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EXPLAINED: 3 | Rare Historical Photos

“The guys were like, ‘Just go for something crazy, and then make it crazier.’ They just couldn’t stop me, man!” The wildest bass solo you’ve never heard? Robert Sledge cranked the fuzz for this Ben Folds Five classic

Sledge describes the Big Muff as an extension of his hands – and he put it to good use on this searing solo

Guitar World

“The role of the bass guitar is groove and support: it’s about getting the most impact from the fewest notes”: As a member of the Saturday Night Live house band, James Genus is the best-kept secret on bass

If you’re only as good as the company you keep, James Genus is bass royalty

Guitar World

“I just remember her playing with a pick. I didn't care how she played, as long as she played the notes right”: Brian Wilson left his mark on the bass world through studio musicians, especially Carol Kaye, who he requested play his basslines note-for-note

In a rare interview, The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson reflected on bass playing, studio craft and his 2004 masterpiece, Smile

Guitar World

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“lan spotted that the relationship between high bass and low guitar was really interesting and unusual. My style of playing came from that”: Peter Hook’s ‘lead bass’ approach spawned a catalog of hits with Joy Division and New Order

One of the most influential bassists of the ‘80s, Peter Hook developed a style marked by open-string drones, and a dark, chorus-drenched tone

Guitar World

“I sold all my stuff. I even left my car out on the street!” When asked by Miles Davis to move to New York and play some shows, bass great Dave Holland didn’t blink

Dave Holland’s arrival in New York coincided with one of the most transformative periods for Miles Davis and his Lost Quintet

Guitar World

“I’ve worked on pop sessions with artists who have a squeaky-clean image, but what’s behind the scenes is a lot darker than people’s perception of the hip-hop world”: How bassist Mike Elizondo brought low-end and soul to Dr. Dre’s superstar productions

At Dr. Dre’s L.A. hit factory, Mike Elizondo carved up bass grooves with 50 Cent, Eminem, and Busta Rhymes

Guitar World

“I'm like the Pablo Escobar of bass. If a dude works on my pedalboard, it's almost like I have to kill him after he's done!” With Rage Against the Machine, Tim Commerford pioneered an all-time iconic bass tone. No wonder he's cagey about his setup

The toughest right hand in bass charts his never-ending quest for the ultimate tone

Guitar World

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“I don’t really listen to Primus. It amazes me that we wrote like that”: Les Claypool looks back on the stomach-churning grooves of Sailing the Seas of Cheese, Primus’ major-label debut and the moment he became a bass superstar

The heralded Tour de Fromage saw the classic Primus lineup reunited – and Les Claypool rediscover the fretless 6-string that made him famous

Guitar World

“His performance should be studied by all bassists”: Played by a session great, this Chaka Khan line was hailed by Nathan East as “the perfect bassline”

Antony Jackson tuned his ‘career girl’ – a Fender hybrid consisting of a ’75 Jazz Bass body and ’73 Precision neck – down two whole steps for Move Me No Mountain

Guitar World

“I rediscovered the glorious bottom-end of the Fender… I feel far more fluid playing the Jazz Bass than I ever did on the Rickenbacker”: Geddy Lee went on a tonal quest and broke all the bass rules to make Rush sound huge

The Rush frontman charts his experiments in bass tone, and why he'd sometimes tackle the instrument like a lead guitarist

Guitar World

“When I got into Miles Davis' band, playing like my idols – Jaco, Stanley and Larry Graham – wasn't going to work. I had to dig and find something else”: How Marcus Miller found his voice – and became one of the most-imitated bassists in the biz

The bass icon breaks down his formative influences, and how he gave everyone from Prince to Beethoven a low-end makeover via his '77 Fender Jazz

Guitar World

“Please tell the bass players of the world to go easy on me. I did my best to represent you well!” Bob Rock made bass history on Metallica’s St. Anger – quite a feat, since he “never really played bass” before

Producer Bob Rock on making St. Anger, the legacy of Cliff Burton and why he used Loverboy’s bass guitar on every track

Guitar World

“I was playing a lot of jazz when we did Longview. I’d sit in at jazz clubs and read off the Real Book”: If you think Mike Dirnt is another clueless punk, think again

Every success story needs a behind-the-scenes hero, and for Green Day, it was bassist Mike Dirnt. He details the making of American Idiot and his forensic approach to bass tone

Guitar World

“Bach was one of the only guys who really understood the range of the bass. All his cello pieces are right in the 5-string bass range”: John Myung plays for one of rock’s most ambitious bands, and he’s tackling the challenge with extraordinary discipline

The Dream Theater maestro explains what every bassist can learn from Bach, how he developed the Bongo 6-string bass with Ernie Ball, and why he runs a Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier on bass…

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“They’re both amazing guitarists, but Jeff Beck let you take liberties”: Rhonda Smith had been on call with Prince for more than a decade when she told the Purple One she was busy with Jeff Beck

Session ace Rhonda Smith on how her 10-year stint with Prince came to a close

Guitar World

“The door burst open. It was James, who was late and had come into the wrong room. He started listening and said, ’No, no, that's not the way you do it,’ and grabbed my EB-3”: Jack Bruce on his chance meeting with Motown hit-maker James Jamerson

Speaking in 2001, the late Cream bassist recalled his encounter with Jamerson at the Record Plant in L.A.

Guitar World

“I have a hair tie around the nut of my bass, and I pull it up to the 17th fret”: Just when we thought he’d settled into his routine as a bass superhero, Victor Wooten pulls out another surprise: a 25-cent hair tie?

Victor Wooten reveals the “secret” technique that makes his bass solos “pop with screaming harmonics”

Guitar World

“People don’t use enough downstrokes. That up-and-down crap is for the birds”: Tom Petersson’s 12 tips for bass players

Cheap Trick’s 12-string bass legend on the joys of multiple amps, and why bass players should never use effects

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“Zoom discontinued that pedal because nobody bought it – but bass players are always coming up to me wanting to know how I got those sounds”: Remembering jazz great Victor Bailey, who used an unsung multi-FX pedal for his cover of Prince’s biggest hit

From his ’80s heyday with Weather Report through to his mid-’90s stint with Madonna, Victor Bailey earned his stripes as one of the world’s greatest bass players

Guitar World

“I didn’t have a bass guitar, so I had to make one. Unknown to me at the time, I built the first fretless bass, about five years before they came out”: Before the Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman needed a good bass guitar – so he created his own

It's a tale as old as time: three guitarists, a need for a bass player, and no one wants the job. Eventually, Wyman took it on, and built himself a proto-fretless model in the process

Guitar World

“If there was ever a time to get off the rollercoaster, it was going to be at the top”: Being in a band is tough – just ask bassist Dirk Lance, who left Incubus at the peak of their powers

Dirk Lance’s in-your-face bass style made him one of the most emulated bassists of a generation

Guitar World

“When I was growing up, everyone said, ‘Oh, bass is just a second guitar.’ Bull! It's an art, man!” How Matt Freeman became one of punk’s most iconic bassists – bringing bass solos, jazz band and Carole King to Rancid

The Rancid bassist talks picking technique, chasing vintage tones, and channeling John Entwistle

Guitar World

“We hit the stage, and there’s Paul McCartney. He looks at me and he says, ‘Hey, Duff’. All I can think is, ‘Paul McCartney knows my name. How the hell did that happen?!’” Duff McKagan recalls his real-life Spinal Tap moment and meeting his heroes

The Guns N' Roses bassist on meeting Sir Paul McCartney, and a life-changing encounter with Prince

Guitar World

“Live, I like to mostly play on the E and the A strings. I could pretty easily get away with playing a two-stringed bass”: How bassist Dave ‘Phoenix’ Farrell found his sound with Linkin Park

Alternating between using a pick and his fingers on a StingRay and a P-Bass, Farrell tailored his bass tone to cut through the center of nu-metal

Guitar World

“My dad called me a ‘rhythm bassist’, but all he taught me was a power chord and an AC/DC drum beat”: Wolfgang Van Halen on calling the shots in rock’s royal family

He isn’t just Eddie’s kid – Wolfgang Van Halen is a talented bass player with his own style

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