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BIZARRE: 4 - What They Never Told You

“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

“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

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“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

Guitar World

“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

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“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

Guitar World

“A lot of guitar players switch to bass, but I feel like I was born a bass player – it’s in my bones”: Weezer’s Scott Shriner shares his bass tone secrets

For Scott Shriner, letting loose and taking risks – including singing and playing floor pedals – is all part of the journey

Guitar World

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“Jaco was Joni’s liberator, but she wanted the bass to play a greater part in holding down the groove”: Larry Klein on how he handled the challenge of replacing Jaco Pastorius in Joni Mitchell’s band

The session ace-turned producer began working with Mitchell in 1981, soon after her last album with the “world’s greatest bass player”

Guitar World

“I got a call from Glenn Frey. I just said. ‘Where do I sign?’ Here they were asking me to join The Eagles without playing one lick of music with them”: Timothy B. Schmidt joined The Eagles at the height of Hotel California – and didn't even audition

From Poco to Toto, Steely Dan to Spinal Tap, Timothy B. Schmidt has logged endless road miles and studio hours – and then there’s his main gig...

Guitar World

“The bass isn’t looked at as a ‘cool instrument’. It’s always seen as the ‘backbone’ of a band. I think I’m trying to shed new light on it”: Blu DeTiger on how she's changing people’s perception of bass players

With her newly released signature guitar with Fender, DeTiger shares her vision for redefining the bass as a leading instrument

Guitar World

“Herbie Flowers was supposed to do the date, but he couldn't make it. So Bowie said to me, ‘You'll have to play bass’”: Trevor Bolder speaks out on his storied history with David Bowie

How could anyone who played bass on Ziggy Stardust not be a rock legend?

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Guitar World

“I'm continuing in directions I established in the Grateful Dead, but I was never satisfied with my studio work – this band has surpassed my wildest dreams”: When bass icon Phil Lesh went in search of a new sound

The late Grateful Dead anchor made his debut solo effort alongside guitarist Warren Haynes and lyricist Robert Hunter

Guitar World

“l’d been listening to Jamerson for some time, but this was staggering”: Inside James Jamerson’s 10 seminal “B-Sides”

Anthony Jackson and James Jamerson Jr reveal the hidden secrets of Motown’s multi-track recordings

Guitar World

“Trent Reznor asked, ‘Who wants Justin in the band?’ And they all raised their hands. A few days later, I was digging into the setlist for a world tour”: How Beck’s longtime bassist scored his spot in Nine Inch Nails

Back in 2008, Justin Meldal-Johnsen was launched from his role as Beck’s musical director onto a Nine Inch Nails world tour

Guitar World

“There was one gig where Eric and I stopped playing for two choruses. Jack didn’t even know”: Cream were one of the loudest rock bands of their time – but the excessive volume tore the band apart

During Cream's late '60s heyday, and again during their brief reunion in 2005, drummer Ginger Baker felt that both his – and even Eric Clapton's – contributions were often drowned out by bandmate Jack Bruce's

Guitar World

“When you played with John Lennon, you could feel him listening to you. He didn't bother or bug you at all”: Unsung ’70s session bass ace Gordon Edwards recalls his time with John Lennon on his fourth post-Beatles album

A close connection with John Lennon's musical arranger put Gordon Edwards in the studio for 1973’s Mind Games

Guitar World

“I didn't want to record a famous Jaco song, but Gil Goldstein found this tape for me – it was Jaco playing piano”: How Richard Bona found a rare Pastorius tune for his Brazilian-inspired solo album

Bass worshippers will need to listen between the layers to catch the bottom-end brilliance of Bona’s Jaco tribute

Guitar World

“I was just looking for a story to tell the grandkids. It was Flea who said that I might get the gig”: Jane’s Addiction bassist Eric Avery recalls his 2003 audition for Metallica

After surviving Jane’s Addiction and touring with Alanis Morissette, Eric Avery was granted an audition with metal giants Metallica

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