Bass Player Features

9 of the best fretless bass performances

By Bass Player Staff

Dive into some of the most sublime examples of fretless playing in bass guitar history

Sam Kiszka of Greta Van Fleet performs live

Sam Kiszka of Greta Van Fleet on his bass influences and those Led Zeppelin comparisons

By Freddy Villano

Rock's hottest and youngest new act dishes on their upcoming album

Rocco Prestia of Tower Of Power performs live

Rocco Prestia: looking back on 50 years with Tower of Power

By Chris Jisi

The R&B champ reflects on his storied career

The story behind Marcus Miller's 1977 Fender Jazz Bass

By E.E. Bradman

How the jazz great came across The One

Jean-Jacques Burnel names his 5 favorite bass albums

By Bass Player Staff

The Stranglers low-end legend cites his top bass picks

Marcus Miller: keep 'em running

By Bass Player Staff

The Grammy-winning bassist and UNESCO Artist For Peace talks “Laid Black”

Tool's Justin Chancellor gives an inside look at the band's next album

By Jon D’Auria

In the center of Los Angeles, in a building modest in stature but rich in history, Justin Chancellor stands alone between stacks of amps and a maze of pedals, aggressively picking his bass and blasting a tone that’s as unique to him as his DNA

Prince: requiem for a bass hero

By Bass Player Staff

The bassists that played with the late legend share their stories

Tony Levin: "Improvisation that has to fill in all the spaces with notes is pretty dreadful to listen to"

By Bass Player Staff

The Peter Gabriel and King Crimson bassist on his favorite bass albums and what makes him pick up the Chapman Stick

Session bass legend Lee Sklar talks fan frets, beard maintenance and touring every year since 1970 in this classic interview

By Bass Player Staff

"I’ve been on the road for 42 years and I’ve only broken two strings - and I play really hard!"

Jack Casady's 10 best bass performances

By Chris Jisi

The highlights of the Jefferson Airplane bassist's hugely influential career

Penn Jillette: magic is easy, music is hard

By Joe Bosso

One half of magic duo Penn & Teller discusses his other love: bass playing

Glenn Hughes: "It’s been rumored that I’m the only pick bass player who sounds like he’s playing with his fingers"

By Bass Player Staff

The Voice of Rock talks Black Country Communion, Black Sabbath and his love of Bill Nash basses in this classic interview from 2011

Lemmy: "I always wanted to be John Entwistle, but since that place was taken, I became a lesser version"

By Joel McIver

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...

Billy Cox performs with the Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Isle of Wight Festival, August 1970

Billy Cox: "Jimi and I were locked together spiritually... that doesn’t happen so much nowadays"

By Bass Player Staff

The Band of Gypsys bassist looks back at Woodstock, the evolution of his gear and Hendrix's skills as a bass player

Les Claypool performs with The Claypool Lennon Delirium at the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis, Tennessee on May 5, 2019

Les Claypool: "I’ll go 20 years without changing my gear, and then I’ll say, 'This sucks - I’ve got to change everything!'"

By Karl Coryat

Primus's slap-happy oddball on prog, gear and the challenges of making The Desaturating Seven

Review round-up: short-scale, semi-hollow basses

By Ed Friedland

Putting the Fender Coronado, Fender Starcaster, and Guild Starfire basses through their paces

Bobby Vega: "I wasn’t that consistent with my fingers, so I got dexterity and stamina from the pick"

By Bobby Vega

One of the bass world's finest purveyors of the plectrum shares his top pick tips

Joe Jackson bassist Graham Maby looks back at four decades of bass playing with the songwriting great

By Chris Jisi

"Pushing the bass out front and center was carte blanche for me to take as many risks as I wanted"

Bassist Steve Harris of Iron Maiden perform during the Legacy of the Beast tour at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota

Steve Harris names his 6 favorite Iron Maiden basslines

By Freddy Villano

The most iconic bass riffs in the metal giants' catalogue, according to the man himself