

4

4

6

6

4

2

2

3

4

5

6

Gb

B

2 . X E

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

8 8 6

54

2

Eb

E 5

0

2

0

0

bassplayer.com bassplayer.com / j u n e 2 0 1 7

0

0

0

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0

8 8

8 6

8 6

2

2

distortion. Te amp soun ds like it’s going to bust a gut! Pure awesomeness. By the way, to avoid the nightmare of reading C b’s and Fb’s, I’ve notated the b3 of the key enharmonically as a B natural, and the b6 as E natural. Another great, underappr eciated Dunn p erformance is on Don Covay’s “See Saw.” Saw.” Covay got his start as a member of the Little Richard Revue and had a minor hit in 1957 with “Bip, Bop, Bip” under the name Pretty Boy, but he is best known as the writer and original performer of “Mercy, Mercy” (featuring a young Jimi Hendrix on guitar), which was later covered by the Rolling Stones. “See Saw” was also covered mightily by Aretha Franklin on her 1968 disc Aretha Now , but the Queen Of Soul also hit paydirt earlier that year with Covay ’s “Chain of Fools.” Te Covay version of “See Saw” has a rougher, less polished feel, but Duck holds the line with an insistence that makes up for the rushed drum fills. Once again, we can he ar the distress coming though the amp as Dunn digs into his La B ella flatwound-strung Fender Precision Bass with ferocity. Example 3 is 3 is similar to the

5). Notice that while the verse chords verse (Ex. (Ex. 5). are dominant 7’s, Duck uses the E major scale to walk back up to the E7, playing a D# to to approach the E7 chord. Much has been written on Duck Dunn; in fact, you can read details of his gear and setup, analysis of his style and technique, and see ot her transcriptions of his work in my book Te R&B Masters: Te Way Tey Play. Te official Duck Dunn website announces that an authorized biography, biography, Soul Fin gers by Nick Rosaci, is scheduled for release May 1, 2017. While his early work weighs in at several tons of R&B Gold, once he was unchained from his Stax chair, his career carried him far and wide. Te Blues Brothers became a multi-generational multi-generational cultural touchstone, and his recording career also included work with om Petty, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Buffett, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, Albert King, Freddie King, Levon Helm, Herbie Mann, Jerry Lee Lewis, Rod Stewart, and many more. Duck left this planet in 2012, but his vast recorded legacy will continue to influence and inspire for generations. BP

A

= 118

3 . X E

song’s chorus—it’s a great example of locking in with the kick drum. Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour” is part of the bedrock of soul/R&B, and Duck’s presence on that track alone places him in the Hal l of Greats. But another less-covered track with “Te Wicked Pickett” is “Ninety Nine and a Half (Won’t Do).” It’s a must-know tune for your deep R&B repertoire, and while essentially simple, it h as a quirky intro that is frequently played wrong. Example 4 sets the record straight, but examining the melody/ harmony relationships, it’s easy to understand the confusion. Te first chord is an Em11 on the guitar, with the bass outlining a Bm triad—not too weird, but the guitar voicing makes it ambiguous. Te second chord is an Edim7 on the guitar with the notes Bb–D–Gb on the bass, which could be interpreted as a Gb, Bb, or Daug triad. triad. Any way you slice it, the D doesn’t completely gel with the E diminished chord, but it’s not fatal. Next comes a straightforward G major triad, with the bass playing the first inversion ( B–D–G– B), which walks down to the IV chord, an A that sets up the tune ’s

5

5

0

0

4

5

F#

5

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4 5

5

2

5

0

0

4

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5

5

5

5

0

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5

5

0

0

4

A

2

2

2

2

5

Em11

0

Edim

5

0

0

4

G

5

5

0

0

4

A

= 103

4 . X E

0 0

4

0

2

5 . X E

4 2

4

0

1

4 2

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2

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2

0 2

0

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0 4

1 2

4


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N O I T P I R C S N A R T

�


Gentle Giant’s Giant’s “Mobile”

Gentle Giant in the 1970s, with Ray Shulman (center)

Ray Shulman’s Complete Bass Line BY STEVIE GLASGOW

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MAJOR-LEAGUE PROGRESSIVE ROCKERS SUCH AS YES,

Genesis, and Jethro ull did much to alter the musical landscape during the early to mid ’70s, but many less-commercially successful acts helped push the prog envelope, too. Structured around three brothers—Phil, Derek, and Ray Shulman—the U.K.-forged outfit Gentle Giant combined complex arrangements, multi-instrumental flair, rhythmic and contrapuntal adventurism, and eclectic influences to create some of the most original and innovative music of the era. Te Shulmans first came to prominence in the late ’60s as part of Simon Dupree & the Big S ound, scoring a major hit in the U.K. with “Kites.” However, dissatisfied with being perceived as psychedelic popsters, they disbanded in 1969, re-emerging the following year as Gentle Giant. Over the next decade, GG crafted 11 studio albums that fuse rock sensibilities with jazz, classical, blues, folk, and medieval-inspired sounds.

56


With a professional trumpeter as a father, the Shulmans were surrounded by music from an early age. As a youngster, GG bassist Ray’s main instrument was the violin, but he also learned the trumpet and guitar. After being “roped in” to join a band put together by older brother Derek while they were still at school, Ray bought his first bass, a secondhand Grimshaw semi-acoustic. “It must have held the record for the bass with the least sustain in the world—it was unbelievable,” he laughs. “It kind of altered my playing, because to keep anything at all at the bottom, I had to keep playing fast. I suppose I developed my style around that.” As early influences,

Ray name-checks James Jamerson, Charles Mingus, and Percy Heath. Gentle Giant’s seventh studio album, Free Hand [1975, Chrysalis/Capitol], was the band’s highestcharting long-player, peaking at #48 on the Billboard album chart (eldest brother Phil had departed the band by this point). Te disc closes out with “Mobile,” a pulsing, folk-rock shuffle numbe r that offers a concise overview of R ay’s bass style: melodic, intricate, and inventive. For the recording, Ray used a medium pick on a ’72 Fender Precision Bass, with the volume and tone knobs dimed. He strung up with Rotosound roundwounds and captured his part via DI and a Yamaha solid-state amp with a miked 2x15 cabinet. Te song begins with a lilting 12/8 violin melo dy, with the bass accentuating beats two and four, making it slightly tricky to discern if the melody has started on the downbeat. Vocalist Derek Shulman and the rest of the band enter at letter A, which is founded upon an undulating B Dorian-grounded bass line that

i

later shapes the verses. “Tat was the starting point for the song,” says Ray, singing the thematic phrase from bars 12–13. Dig how the bass is doubled a 5th above on the organ by Kerry Minnear and further colored by guitarist Gary Green’s root-5th dyads a minor 3rd above the bass. Tis often key -defying linear approach characterizes much of the band’s output. Explains R ay, “Back in the day when I composed using the Revox [recorder], it was tape on tape, going from one track to another, adding the next part … Tere were no chord sequences or anything; I wrote in monophonic lines and just overlaid them until they kind of worked. I composed on guitar more than anything else.” Note also how the music glides effortlessly through the shifting time changes of the intro and letter A (and elsewhere). Says Ray: “I like that the time signature alters, but it’s quite seamless. I think [drummer] John Weathers’ straightforward playing helped with that a lot.” Ray’s nimble E Dorian line in bars 16–17 and rumbling cl imb in bar 18 help propel the song into the first verse at B, followed by a brief return to the violin melody and a second verse (C). A shift to 9/8 and a chromatic descent in bar 43 herald letter D, the first of several instrumental interludes. Check out the guitar-like double-stops and the way Ray retains the same basic rhythmic

Giant Steps

Here’s a quick guide to help you through the slightly tricky notational structure: • Play from start, including all repeats, through to bar 123. • Follow the D.S. al Coda instruction at bar 123, which takes you to the dal segno mark at bar 53 (which now serves as bar 124). • Play through letters E and F, heeding the o Coda instruction on the repeat at the end of bar 67 (now bar 138), which takes you to the Coda in bar 139. • Play to end.

“Mobile” Transcription by Stevie Glasgow = 128

N.C. (E)

(Bm)

(E)

(Bm)

(E)

(Bm)

(E)

(Bm)

9

9

7

9

7

(Bm)

9

7

(E)

2

F#5

E5

4

2

4

4

G#7sus C#7sus C#7(no 3) B7sus B7sus F#5 E5 G5

4 2 4

7

G#7sus C#7sus B7sus B7sus

2

7

2

9

7

A

(Bm)

9

7

(E)

8

13

(E)

Intro

4


2

F#5 E5

4 4

2 3

2 4

4

G#7sus C#7sus C#7(no 3) B7sus B7sus F#5 E5 E

2

4 2

2 4

4

2 4 0

Mobile

Words and Music by Kerry Minnear, Derek Shulman and Ray Shulman. Copyright (c) 1975 Alucard Publishing. Copyright Renewed. All Rights Administered by BMG Rights Management (US) LLC. All Rights Reserved Used by Permission. Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard LLC.


57

N R A E L Y A L P

� D5

16

E5

D5

C#5 A5 B5 B5 G5 A5 F#5

7

6

E7(no3)


B

H C E T E C A F K N I L


7

20

9

9

7

9

9

5

(2nd time)

7

4 0

G#7sus C#7sus E5 C#7(no 3) B7sus B7sus F#5 G5

7

4

0

1

G#7sus C#7sus B7sus B7sus F#5 E5

0

2

1

2

4

2

4(4)

0

4

2

1.

G#7sus C#7sus E5 C #7(no 3) B7sus B7sus G5 F#5

(2nd time)

2

2

4

4 2

4

4

3

(3)

2

4

2

4

4

2

2

4

2

4

4

2

4

3

2.

26

G#7sus C#7sus E5 C#7(no 3) B7sus B7sus F#5 E

9 4 2

2

4

4

2

9 4

7 0

pattern and melodic shape as the key shifts from E minor (bars 44–48) to G minor/major (bars 49–52). Te pace slackens slightly at E, where a little thought is required vis-à-vis picking direction to safely navigate the wide string-skips in bars 54–57. A third verse (F) and a second dance-like interlude at G (featuring strong root-5th doubling between the bass and organ) leads to H, a tightly organized, double-stop-heavy transitional section that steers the rhythm back to 12/8 and culminates in a zigzagging whole-tone-scale bass fill in bar 83. Letter I presents more new, yet organically related, material. Here, the band employs the same basic rhythm as the verses, but conjures a darker harmonic atmosphere via use of b 5 and #11 seasoning—savor the tangy zest between Ray’s downbeat F and the beat-two C b in bars 84–87. A wah- wah’d violin solo (J) is followed by a further bass-driven interlude at K, where, again, some thought is required to deal with the tricky stringskips. Ray reports that his fluid r ight-hand picking technique is not based on a single approach, such as strict alternate strokes: “My picking was definitely based more on what the lines dictated,” he explains. Te dal segno (D.S.) returns us to letter E, then F for a final verse that extends into the coda at bar 139. Te outro starts in earnest at L, as Ray kicks on a Dunlop Cry Baby wah-wah pedal and unleashes a series of cascading upper-register figures—again,

58

F#5 E5


0

doubled a 5th above by the guitar—which require both stamina and precision to nail cleanly. Ray’s low-E stabs help punctuate the finale at M, before he reinforces the concluding unison ph rase in bar 171. “[Listening back] the main thing I hear more than anything else is how hard I hit the strings. It sounds like I’m picking right over the pickup; I think you get a bit more of an aggressive sound that way.” Ray numbers Free Hand among his favourite GG discs, noting: “It was our most successful album; top 40 in America. We were hitting our stride and had some good success at the time. It was very enjoyable to make. We’d been through a bit of a rough time before that, so it was made in really good spirits.” Following the band’s dissolution in 1980, Ray embarked upon a successful career as a composer for commercials, before drifting into record production, working with such acts as the Sugarcubes and the Sundays. He subsequently wrote music for computer games before becoming involved in graphics work for DVD and Blu-ray releases, as well as music editing and encoding for 5.1 mixes— work he continues to do today. Asked if he still plays bass, Ray counte rs, “I do occasionally, but the worst is the violin, because it’s an instrument you can’t just leave and pick up again. It’s a little easier with the guitar and bass. Te last time I picked up the violin, I kind of disgusted myself and put it back in the case,” he laughs. BP

N R A E L Y A L P

� Db7#11

91

A7b5

H C E T

S

4 6

E C A F

6 4

5

6

6

8

6

5

6

7

5

6

4 3

5

D5

J

96

4

K N I L


7

5

6

7

5

6

7 3

3

K

108

4

5

3

4

4

5

5

D6

(2nd time)

7

0

116

S

(2nd time)

9 9

(7)

9

9

7

0

9

7

10

9

7

7

0

9 ( 10

9)

7

9

9

7

0

9

(7) 9

9

G7

0

2

0 0

2

0

3

2

0

0

2

0

2

0

2 3

Coda

139

4 2

4

3


2 4

2 3

F#5 E5

2

3

F#5 E5

3

4

2

4

4 2

4

3

4


4

G#7sus C#7sus C#7(no 3) B7sus B7sus F#5 E5 G5

2

4 2

2 4

4

2

0

D.S. al Coda

2

2

4

4

4

3

E5 F#5 C#5

2

L

11 11

4

10 3

3

(F#5) (C#5) (F#5) (C#5) Gmaj7b5 (G5) (E5) (E5)

11 9 2 4

3


3x

2

0

3

142

2

2

2

2

2

4


0

2

3


2

0

2

2

2

3

62

(2nd time)

9

9

11 9 11 10

11

(C#5) (F#) (C#5) F#7sus (E5) (B5) (E5) 148

4x

(F#5) (C#5) (F#5) (C#5) Em6/9 (E5) (B5) (E5)

C

D

Em

D

4x

*Omit 4th time 11

9

11 11

9

9

11

160

4x

9

11

11 11

9

9

11

Gm

(4th time)

4 3

0

C

9 0

3

5

0

7

7

5

A5

M

0

N.C.

(3rd time)

3

5

E5

3

(3) (0)

3

N.C.

0

E5

N.C.

E5

N.C.

0

7

E5

168

4 5 0

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P R O D U C T S P O T L I G H T

5

7

5

7 0

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E S A C W O H S S S A B 64


B A S S S H O W C A S E


65

D

By Jim Roberts

Zon Guitars’ Joe Zon

“IT WAS NEVER OUR MISSION

Jim Roberts was the founding editor of

BASS PLAYER and

also served as the magazine’s publisher and group pub lisher. He is the author of How the Fender Bass Changed the World

and American Basses: An Illustrated History & Player’s Guide (both

published by Backbeat Books/Hal Leonard).

66

to build quantities of cookie-cutter instruments,” says Joe Zon. “We’ve always tried to address the individual needs of every player we work with, to create an instrument that first and foremost expresses what that player wants in the tone of their bass.” Joe got his start as a bass player and repairman in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, in the 1980s. He developed a reputation for quality repairs and skillful custom work, which led him to introduce his own line of basses. After trying different materials, he found the formula that has fueled his success: composite necks joined to handcrafted wood bodies with proprietary pickups and electronics. In 1987, Joe moved his operation to Redwood City, California, where he has been making instruments with a small crew of skilled builders ever since. Zon basses are available in multiple configurations with a wide range of options, but Joe doesn’t want his customers to think of them as à la carte


instruments. An important part of what you get with every Zon bass is Joe’s experience in guiding you to the right combination of components. “Tat’s the big difference between working with someone like me and a newcomer who’s just putting together something from parts,” he says. “It’s like buying an expensive bottle of wine. You’re not buying it because the winemaker picked the grapes and crushed them himself; you’re buying his years of experience at knowing how to put together the right elements to make that exceptional wine.” Perhaps the best-known example of Joe’s skill at helping an artist achieve his musical goals is the Hyperbass, which he created in consultation with Michael Manring. Te result of this collaboration was an instrument that offered thousands of tuning possibilities, thanks to Hipshot Xtender keys and a custom retunable bridge. And there’s a new version in the works, Joe says, with an improved bridge that will allow even more tunings plus a Roland bass-synth pickup that will expand its tonal palette. Not content with that, he’s building another new instrument for Manring that will incorporate the Gizmotron 2.0 bowing device. Another unique Zon creation is t he Zemi Acoustik, built for Dick Lövgren from the Swedish metal band Meshuggah. It’s a composite-neck hollowbody 6-string with a “floating” flame-maple top that vibrates freely. Te Zemi has a custom-wound Bartolini single-coil pickup, piezo bridge pickups, and 3-band active electronics. Lövgren says the bass has “exactly the sound I was hoping for, plus some … it just sings!” Many of Joe’s innovations are driven by his relationships with artists such as Manring and Lövgren. Another example is his work with Metallica’s Robert

rujillo, which led to the introduction of Zon’s wood-neck models. “Robert was trying to replicate some of the sounds from the older Metallica records,” Joe explains. “He needed something that responded differently from his composite-neck basses.” A similar request came from fusion virtuoso Baron Browne, who wanted to emulate the sound of his vintage Fender Jazz Bass. Te development of those basses led to both domestic and import wood-neck Zon basses, the latter being the Standard Series, available as Legacy, Sonus, and Mosaic models. Te import instruments are made in China and QC’ed at the Zon factory. Te response has been enthusiastic—in a BP review, Ed Friedland praised the Mosaic Mojo 4-string for offering “time-honored tone in an affordable platform that benefits from Zon’s many years of boutique building.” More Mosaic models are in the works, including a U.S.-made version with a graphite-reinforced neck. Other upcoming changes to the Zon line will include more pickup options and updated electronics. Joe is also overseeing a retooling of the production process for Zon’s composite necks that will increase efficiency while maintaining their unique sonic characteristics and stability. Te goal, as always, is to combine improvements in materials with the experience that allows Joe to guide his customers to instruments that meet their creative needs. “We want to convey our knowledge to the end users. We want them to understand that this is a handcrafted instrument that may take eight or ten months to build, but in the end will surpass their expectations and provide a lifetime of playing enjoyment.” For more about Zon instruments, go to zonguitars.com. BP

BassPlayer_2017-06

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