Music
Bass Player
Bass of Tomorrow
We can think of a few string manufacturers who claim to make the best-sounding products in the world. Dr Jonathan Kemp doesn’t just make that claim—he can prove it, too. Hywel Davies is blinded with science...
2 min |
July 2020
Bass Player
PASS NOTES: ASHLEY REEVE
Welcome to Pass Notes, our new advice column, in which we ask a renowned bass player for tips about how to make it as a musician. This month: Cher bassist Ashley Reeve
4 min |
July 2020
Bass Player
IT WAS FORTY YEARS AGO TODAY...
...that Mark King’s flying thumb first blew our minds and, in doing so, opened up a whole new era for the bass guitar. As Level 42 celebrate their fourth decade in business, we sit down with King and take a look back—with the benefit of 2020 vision
10 min |
July 2020
Bass Player
MARLEAUX Contra
A four-string beauty from Gerald Marleaux falls into the hands of Mike Brooks
4 min |
July 2020
Bass Player
THIS GOES TO TWELVE
Idaho-resident bassist Mark Rowe owns what is thought to be the world’s largest collection of 12-string basses. We meet him for a chat about the thang behind the twang...
4 min |
July 2020
Bass Player
LOW LIFE
Nail your preparation with Tax The Heat bassist and BIMM UK Live Performance tutor Antonio Angotti
3 min |
July 2020
Bass Player
HARTKE LX8500
The new big box from the esteemed amp-makers Hartke arrives on Stuart Clayton’s desk. Cover your ears, he advises
4 min |
July 2020
Bass Player
Enter Sandbergman
Swedish bassist Victor Brandt is a veteran of Scandinavian metal—so it’s about time he got his own suitably heavyweight signature axe. We meet the metal maestro
6 min |
July 2020
Bass Player
BEHIND THE WALL OF SOUND
You think you know who the late, great Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister of Motörhead was? We thought so too, until we met the singer songwriter Lynda Kay, who reveals a tender side to the great man that we never knew existed
10+ min |
July 2020
Bass Player
Royal Rumble
Gibson’s head of Product Development, Mat Koehler, and Fender historian, Terry Foster, explain how the two industry titans battled it out over the electric bass in the early days—and changed the course of popular music in the process…
10+ min |
June 2020
Bass Player
TRICKFISH Bullhead 1K Amp and TF-112 Cabinet
There’s a new kid on the amplification block and it’s making serious waves. Mike Brooks takes a dip with the Trickfish
3 min |
June 2020
Bass Player
Wedding Rites
My Dying Bride play heavy—but ‘romantic’—metal. Lena Abé is tasked with delivering the lowest of the low end, she tells us...
4 min |
June 2020
Bass Player
Immediate Lee
The great Lee Sklar, veteran of literally countless sessions, returns with a new project, the Immediate Family. “I’m your gardener!” he tells us...
7 min |
June 2020
Bass Player
HAMSTEAD Subspace Intergalactic Driver
Ready to go Intergalactic? The Editor readies his (moon) boot
2 min |
June 2020
Bass Player
STONE UNTURNED
Is there a bigger band on the planet in terms of cultural impact, commercial stature, and sheer heritage than the Rolling Stones? Darryl Jones looks back at the path that led him to the very, very top
10+ min |
June 2020
Bass Player
DARKGLASS Microtubes X Ultra
The latest pedal from Darkglass is another mighty Microtubes. Let’s rock, suggests Brooks
2 min |
June 2020
Bass Player
IBANEZ SR2405W-BTL
Mike Brooks gets up close and personal with this sensibly-priced head-turner
3 min |
June 2020
Bass Player
BASS OF TOMORROW
GHS Strings have helped to shape the sound of the world’s bass players since 1964. Hywel Davies asks Jon Moody, one of the company’s top minds, what the future holds
2 min |
June 2020
Bass Player
ASHDOWN Grail and Saint
Amp-makers Ashdown step into bass guitar world, with this Dan Lakin-designed range of workhorse instruments. Phil Mann steps up for a test
3 min |
June 2020
Bass Player
Strictly For The Birds
Lloyd Wood of Welsh rockers Those Damn Crows talks starting bands and his love of the lower register
2 min |
May 2020
Bass Player
WILCOCK Mullarkey
Short-scale loveliness from the workshop of Viv Wilcock, whose instruments are creating a buzz. Mike Brooks assesses the goods
3 min |
May 2020
Bass Player
Two Up
With her new album, 02022020, Ida Nielsen reveals a new composing direction
5 min |
May 2020
Bass Player
Morbid Tales
David Vincent—the man behind the bass and/or vocals in Vltimas, I Am Morbid, and solo projects—has spent his career among the low frequencies. Here he explains how it all came to pass...
3 min |
May 2020
Bass Player
RICKENBACKER Al Cisneros 4003 AC
Sleep and OM bassist Al Cisneros is the latest of a very short list of bassists to get his own signature Rickenbacker. Do we want to review it, they asked? Not only does the Editor say yes, he doesn’t want to give it back afterwards...
4 min |
May 2020
Bass Player
Read And Learn
Most successful bassists learn to read music and then build a career, but not the esteemed Michael Mondesir. He’s played with a huge list of musicians, from Jeff Beck, to Ginger Baker, Neneh Cherry, and Bill Bruford. All bassists should read this!
8 min |
May 2020
Bass Player
Goods Times
Bassist and bandleader Richie Goods has played with a stellar cast of stars including Alicia Keys, Common, Whitney Houston, Lenny White, Christina Aguilera, and many others. Here, the prolific musician returns with a new album, My Left Hand Man, in honour of his late mentor, pianist Mulgrew Miller
6 min |
May 2020
Bass Player
DAYS OF OUR LIVES
What’s more punk than playing the biggest arenas in the world, giving your new album a frankly unprintable title and playing a bass with an ancient shape? Nothing, that’s what. We know because we asked Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt...
8 min |
May 2020
Bass Player
Finnish Lines
Solo bassist Kristiine Silinja reminds us that there’s no such thing as ‘you cannot’...
2 min |
May 2020
Bass Player
BASS OF TOMORROW
Only the best is good enough—even after 51 years, as amp mastermind Robert Gallien of Gallien-Krueger tells us
2 min |
May 2020
Bass Player
WILD BILL
With more bands under his belt than we’ve eaten backstage ramen, the mighty Billy Sheehan is nothing less than a king in our world. We meet the great man as he delivers yet another sterling performance on Sons Of Apollo’s new album, MMXX
10+ min |