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.
Q THE MUSIC Our friend Suzi Quatro, now in the music-business for more than 50 years, has released a new studio album, No Control, on SPV. “I’ve never stopped releasing music,” she says. “Back To The Drive in 2006, In The Spotlight in 2011—these albums were planned out in great detail. I’m proud of all three releases, but No Control is its own animal.” She’ll be touring through 2019; watch out for our forthcoming interview. www.suziquatro.com MR JONES Phil Jones Bass have announced the MICRO 7 amp, a single-channel 50-watt bass combo with a 7” driver and 3” tweeter. It measures less than a foot each side, and weighs 15.5 lbs (7 kg). The US street price is $279 but, as PJB tell us, it “uses the same quality parts…
NEW ALBUM The Mute Gods, Atheists And Believers (2019) Nick Beggs is a (thankfully not mute) god in our world. Check out the effortlessly catchy, intelligent songwriting on his new album. OLD ALBUM Talk Talk, The Party’s Over (1982) TT singer Mark Hollis departed in February. Salute him by listening to this album, loaded with cerebral bass playing from Paul Webb. REALLY OLD ALBUM Elvis Presley, Loving You (1957) Bill Black’s propulsive upright bass playing never sounded more exciting than on Elvis’s first soundtrack album.…
Check one, two... Check one, two! Welcome back, bassists—this month, I’ll be discussing some of the preparational aspects of live performance, and how to cultivate the best sonic environment for you to perform in. Soundcheck can be a varied experience for everyone, and it’s often easy to underestimate the time you have to spend on it. As a headlining act, you have the luxury of spending longer on tweaking your sounds, sorting your monitor mix and working through any issues with the front-of-house (FOH) engineer. As a support act, you get what you’re given time-wise, which can be anything from 30 minutes, to a basic line-check. With that in mind, it’s important that you make the most of your soundcheck, as bad sound on stage can really affect the way…
Crusher. Constrictor. No, we’re not talking B-movie beasties here—these are the names of the fretted beauties that, along with the Tribute, and Ultra J models, make up the stunning Anaconda bass family. Founder, luthier, and bassist Andrew Taylor-Cummings ditched the nine-to-five back in 2013 to follow his dream of constructing the world’s most versatile basses. With over 30 years of bass-playing under his belt, it takes a player to know the game—and Andrew certainly knows what his customers want. “In order to be able to build the basses that bassists need, you have to have some kind of experience of actually playing the instrument,” he says. “I wouldn’t consider myself to be an amazing bass player by any means, but I have played bass long enough to know what a…
This month marked the 50th episode of Groove—The No Treble Podcast, which is hosted by the inimitable Mitch Joel. It was a particularly special interview, firstly because it was recorded live in front of an audience at the 2019 Winter NAMM Show, and secondly because the interviewee was none other than Michael Anthony. The former Van Halen and current Circle bassist was on hand to talk about his career, including his early years. ‘When I first started playing, my sister would be bringing home albums: Everything from Frank Zappa to David Peel,’ the bassist explained. ‘One of the first albums I really got into was by The Electric Flag, whose bassist was Harvey Brooks. He was a session player. They had a song called ‘Texas’ that just had this big…
Bassists have benefited greatly from the technological innovations of the past few years. Neodymium speakers, and lightweight amps with massive wattage, have made hauling our rigs around remarkably easier. Many gigbags now offer enough protection to allow us to leave our heavy hard case at home. A one-trip load in is now a viable option for most of us, but we still need to decide what we will bring ‘just in case’. An oft-discussed topic at TalkBass is the need to carry a backup bass. For some gigs, it’s a requirement; you may need both a fretless and a fretted, for example. Unfortunately, a second instrument usually doubles the schlep to and from your car, and increases the chances of something getting damaged or lost. I’ve found that backups are…
