• Author / Uploaded
• fyd

• Categories
• Bajo
• Guitarras
• Instrumentos de la familia de guitarras
• Musica Jazz
• Ocio

Citation preview

ACE MTD, ROSCOE, SCHECTER, DANELECTRO AND AMPEG BASS GEAR ON TEST!

129

Issue 129 April 2016 Bernard Edwards, Chic | Brian ‘Hardgroove’ Hargrove, Public Enemy | London Bass Guitar Show 2016 report | Promenade Music | Eric Bass, Shinedown | Soulfly tour report | Michael Manring | MTD Saratoga | Roscoe Century fretless | Schecter Stiletto 8 | Danelectro Longhorn | Ampeg SCI-DI

WIN!

Tickets to see Chic at the Fold Festival!

k a e r F ut! O

ON, S R A E Y T W E N T YTE THE GREAT WE SALU

D R A N BER F O S D R A EDW

c i h C

BRIAN ‘HARDGROOVE’ HARGROVE, PUBLIC ENEMY | LONDON BASS GUITAR SHOW 2016 REPORT PROMENADE MUSIC | ERIC BASS, SHINEDOWN | SOULFLY TOUR REPORT | MICHAEL MANRING 001_rev2_NR.indd 1

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

29 9 771476 521061

>

23/03/2016 14:44

002.indd 2

23/03/2016 13:46

003.indd 3

23/03/2016 12:26

CONTENTS ISSUE 129 APRIL 2016

T

EDITOR Joel McIver, [email protected] SUB-EDITORS Kate Puttick, Nick Robbins TECHNICAL CONSULTANT Stuart Clayton CONTRIBUTORS Angus Batey, Bob Battersby, Duff Battye, Andy Baxter, Nick Beggs, Jeff Berlin, Jamie Blaine, Silvia Bluejay, Mike Brooks, Joe Burcaw, Dave Clarke, Stuart Clayton, Ben Cooper, Joe Daly, Hywel Davies, Jon D’Auria, Daryl Easlea, David Etheridge, Mike Flynn, Paul Geary, Ian Glasper, Joel Graham, Ruth Goller, Spencer Grady, Paolo Gregoletto, Hugh Gulland, Chris Hanby, Andy Hughes, Ken Hunt, Kevin Johnson, Steve Lawson, Phil Mann, Lee Marlow, George Martin, Michael McKeegan, Stewart McKinsey, Greg Moffitt, Chris Mugan, Ellen O'Reilly, Franc O’Shea, Harry Paterson, Raz Rauf, Alison Richter, Steven Rosen, Kevin Sanders, Amit Sharma, Joe Shooman, Rob Statham, Scott Surine, Jon Thorne, Freddy Villano, Ray Walker, Alex Webster, Sam Wise ADVERTISING SALES Guy Meredith GRAPHIC DESIGN Steve Dawson AD DESIGN Matt Smith COVER PHOTOGRAPH Getty Images STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY Eckie OPERATIONS DIRECTOR James Folkard ASSISTANT PUBLISHER Ruth Burgess PUBLISHER Wes Stanton ACCOUNTS Dave Deo SUBSCRIPTIONS 01926 339808, [email protected]

his time every year I find myself almost unable to type these words – specifically, after the annual London Bass Guitar Show. As you’ll know if you were there, this year’s event on 12 and 13 March was the biggest we’ve ever had in terms of numbers of bass players through the day – and it felt as if I and the BGM team knew every one of you. The community we all move in is at its best at the LBGS, with studio and session bassists – not to mention a whole raft of actual stars – rubbing shoulders with luthiers, amp manufacturers and then people like you and me, who simply love the low end. Summing all this up in this introduction to the new issue is almost impossible, so I’ll direct you to our full report on page 32. Suffice it to say that when we said to ourselves last year ‘How are we going to improve on the LBGS 2015?’ we didn’t dare to hope that we’d be asking ourselves the same question a year later. We’re grateful to each and every one of you. In this issue we celebrate the life and career of the mighty Bernard Edwards of Chic – taken from us way before his time, 20 years to the month before this magazine goes on sale – and meet the bassists from Public Enemy, Shinedown and Soulfly, as well as nipping up to Promenade Music in Morecambe, and meeting Michael Manring. Bass gear on review ranges from a pair of state-of-the-art MTDs to a vintage Danelectro, and as always our world-class tutors do their damnedest to make you the bass player you’ve always dreamed of being. Does life in bass world get better? Hell no. See you in May! Joel McIver, editor

SUBSCRIPTION RATE UK £69

Stiletto Studio NT-8

48 MTD Saratoga Deluxe 4 & 5

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

52 Roscoe Century

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

DISCLAIMER

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

56 Schecter Stiletto 8

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

DISTRIBUTION

60 Danelectro Longhorn

Distributed to the news trade by Comag Magazine Marketing, West Drayton, Middlesex, UB7 7QE

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

PUBLISHED BY

46 64 

MTD Saratoga Deluxe 4 & 5 004

56 Schecter

Gear

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

Blaze Publishing Ltd. Lawrence House, Morrell Street, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 5SZ Bass Guitar Magazine is proud to support the Music Industries Association.

52

Roscoe Century 4 STD+

Ampeg SCI-DI

Is that an Ampeg in your pocket, asks Ian Glasper

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

004-005 Contents_Rev2.indd 4

23/03/2016 14:09

CONTENTS

f/bassguitarmagazine o/bassguitarmag

44 Michael

Tuition

Manring

70 Frontline

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

BEGINNER

72 Ellen O’Reilly

Numbers symbolising chords? Let’s do this, says Ellen

74 32 Eric Bass, Shinedown

Paul Geary

The mighty Geary says... let’s rock!

INTERMEDIATE

76 Stuart Clayton

More Aeolian madness with our man Clayton

78 Rob Statham

Tapping bass intervals with bass guru Statham

ADVANCED

80 Franc O’Shea

Digging deeper into Franc’s mind-bending bass solo

36 84  Brian ‘Hardgroove’

Philip Mann

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

Hargrove

Bassists 22 

Bernard Edwards

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

‘Hardgroove’ Hargrove, 28  Brian Public Enemy

Angus Batey meets the great hip-hop musician Hardgroove to discuss a nation of a million bass-lines

38  Promenade Music 40 Eric Bass, Shinedown

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

86 David Etheridge

Prof Etheridge gets us soloing on double bass

88 Steve Lawson

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

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

42  Backstage Bass

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

44  Michael Manring

The maverick bassist looks back (and forward) with another bass icon, Steve Lawson

90 Classic Bass Albums

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

SUBSCRIBE

32 London Bass Guitar Show 2016

NOW DETAILS PAGE 82 Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

004-005 Contents_Rev2.indd 5

005

23/03/2016 14:09

THE

LOW DOWN

SuPeR SHow!

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

006

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

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

Info: www.londonbassguitarshow.com, www.facebook.com/londonbassguitarshow, @bassguitarshow

Bass Guitar Magazine april 2016

006-010 News_Rev5.indd 6

23/03/2016 13:48

HÖFneR HitS 60

Hofner has announced the release of their 60th Anniversary 500/1 Violin Bass, a sleek version of the instrument made so famous by up-and-coming ‘beat’ hopeful Sir Paul McCartney half a century ago. A strictly limited edition of 60 instruments is now available from selected dealers, they tell us, adding that the 500/1, designed by Walter Höfner himself, was first shown to the public at the Frankfurt Musikmesse in 1956. Now we feel old.

Info: www.hofner.com

BooKed uP

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

Info: www.basslinepublishing.com, www.ovebosch.de, www.facebook.com/steve.kempking

Bass Guitar Magazine april 2016

006-010 News_Rev5.indd 7

007

23/03/2016 13:48

tHe lowdown

goodBye geeZeR

Black Sabbath are bidding us farewell this year, as fans of heavy metal will know, after swinging around the globe one last time. Bassist Geezer Butler is accompanied on the tour, which is aptly named ‘The End’, by a splendid new Ashdown rig, put together by Mark Gooday’s team over the last several months. “The premise,” says the company, “was to be able to separate the high and low signals to suit his current custom stage cabinets which consists of four 4x12s and four 2x15s. We took an original JE preamp and came up

with a few specific modifications: they needed to be able to split the signals to run four cabs for the full range signal into the 4x12s, so we modified the existing two-way crossover to a custom transformer derived crossover able to power four outputs to feed the two APM1000s that would drive Geezer’s on-stage 4x12s.” See Ashdown’s site for more details – and Sabbath on tour to catch the full power of the new bass set-up. See you at Download!

Info: www.ashdownmusic.com

o2 aCadeMieS

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

Info: www.nemphasis.com

Six oF tHe BeSt

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

Info: www.themelvins.net

008

Bass Guitar Magazine april 2016

006-010 News_Rev5.indd 8

23/03/2016 13:49

Pic by Eckie

Thanks to the great Nile Rodgers, we have a pair of tickets to the Nile-curated Fold Festival, which takes place at Fulham Palace in London on 24 to 26 June (www.foldfestival.com). Get them by answering this simple question about the late, great Bernard Edwards: The famous Chic song is...? A Good Vibes B Good Times C Good Nights Answers to the usual BGM postal address or via www. bassguitarmagazine.com/competition by May 17.

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

BAYWATCH Every month, keen bass-spotter Ray Walker brings us an online bargain. Sandberg California TM4 Jazz £749 http://tinyurl.com/gl3ptcr Billed in the ad as a Fender killer, here we have a lovely Sandberg California TM4 Jazz bass. This is a pro-quality bass for less than pro-quality bucks. It’s a versatile active or passive bass with an ash body, maple neck and a coil tap on the bridge pickup, so tone range galore. According to owners, the zero fret gives open notes a more consistent tone and the rounded-profile of the neck feels great in the hand. The individual locking saddles of this hefty brass bridge provide excellent height, spacing and intonation. A beauty!

Bass Guitar Magazine april 2016

006-010 News_Rev5.indd 9

009

23/03/2016 13:49

The Lowdown

Headlining Head

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

London, the contemporary music college. This musical education space is equipped with a wide selection of Aguilar amps, cabinets and effects: as Alex Mew, Barnes & Mullins’ associate director of marketing, says: “Facilities such as BIMM are arguably largely responsible for the incredibly diverse and ever more technically proficient songwriting and production techniques so prevalent in today’s music industry. As so many highly talented and dedicated young musicians study in these institutions, it is essential to ensure they have access to high quality, professional equipment. So with this aim in mind, we are delighted to have assisted in the creation of this Aguilar Amplification performance and tutoring environment.”

Info: www.bandm.co.uk

Stanley In Sussex

Sometime Jam bassist Bruce Foxton returns with a new album, Smash The Clock, which features his old bandmate (and last year’s BGM cover star) Paul Weller, legendary pub-rocker Wilko Johnson and blues veteran Paul Jones and which was recorded at Weller’s Black Barn studios. Keep an eye out for his post-jam project From The Jam and their ‘A’s And B’s’ tour later this year, which will include rare tracks from the Jam’s back catalogue.

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

Info: www.brucefoxton.com

Info: www.lovesupremefestival.com

Foxy

010

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

006-010 News_Rev5.indd 10

23/03/2016 13:49

011.indd 11

23/03/2016 16:26

BASSICALLY

speaking Bassists reveal the tricks of their trade faster than a snapping D string

© Stuart James

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

Antonio Angotti Tax The Heat

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

Becky Baldwin IDestroy, Control The Storm, Triaxis

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

012

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

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

012-014, 016 Bassicallys_rev4.indd 12

23/03/2016 13:57

stonefield

GEAR Basses F Bass VF4-P Effects Tech21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI Amps Traynor YBA300 heads, Traynor TC412 Cabinets

Jon Harvey Monster Truck

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

Owen Griffiths Blacklisters

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

GEAR Basses Fender Jazz Effects SansAmp Bass Driver, Boss Bluesbreaker Amps Hartke HA3500 head, Ampeg 610 cab

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

012-014, 016 Bassicallys_rev4.indd 13

013

23/03/2016 13:57

BASSICALLY SPEAKING never yearned for that extra low end. I’m pretty satisfied with my current quantity of low end. I came to bass with a guitarist’s background, so I think that slap playing was just lost in translation. When I picked up a bass, I immediately erred towards what felt familiar to me as a guitar player. The idea of slapping and popping my instrument felt completely foreign. Necessity never really dictated that I learn how to do it, so I never did. To this day, I still can’t slap, and I regret nothing. As a convert that originally started as a guitar player, I struggled for a long time with feelings of being a phoney. I did feel like there might be some secret to bass playing that I hadn’t unlocked yet. For me, the biggest step towards finding comfort and confidence on my instrument was finding a sound that I could identify as being my own. Zeroing in on specifically how I liked my bass to sound, and allowing that to shape my playing has definitely led me to feeling better as a bass player. I’m not an exceptionally flashy player, so having a bass sound that I’m stoked about can go a long way. The first bass that I ever owned was a Fender 70s Jazz reissue. I borrowed friends’ basses before that, usually either a Squier or a Samick, or something of that ilk, but that Jazz was the first Nil bass that I owned. I used it for about three years, and completely abused it. It’s my at-home bass now, because it’s pretty unfit to take on the road at this point. It needs a lot of work. I used to slam it around a lot and the skunk stripe started to pop out of the back of the neck. My favourite bass ever is the Gibson Grabber. I’ve got two of them. The 1978 is my backup bass, and it’s incredibly light. It feeds back like a dream. I can stand at the front of the stage and it can still produce really musical, easily controllable feedback. The 1975 is my main bass, and it’s much heavier. I’ve worn most of the finish off the neck in the two years I’ve had it, so it feels great. Both basses sound essentially the same. They’ve got the growl of a P-Bass, but they play more like Jazz basses. I like that it’s not the most common bass to see people playing. That’s always a nice bonus. As far as style, taste, and tone go, Cliff Burton was pretty untouchable. There’s a reason why Metallica moved to San Francisco just to get him in the band. His snarling fuzz wah sound is amazing. It can’t really be emulated. The dude also wore nothing but denim, which always gets points in my book. We’ve just released our debut album, Higher Power, and we’ll be doing lots of touring. www.facebook.com/thedirtynil

GeaR Basses Gibson Grabber eFFeCts None aMPs traynor YC-810 8x10 cab, traynor Monoblock B, traynor Monoblock II, sunn Concert Bass

dAvid nArdi The DIrTy nIl

None of the bands I was listening to when I was starting to play ever played five- or six-string basses, and I’ve never really seen a five- or six-string bass that I particularly liked. Nothing against people that use them, it’s just not something I’ve ever felt the need or desire for. I’ve

kel The emPTy PaGe

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

Bass squier Jaguar eFFeCts electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff aMPs ashdown MaG300

© Giz

014

GeaR

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

012-014, 016 Bassicallys_rev4.indd 14

23/03/2016 13:57

019.indd 19

23/03/2016 12:30

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

Mike Prince Dr Meaker

© Simeon Boys-Layton

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

GEAR Basses Gretsch White Falcon, Gretsch Broadkaster, Ernie Ball Music Man Effects None Amps Various

Daniel Manzano Boyce Avenue

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

016

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

012-014, 016 Bassicallys_rev4.indd 16

23/03/2016 13:58

THE LOWDOWN

The Luthier

Scott Surine of Surine Basses completes his column on the making of a state-of-the-art bass guitar

W

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

www.surinebasses.com

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

017 luthier_rev3KP.indd 17

017

23/03/2016 12:06

THE LOWDOWN

Rockschool

Applied Improvisation with

Rockschool

Nik Preston at Rockschool discusses teaching (and learning) music

T

hroughout the series so far we’ve covered a lot of harmonic ground, providing a sound platform from which to develop fretboard knowledge, aural skills, chord/scale theory and ultimately develop as improvisers and more rounded musicians. Something that underpins a lot of the teaching methodology that practitioners like Joe Hubbard, myself and many of the great players and educators found in BGM use, is our experience of teaching a great many players, be it in universities, conservatoires, colleges or privately. You’ll hear lots of theory on how various individuals learn: VAK, or sometimes VARK, is one such theory, based on research that seemed to show that many students have a propensity towards visual, aural or kinaesthetic stimuli to learn new skills or knowledge. Different teachers have different theories, but often a great teacher is not just someone with a great command of the subject matter, but also one that can assess the particular needs of the student. From my own perspective, there are a multitude of factors that influence how someone will learn most effectively: in certain cases the person that develops the fastest is often the one that has come across the most effective methods for themselves as individuals, or a great educator who can join the dots for them. In educational terms, an individual that prefers to develop devoid of tuition is referred to as an ‘autodidact’, and to be honest, we all need to be autodidactic to a certain degree to achieve in contemporary music. My point here is that unless we’ve drawn these conclusions for ourselves, the best approach is to immerse ourselves in as many different opportunities for learning and development as possible, and ultimately start to choose those which resonate the most. The world is full of musicians who gave up on their aspirations all too early, because the teaching methods that they were introduced to weren’t effective for them as individuals and subsequently they started to doubt their own potential – or what is often ill-defined as ‘talent’. I’m a passionate believer that your true ‘talent’ is your ability to stay focused, patient and open-minded. Every musician, no matter how great a player they may be, can find they have any number of weak points in the early stages of their development. The majority of the areas in which we need to develop to be able to perform, compose and improvise are actually skills – fundamentals that can be learned and refined, which many will refer to as talent. The idea that talent is

the defining factor in your chance of success is one that I have seen demoralise less experienced players who don’t believe they have ‘it’: it also gives lazier instructors a reason not to focus on a particular student as much as another. Very rarely have I come across any student who could not achieve at a professional level if they would only be methodical, address their weaknesses, find ways to motivate themselves and ultimately increase their own level of confidence. Confidence increases with competence, and competence will always come with dedication and a clear mind. If clarity is something that eludes you, as it does for many of us from time to time, that’s a good time to return to the fundamentals. Above all, stay true to your own personal goals – returning to your favourite records will also bring you back to focus quite quickly. Here’s a concept: each of us should always aim to be our own favourite player. Although at first that may seem to be unachievable (and it may well be), there is logic in that statement. It is only each of us, as individuals, who truly knows what we want to be able to play and study. As such, it follows that if we make the choices to study our favourite players and repertoire, we ultimately create a style or voice that is the sum total of a whole host of our favourite voices. If you’re not sure, look at someone such as BGM’s own Steve Lawson. It takes courage and dedication to chart such an individual path, assimilating all of the various musical influences that have been instrumental in forging that unique voice, and I’m sure he hasn’t been without his detractors along the way. How does this help me improvise, I hear you say? Well, this is not unique to improvisation, it is applicable to all areas of our development. Whether you’re a Grade 1 sight reader, a Grade 5 improviser or a postgraduate level composer, if you’re prepared to study, imitate and analyse the music of your idols, and you are determined to stay the course, you’ll quickly find that the term ‘talent’ takes on a whole new meaning. In my next column in two months’ time I’ll outline some potential ideas for developing a practice routine from which many of you will benefit. I have employed this approach with many students, of all different instruments and stylistic preferences, a great many of whom are now professional musicians. Until next month, stay focused, be patient and try at the end of each practice session to spend some time being purely creative – it works wonders.

“THE WORLD IS FULL OF MUSICIANS WHO GAVE UP ON THEIR ASPIRATIONS ALL TOO EARLY, BECAUSE THE TEACHING METHODS THAT THEY WERE INTRODUCED TO WEREN’T EFFECTIVE FOR THEM AS INDIVIDUALS AND SUBSEQUENTLY THEY STARTED TO DOUBT THEIR OWN POTENTIAL”

018

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

018 Rockschool_rev3KP.indd 18

22/03/2016 12:18

027.indd 27

23/03/2016 12:31

THE LOWDOWN

THE MU BASSCHAT

The MU and Basschat

Plan your rehearsal space carefully, say the Musicians’ Union

A

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

020

The live scene for bass players – explored by Basschat’s Silvia Bluejay

T

he constantly evolving music business triggers changes in the live performance scene, especially at local level, where most Basschatters are active. In General Discussion we see posts bemoaning the decline or the death of the live scene: will thousands of musicians end up playing in their bedrooms, or posting videos on Youtube for the enjoyment of disembodied audiences, instead of going out to pubs and clubs, both as punters and as gigging bands? Or are we needlessly panicking and being overdramatic? The debate is on, primarily in the regularly updated thread ‘Is the live scene dying?’ One view expressed by some posters is that, with easily available home entertainment through the TV and the internet, fewer people are going to the pub for an evening out. Many small music venues are closing down as a result, especially in desirable areas, where the land once occupied by a pub can be sold to developers at a massive profit. At surviving venues, more and more ‘proper’ music nights are axed as they are too expensive to sustain. More often than not, ‘live music’ means a lone singer with an acoustic guitar, or even a DJ playing recorded tracks. However, other Basschatters find that in their neck of the woods there are in fact too many music pubs chasing too few punters: some pubs offer poor-quality bands, are quickly abandoned by discerning audiences and soon fail, while others select the best bands and thrive. Another group reckons that the overall number of music pubs in their area is not changing at all, in that there are as many pubs starting to offer live music as there are pubs axing it. So, short of becoming pub owners ourselves (there’s a thought…), what can we do to keep hold of our live audiences and, as a consequence, our local music venues? Basschat’s collective wisdom suggests that, with more and more music acts vying for attention, bands need to identify what their target audience is, and try to tailor their setlist accordingly. Spread the word about the band’s existence, which does include being active on the much-maligned social media. Oh, and don’t forget to be musically proficient, too! Nobody wants to cringe while hearing their favourite songs played live. Some younger Basschatters are unimpressed by the plethora of unentertaining pub covers bands playing the same hackneyed classics while gazing at their fretting hands, with long, awkward silences between songs. It’s far preferable to play songs that the audience recognise, as long as they’re not sick of them. Finding those is a hitand-miss process, so gauge each audience’s reaction to each song over time, and drop less successful numbers from your setlist. Also, be entertaining on stage: some friendly banter with the band and crowd can do wonders for the atmosphere. Adding a light show, however basic, also makes the place more welcoming and tempt in passers-by. Other, more subtle changes noticed by Basschatters on the live scene are, on the one hand, the trend towards venues booking acoustic covers duos and trios, or unplugged bands and requiring the cripplingly low volume imposed by sound limiters in residential areas. On the other hand, there is growing demand for originals acts, which may be due to many of them accepting ‘exposure’ as opposed to ‘sterling’ as payment. What’s your own experience? Let us know on the forum.

www.basschat.co.uk

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

020 basschat mu_rev3KP.indd 20

23/03/2016 13:54

021.indd 21

23/03/2016 12:25

Chic , n o i s a c c o e mark th ll that the o T . s d r a w d rnard E ated once and for a e B t s i s s a b c h of Chi man who demonstr ath the disco ball... t a e d y l e m i t e the un s the legacy of the e moshpit, but bene c n i s s r a e y It’s been 20 Daryl Easlea celebrate t in the jazz club or th biographer bass-lines are found no coolest reat claims are made, often within these pages, as to who is the greatest bass player of all time. To these ears, the answer is simple: it is Bernard Edwards, who was, between the years of 1976 and 1983 and 1992 to 1996, the bass player in a group called Chic. Good heavens, just listen to ‘Thinking Of You’ by Sister Sledge, or what is simply one of the most influential bass parts of all time, ‘Good Times’, from Chic’s 1979 album Risqué. They are, when you break them down, ridiculously straightforward, and the latter, especially, is a certain kind of player’s ‘Smoke On The Water’ when testing a new bass. But to play them right there in the pocket, with all that air around them, is very difficult indeed, as many will testify.  Edwards performed with elegant simplicity. The economy of his playing was reflected in his personality: while his partner in Chic, Nile Rodgers, was always the more garrulous man of the night, Edwards was laconic and private – the one who returned home to his young family rather than hitting the clubs. Not that he didn’t have his party animal streak: he at least tried to get into the shindig at New York’s prestigious Studio 54 nightclub on New Year’s Eve 1977, but he and Rodgers were infamously turned away. The duo were outraged, as they had been invited as guests of Grace Jones, and while their early hits ‘Dance

G

022

Dance Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah)’ and ‘Everybody Dance’ were wowing the clubbers inside, they were denied access. As they turned up their collars to the snowy cold, Rodgers and Edwards bought some champagne, cocaine and marijuana and decided to throw their own private party back at Rodgers’ apartment on 52nd Street. Picking up their instruments the pair started to jam, screaming the phrase ‘Ah, fuck off!’ Soon, it had mutated into ‘Awww... freak out!’ and they had the skeleton of ‘Le Freak’, which went on to become Atlantic’s biggest selling single ever when released in the US on 10 July, 1978. Within a year, with that one single tune, Rodgers and Edwards were to capture the zeitgeist like two funked-up Samuel Pepyses, recording for posterity ‘54’ in the lyrics: “Like the days of stomping at the Savoy, Now we freak, oh what a joy, Just come on down to 54, Find a spot out on the floor...” ‘Le Freak’ is one of those gorgeous records that never fails to grab you. Its irresistibility is due to how much time Edwards and Rodgers spent working on it, with a trusted ensemble of players. Chic worked as a band with regular players, as opposed to the faceless session musicians who formed the backbone of late-70s dance. The works of Chic were painstakingly constructed at the Power Station Studios in

downtown New York, produced by Rodgers and Edwards as the Chic Organization Ltd and engineered by Bob Clearmountain. ‘Le Freak’ is a testament to the quality and space of those records: there is no bass at all in the chorus, but the fluid way Edwards effortlessly reintroduces it at the hook’s dénouement creates an air of pathos and excitement. The instrumental passage is a repeated eight-note bass motif, nagging, insistent, and conveying more than a thousand bass solos. There is not a huge amount on record about Edwards’ upbringing. He was born on 31 October 1952 in Greenville, North Carolina. His father Wilson was a handyman, while his mother Mamie was a homemaker. The family relocated to New York for work when Edwards was 10 years old. One of the key reasons why there is little recorded detail regarding Edwards’ childhood is that he simply would not talk about it. His eldest son, Bernard Jr, told me in 2003: “It seemed to be something he tried to avoid. I wish I knew why. My dad was just like everybody saw him in the world, a very private person, and if it was anything that was going to make him emotional, he would rather be quiet about it than to deal with it.” Edwards had an enormous interest in music from the very beginning. He played reeds at his school in Flushing, took up tenor sax in junior high and moved to electric bass at the High School of Performing Arts in New York. He took over the bass when the bassist in the school

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

022-026 Bernard_rev5.indd 22

23/03/2016 17:05

BASSISTS

Bernard Edwards, Chic

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

© Getty Images

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

022-026 Bernard_rev4.indd 23

023

23/03/2016 16:08

© Eckie

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

group was drafted to Vietnam. “The bass is part of the foundation, the driver in the band,” Bernard Jr said, “and my dad was definitely a natural born leader. Any chance to be a part of the foundation, my dad would be all for that.” Edwards and Rodgers started working together in the mid-70s when they formed a friendship on the New York music scene. Rodgers was a precocious talent who by this period had been a Black Panther, jammed with Jimi Hendrix and taken acid with Timothy Leary. He had also begun playing in the Big Apple Band, who backed ‘I’m Doin’ Fine Now’ hitmakers New York City, and got his friend Edwards into the band with him. After hatching a plan to marry the largerthan-life stage antics of Kiss with the glamour of Roxy Music, Chic was eventually born.  “I went to see Roxy. I thought ‘This shit is happening’,” Rodgers told me in 2001. “If we could take this sophisticated, cerebral stuff, put a beat to it, make it black and our own thing, we could really be happening, too. We also idolised Kiss. When they were on stage, they had a certain vibe and image, and once they left that stage, you had absolutely no idea who they were. That’s what

024

Chic was like. Our costumes made us look like bankers and businesspeople. To us, it was just as over-the-top and flamboyant as Kiss.” Within five years, Chic were number one on the Billboard Hot 100. With Tony Thompson on drums, Alfa Anderson and Luci Martin on vocals, they were a mixed-gender soul and funk band who rode by way of the disco express. The choice of name was apposite: a black band modelled on a white band, calling themselves ‘Chic’, located blackness as glamorous and sophisticated. In the 1950s and 60s it was civil rights; in the 60s and 70s it was the Panthers – and now Rodgers and Edwards were saying “We are ‘Chic’ – we are beautiful people.” In their tuxedos and evening wear, they neither dressed nor dumbed down. Rodgers and Edwards married the string washes of Philly to the funk of JBs and P-Funk. The Chic sound was sparse, nuanced and often bleak. The songs would evolve from jams. “Bernard and I would just start to play. If anyone were around us, they would go, ‘Wow, it sounds like Chic!’” recalled Rodgers, adding “We were a small rhythm section that had to turn these big orchestral dance records into something live that

audiences would appreciate. I would rewrite parts so they could have more of a groove.” After hawking their first single, ‘Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)’ round for months, the group was signed to Atlantic Records in September 1977. Taking its ‘Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah’ refrain from the harrowing 1969 film They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, ‘Dance Dance Dance’ sold a million copies in a month. The follow-up, ‘Everybody Dance’, reinforced their popularity. This song opened with Edwards’ most explosively exciting bass part, which at first sounds incredibly complex – and then you realise there is hardly anything to it. From then on in, Chic enjoyed two years at the very apex of the charts, with hits such as ‘I Want Your Love’, ‘My Forbidden Lover’ and ‘Good Times’ – the latter’s remarkable bass part later recreated by the Sugar Hill Gang for the groundbreaking ‘Rapper’s Delight’. When disco crashed out of fashion, Chic fell quickly from grace. Rodgers recorded bass on David Bowie’s song ‘Without You’, on the Let’s Dance album from 1983, and also on Madonna’s album Like A Virgin a year later. After spending the rest of the 80s apart, a period in which Edwards produced the Power Station and Robert Palmer’s Addicted To Love among others, Rodgers and Edwards reunited in the early 90s on record with Chic-Ism, an acknowledgement of how their sound had been incorporated into house music. Sadly, the album failed to chime with the public. It all came to an abrupt end in April 1996. Chic were playing a series of concerts in Tokyo, and Edwards was suffering from pneumonia, but true to his professional roots, he refused to cancel the performance. At the side of the Budokan stage, on the final night of the concerts, Edwards reached for Rodgers and held his lifelong friend close. Fighting back tears, the bassist said, ‘Man, we did it. This music is bigger than us’. Rodgers replied, ‘What are you coming up with this philosophical stuff for, Sophocles?’ Edwards whispered back, ‘The music has a life beyond us – it almost has nothing to do with you and me at all now’. The rest of the touring party departed for America the following day. However, Edwards was too ill to travel and spent the day recuperating. Rodgers stayed behind and checked on his partner that night before he went out to eat. He asked him if he needed anything, and Edwards assured his friend that everything would be fine. ‘It’s all right. I just need to sleep,’ he said. They were his final words. At 1:30am on 18 April 1996, Edwards died of pneumonia. It was only as the next century dawned that the influence of Chic was duly noticed and appreciated. By the middle of the second decade, they were positively adored once more, given an enormous lift by Rodgers’ ubiquity and the Chicby-numbers homage, ‘Get Lucky’ by Daft Punk.  Listen to Bernard Edwards’ playing; you probably hear it on a regular basis. It remains a thing of great beauty. Daryl Easlea is the author of Everybody Dance: Chic And The Politics Of Disco (Helter Skelter, 2004).

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

022-026 Bernard_rev4.indd 24

23/03/2016 16:09

BASSISTS

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

F

incorporating this rhythmically percussive style into his impressive chord repertoire, creating what he would later describe as ‘Nile’s style’. This didn’t simply influence the Chic sound; it would inform the sound of some of the most popular records of the 20th century. Chucking aside, most of Edwards’ bass-lines were played using a conventional fingerstyle, with his slapping technique only making an appearance when the song demanded it – or, more precisely, when the groove demanded it. This is typical of the approach Edwards and Rodgers took with the music they created: keeping the parts as simple as possible and serving the song. It was this mindset that separated Edwards and Rodgers from the rest of the disco crowd, where a kitchensink production was often de rigueur. When it comes to basses, ‘Bernard’ and ‘Stingray’ go together like ‘gin’ and ‘tonic’. However, this association is misleading, often overlooking his regular use of Fender Precisions. In fact, Edwards’ first bass was a Fender Jazz: to see a rare clip of him playing one, check out a clip on Youtube of the Big Apple Band playing a cover of the Bee Gees’ ‘You Should Be Dancing’ in 1976. The majority, if not all, of Chic’s 1977 self-titled debut album was played using this Jazz and a Precision – and you can hear it. Indeed, the

one live clip I’ve managed to find of Chic playing their debut single ‘Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)’ shows Edwards chucking away on a white Precision. The Stingray didn’t come into play until Chic’s second and third albums, 1978’s C’est Chic and 1979’s Risqué, along with Sister Sledge’s 1979 album We Are Family, for which Edwards recorded his bass tracks by DI-ing straight into the desk. While Edwards played basses by G&L, Spector and Sadowsky in later years, his live set-up in the early days centred around his Jazz, Precision and Stingray, which were usually plugged into an Ampeg SVT and 810 rig. Edwards was also partial to playing a BC Rich Eagle in the late 70s and early 80s, apparently because of its pleasing aesthetics more than any tonal preference. I’m pretty sure you could have handed Edwards the worst bass in the world and he’d have made it sound fantastic. But what strings did he use? I ask this question with tongue firmly in cheek, because nobody seems to know for sure – but I’m pretty sure Edwards was the person who cared the least. Duran Duran bassist John Taylor inherited Edwards’ ‘Good Times’ Stingray, which had an old set of roundwounds on it. Rumour has it that JT’s bass tech took it upon himself to replace these hallowed strings. I asked Taylor about this and his reply said it all: “Bernard would have said, ‘Ah, it doesn’t matter.’ He wasn’t precious about that sort of thing.” The bass gods broke the mould when they made Bernard Edwards. No other player has truly sounded like him, before or since. And all those bass-lines… it’s easy to forget that he wrote some of the most influential parts of all time. Can you imagine the world without ‘Good Times’? That in itself is his greatest legacy.

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

© Tina K

rom reading BGM’s Bassically Speaking feature each month, it’s abundantly clear that Bernard Edwards is regarded by bassists as one of the greatest bassists of all time – and deservedly so. In an age when there appears to be an abundance of technically gifted players out there who, as their respective Youtube channels testify, are capable of mindboggling bass-gymnastics, rare is the bassist who seamlessly combines killer technique with a God-given aptitude for grooves. To this end, Edwards was top of the class. Sure, many of us can play perfectly credible versions of selected works from Edwards’ back catalogue, but playing anything that involves his legendary chucking technique (using his forefinger as a guitarist uses a plectrum) is an altogether different sport. Few of us will ever truly master this unorthodox style without dedicating many hours of practice, and acquiring an index finger that’ll look as if it’s lost an argument with a lathe. It is, however, worth pointing out that while Edwards ‘chucked’ his hand over basses like a wizard waving his wand, he was no one-trick pony. He used the technique he is best known for on surprisingly few tracks, perhaps most notably on Chic gems such as ‘Everybody Dance’, ‘Dance Dance Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah)’ and ‘Happy Man’. Still, this hasn’t stopped thousands of bassists across the globe obsessing over these sublime creations for almost 40 years. Edwards was a guitarist before he switched to bass, but not wanting to use a plectrum he’d play as if he was holding one, with the tip of his index finger striking the strings as he strummed a non-stop rhythm of sixteenth notes. This allowed him to flirt with time with uncommon finesse, instantaneously changing the dynamic of a song’s groove to devastating effect despite being subtle to the ear. Jumping on and off the beat with such apparent effortlessness allowed for deceptively complex syncopations, not unlike a boxer switching from orthodox to southpaw to deliver an unpredictable punch. Just listen to the instrumental section of ‘Happy Man’ and try playing it using traditional fingerstyle. Good luck with that! You could do it with a pick, of course, but the attack will sound completely different. Edwards showed his chucking technique to his musical partner Nile Rodgers during their pre-Chic days, when the pair played together in the Big Apple Band. After taking a couple of days to get a feel for it, Rodgers immediately began

Bernard Edwards, Chic

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

022-026 Bernard_rev4.indd 25

025

23/03/2016 16:09

BASSISTS

Bernard Edwards, Chic

the band’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I feel the same about you – you’re a natural bandleader’. He asked me my name and then said, ‘Are you that dude I talked to about putting together a band? Oh wow. I didn’t know you were that funky!’ Ever since that moment, we were never really apart. Even when Chic broke up I called him to record with Madonna and Bowie: we were always friends. Tell us about Bernard’s work with David Bowie. I had a bet with David that Bernard would knock out the song he played on from the Let’s Dance album in 15 minutes, and Bernard did it in one take. Afterwards he looked at me and Bowie with a little bit of an attitude, and said, ‘Is that what you motherfuckers were looking for?’ Ha ha! I said to Bowie, ‘You got any problems with that part, David?’ and he said ‘Sounds great to me!’ I looked at my watch – and Bernard had done the take in 14 minutes exactly.

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

I

t’s been 20 years to the month since Bernard died, Nile. What are your last memories of him? I love you guys for putting Bernard on the cover! The last night Bernard played with me, who was he on stage with? Steve Winwood, Simon Le Bon, Sister Sledge, and me, his best friend. He told an interviewer at the time, ‘I never have more fun than when I’m playing with Nile. I like playing with other people, don’t get me wrong, but no one is as much fun as Nile. I’m his bass player and he’s my guitar player’. That made me cry, but it was exactly how it was.

026

How did you meet? We became friends the first night we met in person. However, the first time we spoke on the phone, he told me to lose his number! He told me never to call him again and hung up the phone. I was a hippie and I had told him I wanted to put together a band which combined Fairport Convention, the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Country Joe & The Fish. But when we met at a gig, we didn’t know who the other one was, and I just plugged in and started playing with the band. He and I organised the musicians between us and told them what to do, and at the end of the night he said ‘Man, I really dig what you did. I really love how you were leading

What did you and Bernard have in common? We had serious respect for each other’s ability to make music. One thing that was absolutely certain in my mind was that there was never, ever a job that I couldn’t call Bernard up to play bass on, and that whichever artist he played with would be completely blown away. And that’s how he felt about me. He would tell people, ‘You want some unique guitar parts that are going to make the music groove? Call my boy Nile!’ We were proud of each other. I’d say to people, ‘You want to see some serious bass playing? Watch this.’ Did you and Bernard ever swap instruments? We would swap instruments sometimes, to teach each other songs. I would say ‘I hear the bass-line going like this’ and he would do the same for the guitar part. He wrote songs on the guitar, too, because he was a guitar player first. That’s why used that weird chucking style where he acted like he was holding a pick but he was using his forefinger. Did he use tape to protect his finger? Nah! The blood would just drip down. At the end of the Chic era at the end of the 70s, we had hit records by Chic and Sister Sledge, so our concerts became very long, and some of them would have a lot of chucking, like ‘Everybody Dance’ and ‘Happy Man’. Many a night, we’d finish the show, bro, and there’d be a little pool of blood on his shoes or dripping down his bass. Just try to play the bass parts on those songs. Knock yourself out and try and play them!

Nile Rodgers and Chic will be performing at Nile’s Fold Festival at Fulham Palace in London on 24 to 26 June. Info: www.foldfestival.com. Win a pair of tickets to the event by entering the competition on page nine.

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

022-026 Bernard_rev4.indd 26

23/03/2016 16:09

015.indd 15

23/03/2016 12:28

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

028

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

028-030 Hardgroove_rev6.indd 28

23/03/2016 16:10

BASSISTS

Brian ‘Hardgroove’ Hargrove

hen an already established and hugely successful band recruits a new member, it’s always going to be difficult for the arriving musician. Fans have an expectation of how the music ought to be played, so the newcomer either has to subsume their ego and replicate the parts people want to hear, or risk messing with the magic by imposing their style on the collective. For Brian ‘Hardgroove’ Hargrove, though, the problems were magnified when, in 2002, he joined an iconic, world-famous band who had never had a bass player before. “I didn’t approach it, firstly, as a musician,” says Hardgroove who, nearly two decades into the band’s existence, became the first bassist and musical director of a live band incarnation of Public Enemy. “I approached it first as a producer. That was the only way.” A long-term fan of the band, multi-instrumentalist and producer Hardgroove understood how their music worked. Public Enemy’s first four albums, released between 1988 and 1991, earned the band a huge global audience, the strident politics of leader Chuck D’s lyrics as important to their fans as the dense collages of samples crafted by their production team, the Bomb Squad. After 15 years of touring in the conventional hip-hop format – rappers using instrumental backing tracks, with a DJ the only musician performing live on stage – Chuck had decided to take the group’s shows in a new direction. After meeting Hardgroove through mutual friends, and working together on a side project called Fine Arts Militia, Chuck invited Brian to reimagine the Public Enemy hits and work out how they could be performed by a full band. “You have to approach the music as an instrument – you have to be the instrument,” he explains. “The instruments that played this music were programmed. There were samples thrown on top of samples, maybe in an experimental fashion, and I’m sure the Bomb Squad put things together and stripped things away 50 times before they got what they wanted. That explains why some things feel a bit weird. But it works.”

W

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

028-030 Hardgroove_rev6.indd 29

029

23/03/2016 16:10

BASSISTS

Brian ‘Hardgroove’ Hargrove

"It's the best-sounding instrument of any I own" After accepting the job, Hardgroove went back to the Public Enemy records he already loved, and methodically deconstructed them, reverse-engineering the sounds with the aim of recreating the intricately assembled songs using a completely different set of musical equipment. Along the way, he discovered that, often, what’s left out is as important as what’s put in. “For example, ‘Fight The Power’ has this huge, what I call ‘funky hole’ in the middle of it,” he explains. “You get a big snare drum, then a ghost note which is the hole, which would normally be the four. That’s one of the main powers of ‘Fight The Power’. It’s not for the audience to know or even care about it – they just need to move to it.” How Hardgroove reached a point where he was the perfect musician to take on the task is a story in itself. He remembers seeing Earth, Wind & Fire on their first arena tour in 1974, at the Nassau Coliseum on his native Long Island, and thinking music might be what he wanted to do with his life. Up to that point, the 14-year-old’s ambition had been to become a police officer. “I remember looking up at the stage, and I realised that music was such a positive force on me that it would be better for me to be up there and help people before they get in trouble,” he says. “As a police officer I’d be dealing with people after they’d committed a crime or been victimised by it, so that’s all negative, but up there I could help inspire people in a positive direction, as music had done for me.”

030

He came to bass late, arriving at the instrument via guitar – on his mother’s orders. “My older brother had a very fleeting interest in the bass, so I wanted a bass because I wanted to follow in some footsteps he never took,” Hardgroove recalls. “But my mother was wise enough to say, ‘I won’t buy you a bass until you learn how to play guitar.’ Because my mother’s a pianist, she realised the inherent limitation of just learning the bass. I needed to learn an accompanying instrument.” With a summer course of guitar tuition duly completed, Hardgroove’s mum sent his dad out to buy Brian a bass. His Carlo Robelli Fender copy cost $221 – “I remember because that’s exactly what Joe Frazier weighed throughout every fight he had that year” – but by this stage he had already found a place in a local Long Island band, as a drummer. Bass became the focus, though, because he couldn’t afford a drum kit. He was given his nickname in 1985 by John Golden, who at the time was bassist for Meat Loaf. Playing in a succession of bands, in a wide array of styles, Hardgroove wound up at Chuck D’s door via the short-lived rock-rap group Confrontation Camp. Already a huge Public Enemy fan, he was spotted by Chuck’s friend, and former Confrontation Camp leader, Kyle Jason, during a Long Island show. He became more involved with the PE machinery in the early 2000s, and collaborated with Chuck on the Fine Arts Militia album – essentially a series of Chuck’s political writings set to rockflavoured, full-band music, which Hardgroove wrote, arranged and produced – in 2001.

During the preparation of Public Enemy’s 2002 album Revolverlution, plans for a new incarnation of the group to perform on their extensive global tours were put in place. Known as the baNNed, the live musicians were first intended to take some of the weight off Chuck’s shoulders while his co-rapper and on-stage foil, Flavor Flav, was in prison. The experiment proved a success, and Public Enemy continue to tour with them today, although Hardgroove stepped down in 2011 to pursue other opportunities. He certainly hasn’t been idle. Through a digital radio show where he got to interview some of his musical heroes, Hardgroove has ended up working with two of them. He spent part of this year recording with B-52s vocalist Fred Schneider – with Hardgroove playing every instrument except saxophone. And in September, at the Future Music Forum in Barcelona, his other big project of the year was unveiled: a competition to find a vocalist for music he’s made with Stewart Copeland. “It’s a global search for a vocalist good enough to be in a band with a rhythm section comprised of the Police and Public Enemy,” Hardgroove says of the competition. It’s being billed as “the world’s biggest audition”, and will see vocalists submit performances via the WholeWorldBand.com app/website. Sponsors include Gibson, Sennheiser and Yamaha. Getting Copeland to agree wasn’t difficult. “He’s 62, but he’s like an 18-year-old,” Hardgroove says. “He’s game, he’s energetic, he’s up for anything – he’s everything you would think he was.” After years of playing an original Steinberger (“serial number 458”, since sold) he began using Gibson Steinberger Synapses, “which sound better than the original but they’re nowhere near as bulletproof.” His current guitar is a $3,000 custom model, called the Colonel, made by California-based Watson, modelled on Firebird and Thunderbird guitars. “The electronics are brilliant,” he says. “It’s the best-sounding instrument of any I own – of any of the drums, or the guitars that I have. I had it made for my work with PE and also my tours with Bootsy Collins, but I’m gonna ask Watson to do another run, with less high-end electronics. It’s very sensitive, and I don’t like travelling with it.” He also uses TC Electronic amps and effects, in particular the BG250-115 Toneprint-enabled combo and the Ditto X2 Looper. His primary bass’s name comes from one of the more curious accolades Hardgroove has collected over the years. In 2008, the state of New Mexico (8 May) and the city of Santa Fe (7 June) recognised one of their favourite sons by creating two Brian Hardgroove Days. At the same time, the clearly still delighted musician was appointed Colonel aide de camp to New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. “During the Richardson administration I had open access to his office, but it’s a lifetime title,” Hardgroove chuckles. “I can put it on my letterhead, on my driver’s licence – on any official document: Colonel Brian Hardgroove!”

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

028-030 Hardgroove_rev6.indd 30

23/03/2016 16:10

031.indd 31

23/03/2016 16:06

london bAss guitAr show

2016

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

he London Bass Guitar Show attracts manufacturers and distributors from around the globe, and this year’s show was no exception. A perfect example is Tomm Stanley from Stonefield Musical Instrument Company, who had travelled all the way from New Zealand with his new range of instruments – and thankfully his journey wasn’t wasted, as he explained. “We’ve had so much great feedback on the instruments, which has been gratifying, but the high point of the show for me was having Michael Manring come and play our

T

032

basses on the stand. We’ve had phenomenal interest in what is a new company displaying new instruments.” Each year seems to attract new faces along with the established exhibitors, but one exhibitor who has gone from newbie to seasoned regular is Marc Vanderkley, whose range of bass amplification has proved immensely popular since his first appearance at the inaugural show five years ago. As he tells us, “In 2011, nobody knew me, and now my stand is busy all day on both days. Saturday was crazy, but the whole show has been very good: the single 1x12 cabinets still appear to be very popular and make up 80 per cent of the cabinets I sell.”

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

032-036 LBGS_rev4_NR.indd 32

23/03/2016 15:58

london bAss guitAr show 2016

The Report

Adding to the international flavour was Marvit Guitars from Italy, with their Modern range of basses catching many an eye and ear – expect a review in these pages very soon. Chris May from Overwater hadn’t exhibited at the show for four years, but with some bass exotica in tow, instruments were leaving his clutches from the moment the doors opened. “Saturday was completely manic,” he says, “but it’s been a very worthwhile exercise for us. One customer walked in on Saturday morning and bought a bass off the stand immediately, and we even had an online order from the US for a bass we had here based on photos we’d uploaded on Friday evening. That’s how it works these days! It’s been a very productive weekend, very enjoyable and thoroughly worthwhile.” Both Spector and Peavey could be found on the Barnes & Mullins stand, with Stuart Spector in attendance to offer information, flanked by an array of Spector Signature, Euro LX, Legend and SpectorCore models.

“2016 is the company’s 40th anniversary, and we’re celebrating!” he said. Federico Malaman and Lorenzo Feliciati (on a break, and sharing a bag of crisps) paused to have a better look. To the side of the stand, DR Strings showcased a selection including their impossible-to-ignore coloured series. B&M also introduced Aguilar’s new SL410x cab: bass lovers were also treated to one of Alpher Instruments’ jewels plugged into it. The other half of the stand was devoted to Spector, with Stuart talking to customers throughout the weekend. The Peavey stand had the new MiniMEGA, MiniMAX and Headliner amplifiers on display, all of which garnered significant interest from visitors to their stand. Jason How of Rotosound could be seen darting across the exhibition hall, and when we finally caught up with him for a chat, he had this to say of the whole weekend. “The show has been great for us this year, really busy – we’ve seen lots of people and lots of

Robert T�ujillo The Metallica and Mass Mental man talks about the inspirations of his film Jaco... I’ve been very hands-on with the film. I financed the whole project and believe me, that was a challenge, because I’m not [Metallica founders] Lars Ulrich or James Hetfield and I didn’t write ‘Enter Sandman’! I’m just like anybody else: I have a family to feed and bills to pay, and I actually ran out of money at one stage. Fortunately we got it done with a lot of love and a lot of support, and I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve achieved with this film. It needed to be made: Jaco’s legacy is too important for all of us. I saw Jaco play four times. In 1985 I went to a guitar show in Hollywood, not knowing that Jaco was going to be there, but I walked into the room and there he was! I was speechless. I sat down right in front of him. He turned up his bass amp and started making all this feedback. He was looking at everybody like he was about to go to war. I swear, he was staring at us, right in the eyes, like he was saying, ‘I got you now. You’ve heard the rumours: well, I’m here, and I’m gonna kick your ass!’ Like Jaco, I was a no-rules kind of guy: I liked a lot of the English bands like Bow Wow Wow and bassists like Mick Karn from Japan, Pino Palladino and Nick Beggs from Kajagoogoo, who now plays with Steven Wilson. Mark King of Level 42 was a massive influence on me too. He jammed with my band Mass Mental at the LBGS last night, and I hadn’t met him before that. I thought to myself, ‘Why would Mark King come and play with us?’ but he came down and played with us – and his bass playing completely blew my mind! Interview: Joel McIver

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

032-036 LBGS_rev4_NR.indd 33

033

23/03/2016 15:59

Stuart Spector The great luthier shares his wisdom No stranger to the London Bass Guitar Show is the venerable Stuart Spector, all the way from Woodstock in upstate New York. Stuart was quick to express his excitement at being here and his gratitude to the public who showed a keen interest in his Spector products. “It’s been a wonderful show, the attendance on Saturday was extraordinary, it was just a beautiful crowd of people. We had a great opportunity to meet and talk with them and show them various things, all of which made it totally worthwhile coming over here. This is very much going to become a part of my annual itinerary, because it makes great sense to come to the show and then hop over to the continent and spend time visiting my distributors – so it’s a productive annual jaunt.” With a constantly changing product range, Stuart was pleased that various instruments from the Spector catalogue were raising eyebrows at the show. “It was really gratifying that people were interested in the whole range, but were most surprised with the Legend 8 Classic and the SpectorCore instruments. It was great to see them try those out. We’ll begin delivering the Rudy Sarzo signature model, which features a Jazz-type body but with all of the Spector neck construction. He checked out our Euro basses and loved the sound of them, but wanted a different body, so that’s where the whole impetus came from. He is an extraordinarily wonderful person, a great musician and a great guy.” And that’s not all folks, the team at Spector are also working on a 40th Anniversary Euro LX model to commemorate the company’s forthcoming celebrations. As Stuart explains: “We’re going to be doing relatively short runs of it and rotate the different finishes. The first edition of it has solid maple wings with a red transparent finish, but the entire neck section is painted opaque black with the number 40 inlaid into the fingerboard at the twelfth fret. We’re also working on a new USA single cutaway, through-neck instrument and a short scale, extremely lightweight bass which will probably be produced in Asia.” Interview: Mike Brooks

endorsees too. Our foil packaging has received nothing but good comments, and we’re happy to be paperless, cardboardless and moistureless. Now we can get the products to the customer anywhere in the world in perfect condition. Sales of flatwound strings are very high: they were used on so many big albums that people are rediscovering that sound.” Schack Guitars has the ring of familiarity, due in no small part to their excellent circuitry and pickup packages, now used by many manufacturers. Having recently relaunched with

034

a full instrument range, this was the company’s first appearance at the show. Jorg Feser was on hand to discuss all things Schack with us. “The show has been amazingly good, and the feedback has been awesome: for a lot of people, this has been their first contact with the Schack name. The neck connection is attracting a lot of people, and we’ve had lots of compliments on the finishes too – plus people like being able to dial in certain frequencies via the circuitry.” The Markbass stand was exceptionally busy on both days, with some excellent demonstrations of the current product range. Over at Strings & Things, there was much anticipation as the threepiece female band including BGM writer Ellen O’Reilly blew everyone’s socks off with their performances on an hourly basis – equipped with Ernie Ball guitars and basses, natch. New models from the Modern Classic range were available to test via the headphone testing set-up, which worked very well. Rob and Dawn from Status had prepared a stand of bass goodies that had most attendees licking their lips. Alex Venturella from Slipknot was on hand to sign for fans, while Dawn confirmed that a number of basses had sold at the show, with a lot of interest for the Chris Wolstenholme Signature model and the everpopular Kingbass. Torun and Smooth Hound Innovations both received a lot of interest in their instruments and wireless systems respectively, while the

guys from Onkartgromt were exhibiting their tasty effects pedals before they have even been released to market – watch these pages for reviews in the near future. Westside Distribution cultivated a lot of interest in their Schecter basses, Mesa Boogie amplification, MXR pedals and Dunlop Strings with a number of endorsees such as Dave Swift, Steve Lawson and Paul Turner in attendance at the show. Phil Jones Bass, represented by Synergy Distribution, was exhibiting its amplification for the first time, as was Oliver Lang and his enticing range of instruments. Many a player waited to try out the Rikkers basses that seemed popular, as were the basses on the Manne stand. Fans of high quality bass cases were keen to try out Mono and Dixon products. Elsewhere Eden was busy showcasing the new Terra Nova series, while the equally popular Eich stand had their Bass Board for additional good vibes, and Marleaux basses to play through it. I spotted Alex Lofoco jamming there with Jay-Tee Teterissa between stints at their sponsors’ stands. Full marks for weirdness to LeFay’s fretless bass with a steel fingerboard. Reiner Dobbratz, owner with his brother Meik, was pleased with the attention they received: “We love this show, it’s so convenient to reach from our hometown of Hamburg. Saturday was absolutely crazy, in a good way!” His stand neighbour, Sander De Gier, was exhibiting his versions of the classic Jazz and

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

032-036 LBGS_rev4_NR.indd 34

23/03/2016 16:40

london bass guitar show 2016

The Report

Precision models. “I didn’t want to work on traditional shapes at first, but when Marcus Miller bought my first Jazz prototype, and Richard Bona the second, I decided that I must be doing something right, so here I am. I add my own original textures and colours to the design.” Nearby was D’Addario, introducing the new NYXL series of bass strings. Andrew Needham (a bassist himself, and a Basschatter) and Elaine Smith were happy: “D’Addario UK led the way in beta-testing the new strings, also thanks to our involvement with Basschat, and the response to the product is overwhelmingly positive.” Enfield Guitars and Sims Pickups were in their usual spot. “Business has been brisk, but Martin Sims getting injured just before the show unfortunately spoiled the weekend somewhat,”

said Nick Smith. “Luckily he’s doing OK now.” Best wishes to Martin from all at BGM and the LBGS. AC Guitars and John East preamps had a new, larger home. Alan Cringean was showcasing his new acrylic resin-treated fingerboards and tops, and John offered a choice of his preamps. “This is the only show we attend; we’re here every year because we do good business and we can meet our clients face to face.” Debutant exhibitor Chowny introduced the CHB semi-acoustic bass. Owner Stephen says: “I’ve sold a good number of basses and I’ve spoken to many people who absolutely loved the CHB. I’m expecting lots of hits on the website in the next few days!” After saying hello to Andrew TaylorCummings of Anaconda Basses, at the show as

Adam Ben Ezra The man from Tel Aviv reveals his bass philosophy Your music is a fascinating mixture of east and west. What are your influences? I like all kinds of styles – classic, jazz, MiddleEastern… I play the oud, you know, the Arabic mandolin, and I like to combine all those elements in my own playing style. My own style is difficult to pigeonhole, but I think we can call it Mediterranean fusion! I’ve played the double bass since I was 16, after learning the violin, the piano, the guitar and the cajon. I try to apply the styles of those instruments to the double bass as much as possible, with percussion on the body, guitar-like plucking, and so on. I’d like to know more about your fivestring double bass. It’s strung E to C, so it doesn’t have a low B like a five-string bass guitar. The first time I saw a double bass tuned like that, I immediately knew it was what I needed. I want to be able to play very high notes and reach the range of the cello or even the viola, and I play lots of chords, and the high C on the bass sounds amazing.

Suzi Quatro The Girl From Detroit City speaks out... You’re still working hard and doing new things: what are your current projects? Last year I released an 82-track, four-CD box, The Girl From Detroit City, as a celebration of my first 50 years, and a book that came out last year called Through My Eyes. I’m recording with a few people at the moment, with somebody else singing – which I’ve never done before – and I’ve finished the album Quatro, Scott And Powell [with Andy Scott of Sweet and Don Powell of Slade], which has turned out superb. All that still playing your trusty Fender Precision? On stage I’m using a Fender Jazz at the moment. I won’t take the old one out any more, because it’s too valuable. I prefer the Precision, but when I do the bass solo, the Jazz is slightly quicker. You were my first role model, up there on stage with that big bass. That’s funny, but that’s to do with the fact that I’m little and the bass is a big instrument. I didn’t deliberately pick up a big bass, it’s just that that was the one I like. I don’t like small basses. I don’t like short scales or headless guitars. Fenders are probably the only bass that you can plug directly into a console for recording and you don’t need to do anything; you can just plug it in, and it’s correct. That’s amazing. Thanks to your presence at the show, we’ve seen more female bassists than usual. I was the first one. Not the first bass player, of course, but the first one to have success as a woman. So I put it on the map. I love it that more women are playing. I feel real good about that. What advice would you give to women who want to be professional bass players? It’s a very physically demanding job. Make sure that’s what you want to do. I don’t like people who pretend to play or who don’t play well. If you gonna play, play. Be good. Don’t take it backwards. Because then people say ‘she’s good, for a girl’, and that drives me fucking mad. Interview: Silvia Bluejay

Tell me more about that special detachable neck. The neck comes off, and it’s a very convenient system for when you’re travelling. You just loosen the strings, remove the bridge, slide out the neck, and in 15 minutes it’s ready to travel. My specially made flight case has room for the body of the bass and also for the detached neck and the bow. Does that set-up affect the sound in any way? While it might not be the perfect solution for those who play classical, it’s fine in my case, because I mostly play amplified, and the sound I get is very consistent. Do you do a lot of bowing? I use the bow with French grip sometimes, but mostly I do fingerstyle and percussive style. What are your current projects? I do a solo show, with effect pedals, and a show as part of a trio, with guitarist Adam Ben Amitai and percussionist Gilad Dobrecky, with whom I recorded my album Can’t Stop Running. I have just finished a tour, which started and ended in London; it’s a new project, a duo with Spanish flamenco guitarist Dario Casares. I use the percussive bass style a lot with him. Interview: Silvia Bluejay

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

032-036 LBGS_rev4_NR.indd 35

035

23/03/2016 15:59

london bass guitar show 2016

The Report

Rhino Edwards The Quo bassist goes down down, deeper and down... We caught up with Rhino Edwards after his masterclass performance for a few words about the state of bass playing and music in general. “I think a lot of people coming to a show like this are going to look at what I do and think it’s a pile of crap. But they’re wrong! I’m no slouch, I’m up on my bass. I was pleased to be asked to do this, but it has been a chastening experience. I was a more technical player before I joined Quo, I came through in a real golden period for music and I have had the most incredible run. All I ever wanted to be was in an insular band and that’s why I loved being in Dexy’s Midnight Runners so much. I’ve always been a big attitude player, I want to get on that stage and go ‘Here we go, this is it – cop this!’” Rhino has long been associated with Status Graphite basses and he still owns an early model, as he explains. “I bought my first Series 2000 Status, a black one, serial number 007, in 1982 I think. I sold it to Barry Moorhouse at the Bass Centre and then bought it back six months later as I missed it. I used that with Judy Tzuke a lot: her stuff was great fun for me as a player. I used that and my Alembic on Quo stuff for years and years, but the Statii do the job every time.” Being out there, doing it, is clearly what Rhino is all about, as he is quick to affirm. “Music isn’t the social force it once was: it’s been watered down and it no longer defines a generation. I’ve always been an attitude player, that’s why I like metal. I’m a huge Anthrax fan, I love the technique of Frank Bello. But I love Quo, I’ve played some of those songs 3,000 times now but I still go on and give it 110 per cent. We go on to have a good time and I want to see people with a smile on their face when we play: it doesn’t matter if the sound is bad, as long as we’re playing well. Someone asked ‘What’s the secret?’ and it really is luck, luck, luck… and talent! I’m a firm believer that you make your own luck.” Interview: Mike Brooks

a visitor, I noticed late addition AGS Straps with their reversible leather straps. “We usually don’t go to shows, but we make an exception for this one, and we’re very glad we did this year too!” said director Manta Bose. At Proel International, visitors were checking out Cort’s new Artisan and Action basses. The guys were busy and pleased to see interest from an increasing number of female bassists and hard rock fans attracted by Robert Trujillo’s presence at the show. Bassline Publishing’s two new transcription books, Stu Hamm’s Book Of Lies and Marcus Miller’s Renaissance were popular, and so was anything concerning Robert Trujillo (I wonder why…). Dutch luthier Ellio Martina had reason to be

036

cheerful: “I’m still building everything myself by hand; my Bass Mute has been incredibly successful, and I’m going home to over 600 emails with enquiries and orders!” Besides admiring Ashdown’s new RootmasterEvo and AAA-Evo models, I somehow couldn’t take my eyes off their tiny Tourbus 10 practice amp. According to the guys at the stand, I wasn’t the only one. I also wasn’t the only one in the area saying hi to Dave Swift, who was surrounded by admirers at every step. Bass Direct was very busy indeed, with owner Mark Stickley rarely having a break from welcoming customers. Periphery bassist Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood was there too. Two more words: Sheldon Dingwall. In fact, make it three: Sheldon Dingwall’s D-Bird – the first of its kind. “That bass is a prototype and it’s not for sale, but someone managed to post on social media pretending they’d bought it!” laughed Sheldon. Mayones basses were showcased by bass star Federico Malaman, whose presence drew a large crowd. I managed to catch educator Jon Liebman in a rare quiet moment at his table. His books and instruction DVDs had been flying off the shelves all weekend. “The hottest seller has been the Bass Aerobics book, followed by literally anything to do with Jaco!” he said. New exhibitor Gillett introduced their Contour electro-acoustic basses there. “We love it here, it’s

quiet; we have a keyboard and people come and jam with our basses!” said owner Michael. When I pointed out that the basses were all right-handed, he added: “Yes, we missed an opportunity. Here at the show we’ve received a lot of requests for a lefty, so we’ll be making one soon!” Located outside the main hall, both Warwick and Promenade Music were located perfectly and experienced considerable footfall and interest. Ove Bosch from Warwick had this to say after an exceptionally busy weekend: “The show has been great, the audience have been amazing and we’ve had a lot of interest in the brand itself, the basses, the amplifiers and the Bass Camp in September. Of particular interest have been the Custom Shop models fitted with USB chargers so you no longer need batteries for the electronics.” Promenade Music dealt admirably with a problem they experienced before the show as the bass community rallied round. “The show has been absolutely brilliant, typical bass playing people, we have a fair few repeat customers who buy from us year after year but the whole bass community is amazing,” said owner David Wood. And who are we to argue? See you next year!

See you next year for the London Bass Guitar Show 2017! Dates, exhibitors and artists will be confirmed as time passes at www.londonbassguitarshow.com, www.facebook.com/ londonbassguitarshow and @bassguitarshow.

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

032-036 LBGS_rev4_NR.indd 36

23/03/2016 15:59

037.indd 37

23/03/2016 16:11

BASSISTS

Promenade Music

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

P

romenade was founded by David Wood back in 1989 and I’ve been in charge of the bass guitar floor for longer than I care to remember. We’ve got space here for a lot of basses and bass amps – but the clever part is deciding which ones to fill it with! We get people coming from all over the UK and Europe, though, so we must be on the right track. Fenders have been consistently popular over the years, of course, but we stock all kinds of basses from Marleaux, Rickenbacker, Overwater, Gibson, Music Man and Warwick as well as entry-level guitars from Westcoast, Levin, Squier and Yamaha. We also have dedicated rooms for amps from Markbass, Ashdown, Gallien Krueger, Warwick, SWR, Peavey, Orange, Marshall and Fender – it really is a bass player’s paradise down there. A lot of bass players come to see me for repairs, or just for a recommendation about good bass gear: they know that I’ve got a lot of history as a bass player myself. I’ve told this story before, but in 1988, the band I played in at the time toured and lived in America. We were playing at a club in Newport News, Virginia and I was given Victor Wooten’s phone number, so I called him to ask if he gave lessons. ‘Yes I do,’ he politely said and asked for $20 an hour. ‘Sounds good,’ I thought. I had a Kubicki Ex Factor at the time and Victor asked if I wouldn’t mind if he tried my bass and I tried his. ‘Fodera?’ I asked. ‘Where are these made?’ ‘Brooklyn,’ he replied... his bass was amazing, but what was even more amazing was his patience and modesty. At no time did he make me feel any lower than him as a player or a person. The hour, which actually turned into over two, flew by, but I wasn’t going to leave in a hurry. When I finally

038

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

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

Info: www.promenademusic.co.uk

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

038 Promenade_rev3KP.indd 38

23/03/2016 14:00

039.indd 39

23/03/2016 12:34

THE SHINING 040

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

040-041 shinedown_rev3KP.indd 40

22/03/2016 14:49

BASSISTS

Eric Bass, Shinedown

American stadium-rockers Shinedown are poised for stardom on this side of the pond. Bassist Eric Bass (yes, that’s his real name) talks the low frequencies ’ve always been into tearing things apart and building things up again: I built my first bass guitar when I was 12 years old, although it was pretty rough and didn’t play very well. I wound my own pickups too, although they sounded horrible. So in the two months off which Shinedown had earlier this year, I worked on a muscle truck back home. I have the same attitude towards gear: I built my own studio myself, too. I always have to have a project of some sort. If I’m not busy I don’t know what to do! I used to play my own Dean signature model, which was a dream come true, but we parted ways amicably a while back and now I’m with PRS; I was introduced to them because our guitar player plays them. They sent over some Grainger basses – and man, you want to talk about a tone monster? I’m not just saying that because I play them: I A/B-ed them with everything. My initial plan was to go out with a bunch of Fender J and P-Basses on this cycle, and some Bill Nash Tele basses and Gibson SGs that I love, and I was really excited about that, but we got to rehearsals and I started comparing all of those with the Graingers, and they just blew everything away. They normally come with two pickups, but I found myself using the neck pickup most of the time, and that was the tone I liked – big, boomy and not overly midrangey, which is something that I don’t like, for live anyway. In the studio it’s different. So I called PRS and asked them to unwire the bridge pickup and leave just a volume knob, which they did, and now I have three basses like that. I don’t yet have a signature model with them, but they asked me what I would like on a bass in that situation, and they made me this fantastic custom bass that I’m in love with, man.

Pic by James Williams, Livewire Photography

I

It’s so great. And I also moved from Hartke to Ampeg. I tried out a couple of Ampeg amps and the rig I have from them is monstrous: two rackmount 4 Pros which I EQ a little bit differently. On stage I have a couple of Diamond cabs: it’s a big, bad rig on stage. It was a bit of a learning curve going from the Dean to the PRS, because the necks are really different. The new neck is a little wider at the nut, because I designed the Dean neck around an Ernie Ball Sterling neck. The PRS’s neck is more like a Stingray neck all the way up, but I’m not opposed to that at all: I’ve gotten used to it pretty quickly. I completely purged my pedalboard for this record. Before that I had a lot of effects – a chorus for ballads, and so on – but I always like to give the front of house engineer what he needs, and after talking to him, I realised his need for consistency in the low end is more important than my own preferences. Essentially he’s the delivery system for the music, so I ask myself what he needs to make our band sound amazing. I had a whammy pedal, a wah pedal, a phaser... but I wanted to make it more simple this time around so I took everything off, minus the channel-switcher to cut the distortion off and on. I have an oldschool Boss distortion pedal, the orange one which I love, and I run it through a Radial Bassbone which stops you losing the low end when you use the distortion. Previously I had a Marshall JCM 800 guitar rig in line too, and I had an A/B/C switch so I could flip that on and add a guitar tone to the bass sound. I’m really considering going back to that now. When I produce Shinedown tracks that’s exactly what I do, blending it with a Sansamp. It works great!

Shinedown’s album Threat To Survival is out now on Atlantic. Info: www.shinedown.com

April 2016 Bass Guitar Magazine

040-041 shinedown_rev3KP.indd 41

041

22/03/2016 14:49

BASSISTS

Backstage Bass

A new feature in which we ask bass players of similar tastes to get together and talk shop... the bass shop. This month: heavy metal titans Mike Leon (Soulfly), Christopher ‘El’ Esten (Incite), Wayne ‘Slatts’ Slattery (King Parrot) and Noah Shephard (Lody Kong) What bass gear are you using on this tour? El I play ESP basses, Mesa Boogie amps, Dunlop strings and the Darkglass B7K and B3. Darkglass keeps coming out with all this awesome stuff, but I don’t have the money to buy it! Mike I played the new B7K Ultra at NAMM, it’s incredible. It’s loud, clear and low. I used Sansamps for years to get that drivey sound, but Darkglass does so much more for my tone. I also play ESP, and I use Peavey amps, Aguilar, Tech 21 and SIT strings. We’re all sharing my Peavey 8x10 cab on this tour with our own heads and pedalboards. Slatts I play a very old Rickenbacker 4003S and BC Rich guitars. I’m endorsed by Aguilar and I run Ibanez distortion pedals, Dean Markley strings... and I’m powered by electricity. Noah I play an Ibanez SR506, SIT strings and also a Darkglass B7K.

What was your first bass? Noah It was a four-string Antares from a pawnshop. It had an Explorer body shape. Slatts That sounds adorable! The first bass I actually owned was a headless Steinberger Alien. Mike What? Slatts I wound the strings so hard on it that I broke a machine head and it cost $200 to buy a new one. Mike My first bass was a starter Yamaha pack. It had a bass and an amp. I still have it, and it still shreds. I still love it. El Mine was a black 1988 Charvel. I wanted the blue one because David Ellefson of Megadeth played a Jackson in that colour, but they only had black. I still have it too, it’s a good studio bass.

Are you four-string players or do you dabble in ERBs? El Four strings is all I can handle. Mike In my old band Havok I played four-string, but because Soulfly plays in A and B tunings, I went to five to make it a little smoother. Slatts Four strings here. Noah Six strings. Slatts You show-off...

To slap or not to slap? Mike I am an aficionado of slap, and I slappa da bass every night. It’s the coolest sound a bass can make, in my opinion, and I’ve incorporated a lot of it into Soulfly’s music. El I can’t do all that stuff: I just watch him slap every night. Slatts I’m not a slapper, but I’m certainly a fan of the art. Noah I’m getting there!

Who’s the greatest bass player who ever lived? El Steve Harris. Slatts Geezer Butler. Mike Cliff Burton. Noah Geddy Lee. Mike Tim Commerford is another one of my all-time favourite bassists. He was a Fender P dude for ever.

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

If you could get the bass tone of any album ever, which would you choose? Mike Any Rex Brown or Justin Chancellor albums. Or Flea. El He’s taking up all the good answers. Also Stuart Morrow from New Model Army’s No Rest For The Wicked. Noah Rex’s tone on Down II is my favourite tone ever. Slatts Damaged’s Do Not Spit album: they were a band from Melbourne and you could scratch your face off with that tone. Heavily distorted and thin as fuck!

042

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

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

042 NEW Backstage bass_rev2_NR.indd 42

23/03/2016 13:15

043.indd 43

23/03/2016 14:05

ON THE

In a unique meeting of minds, effects prodigy Steve Lawson interviews the great Michael Manring. Stand clear: bass profundity overload warning ithout doubt one of the greatest innovators in the short history of the bass guitar, Michael Manring has been exploring the outer edges of the potential of our instrument for over 30 years. From his early association with acoustic guitar legend Michael Hedges, through his avantimprov supergroup with Tim Alexander (Primus) and Alex Skolnick (Testament), Michael’s musical breadth and relentless curiosity has amazed and inspired thousands of musicians and music lovers across the planet. Michael’s last solo album, Soliloquy, set the solo bass bar several notches higher for the rest of us. All this made the prospect of Michael’s visit to the London Bass Guitar Show 2016 a very exciting one indeed. Interviewing your heroes is often easier because you know what they’ve been up to, whereas interviewing your friends is hard because you can’t get any distance. When your friends are your musical heroes, everything gets mixed up. That said, let’s dive in...

W

There has been a flurry of releases that you’ve been a part of over the last couple of years. Was that a conscious decision to do more collaborative work, or just how things worked out? A little of both, I suppose. With the economics of things as they are, I’m tending to do a lot of session work, but I also feel a bit shy about how much of my own music I’ve put out there. I don’t want to overtax people with my solo thing. Wow, really? Given my own work-rate, that’s a very alien concept. It’s been quite a few years since Soliloquy, and I’ve heard you exploring some new music in a live setting since then.

044

Do you have material ready to release? I have a ton of new solo music! I have about six new solo pieces recorded and ready for mastering, and I have about 10 more that I’m working on. The last few times I’ve seen you play, you’ve combined older compositions with open improvisation. Do you find that you play tunes in a more formalised way when they’re new? I’ve had an odd relationship with composition over the last few years. I love composing set pieces and that’s something I’m sure I’ll always do, but I don’t quite feel right doing a concert of mostly through-composed music. Somehow that just hasn’t been making much sense to me! I think it may be to do with the popularity of YouTube. Parts of most of the shows I do end up there, so perhaps that’s making me feel like I need to keep things varied. In any case, I haven’t played any of the new through-composed pieces live, but I’ve been having fun dabbling with the more opened ended ideas and several of those I’ve recorded as well. You’re right, though – tunes generally start out following a plan and then take on a life of their own. Some go through radical changes, some just a little and some stay mostly the same. That’s interesting. I’m fascinated by how the web, and possibilities for releasing music in multiple ways, can shape our notion of what we do. Improvising to make sure that the digital document of each show is varied is a lovely consequence of the ‘benign surveillance’ of YouTube. Do you routinely record your shows now? I’d like to record my shows, but I’m almost always so occupied with just trying to get my act together I’m not able to pull it off. I’m actually quite

grateful to the folks out there who put things up, because I learn a lot from listening back to them. Other than that documentary process, what other things have been helping to shape the direction of your new music? It’s odd: I’m at a place in my life where I’m actually trying not to do too many new things. I have a set of ideas I’ve been working with and I want to focus on those. So my new stuff probably won’t come as a huge shock to anyone, but it’s definitely challenging for me. Earlier in my career I tried to work through big, obvious ideas. These days it’s a bit more subtle. That’s a fascinating choice – in a world obsessed with novelty, refinement and continual engagement with an idea is rare and valuable. I’ve gone through different periods with this myself. I remember in the early 90s feeling like doing much improv live would be a bit pretentious, almost. Then, I got to where I wanted it all to be improv! Now I’m trying to find a balance, and to let that balance shift from night to night if it wants to. Have any of your recent collaborations influenced the music you’re making? Do you find collaboration to be a source for solo ideas too? I always learn a lot working with other folks. It’s a great way of getting pushed out of your own comfort zone and that, I think, helps me keep from just going around and around the same ideas in my own stuff. I like getting used to having to think in a new way all the time. I’ve learned a lot from Indian music over the last few years, working with both Carnatic and Hindustani musicians. But I honestly try to learn something from everyone I work with and figure out how to

Bass Guitar Magazine april 2016

044-046 michael manring_rev3KP.indd 44

23/03/2016 11:59

bassists

Michael Manring

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

044-046 michael manring_rev3KP.indd 45

045

23/03/2016 11:59

bassists

Michael Manring

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

bring those lessons into my own music. Some of the lessons are straightforward, like trying to pick up a rhythmic idea or approach to harmony, but a lot of it is more abstract. Do you see listening to recorded music as a conscious part of your development process? I have very little time to listen to recorded music these days, so I try to make it count. And yes, it’s a conscious part of the process. I try to listen to what I want to incorporate. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of drummers. Perhaps I’m one of the few people who’d rather listen to a drum solo than a band tune. Most of the time I’d rather play with a percussionist, because drums are so powerful it pushes you into a certain kind of playing. That kind of playing is a joy, but it’s been done a lot, and done very well. When you play with a lighter rhythmic accompaniment it opens some other possibilities. But man, there are some amazing drummers out there these days. In the run-up to a new recording, I see what I put in my ears as a diet. I specifically choose things that will help shape the direction of the work, and open me up to a greater set of possibilities. I like that! You gotta be careful what you put in your body. Why not be careful what you put in your soul? I’ve always loved your rhythmic sensibility, one of the least-talked about elements of your music; and yet that percussive influence is apparent in so many of your techniques. Did you ever learn specific hand drum techniques to transfer to bass? Thank you! Yes, I’ve had some training in Afro-Cuban rhythm and I’ve tried to learn as much as I can about the tabla, mridangam and

046

kanjira. Basically, I just try to learn as much as I can about any kind of music from any source that’s available. In terms of application to the bass, there’s a general approach in both forms of Indian classical music that really transfers well to the bass. It’s insanely highly developed there, but also very idiomatic. I’m thrilled by being able to use those ideas without having to stick to the conventions that are necessary to play ‘authentically’. However, all rhythmic ideas are valuable and there’s just so much more to do. You often reference the vastness of music and of the possible areas for exploration. How do you maintain that as a motivation, rather than allowing it to distract you? That’s an interesting question. I’m not sure I ever think about it! I’ve come to feel that music occupies an incredibly central place in human experience. I think you’ve heard my spiel about understanding the phrase ‘music is a language’ but feeling the converse is more true – language is a music. It’s often assumed that language is a large part of who we are, but if language is a subset of music, then music is even more deeply ingrained in what it means to be human. I suppose this a long way of saying that I find the musical process is intuitive, or beyond linguistic scope, and I do my best just to participate as well as I can. I’m interested in your approach to practising. I was deeply influenced by your exploration of ‘technique’ as more of a ‘gestalt’ thing, a way of being with the instrument. Do you still have to get surgical in your practice at all, to fix things, or develop specific technical affordances for new music, or does that emerge in the context of music-making?

That process of music leading to the development of exercises to fix it is one I’ve been working on, and teaching, for a while. It’s an amazing way to feel enveloped by your own practice, in the sense of ‘having a music practice’ rather than practising. Ooh, I like that! I’m going to use that phrase ‘having a music practice’. That really gets to the heart of the issue. There’s no real getting around the integration of music in the rest of life. Music is just a kind of lens through which we process the experience. How does equipment fit into that integrated view of music? Actually equipment has that same resonance we’re talking about. It has that venal notion to it, but I sound awful without my bass! And amp. And EBow. And strings… So the gear is part of that same process. I think you and I are both into this notion that the effects are part of the instrument. You certainly have mastered this concept in a way that I don’t think has yet been fully appreciated and it’s one of the many things I adore about your music. I’ve been using the Roland VB-99 for my live shows lately and having a ball. It’s another area where there’s so much to do! The Zon basses are still at the heart of my music. Joe and I are working on a new Hyperbass to allow me to leave the prototype I’ve been playing all these years at home, before it gets destroyed by the airlines. The EBow is, of course, essential. I’m sticking with the D’Addario strings that have worked so well for me all these years. My collaboration with Markbass has been wonderful and Marco tells me he’s just about completed a signature system for me. I can’t wait to give it a spin! From what we were working on the last time I was there, it will likely be very different from your average bass amp, and they may choose to market it more generally. The goal is to have something that sounds transparent yet warm that is very portable, flexible and adaptable to many situations and configurations. It might just be really cool!

Info: www.manthing.com

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

044-046 michael manring_rev3KP.indd 46

23/03/2016 11:59

GEAR

Introduction

52

Roscoe Century 4 STD+

GEAR R E V I E W S

B

ehold our world-beating bass gear review section, where we bring you the crop of each month’s new, interesting or otherwise relevant bass guitars, bass amplifiers, bass speakers and bass effects. Occasionally we’ll review a guitar effect if it’s particularly useful for bassists, and we’ll test recording equipment and general accessories every now and then as well, but generally speaking, this zone is for bass-specific gear. We take the ratings that we give each item very seriously. BGM is the only print magazine devoted to bass in this country, and we have readers from all over the world, so we’re responsible about our conclusions. If a product is worth your investigation, we’ll say so; if it’s flawed in some way, we won’t hold back from making that clear. We’re not beholden to advertisers in any way and our conclusions are entirely independent of the views of manufacturers, musicians and distributors. When you read about a bassrelated product here, you know you’re getting a sensible, balanced review from an experienced bass tester. Value for money is at the top of our agenda in these cash-strapped times, but on the other hand, we believe in paying for quality. Right, that’s enough from me. Remember, this is just about the only place that it’s good to have GAS!*

48

MTD Saratoga Deluxe 4 & 5

60

56

Danelectro Longhorn

Schecter Stiletto Studio NT-8

Joel McIver, editor *GAS = Gear Acquisition Syndrome (a malaise often suffered by bass players)

64

Ampeg SCR-DI

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

047 Reviews intro_rev2_NR.indd 47

047

23/03/2016 13:24

MTD

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

T

hese upgraded Saratoga Deluxe models demonstrate the quality of instruments being produced in China on behalf of bass manufacturers the world over. Gone are the days of ill-fitting hardware and poor craftsmanship – in order to be competitive, Chinese production lines have had to up their game, which is why the likes of Michael Tobias of MTD and others have confidence in their production. Who knows, perhaps this improvement in far eastern technology will lead to a reversal of the current situation, where western lutherie is prized? Only time will tell... These Chinese-made basses now feature flamed maple tops and three-band active circuitry and up the ante in terms of what a customer purchasing a mid-range instrument can expect, especially from the MTD stable.

Build Quality

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

048

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

048-050 MTD_rev4KP.indd 48

23/03/2016 16:00

GEAR

MTD Saratoga Deluxe Prices £625, £699

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

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

BGM RATING BUILD QUALITY SOUND QUALITY VALUE

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

048-050 MTD_rev4KP.indd 49

049

23/03/2016 16:00

GEAR

MTD Saratoga Deluxe Prices £625, £699

“NEITHER BASS IS PARTICULARLY OSTENTATIOUS, BUT I CAN’T DENY THAT BOTH PUT IN A VERY SOLID PERFORMANCE AND ARE BOTH WELL UP TO THE JOB” both balance well on and off a strap. I was pleased with the remarkably good set-ups, with no obvious sharp frets, comfortable string actions and 19mm string spacing. The neck profiles differ slightly: the fourstring has a full, round C-shape profile while the broadness of the five-string’s rosewood fingerboard lends itself to a shallower D-shape profile. Both make use of MTD’s asymmetric neck design, which in theory reduces strain on the wrist, fingers and forearm. Both necks are very comfortable, making them highly playable: neither feels like hard work to get to grips with. Both basses are fitted with smoked chrome hardware, a graphite nut and a zero fret but no front-facing position markers, although black (fourstring) and white (five-string) side markers have been used. The control set is identical, with pots for volume (stacked with a passive tone control), pickup pan, bass, middle and treble and an active/passive switch.

Sounds and Playability

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

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

Conclusions

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

050

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

048-050 MTD_rev4KP.indd 50

23/03/2016 16:00

051.indd 51

23/03/2016 14:06

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

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

BGM RATING BUILD QUALITY SOUND QUALITY VALUE

052

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

052-054 Roscoe_rev3KP.indd 52

23/03/2016 16:02

GEAR

Roscoe Century 4 STD+ Price £2,325

ROSCOE

Century 4 STD+

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

F

retless bass, whichever way we look at it, is simply a different bass flavour, a different tonal voice all of its own – yet it comes across these days as a poisoned chalice, just as much as slap bass. But used wisely, it can make songs and their respective bass-lines come to life. Its popularity may have waned in recent times but a great fretless can be just that… great! This offering from Roscoe certainly has the credentials to be a solid performer, but does it stand out from the crowd?

Build Quality

The Century range models from Keith Roscoe have always been real ‘plug and play’ instruments, easy to adjust to and play from the word go; this bass is no exception. The comfortable body shape, rear contouring and sensibly slim dimensions make this an easy instrument to wear, while the overall set-up and attention to detail deserve a serious thumbs-up. The thin buckeye burl top adorns the Spanish cedar body giving the bass a head-turning appearance, although the view from the rear is a little uninspiring. The five-piece laminated neck is connected with a tight four-bolt attachment and has a shallow D-profile shape, feeling long and slinky with immense amounts of bounce in its natural character, coupled with a classic fretless fundamental tone. To achieve the fretlines, the resinimpregnated birdseye maple fingerboard has been fitted with regular metal frets which have then been ground down. The resin gives the

fingerboard a hard coating that not only protects the timber from string wear but also adds a singing quality as the string vibrates in contact with it, which has led to this material being termed ‘diamondwood’. The Gotoh machine heads operate as smoothly as you would expect, and the Hipshot B bridge offers two-way string adjustments. Bartolini CB pickups and a three-band EQ Bartolini circuit are well matched on this particular instrument, the voicing of both helping to convey the woody fretless tones. Aside from volume and pickup pan controls, the bass and treble controls are stacked while the middle control offers a push-pull facility to select between mid frequencies in the 250Hz range or 800Hz range – a sensible arrangement.

Sounds and Playability

Immediately, a lively acoustic tone is very apparent: the notes simply jump off the fingerboard – so early indications would imply that getting your intonation correct is going to be fairly important. The upper and lower cutaways provide easy access to the upper frets: overall, this bass has ‘extremely playable’ written all over it. The neck is silky smooth but the resonant tone of the whole instrument draws the player in: the woody tones are smooth without too much bark. Plug in and opt for the bridge pickup with some low mid boost, and you’re instantly in fretless nirvana: the woody tones are wonderful without sounding thin or brittle, but with some natural warmth. Opt for

April 2016 Bass Guitar Magazine

052-054 Roscoe_rev3KP.indd 53

053

23/03/2016 16:02

GEAR

Roscoe Century 4 STD+ Price £2,325

“KEITH ROSCOE SHOULD BE CONGRATULATED ON CREATING AN OUTSTANDING INSTRUMENT THAT IS HIGHLY PLAYABLE, IMMENSELY COMFORTABLE TO WEAR AND A REAL JOY TO PLAY” some upper mid help from the circuit, and tight fingerstyle lines with a fair amount of presence for projection are instantly on tap. It should be noted that this bass is available with single coil pickups if an extra honky fingerstyle tone is your preference, but with these pickups fitted, some of the inherent warmth from the bass’s delivery is maintained. With the pickup pan control centred, a more rounded tone is achieved: the Bartolini electronics package keeps this bass lively at all times. Rolling off the treble EQ and adding some bass EQ helps to temper some of the livelier aspects of its character. The hardness of the fingerboard really adds to the exemplary delivery of what this bass has to offer. When a bass is this comfortable to wear and play, the obvious difficulties in navigating around a fretless fingerboard can be concentrated on, without having to fight the physical difficulties that the instrument poses.

Conclusions

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

054

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

052-054 Roscoe_rev3KP.indd 54

23/03/2016 16:02

055.indd 55

23/03/2016 16:27

Schecter

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

C

alifornian guitar company Schecter has enjoyed a 40-year long career and boasts many high-profile players, particularly from the rock and metal genres. David Schecter opened Schecter Guitar Research in 1976, which was primarily a guitar repair shop: later, it became a guitar parts manufacturer, and began releasing its first fully-assembled guitars in 1979. Since then the company has grown to produce guitars en masse in South Korea, which are then shipped to the USA for the finishing touches, as well as fully US-produced models. Produced at the company’s South Korean factory, the Stiletto Studio series of basses are a particularly good-looking family, and with its doubled-up four strings, EMG pickups and satin translucent black colouring, it’s a bass with rock and alternative bass players in mind.

Build Quality

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

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

“it’s built to a high standard: everything about it suggests quality and strength” 056

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

056-058 Schecter_rev4.indd 56

23/03/2016 13:36

geAr

schecter stiletto studio nt-8 Price £775

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

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

bgM rating BUILD QUALItY SOUND QUALItY VALUe

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

056-058 Schecter_rev4.indd 57

057

23/03/2016 13:36

gear

Schecter Stiletto Studio NT-8 Price £775

Sounds and Playability

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

Conclusion

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

Thanks to the Great British Bass Lounge, www.greatbritishbasslounge.com.

058

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

056-058 Schecter_rev4.indd 58

23/03/2016 13:36

059.indd 59

23/03/2016 15:45

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

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

bgm ratIng BUIlD QUalItY SoUnD QUalItY ValUe

060

Bass Guitar Magazine april 2016

060-062 Danelectro_rev3KP.indd 60

22/03/2016 15:37

gear

Danelectro Longhorn Price £499

Danelectro Longhorn

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

L

ike eating your greens and going for a run, some things in life are good for you even though you don’t enjoy them, and reviewing basses you don’t like is another one of them. I’ve never been a fan of the Danelectro Longhorn body shape or its cola-bottle headstock, but as JHS are reissuing them at only £499, it behoves us to set aside our prejudices and give the thing a chance. After all, Tom Petty played one in the Traveling Wilburys, so they must have something going for them. Let’s have a look...

Build Quality

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

“It’s always nice to have your preconceptions overturned, and Danelectro has done a fine job of recreating an ancient design that fulfils modern requirements” Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

060-062 Danelectro_rev3KP.indd 61

061

22/03/2016 15:37

gear

Danelectro Longhorn Price £499

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

Sounds and Playability

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

062

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

Conclusion

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

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

060-062 Danelectro_rev3KP.indd 62

22/03/2016 15:37

063.indd 63

23/03/2016 16:55

Ampeg SCR-DI

Ever wondered what it would be like to carry an Ampeg in your back pocket? Ian Glasper finds out Polar Audio www.polaraudio.co.uk

A

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

“If you’re after a thick, chewy sound, but own a substandard amp, this pedal won’t let you down” 064

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

064-065 Ampeg_rev3KP.indd 64

22/03/2016 15:14

geAR

Ampeg scr-dI £208

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

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

bGm rAtInG BUILD QUALITY SOUND QUALITY VALUe

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

064-065 Ampeg_rev3KP.indd 65

065

22/03/2016 15:14

066.indd 66

23/03/2016 14:11

067.indd 67

23/03/2016 12:44

BASS

TUITION

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

ELLEn o’REiLLY BEGINNER’S THEORY

72

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

74

Making you a better bass player

PAuL gEARY BEGINNER’S TECHNIQUES

W

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

elcome to our redesigned tuition section, in which Bass Guitar Magazine collates the wit and wisdom of the crème de la crème of the electric and upright bass world. We’re fortunate enough to have some serious talent on the team, from world-class music educators to experienced touring musicians, who between them have laid down the low notes in every studio, club and arena in the civilised world. Note that we’ve divided the columns according to Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced level for easy reference. Whether you’re looking to improve your playing technique, expand your awareness of theory, set up your rig to sound like your particular bass hero or simply get on a bus and tour, we provide the answers you need here. What are you waiting for? Dive in...

Joel McIver, editor

76

StuARt CLAYton INTERMEDIATE THEORY

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

Rob StAtHAm INTERMEDIATE TECHNIQUES

78

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

FRAnC o’SHEA ADVANCED THEORY

80

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

PHiLiP mAnn ADVANCED TECHNIQUES

84

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

DAViD EtHERiDgE UPRIGHT BASS

86

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

StEVE LAWSon EFFECTS MAESTRO

88

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

miKE bRooKS CLASSIC BASS ALBUMS 068

90

Bass Guitar Magazine February 2015

068-069 Techniques Intro_Rev3.indd 68

23/03/2016 16:00

tuition

Introduction

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

Playing Techniques

Slap and Pop Technique

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

Advanced slap Technique

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

Plectrum Technique

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

Tapping Techniques

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

Fretting Techniques

Hammer-On and Pull-Off

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

Slide (Glissando)

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

Trills

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

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

Artificial Harmonics

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

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

Bending Notes

Playing Harmonics

Natural Harmonics

Vibrato

Bend

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

Bend and Release

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

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

068-069 Techniques Intro_Rev3.indd 69

069

23/03/2016 16:01

The

front line

Want to make it as a professional bassist? Listen up as BGM’s world-class bass team reports back from the tourbus The Jazz Bassist Ruth Goller

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

www.ruthgoller.com

070

The Metalhead I va n M u n g u i a

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

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

www.facebook.com/deedsoffleshofficial

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

070-071 Front line_Rev2KP.indd 70

22/03/2016 15:52

the front line

The Alternative Rocker

The Extended-Range Specialist

Michael McKeegan

S t e wa r t M c K i n s e y

Ten-string-wielding Dementor McKinsey gets plucky

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

Now that you’ve had a chance to hear how your attack and plucking hand placement create specific results, let’s work on refining them to get the effects you desire. For now, focus on eighth notes at a medium tempo. Choose a note on your lowest string and play two measures, then move up an octave on the same string. You’ll note that the high note doesn’t open the same way as the low note. Start alternating, playing two measures of the low note and then two more of the high note, working with your attack and where you hit the string along its length until you get the different notes to respond similarly. Once you get them happening the way you would like, play two measures of the higher note and play the same note in the same range on the next higher string. Again, it will take you a bit of time to get them to sound the same. Don’t rush the results. You need to be able to do this smoothly and evenly. When you’re happy with how the notes in the same octave sound, play two measures with the next octave up. This time alternate between all three notes, so you will play two measures on your second lowest string; two measures an octave up from there; and then, rather than returning to the second lowest string, play the lower note on the lowest strings. Once these sound even to you, continue working up and down the neck. This is not the most exciting exercise you will play, but as you explore one note played in as many places and in as many registers as you can, you will begin to hear how much work you have to do in terms of playing consistently, but you will also start to feel your hands making these adjustments faster and faster as your brain processes what it is you want from the bass. To develop the exercise, do the same thing with other notes, with note duration (quarter notes, half notes and sixteenth notes) and then change to a single measure before alternating. Then shift the position of your plucking hand. You’ll find challenges both moving closer to the end of the fingerboard and closer to the bridge. Remember: there’s no deadline, and pushing too fast will actually slow your progress. Next month, we’ll start work on your fretting hand.

© www-ashleybird-com

Therapy?’s bass ninja Mike explores cover versions

www.facebook.com + search ‘Stewart McKinsey’

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

www.therapyquestionmark.co.uk

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2016

070-071 Front line_Rev2KP.indd 71

071

22/03/2016 15:52

APP EXTRA Download the Bass app

TUITION

for extra content

Beginner’s Theory

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

ELLEN O’REILLY

Into the bass charts with top of the poppers Ellen

C major triad

O

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

E minor triad

B diminished triad

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

EXAMPLE 1

072

Bass Guitar Magazine October 2015

072 Ellen_Rev4_NR.indd 72

23/03/2016 15:08

073.indd 73

23/03/2016 16:31

ExamplE 1

PAuL GEARY

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

T

his month I would like to take a look at incorporating some eighth-note grooves into a rock chart. Sometimes, some of the seemingly simple aspects of bass playing can actually turn out to be the most challenging. Playing eighth notes to a click or drum machine accurately, in time, with good feel and meter, can be harder than you think. It is the meat and potatoes of bass playing, but drastically underrated. The following examples demonstrate how much variation you can get out of a single note.

app Extra

Download the Bass app for extra content

Set your metronome to 100BPM on a quarter-note pulse. Play the note A at the fifth fret of the E string. Try to keep the notes even and in time with the click. Try choking the notes and experiment with the actual length. You can get a lot out of tonal range out of a single note. Think about the tone and how you play the note with the plucking hand. Consider the position of your fingers over the pickup. How much pressure are you using to produce the note? Is it clean? How far is your hand away from the bridge? All of these things will affect the sound of the notes you are playing. Playing nearer the bridge creates a mid tone: the strings feel tighter. Playing closer to the neck gives a rounder tone with more bottom end, but the strings feel looser. Make sure your fretting hand fingers fret the note cleanly without any fret buzz. Try adjusting and dampening the note by lifting your frettinghand fingers. I remember one particular recording session many years ago where I had to replace a section of bass-line I had recorded on a track the day before. No surprises there, I just needed to remember the part. This was called a ‘drop-in’, and involved the engineer punching in your bass on the recording desk at the exact point in the song where the bass-line needed to be replaced. This would then make a nice clean edit on the finished recording, so I recorded the section with the correct notes, in time, appropriate feel and so on. The engineer said ‘Great. Now play it with the same pressure!’ At the time I really hadn’t thought it would matter. When I heard the track back before the edit, the actual feel and volume of the notes didn’t sound right at all. He was spot on! These days with the various software available for recording you can cut and paste almost anything, and adjust the individual volume and timbre, but I miss the days of the good old drop-in: I think it presented a greater challenge to the musician.

ExamplE 2

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

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

074

Bass Guitar Magazine October 2015

074-075 Geary_rev2_NR.indd 74

23/03/2016 13:23

tuition

Beginner’s Techniques

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

rock chart

Bass Guitar Magazine October 2015

074-075 Geary_rev2_NR.indd 75

075

23/03/2016 13:23

example 3

modes maestro clayton continues his aeolian expedition

w

stuart clayton

076

elcome back to my column on demystifying the modes. We’ve made significant progress in this endeavour now and the end is in sight. In this month’s instalment we’ll be taking a look at a longer piece that features the Aeolian mode, which is the third minor mode that we’ve covered. So without further ado… This piece is an uptempo rock track that exclusively uses the A Aeolian mode, which as you will now know is the sixth mode of the major scale – in this case, the C major scale. As such, it contains only natural notes, since these are the only notes that occur within the key of C. You’ll hopefully also be aware that the Aeolian mode is another name for the natural minor scale. If you need a recap on the construction of the Aeolian mode or the theory behind it, be sure to refer to my column in the last issue. The track opens with the A section, a melodic line played in the upper register which descends along the G-string. When playing each phrase, be sure to allow the open A-string to ring underneath, creating a foundation. You should also follow the phrasing marks that are written: playing the hammer-ons and pulloffs as shown will be a big help in making this line sound smooth.

Bass Guitar Magazine October 2015

076-077 clayton_Rev4.indd 76

23/03/2016 13:21

example 6

tuition

Intermediate Theory

“By carefully studying the material presented in these columns you should become well acquainted with the unique sound of each mode” At letter B a new riff begins, again based on the open A-string. The last two bars of this section suggest a chord progression moving from Am – G – F – Em, which is a common turnaround in a minor key. This line is then repeated. At letter C a new riff begins, implying a faster moving chord progression. The second bar of the two-bar phrase is important here, as it is repeated at the end of the section (bars 18-20). Note that rhythmic displacement and a bar of 3/4 are used here to add interest. This section is also repeated. The final section of the piece – at letter D – is a restatement of the main melodic motif from letter A, this time played an octave lower. Again, phrasing indications should be observed where possible in

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

Bass Guitar Magazine October 2015

076-077 clayton_Rev4.indd 77

077

23/03/2016 13:21

app exTRa

Download the Bass app for extra content

ROB StAtHAM

Tapping compound intervals with the great Statham

O

ne of the attractions of playing tapped arpeggios is that, by using two hands, we are able to play wide intervals that would be difficult – if not impossible – to play fingerstyle. Usually when we play arpeggio patterns we play the notes in the same octave, but it is possible to take one or more of the notes in any given arpeggio and play them an octave higher. These are called compound intervals: you are probably familiar with this idea from playing tenths, an attractive sound on the bass, where we play the third of a chord an octave higher. So, for instance, we might play the note C, then G a fifth higher, and finally E, the third of a C major triad, but an octave higher than we might usually play it, so a major sixth above the G. This pattern fits nicely into one position on the bass and, albeit with some string-skipping involved, is comfortable to play fingerstyle. But by using a tapping technique we can expand on this concept and play more notes in any given arpeggio an octave higher, beyond what might be possible using a regular finger technique.

078

The first example is indeed major tenths on a I-IV-V-IV progression, and so while this could be played fingerstyle, it will serve as an example of how a tapping technique can be used for this concept. In each triplet group the first two notes are hammered on with our fretting hand, while our plucking hand, now our tapping hand, taps the tenth of the triad. While, as mentioned, this could be played fingerstyle, we would likely use a different fingering, so, for instance, playing the E in the first arpeggio at the ninth fret on the G string. However, using a tapping technique it makes more sense to play it at the 14th fret on the D string. Our second example is based on the same chord progression, but now the compound interval in the triad is the fifth rather than the third. This makes for an even wider intervallic sound, an octave and a minor third between the third of the chord and the compounded fifth. While I have tabbed the root and third to be played on one string, stretching a major third, you might prefer to play the third where you would likely normally play it in relation to the root. For instance, the second note of the first triplet group could be played at the seventh fret on the A string rather than the 12th fret on the E string. Try it both ways and see which you prefer. The next example gets us away from the triplet figures and into groups of four notes, in this instance on a similar chord progression, I-IV-V-I. In fact, the first bar of this example is similar to the first bar of the first example with the addition of the ninth between the fifth and compound third. Here again I am just tapping the last note of the group, and so you’ll see that the root, fifth and ninth are two consecutive perfect fifths, all hammered on, with the 10th tapped. However, the second bar is played somewhat differently. Here we play a seventh chord arpeggio, a G7, hammering on the root and the fifth and now tapping two notes, the seventh and the compound third. This requires us to make a tritone shape with our tapping hand. In the second half of the bar we return to a triad, but this time it is played in first inversion with the compound octave making the fourth note. Here, as in the first half of the bar, I am hammering on the first two notes, the third and octave, and tapping the fifth and compound octave, this time a perfect fourth shape in our tapping hand. Again, this makes for a wide intervallic sound and would be a tricky pattern to play using fingerstyle but is reasonably comfortable using a tapping technique. The final example consists entirely of seventh chords and, as in the second half of the previous example, I am hammering on the first two notes in each group of four and tapping the last two. The example is based on an ‘Autumn Leaves’ set of chord changes and so uses four types of seventh chord – minor seven, major

Bass Guitar Magazine October 2015

078-079 Statham_rev3KP.indd 78

23/03/2016 14:34

tuition

Intermediate Techniques

seven, dominant seven, and half diminished, or minor seven flat five. In this example we get into some particularly wide intervals on some of the chords, and fingerstyle would not really be an option. The first chord, a D minor 7, has a compound third and seventh which, as you can see, results in two perfect fifth shapes a minor sixth apart, a particularly wide intervallic sound. The second chord, a G7, has only one compound interval, the third which is played as a 10th – in fact, this is played in the same manner as the G7 in the third example. The third chord, a C major 7, is configured like the first chord – root, fifth, compound third, and compound seventh, so here again a wide intervallic sound. Again we have two perfect fifth shapes, but now a major sixth apart. The next bar is an F major 7 configured like the G7 arpeggio with just one compounded tone, the third played as a tenth. As you can see, there is an alternating pattern of compound patterns in the first four bars. In the fifth bar we get into an even wider intervallic sound by inverting the third and the seventh in our tapping hand on the B half diminished chord, the third now a full two octaves higher. This means that the E7 that follows it still has two compound tones, the third and seventh, and the A minor seven chord that follows that is configured like the B half diminished chord with a compound seventh and a double compound third. We are now well beyond what would be possible to play fingerstyle, and this is where the tapping technique comes into its own, making patterns possible to play that would be otherwise unplayable and thus providing fresh possibilities. By making use of a tapping technique we can play wide compound intervals and arrange

example 1

example 2

example 3

example 4

familiar arpeggios in differing configurations. There are many possibilities, so use these examples as a starting point and experiment with your own ideas.

Bass Guitar Magazine October 2015

078-079 Statham_rev3KP.indd 79

079

23/03/2016 14:35

FrANC O'SHeA

more exotic territory explored with Big franc

i

n this issue I will be analysing the second half of a bass solo that uses an exotic scale for all its melodic and harmonic content. For the last few issues I have been using the A Mixolydian b6 as an example of how to get the most out of a scale by unpacking it: however, it is worth remembering that this type of analysis can be applied to all scales. The first half of the solo, which appeared in my last column, showed bars one to 27, and since this is the second half of the solo I have started this month at bar 26 to provide some context before continuing with the rest of the solo. Bars 24 to 25 showed a figure based on a D melodic minor scale, which is the parent scale of A Mixolydian b6. This figure was repeated in bars 26 and 27, which, as you can see, is a motif created using minor and major 10ths. This motif provided some relief and stability as it came after an intense triplet chordal section based on a G Prometheus hexatonic scale with an open A pedal. However, this is just the calm before the storm gathers again, as can be seen in the rather disconcerting figures appearing

80

in bars 28 to 31. These unsettling mirroring motifs are still based exclusively on notes from the A Mixolydian b6, but since this scale shares similarities with the whole tone scale, these figures highlight this. In fact, if you were to strip out the perfect 4th and perfect 5th interval degrees from the A Mixolydian b6 scale you would be left with the notes A, B, C#, F and G, and all it would take to create an A whole tone scale would be the simple addition of an Eb. So why do whole tone scales create such an atmosphere of unsettling eeriness? Imagine a film scene in which Freddy Krueger is just about to pounce on a scared victim who has been hearing strange noises in their house at night. As the psychological tension mounts before the final pounce, augmented triads running up and down the whole tone scale are employed to underpin the suspense. Nothing is actually happening

Bass Guitar Magazine October 2015

080-081 Franc_Rev2KP.indd 80

23/03/2016 10:37

APP extra

Download the Bass app for extra content

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

tuition

Advanced Theory

musica) as far back as the early 1700s, but few know that this term was also often applied to the more dissonant semitone interval. The chord in bars 35 and 36 employ both intervals. It has a tritone (C# to G) and then its octave, which is followed by the semitone interval of C# to D. Surprisingly, the resulting chord exudes a hauntingly beautiful quality. This is, in part, due to the fact that the notes are arpeggiated but also because our modern ears are used to ‘dissonances’ that would have been considered unpalatable in older times with their different tuning temperaments. On the third beat of both these bars a low open E string replaces the lower C# that appears on the first beat, creating a min6/7 chord with the 5th omitted. The upper part of the chord that appears in bars 37 and 38 uses a similar tritone and semitone combination: however, the configuration is now reversed with the semitone (E to F) appearing first and the tritone (F to B) appearing above it. Bar 39 is less tense than the previous four bars and is an Fmaj7b5 chord with the b5, B, its lowest note, placing it in second inversion. An E-addb9 chord in the next bar brings back some of the tritone and semitone tension, although the root and b9 are separated by an octave, before the tension is finally broken in bar 41. In comparison to the previous bars, bars 41 to 50 create a fairly easy-going and harmonically pleasing run down the scale by employing simple rhythmic figures, double stops and an open A string drone, topped off with a dramatic flourish and subsequent harmonic chord in bar 51. Using the entire scale, the A11b13 arpeggio, which starts on the ‘and’ of beat four in bar 51, culminates with a low A and its 3rd and 5th in the high octave, creating a simple, happy, A major triad which lets you know that everything has turned out fine in the end. Until next time…

Bass Guitar Magazine October 2015

080-081 Franc_Rev2KP.indd 81

81

23/03/2016 10:37

SUBSCRIBE

TODAY TO PLUS FREE FAT-BEAM STRINGS Stainless Steel Bass Strings wound on round cores, Fat-Beams are compression wound to produce fat mids, bright highs and that distinct, edgy Fat-Beam sound. Hand-made with the finest American stainless steel available, wound on round cores for increased flexibility and tone.

SAVE OVER

53%*

DR Strings are handmade (not machine-made) because our expert string-makers are capable of making micro adjustments needed through the winding process for the best sound and feel possible. The Difference is Real. *savings are based on a comparison against cover price, p&p and gift RRP. Offer open to UK subscribers only and while stocks last. Publishers reserve the right to offer an alternative gift.

BASS GUITAR MAGAZINE PRIORITY RENEWAL FORM 129

WHICH PACKAGE WOULD YOU LIKE?

(OFFICE USE ONLY)

PAYMENT OPTIONS 3

Please start my NEW Subscription to Bass Guitar Magazine from issue:

DIRECT DEBIT - Get 13 issues, Annual DD £43.75

Please renew my EXISTING Subscription to Bass Guitar Magazine

SUBSCRIPTION RATES

LTD

Direct Debit Instruction to your Bank or Building Society to pay by Direct Debit

Please TICK the appropriate box below UK: £43.75

Europe: £68.25

Rest of World: £69.75

Service user Number

YOUR DETAILS

5

4

3

8

9

ref. No. (For official use only)

Name and full postal address of your Bank or Building Society

Please complete in BLOCK CAPITALS. All information is private and will never be disclosed. Mr/Mrs/Miss

2

Please fill in the form and send to: Blaze Publishing Ltd, Lawrence House, Morrell St, Leamington Spa, Warks. CV32 5SZ

To the manager (Bank Name)

Forename

Address

Surname Address County

Postcode

Daytime Phone

Mobile

Email

Year of Birth

Postcode Account holder(s) name(s) Branch sort code

CHEQUE/CREDIT CARD 1

I enclose my cheque for the above amount made payable to Blaze Publishing Ltd

2

Please charge my

Visa

Mastercard

Maestro

Card number

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Bank/Building Society account No.

Delta with the above amount (Please no Amex)

Security code

| |

START DATE

| | |

EXPIRY DATE

| | |

INSTrucTIoNS To your BANk or BuIlDINg SocIeTy. Please pay Blaze Publishing ltd Direct Debits from the account detailed on this instruction, subject to safeguards assured by the Direct Debit guarantee. I understand that the instruction may remain with Blaze Publishing ltd and if so, details will be passed electronically to my Bank or Building Society.

Signature SIGNED

TODAYS DATE

Date

Banks and Building Societies may not accept Direct Debit instructions for some types of account.

RETURN TO: BLAZE PUBLISHING LTD Lawrence House, Morrell Street, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 5SZ bass subs 129.indd 82

23/03/2016 15:54

083.indd 83

23/03/2016 16:29

app ExTRa Download the Bass app for extra content

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

ExamplE 1

pHIl maNN

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

T

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

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

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

GUITARGuitar MAGAZINE Magazine October 2015 84 BASS Bass 84

084-085 Mann_rev3KP.indd 84

23/03/2016 15:06

tuition

Advanced Techniques

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

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

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

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

Bass Guitar Magazine October 2015

084-085 Mann_rev3KP.indd 85

85

23/03/2016 15:06

APP EXTRA Download the Bass app for extra content

EXAMPLE 1

EXAMPLE 2

EXAMPLE 3

DAVID ETHERIDGE

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

EXAMPLE 4

M

EXAMPLE 5

any years ago, while studying at music college, I was playing folk clubs in the evenings with jazz legend Diz Disley. Double bass players were rather thin on the ground, so I was interested to meet one at a club in South London. “What kind of music do you play?” I asked the other bassist. “I’m a New Orleans jazz specialist!” he proudly announced. I was impressed. I hadn’t the faintest idea what one was, but as a specialist he had to be good. Diz was a great one for jam sessions, so I waited with interest for this bass player’s solo: when it came, it was terrible. A random series of notes in no particular key, with no sense of melody or chord progression – or was he the avant-garde branch of New Orleans jazz? Once I found out exactly what that type of jazz actually was, I never looked at it the same way. The point of this preamble is to ask some fundamental questions about soloing on double bass. Over the years, I’ve seen a variety of approaches, from guys who just play the same bass-line

EXAMPLE 6

EXAMPLE 7

EXAMPLE 8

but louder, to technical wizardry from the likes of Stanley Clarke and John Patitucci (just to name two) that leaves one spellbound. If you look at their work on YouTube, you’ll see that their approach to double bass differs quite markedly from the same player’s work on bass guitar. It’s a truism that you can whiz around on bass guitar far more than on double bass, simply due to the latter’s sheer size and string weight, so trying those Jaco licks on double bass may not be as easy as you think once you get down to trying them out. When we’re soloing, we’re basically providing instant musical composition. Like any language, it will have

GUITARGuitar MAGAZINE Magazine October 2015 086 BASS Bass 086

086-087 Etheridge_Rev3KP.indd 86

23/03/2016 16:01

TUITION

Upright Citizen

the musical equivalent of words and sentences, and make sense to the listener. Trying to be flash and play 1,000 notes a minute (we all try that sooner or later) can be wearing for both listeners and other players, so contrast can be the name of the game: fast bits, slow bits, cross rhythms, syncopations, funky phrases and even rests and silences can all be used in solos on double bass. Let’s have a look at some approaches and see how we can get to really express ourselves. The ‘road map’ of a solo will follow the form and the chord sequence of the tune you’re playing, so you’ll know where you are at any given point, and that gives you the choice of notes to play. You can follow various approaches: chord tones, scales, chromatic runs and even musical quotes. They all have their place and the latter can be great fun. To start off with, let’s have a look at a basic I-IV-II-V progression. Keep in mind that in jazz and blues the quavers (eighth notes) are always swung. In example 1, this might be the bass part to the chords: pretty standard fare. If we use chord tones only as a starting point, we might come up with example 2. Here we have some syncopation to add to the groove. This line is easy and can be played all in half position. We’ll develop our line as we go along and try higher-register work, but a good rule of thumb is to try and group as many notes in the same, or adjacent positions where possible. In example 3 I’ve added some triplets to break up the basic feel, and included some scale passages and semitone runs to add interest. You can see from the fingering that this can be played in half position, moving up to second position for the high Bb and C in bar three, and using the open G to move back to half position at the end of that bar. At the end of bar four we move up a semitone to get the G and Ab at the end.

Example 4 shows a development of the basic idea: you don’t have to start a phrase on the root of the chord. In this example, every bar starts on the third of the chord and still follows the chord sequence. As you can see from the fingering, the majority of this example is in half position, only changing for the high C and D. Example 5 shows a similar riff, but here we’re starting on the fifths of the chord, and we stay in the same position throughout. With example 6 I’ve introduced some new ideas: chromatic runs, and triplet crochets (quarter notes) to add rhythmic variation and contrast. Although there’s a lot of triplet action in the sequence, I’m using it as an illustration: the choice is up to you. In practice, on a solo, you might want to stay in one particular rhythmic groove – say swung quavers – and only add triplet quavers for a fill at the end of an eight-bar phrase. Example 7 shows the kind of thing you might try. Remember Victor Wooten’s maxim that just about anything can be used as a fill at the end of a section of music, from the most subtle to the most flash. Don’t think that you have to fill a solo with notes, either: sometimes spaces in a solo can be very effective. Have a look at example 8 for some ideas, and the syncopations can add to the groove very well by pushing the feel along, particularly if you use them as contrast to more regular phrasing. Contrast is the important word here. These examples are just basic building blocks for your musical vocabulary, and as we’ve seen, they’re all playable in one or two positions. Don’t worry about ‘difficult’ keys either. Just substitute a position shift or two for the open strings and you’ll see that you have a lot of potential in any key. This month we’ve only looked at basic ideas on chord tones: next month we’ll expand it further.

BASS GUITAR 087 Bass Guitar Magazine OctoberMAGAZINE 2015 087

086-087 Etheridge_Rev3KP.indd 87

23/03/2016 16:01

TUITION

Laying Down The Lawson

STEVE LAWSON

Looking at the big picture with Dark Lord Lawson

With any pedal – or multi-FX, or preamp or anything – I do the same. I (fairly) methodically go through as many possible combinations as I can. With overdrive pedals, I spent a long time finding out where the break point is, where they actually start to dirty up your sound. It was this process that helped me find the amazing warm clean tone I can get from the Markbass MiniDIST. With the ‘dist’ control off and level control full, it sounds beautiful, outside of the distorted tone it was built for. It’s the same with the new MXR Bass Distortion: the point where it starts to break up produces some extraordinary sounds, which are unlike any distortion pedal I’ve used before. And it’s all happening in the first maybe five to 10 per cent of the sweep of the ‘dist’ control. Tiny tweaks, technique and volume adjustments to see how it interacts with the rest of the signal chain... explore, modify, apply, repeat... Sometimes within that process you discover things that maybe weren’t planned but are still inherent in the complex design of the pedal: I’ve been spending a lot of time recently with the TC Electronic Flashback delay. The one control I’m most interested in with all delays is the delay time knob: what happens when you turn it? On some units, it makes amazing spacey bleepy noises – the Line 6 DL4 does this, and some analogue and tapebased delays do too. On others, the delay just resets and starts from scratch. On the Flashback, the material that’s currently repeating gets extended to the length of the new delay time (through multiple repeats, not time stretching) and the new stuff gets added over the top. If you turn the control down to its shortest delay time, and turn the feedback and FX level controls up, you get an amazing granular filter sound, which you can then ‘trap’ and use as part of a longer delay... Again, this is not something you can do if you’ve got your pedal on the floor to operate with your feet, but you’ve all stopped doing that already, right? So this month, go extreme. Turn everything up, everything off and everything in between and see what freaky sonic treasures lie at the boundaries of your favourite toys. You may find something unrecognisable and beautiful! 

88

© Eckie

W

e’ve talked before here about treating pedals as instruments: about the need to see them not just as an on/off effect, but as a way of changing how the sound is produced – something that requires us to modify the way we play, and often adapt the rest of our signal chain to acommodate the new possibilities. The end point of this is that I don’t see the bass as my instrument and the pedals as some external boxes that ‘do things’ to my sound. I see the whole signal chain, from fingers to speakers, as my instrument. This means that I explore the possibilities of each pedal pretty much the same way I do each aspect of my bass. When I’m working on a new technical issue on my instrument, I vary every parameter to see what it makes possible: I vary how hard I’m hitting the strings, the angle I hit the strings from, and I move my hand up and down the neck from right next to the bridge to right down over the fingerboard. All of it to explore the extremes of what’s possible in order to find the bits that make the sounds I can use. I don’t want to second-guess where those are, so I look for all of them.

Bass Guitar Magazine October 2015

088 Lawson_Rev2KP.indd 88

23/03/2016 16:07

Advertising Index Advanced Audio Distribution (Synergy)........................73 Allianz Musical Insurance ............................................67 Andy Baxter Basses......................................................31 Barnes & Mullins .............................................15, 35, 51 Bass Centre...................................................................19 Bass Direct......................................................................9 Dingwall........................................................................55 Darkglass .....................................................................39 Chapman stick ..............................................................73 MSL Pro - Markbass ....................................................59 Marleaux basses ..........................................................89 Madison and Fifth - Nemphasis ..................................63 Musicians’ Union..........................................................55 Promenade....................................................................43 Radial Engineering .......................................................27 Rotosound.......................................................................7 Sadowsky .....................................................................63 Enfield Basses & Sims pickups ...................................11 Surine Basses...............................................................63 Strings & Things .................................................... OSBC Stonefield Musical Instrument Company, Ltd. .. 13, 67, ISBC Swan Song Guitars.......................................................63 Warwick .............................................................3, 21, 66 Willcox guitars (Lightwave systems)........................ ISFC

TO ADVERTISE HERE CONTACT guy on

01926 339 808 [email protected]

089.indd 89

23/03/2016 16:52

A brand-new column in which Mike Brooks celebrates a classic album. Let’s begin by jumping back 40 years to what is arguably Queen’s finest record... elcome to my new column. Each month I’ll be taking an in-depth look at a classic album, which may have broken records around the world, changed the course of musical history or been a turning point in the history of the bass guitar. Either way, it’s all about historic bass! When Queen began writing material for A Night At The Opera in 1975, they faced a real dilemma. Their management were fleecing them of their royalties, they had to write a hit single that could improve upon ‘Killer Queen’, a number two hit; and their fourth LP had to do the business in terms of sales, otherwise they were facing being dropped by their record label, EMI. They needed a great album to send them into rock’s stratosphere – but nobody could have foreseen what a milestone the band would produce in their hour of need, let alone a magnum opus single that would propel sales to over 10 million worldwide. The great John Deacon used his familiar Fender Precisions for the bulk of the bass tracks, and although he was using Acoustic 370 amps paired with Acoustic 301 Reflex cabs and a HiWatt amp driving Sound City 4x12 cabs at the time, the album was predominantly recorded direct via the desk and a DI box, while his basses were fitted with flatwound strings for less string noise and a thick tone. The album opener, ‘Death On Two Legs’, is singer Freddie Mercury’s attempt to put down on record his vitriolic feelings about the band’s ex-manager: check out the smooth and tasty bass run at 2’54” that eventually matches Freddie’s vocal part. ‘Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon’ and ‘Seaside Rendezvous’ were early indicators that Queen might be pushing the envelope in the studio in much

W

90

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

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

Bass Guitar Magazine April 2015

090 Brooks_Rev3KP.indd 90

23/03/2016 11:46

091.indd 91

23/03/2016 12:57

092.indd 92

23/03/2016 12:59