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He was schooled by James Jamerson and freaked Larry Graham out – how William ‘Billy Bass’ Nelson founded the Funkadelic sound
The late Funkadelic co-founder tells the story of his encounter with Larry Graham, bass lessons with James Jamerson, and life in George Clinton’s ever-changing band
William Billy ‘Bass’ Nelson, Funkadelic bassist who coined the band’s name, dies aged 75
Flea has led tributes to the Funkadelic bassist, who was one of the founding architects of funk’s most audacious musical revolution
Marcus Miller and Pino Palladino share the stage alongside Lauryn Hill at the 2026 Grammy Awards
The two bass legends took to the biggest stage in music for a tribute to D’Angelo and Roberta Flack
Facing mounting debts, Nick Beggs sold off his Kajagoogoo bass – 40 years later his fans helped him buy it back
A family intervention and the generosity of Beggs' fans reunited him with his much-loved bass – and he found a musical way of rewarding them
The best new things in bass from the biggest music instrument event of the year
From Aguilar to Ashdown and beyond, here’s a look at the new gear that had bassists abuzz at this year’s NAMM show
Laney puts the philosophy of Nathan East’s signature head into an all-powerful, dual-input preamp pedal
Packing all the features of the bass guru’s signature head into a portable unit, he says it’s a “game-changer” all over again
“You gave him the world, and he gave you his music in return”: Former Scorpions bassist Francis Buchholz dies, aged 71
Buchholz played on all the classic Scorpions records and later joined forces with his old bandmate Michael Schenker in his Temple of Rock project
Eric Clapton was Cream’s biggest star, but Jack Bruce sang most of the band’s classic tracks
In later years, Bruce jokingly referred to Cream as Da Creams, in a nod to the band’s supergroup status
Fender issues massive free update for the Mustang Micro Plus – and it’s the one bassists have been waiting for
A total of 10 new amps and presets have been added as Fender looks to give bassists the “ultimate silent-practice accessory”
She put a video of herself playing bass on YouTube. Then Prince called
Having caught the attention of Prince and Bootsy Collins, Alissia is riding a new wave of recognition with her debut single featuring Nile Rodgers and EarthGang
What it takes to get to the top of the bass world, according to Victor Wooten
Having overwhelmed countless bassists with his rapid-fire slap technique, Victor Wooten still has plenty of bass philosophy to share
Johnny Marr’s “mind-blowing” jam with Paul McCartney – and why he thinks Macca reinvented the bass
Post-Smiths, Marr developed a reputation as a gun for hire, which quickly led to an unforgettable jam session with the Beatle
How Leland Sklar went from being banned from the studio to a session legend
Sklar reflects on his first encounter with the legendary collective of session musicians widely known as “Wrecking Crew”
The making of Don Was, the über-producer trusted by the Stones, Bob Dylan and John Mayer (and who’s a pretty good bassist too)
The bassist, producer and label boss on what Iggy Pop and Ringo Starr have in common, why Keith Richards is not sloppy, and that one time he pushed to play on an album he was producing
Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones is auctioning off his gear – including his Them Crooked Vultures amp that he left at Dave Grohl’s house
Other picks include a host of rack-mounted studio gear and a rare mechanical echo
What Brandi Disterheft learned from her studies with bass legend Ron Carter
The New York jazzer lifts the lid on her early lessons with the world’s most recorded bassist
Bootsy Collins was tripping on LSD when he took the James Brown bass chair to its most in-your-face level
Unable to deal with Brown’s disciplinary code, Bootsy was gone within a year
The Aristocrats' Bryan Beller recalls the moment he met Guthrie Govan and formed a new kind of supergroup
As per Aristocrats lore, the power trio formed right after an impromptu jam at NAMM 2011
