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THE TRUTH ABOUT: Billy sheehan - Caught on Camera

“Dave had a beat-up, noisy cassette of Steve Vai. We listened together in some garage with the tape player on the fender of a car. I said to Dave, ‘That’s the guy’”: How David Lee Roth put Van Halen behind him with one of rock's greatest supergroups

In late 1985, Diamond Dave's Hollywood dreams were dashed – but with some help from Vai, Billy Sheehan, and Gregg Bissonette, he firmly established himself as a superstar in his own right

Guitar World

“I don't have enough breath, and you don't have enough tape, for me to explain that even remotely”: How Dimebag Darrell pushed Pantera bassist Rex Brown to his limit

Rex Brown looks back on the sonic arms race inside Pantera – and the Ampeg rig that tipped the balance in his favor

Guitar World

“The original idea was Steve Stevens, but he was busy with Billy Idol”: How Steve Vai ended up joining David Lee Roth's post-Van Halen band – thanks to Billy Sheehan

While Vai wasn’t his original choice, the Sheehan-Vai dynamic proved strong enough to outlast Roth’s project

Guitar World

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“It was the most coveted guitar chair in rock. I adored Edward’s playing, so I understood that people would be skeptical”: How Steve Vai lived his ultimate guitar rockstar fantasy on David Lee Roth’s Eat ’Em and Smile

Working with David Lee Roth was like "being strapped to a rocket made of charisma and fueled by tequila” – and the music was pretty fun, too

Guitar World

“I was falling out of love with music. Playing with Elton John woke me from my slumber. I got blisters every night because it was fun again!” Matt Bissonette’s “dumb-guy” approach to bass has taken him round the world with pop and rock royalty

Still buzzed about his excessive ’80s rigs and five-string instruments, the session bass hero explains how to work with David Lee Roth, Joe Satriani, Jason Becker and others, his big-fun, big-paying Friends TV gig, and the discovery that’s making him a better player

Guitar World

“That's my specialty: playing fast clusters of notes with the guitars. I had to pluck with four fingers instead of three!” Billy Sheehan and Paul Gilbert trade blistering licks in this standout rocker from Mr. Big

Inspired, according to Paul Gilbert, by the grooves of Christina Aguilera, Mr. Big’s Mean to Me is brimming with top-drawer axe-work

Guitar World

Original Kiss drummer Peter Criss announces first solo album in 18 years

The Catman's new album includes contributions from John 5, Billy Sheehan, Paul Shaffer and more

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“A distinctive brightness that no other strings have been able to capture”: How Rotosound revolutionized the bass world with its Swing Bass 66 strings – and shaped the sound of rock music in the process

The story of how Rotosound founder James How worked with one of the brightest minds in bass history to produce a string that has stood the test of time – and defined music history as we know it

Guitar World

"It couldn't get any better than that, and it didn't": David Lee Roth teaches a lesson in how not to conduct a solo career in five albums

David Lee Roth's precipitous post-Van Halen tail-off is documented on The Warner Recordings 1985-1994

Louder

“He had a rig that was an amp for every string for output" Billy Sheehan discusses bassists’ strange set ups

Billy Sheehan discusses bassists' strange set ups

MusicRadar

“The three-finger thing is actually easy. It’s like learning the patterns on a video game until you conquer it”: Billy Sheehan explains his three-finger plucking technique

After almost 60 years of playing bass, Billy Sheehan is still learning – and still flooring listeners

Guitar World

"There was almost a Mafiosi-style meeting about me joining them": Richie Kotzen looks back on life in Poison, Mr Big, the Winery Dogs and more

Richie Kotzen has just arrived in Europe for a lengthy tour, with UK dates in July

Metal Hammer

“An improvement in both dynamics and string-to-string balance”: DiMarzio and Billy Sheehan have reinvented the P-Bass pickup with a new patent

The new DiMarzio design reimagines P-Bass pickup covers, promising improvements in both playability and performance

Guitar World

Carmine Appice announces new Cactus album with massive all-star lineup

Temple of Blues - Influences & Friends features contributions from Joe Bonamassa, Pat Travers, Warren Haynes, Vernon Reid and many more

Louder

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Guitar World

How to play bass guitar for beginners: start playing today

From basic finger techniques to slap bass, here’s what you need to get started on your bass guitar journey

Guitar World

“I gravitate more towards Victor Wooten than the straight-up shredding of Billy Sheehan, but I’ve ripped pages from both books”: Jacob Umansky unpacks the origins of his cutting-edge slap technique

How the Intervals and JIA bassist powered up his slap technique – with the help of Victor Wooten and Billy Sheehan

Louder

“Robert Fripp watched the show from the wings. As I was playing I was thinking, ‘Oh, I stole this line from Robert… that’s a riff from him too!’” Billy Sheehan’s obsession with King Crimson’s Red

Mr Big, Whom Gods Destroy and Sons of Apollo bassist once spent two weeks listening to nothing else

Guitar World

“Bass is the underdog. You’re not the singer or the guitarist – you’re the glue that holds it all together”: Lisa Dodd on leaving the soloing to Billy Sheehan – and staying in the “money zone”

Award-winning Canadian bassist Lisa Dodd outlines her role as a bass player in country music

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Louder

"Not everybody was on board." Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal lifts the lid on Sons Of Apollo demise

Guitarist Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal and Derek Serhinian's Whom Gods Destroy release their debut album in March

Guitar World

“You could play a one-string bass with a pick and still create amazing music”: Billy Sheehan disputes his reputation as “an overplaying icon of lead bass”

For Mr Big and Sons Of Apollo bassist Billy Sheehan, there’s more to playing rock bass than mere mechanics

Louder

"They didn't like the record, they didn't like our songs and they didn't like band": How Mr Big conquered record company indifference with To Be With You, the song that transformed their lives

A ballad written by teenager Eric Martin to impress a girl he'd fallen for gave his band their biggest hit, topped charts around the world, and became their calling-card

Guitar World

The 20 greatest bass solos of all time – from the fastest ‘lead bass guitarist’ to the only bass solo James Jamerson ever recorded

We count down moments of bass guitar genius from Tal Wilkenfeld, Flea, Victor Wooten, John Myung and many more

MusicRadar

Billy Sheehan's 6 top tips for bass players: “Listen to any great band and think about how the bass and drums work together, like Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart, or Steve Harris and Nicko McBrain"

“Speed is just one of many tools you can use to create music”

Guitar World

“Paul was tuning his guitar at one point, and I said ‘What key is that in?’, added a bassline and that became a song”: The good luck and creative chaos behind Mr Big’s Lean In To It

"Like a chainsaw going through chocolate pudding”: Mr Big's Lean Into It caught an unstoppable rock band at the top of their game…

Guitar World

The Winery Dogs’ Richie Kotzen and Billy Sheehan talk improv, adrenaline, and the importance of balancing godly chops with songs

Yeah, they know they're good. But Sheehan and Kotzen's new Dogs album, III, makes the case for knowing where and when to unleash the fretboard pyro, and when to reference Motown

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