Latest articles by Joel McIver
How Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan recorded a bass classic with Sweet Child O’ Mine
McKagan reveals how a trip to Guitar Center and the search for a sound to complement Izzy and Slash helped him find his Appetite for Destruction bass tone
Sleep’s Al Cisneros: “For my lifespan, I’ll be playing Rickenbackers. When I hear the sound of Rush’s Permanent Waves, there’s nothing else like that’”
The OM and Sleep bassist on gathering his solo singles into a collection, Sinai Dub Box, flow states and the universal groove, and which bass is so heavy he needs pain relief to play it...
Kramer Disciple D-1 Bass review
The unashamedly extrovert K-Bass continues its purple reign
Charvel Pro-Mod San Dimas PJ V review
Loaded with DiMarzio pickups and tone-shaping power, the new five-string from Charvel is a hot-rodded bass ace with a strong '80s vibe
Nashville session ace Dave Roe: “The night I played bass with Jaco Pastorius on drums”
Dave Roe on how a lie got him the gig with Johnny Cash, plus the genius of Marshall Grant and John Paul Jones
Scott Reeder: “I got a call: ‘Can you come over and jam with Tool?’”
Oh, OK. Scott Reeder, of Kyuss, Goatsnake and Fireball Ministry, on auditioning for Tool and playing with Metallica
Lemmy: "I always wanted to be John Entwistle, but since that place was taken, I became a lesser version"
In this classic interview from 2003, the late, great Motörhead frontman shares his thoughts on five-strings, Jaco Pastorius and soloing - and he doesn't hold back...
Watch Guns N' Roses' Duff McKagan and Nirvana's Krist Novoselic perform ‘Sweet Child O' Mine’
That time Duff and Novoselic buried the feud between their bands with an instrumental rendition of the Appetite for Destruction anthem
Les Claypool: the 5 basslines that changed my life
"Chris Squire was an early hero to me": Primus bass hero Les Claypool on the five tracks that helped shape his bass career
Is this the best known bassline of all time?
How Michael Jackson influenced Queen's biggest selling single
Jack Bruce: “Jimi Hendrix regarded the guitar as an extension of himself. But in an instrumental sense, I would argue that Eric Clapton was probably better”
In this classic 2003 interview, the pioneering bass guitarist and rock legend talks Cream, explains why Clapton was better than Hendrix and confesses his love for gangsta rap
The Go-Go’s Kathy Valentine: “When I was asked if I could play the bass, I didn’t even hesitate. I thought, ‘How hard can it be?’”
Valentine reveals high times and low points in her memoir, All I Ever Wanted – a deep dive into abuse, addiction, and redemption, as well as blazing a trail for a generation of bass players
Luna Guitars Tribal bass review
If only more acoustic-electric bass guitars combined this much quality with a price this low...
How Cliff Burton shaped Metallica's expansive thrash assault – and changed the sound of metal bass guitar forever
We celebrate Burton's career, and dig into his tones and talents with the help of Metallica’s incumbent bassist, Robert Trujillo
Randy Jackson on his return to Journey, what makes a great bassist, and playing football with James Jamerson and Jaco Pastorius
Journey are back with a new album made with the returning Randy Jackson, whose story goes beyond bass. A&R, TV star, producer, entrepreneur... And to 40 million TV viewers, he’s the man who sat next to Simon Cowell on American Idol
Fender Trapper Bass Distortion review
Why do they call it the Trapper? Who can say, but it has two distortion circuits to give options to those who need some low-end growl and thunder
How Chris Squire got his iconic bass tone
The evolution of the Yes man’s incredible low-end sound
Remembering Chris Squire – the bass pioneer who redefined the instrument in the ‘70s with prog icons Yes
Seven years since his death and half a century since his band Yes released their masterpiece, Close to the Edge, the influence of Chris Squire is felt as keenly as ever
Flattley Bass Chief and Bass Poison Ivy review
Gnarly overdrive and fuzz options for the bass player's pedalboard, with sounds as good as the enclosures look
Bass Player meets Metallica: Robert Trujillo salutes our cover star Cliff Burton
We explore the Burton legend, reveal the secrets of his playing and head to Sweden to visit the new Cliff museum
Dave Young: “When you were forced to transcribe stuff from records, that taught you something. It developed your ear and your sense of songwriting”
The Canadian jazz bass stalwart reflects on his roots as a bass player, working with Oscar Peterson and what technology has taken from learners
Bassbaba Sumon on overcoming relentless setbacks, studying Stu Hamm and bringing Bengali scales to rock bass
The Bangladeshi bass icon has survived multiple bouts of cancer, a near-fatal road accident and a stroke, but is still performing at the top of his domestic music industry
Fender Player Plus Active Meteora Bass review
Meet the Fender offset for bassists looking for a radical alternative to P and J archetypes, and for some oomph from the active Fireball humbucker pairing
