
Joel McIver
Joel McIver was the Editor of Bass Player magazine from 2018 to 2022, having spent six years before that editing Bass Guitar magazine. A journalist with 25 years' experience in the music field, he's also the author of 35 books, a couple of bestsellers among them. He regularly appears on podcasts, radio and TV.
Latest articles by Joel McIver

Flattley Bass Chief and Bass Poison Ivy review
By Joel McIver last updated
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
By Joel McIver published
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”
By Joel McIver last updated
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
By Joel McIver published
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
By Joel McIver last updated
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

Remembering Ove Bosch
By Joel McIver published
The late bassist and former Warwick colleague, saluted by Chris P. Dekker, editor of De Bassist.

Learn to play like the great Chris Squire in Bass Player's killer new issue
By Joel McIver published
The late Yes man is joined by amazing bass players from Chic, Korn, the McCartney/Starr bands and more

Rush’s Geddy Lee on A Farewell To Kings, Les Claypool the bassist, and what he thinks of Primus playing the album live in its entirety
By Ellen O'Reilly, Joel McIver published
Playing A Farewell To Kings in full is not for the fainthearted. Even Geddy Lee, the man who recorded it, thought Les Claypool “was a little bit nuts” for attempting it

Les Claypool: “Singing Geddy Lee parts and playing bass, or just singing Geddy Lee parts period, is f**king hard, because it’s up in the upper stratosphere”
By Ellen O'Reilly, Joel McIver published
Primus are currently on the road, playing the Rush album A Farewell To Kings in its entirety. We ask Claypool what made him embark on such a mad endeavor

Laura Lee of Khruangbin is the cover star of the new Bass Player, out now
By Joel McIver published
She's joined by Nikki Sixx, Bassbaba Sumon, Stefan Olsdal of Placebo and a posse of other ace bassists

Will Lee: “A groove is a groove is a groove. If it feels good now, it’s always going to feel good!”
By Joel McIver published
Will Lee has done more in his career than any 10 other bass players combined, including the small matter of 6,000 Letterman shows, but he’s not resting on his laurels just yet

The Cliff Burton Museum has officially opened – and we were there to see it
By Joel McIver published
On May 14, hundreds of Metallica fans flew to rural Sweden for the Museum’s grand opening – and celebrated Burton’s life with loud music and a ton of headbanging

Ian Hill reflects on 50 years of Judas Priest
By Joel McIver published
In a half-century of the British heavy metal institution, Hill has seen it all – here, he talks about the influence of Jack Bruce, his rig over the years, and the band's staying power

Troy Sanders: “The Teardrinker bass solo turned from a silly joke to an interesting moment that I’d never done in Mastodon before”
By Joel McIver published
The Mastodon bassist and vocalist on why the Atlanta metal institution doubled up for their latest album, Hushed And Grim, and taking the opportunity for a bass solo

Flea: “I think about playing bass as like a river. I can unleash it however it needs to go – like violent rapids, or a calm, still pool”
By Joel McIver published
The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ new album, Unlimited Love, is a showcase for Flea’s irrepressible talents, but as he explains, he’s always looking to improve

Geddy Lee on Primus' 'A Tribute To Kings' tour: "I think it's a bit nuts!"
By Joel McIver published
We meet the Rush frontman and the mighty-thumbed Les Claypool for the low-down on the bass tour of the year

"Double-thumbing is where I use my thumb for up and downstrokes, similar to using a guitar pick": Bass legends Victor Wooten and Stanley Clarke in conversation
By Joel McIver published
In this classic 2008 interview, Clarke and Wooten share their musical philosophies, talk gear and unpack some of the groundbreaking techniques behind their sound

Jennylee: “Bass is a really easy instrument to learn, but it’s a really hard instrument to get good at”
By Joel McIver published
The Warpaint bassist on the challenge to bring melody to the rhythm section and how bass guitar became an obsession

Flea stars on the cover of the new issue of Bass Player
By Joel McIver published
The RHCP icon is joined by bassists from Mastodon, Judas Priest, Nashville Pussy and more

Dunlop Justin Chancellor Cry Baby Wah review
By Joel McIver published
The ultimate Tool box? Filter, fuzz and wah in one souped-up Cry Baby

Boss Waza-Air Bass review
By Joel McIver published
The fully featured headphones amp arrives for bass and presents bassists with, potentially, the ultimate practice solution

Ashdown John Myung Double Drive review
By Joel McIver published
The Dream Theater bassist teams up with Ashdown for a tooled-up dual distortion perfectly voiced for bass guitar

The new issue of Bass Player celebrates the 100th birthday of Charles Mingus
By Joel McIver published
We meet the master's son Eric Mingus for a never-before-heard insider view of the maestro

Kira Roessler: “I don’t think I understood how physical an instrument the bass guitar is until I was in Black Flag”
By Joel McIver published
As the former Black Flag bassist releases her first solo album, we find out how a hardcore punk rocker ends up working on Game of Thrones and bagging a shelf-load of Emmy awards
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