Bass Player is the world's most comprehensive, trusted and insightful bass publication for passionate bassists and active musicians of all ages. Each issue delivers the latest tips and techniques that are guaranteed to make you a better player.
Ah, we love it when a star of the caliber of Lenny Kravitz (singer, multi-instrumentalist, actor, love god, 10 million album sales and counting, multiple Grammy awards) comes over to the righteous side and enters the bass world. This issue rock star extraordinaire Kravitz gives us the very first bass-centric cover interview of his stellar career, and we consider ourselves fortunate to have him on our side. Mr K is joined by a galaxy of bass stars this month, starting with Jessica Pimentel, best known for her seven-season-to-date role in the Netflix series Orange Is The New Black. Between takes on the set, she strums the bass in a variety of unsociably loud situations—and once again, it’s her first bass-themed appearance. We also bring you the ultimate guide to the…
HEART TO HEART Guitarist Jason Becker is a tough cookie, refusing to allow the small matter of ALS, also known as motor neurone disease, to stop him making albums. His new record, Triumphant Hearts, is out on Mascot this month and features the expert bass playing of Matt Bissonette, who says he’s always glad to play with Jason: “He has been a good friend for years, and is one of the most talented musicians I have ever met. He trusted my brother [legendary drummer] Gregg and I to play whatever we wanted on his tracks, and that is a trait of a mature, experienced writer/producer, to let the players do their thing. God bless you Jason and your amazing family!” www.jasonbecker.com REISSUES RUSH! Looking for a last-minute Christmas present? You…
THIS MONTH: Reiner Dobbratz, Le Fay Basses Brothers Reiner and Mike Dobbratz are responsible for some of Germany’s finest basses, establishing their company, Le Fay, back in 1987, using knowledge passed down from their father Siegfried Dobbratz. “I started building instruments when I was 16,” says Reiner, “and we founded Le Fay in the late 80s. At first, we started building guitars, but the bass player of my band at the time wanted a bass, so we changed to making basses instead. We’ve been making instruments for a long time now and why? Well, it can’t be because of money!” Since then, Le Fay have constantly upped their game. “The Remington Steel is our steel fretless, which we love making,” explains Reiner. “We’ve been making them for about 15 years…
There is nothing quite like a fine handmade guitar. Owning an individually hand-crafted instrument is an aspiration for many musicians, as it was for me in the 1980s. In 1988 I succeeded—I had finally acquired what was, to my mind, probably the finest hand-made bass guitar available. It was beautiful, it was satisfying, it was glorious, but was it… a lie? In the liquor industry, low-volume distillers and brewers describe their output as “craft” products. Labelling their output this way, however, is not an indication, or even a promise, of quality—only that production does not exceed an industry determined limit. Similarly, many years ago companies producing guitars in low numbers co-opted the terms “hand-crafted” and “hand-made” to distinguish their instruments from those of large guitar factories. When I began developing…
On March 1991, Californian rockers Mr Big were on an upward trajectory. Their self-titled debut album of 1989 had done well, although it hadn’t exactly set the charts alight. After tours with Rush in the US and Canada, and their own headlining tours of Japan and the Far East, the band’s second album, Lean Into It, arrived at a point when their profile was rising rapidly. The incoming winds of grunge hadn’t yet started blowing, so Billy Sheehan (bass), Eric Martin (vocals), Pat Torpey (drums), and Paul Gilbert (guitar) had much to be optimistic about. Released at the end of March 1991, the album reached number 15 in the US album charts and produced five singles. And by a twist of fate, Mr Big eventually hit bullseye with a song…
BASS Following the immense success of the Hartke amp and cabinet ranges from the mid-Eighties and through the Nineties, Larry Hartke revisited the ‘metalnecked’ bass design in 1998 to ’99; this led to the production of the XK-4 and XL-4. All XK models, and all five-string basses, were made in Korea, while the XL instruments were constructed in the US. Most commonly seen in black, but also available in red, yellow, and purple finishes among others, the XK-4 features a nine-volt active two-band EQ with stacked bass/treble controls alongside a pair of volume controls. A Hartke-badged Schaller bridge, Gotoh machine heads, and passive Hartke pickups provide a powerful tonal display across the 20-fret rosewood fingerboard. A brushed aluminium scratchplate adorns the poplar body—and really looks the part alongside the chrome-plated…
