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Mike Dirnt looks back on his early bass days – as Epiphone launches signature version of his cult classic Grabber G-3
By Phil Weller published
Dirnt has championed the oddball 1970s bass throughout his career. Now he's got his own signature Epiphone version

John Paul Jones’ best Led Zeppelin basslines
By Nick Wells published
A choirmaster, organist and expert in many archaic music styles, John Paul Jones also happened to play bass guitar in the biggest heavy rock band there has ever been

Jerry Jemmott played with B.B. King and George Benson – but two car accidents influenced him the most
By Andrew Daly published
A childhood head injury meant the session icon had to find his own way of making music. But after working with King, Aretha Franklin, Benson, Roberta Flack, and many others, he’s proud to be a poster boy for not knowing what he’s doing

From the Pixies to the Breeders, Kim Deal’s do-it-yourself attitude inspired a generation of alt-rockers
By Bill Leigh published
Kim Deal’s insistent eighth-note basslines were one of the few constants of the Pixies’ zero-to-60 approach to alt-rock

Sterling by Music Man releases signature bass with two dummy knobs that do absolutely nothing for MxPx bassist Mike Herrera
By Phil Weller published
The punk rock icon is serving his go-to wiring setup without harming the heritage of the StingRay design

Ernie Ball Pino Palladino Smoothies flatwound bass strings review
By Stuart Williams published
Inject some vintage flavour without becoming entirely throwback with the bass legend's new signature flatwound string set

Pino Palladino’s adventures with The Who, John Mayer, Eric Clapton and his Music Man fretless bass
By Andrew Daly published
One of the most identifiable bass players on the planet on why he shifted back to fretted, embracing flatwounds even though they were unfashionable, and how he’s still topping the charts with the likes of Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran

When Flea met Charlie Haden – and had much more in common than you might think
By Bill Leigh published
From the Bass Player Archive: An interview with a bona-fide rock star and a veteran jazz legend

How Oteil Burbridge set about replacing Phil Lesh to become Dead & Company’s new singing bass hero
By Chris Jisi published
Burbridge played with The Allman Brothers and Tedeschi Trucks Band before joining Dead & Company alongside guitarist John Mayer

The lead single from Van Halen’s 1991 album with Sammy Hagar combines a thunderous bassline with a revved-up power drill
By Chris Jisi published
Michael Anthony’s 16th-note bass grooves remained as much a part of the “Van Hagar” sound as Eddie Van Halen’s guitar pyrotechnics

Ben Shepherd reveals his fears surrounding Chris Cornell’s final tour – and names the producer of the new Soundgarden record
By Phil Weller published
Shepherd has opened up about Cornell’s death, and confirmed a familiar face has returned to help the group for their next outing

Few bassists can match the technical ability of Mohini Dey, thanks to her work with Steve Vai, Willow Smith and just about everyone else
By Nick Wells published
The very definition of ‘prodigy’, Mumbai-born bassist Mohini Dey has enjoyed a rapid ascent to worldwide renown. And she’s only just getting started

Bass journeyman Jo Burt on playing with Freddie Mercury, Brian Setzer and The Troggs – and getting booted from Black Sabbath
By Andrew Daly published
The veteran bassist on his Queen and Led Zeppelin links, love for fretless, fighting with a Music Man EQ, and Tony Iommi’s smile when Geezer Butler’s Ampeg rig made a bass feel like an animal

Described as the 4-string equivalent of painting with a sledgehammer, Van Halen’s Ultra Bass was not your typical bass solo
By Jim Roberts published
Michael Anthony’s Yamaha BB2000 would get rebuilt after every show following his foundation-shaking solo spot

This innovation might have completely changed the way you dial in effects pedals forever
By Phil Weller published
The Knobyfier could revolutionize the way you interact with your pedalboard

How Sting’s 1953 P-Bass set the tone for this Police classic
By Karl Coryat published
Taken from the fourth Police album, Ghost in the Machine, Sting's fretwork is filled with chord inversions, syncopations, and dynamics – all the right stuff for a dynamite bassline

How Paz Lenchantin’s departure from the Pixies led to her first-ever solo album
By Nick Wells published
She’s played in some of alternative music’s biggest bands. Now Lenchantin is back with a solo album fueled by a vintage P-Bass that Billy Corgan inspired her to buy

How Geddy Lee created one of the most outrageous bass tones of all time for a Rush fantasy classic
By Nick Wells published
The Rush frontman played a Rickenbacker 4001 on nearly every track from 1975’s Fly By Night, but found a new bass sound for the role of By-Tor

