Contents
Issue 59 October 2010
20 MATT
GARRISON
Mike Flynn chats to Matt about his
groundbreaking new solo project
Regulars
08 THE LOW DOWN
Keep up with all the latest new gear and
industry news…
14 BASS TO THE FUTURE:
ZANDER ZON
Introducing solo bass specialist, Zander Zon
16 TAKE FIVE: JOHN ‘RHINO’
EDWARDS
Still rocking all over the world, the Status Quo
bassist reveals his top five albums
18 BASSICALLY SPEAKING
We talk to Marcus Keenan, Adam Irwin, Markus
Laakso, Simon Wright, Matt Armstrong and
Frédéric Leclercq
BassicallySpeaking
Bassically Speaking
Bassists tell us what they do in a minute or less!
Matt Armstrong, Murder By Death
The secret of playing bass well
is knowing your job in the
band. Sometimes it’s OK to
be upfront, but a lot of times
you just need to be there to
keep things from falling apart.
What you don’t play is often
as important as what you do
play. My basses are a First Act
Custom semi-hollow body,
a Fender American Deluxe
18 BASS GUITAR MAGAZINE
Basically Speaking_1nw.indd 18
4 BASS GUITAR MAGAZINE
Contents_1nw.indd 4
Simon
Wright
65days
ofstatic
Everything I play is really
quite basic – root notes,
power chords and so on. I use
an ESP LTD EC-254AT with
EMG pickups. It’s beaten and
battered at the edges, but well
loved. My rig is an SWR 750X
amp and an Ampeg 8x10”
cab. The only effects I use live
Precision, a modified 70s John Curley (Afghan Whigs),
are a Boss Equalizer pedal and
Precision, an Epiphone Jack Dominic Aitchison (Mogwai),
a Fulltone Mosfet Bass-Drive.
Casady and a Michael Kelly Greg Edwards (Failure) and
For the last record I spent
acoustic/electric. I currently Eric Abert (The Life and
some time playing with an
play through an Ampeg SVT-4 Times), but I was reminded
Electro-Harmonix POG.
Pro head. I use an Ampeg 8x10” recently that the greatest bass
Together with the Bass-Drive
and an Emperor 2x15” together player of all time may very
it makes a noise somewhere
in the studio and am currently well be John Paul Jones of Led
between a circular saw and
touring with a Schroeder Zeppelin. His playing is so
a spaceship. I don’t play a
4x12” cabinet. My bass heroes intricate, yet so tasteful.
5-string because, as it stands,
are Simon Gallup (The Cure), www.murderbydeath.com
I barely use all of the four
strings I have. Adding a fifth
Markus Laakso would just confuse me, or give
me ideas above my
Chaosweaver station. When the Pixies were
looking for a bass player, they
specified ‘please, no chops’ in
The secret of playing bass well is understanding that the wanted ad. Or so I heard.
bass and guitar are completely different instruments. Kim Deal writes effortlessly
Don’t try to play bass like a guitarist: focus on the groove cool basslines and is in one
and writing bass arrangements that complement the of the greatest bands ever.
wholeness of the song. My bass style is stripped down
and to the point. I use Ibanez BTB basses, SansAmp
bass effects – mainly fuzz and distortion – and Fender
Enough said. My first bass was
a hand-me-down, handmade,
sky-blue Precision copy. It
tube amps. My first bass was an Ibanez BTB 400, and had a mirrored scratchplate,
I’ve stuck with the series ever since. BTBs are affordable, weighed a ton, and played
easy to play, well structured and good-looking. My
like a suspension bridge. I still
bass heroes are Sami Yaffa (Michael Monroe, Hanoi have it somewhere. I’d sell it,
Rocks, Joan Jett, New York Dolls) and Robert Trujillo but it might be more valuable
– masters of the groove. I absolutely adore Trujillo’s as firewood when the time
innovative Latin funk thumbing style on the Infectious comes. I do not slap, because
Grooves and Suicidal Tendencies albums. I know people it conjures up an image of
are going to hate me for saying this, but I think his Alan Partridge playing air
unique talents are being wasted on Metallica’s bass to a Gary Numan song in
not-so-bassist-friendly music. He doesn’t get the his caravan. So it mostly has
opportunity to shine. The greatest bass player that ever
negative or hilarious
lived is Geezer Butler. He might not be technically the connotations, I’m afraid.
most advanced, but he’s the coolest. www.65daysofstatic.com
www.chaosweaver.info
Basically
09/09/2010 16:41Speaking_1nw.indd 19
Interviews
BassicallySpeaking
26 FREEBASS
Peter Hook, Mani and Andy Rourke have joined
forces to create the ultimate bass supergroup
Marcus Keenan
e Hundred Days
© FRANK WHITE
32 JON THORNE
I started playing upright bass and tuba in an orchestra when I
was a kid. I picked those instruments because they were big, loud
Adam Irwin Black Spiders
and looked cool. Later I switched to electric bass and continued
playing the tuba in orchestras. Around this time, my dad brought
home a drum set that he won in a poker game and gave it to my
I don’t play 5-string basses. You can do everything you need to
do with four strings; in fact, at a push I could probably manage
twin brother. We played together every day, never really saying
a word. We learnt to communicate with each other through our
with three! Anything more is superfluous and, frankly, showing instruments – communication is key. I play a Fender Jazz into an
off. My main bass is a Marcus Miller series Fender Jazz, and I
AND DANNY THOMPSON
Ampeg SVT Classic with an 8x10” cab; the range of the 4-string
have a standard Jazz as a spare. I play them through a clone of a
bass is completely suitable for the style of music I play. I played
Brassmaster octave fuzz pedal, built by our guitarist Ozzy, into
a 5-string briefly and realised that I wasn’t using the extra range
a Bugera BVP 5500 amp and an 8x10” Peavey cab. My first bass
of the instrument, because it made everything sound too heavy.
was a very cheap Jazz copy by a company I’ve never heard of
When I first started playing I was completely blown away by
before, or since, called Legend. When I first started playing I was
slapping. I ended up just spending hours in the bedroom slapping
in a punk band, and we’d often indulge in the cliché of trashing
the heck out of my bass. I later found out that if I wanted to play
our gear at the end of a show. Anyway, at one gig I threw my
with anyone else, I would have to tone it back and rely on musical
bass across the stage and looked on in horror as the body
judgement. The greatest bass player that ever lived is Donald
© Helen Purvis
snapped in two! I couldn’t afford to buy a new bass, so I glued
Jon Thorne unveils his new album, written in
‘Duck’ Dunn, the house bass player at the legendary Stax record
it back together with the stuff they use for attaching skirting
label and bassist for Booker T and the MGs. I first saw Duck in the
boards to walls, and carried on gigging it for another six months Blues Brothers movie and wanted to be just like him. Everything he
or so until I could afford a new one. I’ve still got it now and play
it at home. It sounds terrible… Paul Simonon (The Clash), Krist
plays is so tasteful and well crafted.
www.myspace.com/thehundreddays
Novoselic (Nirvana) and Kim Deal (Pixies) were the three bass
players who most influenced me when I decided that this was
tribute to double-bass legend Danny Thompson
what I wanted to do. The greatest bass player that ever lived was
probably John Entwistle. He was technically outstanding but
never overly flash; everything he did served the song.
www.theblackspiders.com
Frédéric Leclercq DragonForce
45 ‘FIELDY’
My bass style is simple, efficient and uses fast picking. I play my signature ESP
bass, the FL 600, and also the Forest, B and Surveyor series. I use Rocktron
41 COLIN EDWIN
Blue Thunder and Utopia B300 effects, with Peavey Tour heads and cabinets.
I don’t really need more than five strings – I have small fingers so it wouldn’t
be as comfortable for me – but I do use a 5-string when I’m demoing songs for
my other band, Maladaptive, because we tune to C. I don’t know the secret of
good bass playing – maybe someone could tell me? I guess you need a good
sense of rhythm and harmony, and you need the humility to serve the music.
My first bass was from a friend who got it from another friend. It had no
The Korn bassist talks us through
brand, since someone scratched out the brand name. I never really had bass
heroes, but I would mention Steve Harris and Nikki Sixx, not particularly for
Joel McIver meets Colin Edwin, bassist with
their style but for their attitude and charisma. The greatest bass player that
ever lived is Victor Wooten or Jimmy Johnson!
www.dragonforce.com
their best album to date
BASS GUITAR MAGAZINE 19
09/09/2010 16:41
Britprog legends Porcupine Tree
13/09/2010 16:02
 Gear Reviews
48 MANSON
JOHN PAUL
JONES E-BASS
We get first look at this
striking signature bass,
modelled on John’s own
first-call Manson
4-string, ‘Son of Eric’

54 KRAMER D-1
At just under £350, this impressive axe is
aimed at cash-strapped strummers

Bass Techniques

Dave Marks:
DevelopMent
rhythM section
n to 5/4 tiMe
an introDuctio
from our
we’re moving away
t Part 3. This month
Section Developmen
Welcome to Rhythm into 5/4 time.
and charging ahead
exploration of 3/4
Dave Marks signatures you will
most commonly see
when playing in 5.
These are:

freelance There are two time

Dave Marks is a busy
out of
bassist living and working
and recording
London. His playing
rage of bands
credits span a wide
Larry Carlton,
and artists, including
Albert Lee, Carl Palmer,
Paul
bottom shows the
the number on the
Carrack and many
others. time signature (remember,
is spread pulse, we use a 5/8
At the minute, his time If we have an 8th-note
out 8th note subdivision of our
pulse).
between pounding
Jr. band,
rock with the Rick Parfitt
grooves for Exercise 1
playing deep soulful
Ola Onabule and depping
for Bass Techniques
West End.
Thriller Live on the
playing,
Aside from his full
rs
teaching and Rhythmmatte
Dave
masterclass schedule, per bar. taking place onstage.
web presence, five quarter notes The length
maintains a heavy
In 5/4 time, we count of this may not
be the same every
site and
blogging on his own time, so a repeated
channel section such as
keeping his Youtube this allows the
music to continue
content.
stocked up with fresh for as long or as
www.davemarks.com using these smaller short as required
parts and counted or that time.
into smaller composite pattern of the groove
can be broken down 3. Usually, the accent
Many odd time signatures as a composite of either 3 & 2 or 2 & First- & Second-
felt systems is most appropriate.
Exercise 2
‘cells’. 5/4 is most often of these counting Time Bars
will determine which The final repeat
the flow of the melody marks this
are first- and second-tim month
e bars.
These can occur
at the end of a
repeated section
and signify that
the second time

Gear
through there
is a different ending.
The
the more common 3 &
2 feel. question are bracketed bars in
examples will use off with a
All of this month’s number above
them. The first-time
bar is to be played
the first time,
then you repeat
back to the start
of the repeat mark.
The second
time through you
Exercise 3 miss out the
first-time bar, jump
over this, and
of ‘Take Five’ go straight to the
Fig 1: In the style feel and uses strong second-time bar
has a bouncing swing and carry on. These
classic ‘Take Five’. It simple and can be used in
of Dave Brubeck’s to keep the part harmonically conjunction with
This groove is reminiscent root–fifth pattern here multiple repeats,
and 5. I’ve used a simple and you can, in
accents on beats 4 time bar, or more,
fact, have a third-
feel.
reinforce the 3 & 2 get quite confusing!
although this can

EXERCISES
in association with The first few exercises
are written in
compound time
signatures to give
you more practice
with these new
Exercise 4 time feels. As ever,
count out the
subdivision and
go slowly to start
to you with. The best
Dave’s column is brought plan when reading
RhythmMatters music with repeats
in association with is to scan over
www.rhythmmatters.co.uk the entire piece
first, work out
which bits are
repeated and where

59 STERLING BY MUSIC MAN

to go back to. This
MaGazine
is often referred
92 Bass Guitar 13/09/2010 10:42 to as the ‘geography
’ or ‘route map’
of the piece –
it is really helpful
know where you to
are going.
74 If you’re stuck with
Dave Marks_2nw.indd anything,
refer back to previous
issues of Bass
Guitar Magazine,

RAY34 SILVERBURST
or send me an
Exercise 5 email and I will
try to help! Many
of the past tuition
tips are available
on the Bass Guitar-X
website: www.
bassguitar-x.co.uk.

We inspect a limited edition from the Sterling by

Music Man stable
If there’s anything
you’d like me to
cover, or if you
have any questions,
email me on andrew@g
uitar-x.co.uk.
See you next time.

Andrew McKinney_1n
w.indd 71 BASS GUITAR
MAGAZIN E
81

Techniques
10/09/2010
15:51

66 THE 80 ANDREW MCKINNEY

WOODSHED Tuition Tip: Reading Notation

Regulars 82 STEFAN
REDTENBACHER
‘Funkyologies’
66 THE WOODSHED
We drop in on Bernie Goodfellow of GB Guitars

73 ESSENTIAL EFFECTS 86 JANEK GWIZDALA

Modern Bass Improvisations
62 AMPEG Musitronics Mu-Tron III
HERITAGE 76 BUT THIS GOES TO 11…
SERIES The science part… 88 FRANC O’SHEA
SVT-CL & A guide to reading chord symbols
SVT-410HLF 78 ON REVIEW
We preview the latest bass-related CD and DVD
CABINET releases from the likes of Matt Garrison and 92 DAVE MARKS
Kevin Sanders Esperanza Spalding Rhythm Section Development
auditions Ampeg’s
flagship SVT

BASS GUITAR MAGAZINE 5

Contents_1nw.indd 5 13/09/2010 16:02