MUSIC EXCLUSIVE: AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE NEW DUCK DUNN BIOGRAPHY SOUL FINGERS

& TAB PLUS: LEARN DUNN’S SPIRITED BASS LINE ON SAM & DAVE’S “WRAP IT UP”
b a s s p l ay e r. c o m

PHILOSOPHER KING

VICTOR WOOTEN WHAT HE’S STILL LEARNING

MICHAEL SHUMAN JESSE KEELER

FINDING HIS FREQUENCIES WITH PUSHING DECIBELS WITH
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE DEATH FROM ABOVE

MARKBASS FACTORY TOUR REVIEWED

WARWICK
LELAND SKLAR SIGNATURE BASS
SPECTOR
EURO 5LX BASS
NOVEMBER 2017
A N E W BAY M E D I A P U B L I CAT I O N
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 C ontents
LEARN
PLAY

NOVEMBER 2017 | VOLUME 28, NUMBER 11 | B A S S P L AY E R . C O M D B S T W

TECH

10 COMMUNITY
Lowdown, Dig My Rig,

D E PA RT M E N T S
the Real World,
FACE

Court of Opinion
22 NEW GEAR
Hartke, Huntington,
LINK

Electro-Harmonix
46 THE INQUIRER
EQ: Part 2
66 THE INNOVATORS
TABLE OF CONTENTS

La Bella’s Eric Cocco

12 MICHAEL SHUMAN
Fan-turned-bandmate with
Queens Of The Stone Age
14 JESSE KEELER

BASS NOTES
Dropping killer tone with
Death From Above

18 BP RECOMMENDS

24 VICTOR WOOTEN 40 WARWICK

If Victor wasn’t already enough of a bass god, the perennial student of bass has Sklar Bass I Signature
added MIDI and upright to his skill set. By Jonathan Herrera 42 SPECTOR Euro5LX
SOUNDROOM

34 MARKBASS FACTORY TOUR

A look inside the spacious Italy facility, where Markbass amps are hand-assembled
and tested one at a time. By Jon D’Auria

54 SAM & DAVE’S “WRAP IT UP”

Donald “Duck” Dunn’s unique style is on full display on this memorable 1968
B-side, excerpted from the new Duck Dunn biography Soul Fingers.
STEVEN PARKE

48 JAZZ CONCEPTS
WOODSHED

Cover photo: Steven Parke

Inversion therapy
50 R&B GOLD
BASS PLAYER (ISSN 1050-785X) is published 13 times a year, monthly plus a Holiday issue to follow the December issue, by Willie Weeks Going On
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6HUHN%DVVHVæ+DQGFUDIWHGLQ&KLFDJR,/

%8<_6(//_PLAY
7KHZRUOGèVODUJHVWPDUNHWSODFH
IRUPXVLFLDQV5HYHUEFRP
 www.bassplayer.com
Vol. 28, No. 11, November 2017

Editorial Director Michael Molenda, mmolenda@nbmedia.com

Editor Chris Jisi, bpeditor@nbmedia.com
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8 bassplayer.com/ n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
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 C ommunity
LEARN
PLAY

Flim, Flea & Duck

TECH

LOWDOWN
FACE

NO, THE ABOVE TITLE IS NOT A DIRECTIVE FROM THE LATEST WORKOUT CRAZE—IT’S OUR
distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award recipient lineup for Bass Player LIVE! 2017, which takes place on Novem-
ber 4 and 5, at SIR Studios in Los Angeles. Flim, as he was first known via his breakout Minneapolis fusion band Flim
& the BBs, is studio legend Jimmy Johnson. In 1976, Johnson developed a 5-string bass with a low B string, with
LINK

Alembic and GHS, and brought it to popularity on his way to first-call session status in the L.A. studios, as well as
his road and recording work with Allan Holdsworth and James Taylor. Flea is, well, Flea, the driving force beneath
the Red Hot Chili Peppers and as well known globally as almost any musician who has ever played bass. His work
COMMUNITY

on the Peppers’ latest, The Getaway, is as vital and important as any in his career. Duck is of course Donald “Duck”
Dunn, the late, iconic R&B bass man with Stax Records and the label’s house band, Booker T. & the MGs. Thanks
to the new book Soul Fingers, we know a lot more about Duck’s five-decade career. So be sure to visit bassplayer.
com/live to get your tickets and come and join the party featuring the latest bass gear, a lineup of top clinicians,
the return of the all-star jam, and our concert/award show, in which we’ll present to Flim, Flea, and posthumously
to Jeff Dunn, Duck’s son, who is bringing along Duck’s legendary ’59 P-Bass. See you there!

CHRIS JISI

DIG MY RIG!

After many years of trial and error, I finally

found what works for me. I am a church musi-
cian, so as far as looks go, I like to keep my
rig low-key. All I need is master volume, bass,
and treble controls. 
From left to right: my Oscar Schmidt OB100
acoustic/electric bass, which I use early in the
morning, when people in the house want to
sleep. Next is my U.S.-made Ernie Ball SUB
bass. In the middle is my newest and my favor-
ite, a Music Man StingRay 40th Anniversary
“Old Smoothie.” Next is my 2003 Ernie Ball
Music Man StingRay, followed by my clas-
sic 1979 Peavey T-40. In the back is a Gal-
lien-Krueger Backline 300-watt head with
an MBE115 1x15 cabinet, for larger churches.
Last is the Fender Rumble 350 combo I use at
my current church. — NAT H A N LE E

Got a rig you think we’d dig? Send a photo

and description to digmyrig@gmail.com.

10 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
 THE REAL WORLD

Jesse Nemerofsky
Home base Rhode Island
Occupation Medical records, bass guitarist/composer Join D’Addario’s
Gigs Men Overboard Players’ Circle for
Basses Manne Soulmover, Manne Newport 4-strings exclusive rewards,
previews of new
Rig TC Electronic BH800 head, TC Electronic RS212 2x12 cab, TC
gear, invites to
Electronic BG250 1x15 cab special events, and
Effects Mesa Boogie Subway Bass DI Preamp, TC Electronic Spectra chances to win
Comp Compressor, TC Electronic Flashback Delay & Looper, Eden select prizes. Earn
CaliforniWah bonus points by
sharing, posting,
Strings D’Addario, Rotosound
and spreading the
Heroes & inspirations Carol Kaye, James Jamerson, Monk Montgomery, word! playerscircle.
Chuck Rainey daddario.com

How did you come to play bass? What’s a lesson you’ve learned along the way? What are your musical goals?

The two players who really moved me were Carol Kaye Learning jazz theory, which made my
and Joe Osborn. construction of bass lines more dynamic
creatively, and always ’shedding with a
metronome to build the quality of impeccable
time, essential for a bass player.
To create interesting bass lines, to continue
having Men Overboard play on TV for more
exposure and support our recording, and to
continue writing tunes for the band.

COURT OF OPINION

How essential are chords to your bass playing?

I play a 5-string with a high C instead of a low B, so I play chords
quite a bit. They’ve become important parts of songs and
constitute a large part of my practice sessions. Understanding
chord structure is essential for any bass player, whether or not he or she ever
plays more than one note at a time. —MIKE OXMAN
Three- and four-note chord voicings are of little practical use to
me outside of looping or solo projects, which are rare. However,
double-stops are a great solo technique in any genre, especially
funk, and a knowledge of chord voicings around the neck is always useful,
whether you play them as chords or not! — J ON H U G H E S

Not part of my playing, except for sliding flatted-5th chord Bass chords: used nowhere near enough in the bass world.
noodling to drive the bandleader nuts while we are setting up. — S E D S E DDON

Bass lines are, for the most part, notes—beautiful, well-chosen,

perfectly supportive, and enhancing notes. Sorry for being old school.
— M AR C TR A M O N TE
I usually only arpeggiate chords, but I love throwing upper-register
tritone slide fills into the mix. —JIM DONNELLY
Knowing the chords you’re playing under is a big deal—you don’t
want to play the wrong 3rd or 7th—but for me, it’s unusual to play
so much as a double-stop, let alone a cluster of notes. It’s a
soloist’s or a jazz player’s thing, and I’m not really interested in either of
those. — B RE NT ANT H ONI S E N

For my style, they are essential. For metal, low 4ths and 5ths (on I use chords all the time in little parts of my bass lines, sometimes
the B, E, and A strings) add a nice element of tension and fullness. with a pick, sometimes fingerstyle, and even slapping!
For soul and R&B-style stuff on my 6-string, they are great for a —AL E X T RE L LU

bigger sound on longer notes. And for blues and rock, they are nice to fill out
the solos. With funk and jazz, they are just fun. —MICHAEL DEJ E S U S
Good for ornamentation. But really, that’s what the guitar is for.
—J E SSE E LLI OT
Essential. Always, all the time, especially when playing in the trio
(guitar–bass–drums) format. Plus, you can outline the changes
better during solos. — J OH N M. O’B OY L E
Chords are for guitars. I’m a bass player. — H A R RY M A R C I A L

I love experimenting with them, especially if it adds the right thing

at the right time! I played in a couple three-piece bands, and
chording would fill out some songs very well. It depends on the
song. —A LE X LO O MI S

bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 11
 B
LEARN
PLAY
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
BASSNOTES
TECH
Michael Shuman
FACE
BY JOE BOSSO | PHOTOGR APH BY ANDRE A S NEUMANN
LINK
TEN YEARS AGO, WHEN HE WAS ALL OF 21,
Michael Shuman stared down one of those once-in-a-life-
time opportunities most musicians only dream about. The Los
BASS NOTES
Angeles native, who had performed in local bands such as Mini
Mansions and Wires On Fire, was a die-hard Queens Of The
Stone Age fan, and now he was being asked to join. “It was an
incredible situation, and I was definitely nervous at first,” he
recalls. “I felt confident about my playing ability, but what really
got to me was that I loved the guys so much. I was a true fan—I
had driven hours to go see them. It had nothing to do with my
skills. I knew I could play.”
QOTSA had already gone through a few bass players since their
1996 inception. First there was Nick Oliveri, who had rejoined
his onetime Kyuss bandmate Josh Homme with Queens, before
a confluence of disputes led to his departure in 2004. Dan Druff
assumed bass duties for just under a year before Eleven member
Alain Johannes took over in 2005. When Johannes decided to
devote more time to Eleven, he coached his pal Shuman on what
to expect with the Queens gang. “Alain helped ease me into it.
I needed a pep talk, and he told me how to handle things. The
fact that Alain wasn’t in the band for long helped make the tran-
sition easier for me, because I could come in and be myself. It
was good to have him on my side.”
Shuman—who bears the sporty nickname Mikey Shoes—
has been playing music most of his life. Starting on guitar, he
fronted pop–punk bands as a pre-teen (“My dad drove me to
my first club gigs”) and formed Wires On Fire in high school.
One day a light bulb went on, and he made the switch to bass.
“I wanted to try something different. I didn’t really care about
fronting a band anymore—I just wanted to learn the bass. Not
to sound pretentious, but I said to myself, ‘I want to have the
most unique style possible.’” To that end, Shuman, inspired by
such bassists as David Sims from the Jesus Lizard and Fugazi’s
Joe Lally, dug into the work of James Jamerson, who became
a major influence. “I bought a Jamerson songbook, and that
really opened me up. I’m not a huge chart reader, but I did my
best to learn that Motown stuff. Jamerson intrigued me: He
could rip balls and shred, but you didn’t really notice it. Even
though he played busy parts, you just felt his grooves. That
appealed to me, because I wanted to play cool riffs and not just
hold down root notes. The trick was to not step on the vocals,
but still sound interesting.”
12 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
Modern–Classic Bass Villain
Shuman does precisely that on the new QOTSA album,
Villains. It’s the second of the band’s records he’s been a part of
(he made his debut on 2013’s … Like Clockwork), and it’s the zip-
piest thing the group has ever done. An unabashed love letter
to early-’80s MTV, the album finds Shuman pumping might-
ily on new wave-ish art-rockers like “Feet Don’t Fail Me” and
“Fortress,” jumpin’ and jivin’ on the Stray Cats meets Adam &
the Ants rave-up “The Way You Used to Do,” and even sneak-
ing in some Jamerson-like lines on “Un-Reborn Again,” a track
that Cuisinarts Bowie, the Cars, and Depeche Mode into one
transfixing brew. “I love those records from the ’80s—Bowie,
the Cars, all that stuff. They’re very tight and clean. Bass-wise,
we started to think along those lines on … Like Clockwork, for a
classic sort of sound but with a modern hue. It’s cool to change
the vibe around but still sound like us.”
You’ve been in the band for ten years now. How has
your bass playing changed?
I’ve gone from being a kind of wiry player to a more-
rounded one. Coming more from punk, I was the guy who cut
through everything. My style is now about holding down the
low end and forming that rhythm backbone. I always try to be
melodic and do cool stuff, but I know I have an important job
to do in terms of keeping that bottom thing going.
Did Josh ever say why he chose you over other bass
players?
Not really. There were other factors that were more impor-
tant than my playing. When Nick left and Alain joined the band,
it was one sort of energy—they were amazing—but I brought
in my own thing. Josh had come to see me play in Wires On
Fire, and I think he just liked what I was doing. I’m not trying
to take all the credit here, but if you saw the band before and
you watch us now, it’s a different energy onstage—the way we
interact, the way we move. So I think that was important to him.
In Queens, you’ve played with a couple of drummers—
Joey Castillo and now Jon Theodore. How are their styles
different?
One of the biggest things for me is building that bass–
drummer bond. I loved playing with Joey; he’s just a pow-
erhouse. Like me, he comes from punk rock, so we bonded
on that. He was like my big brother. With Jon, we’ve devel-
oped something more groove-based. To me, he’s the best
 i INFO

LISTEN
Queens Of The Stone
Age, Villains [2017, Mata-
dor], … Like Clockwork
[2013, Matador/Rekords]

Basses 1967 Fender Mus-

tang, Gretsch White Fal-
con, fretless Fender Jazz
Bass, 1968 Gibson EB-2,
1967 Fender Coronado,
Gretsch Billy-Bo
Strings Dunlop
drummer in the world, because he can do anything. to be very careful about my sound—I don’t want to get Amps Guild Maverick,
On this record, it was like, “Let’s try whatever,” and lost. There’s an art to holding down the bottom and pick- Orange OB1-300, Fender

EQUIP
he could do it. He can go from punk rock to something ing those moments to get a little busy. Super Bassman, Fender
more groove-oriented. The bass sound on that song, and on “Head Like a 410 Rumble cabinet
Another thing is, on my first tour cycle with the band, Haunted House,” is very tight. Are you going direct?
with Joey, I was playing all these songs I loved, but they We always sync DI, but most of the sound is a two-amp
weren’t mine. On these last two records I got to write my setup that we’ve summed into one. One amp is a Guild
own bass parts, so obviously that’s a little more comfort- Maverick combo, and then there’s a late-’60s 300-watt
able and rewarding. Orange head. It’s a massive beast, that one. I also use a
Having three guitarists is quite a wall of sound Fender Super Bassman. I like taking clean and dirty tones Effects Morley Wah,
you have to blast through. Does that impact your and mushing them together. Earthquaker Devices Dirt
bass parts? Your sound on “Domesticated Animals” is mas- Transmitter, ZVex Woolly
[Laughs.] Yeah, it’s funny. When I joined the band, I sive and full of air. Are you using something differ- Mammoth
came into rehearsal with a pedalboard that had all kinds ent there?
of shit on it. I quickly learned that wasn’t going to work On that one and “The Evil Has Landed,” I’m using a Check out the live videos
with three guitar players. I needed to adopt more of a tra- Dirt Transmitter by Earthquaker Devices. I’m not much for “The Way You Used
ditional role as a bass player. of a pedals guy anymore, but we use that on the bass a to Do” and “The Evil Has
Making this album has allowed me to do my thing and lot. It has this bias knob that does a natural gate. It pro- Landed.”
be free in terms of the parts I’m playing, but even so, I vides a weird tightness, but also gives that bit of air you’re bassplayer.com/
have to pay close attention to what’s going on tonally. I talking about. november2017
CONNECT

always try to stay out of the way of certain frequencies
that are already covered by the guitars. We worked on
that a lot on this record; the bass has to inhabit its own
home and not get in the way of the guitars. On “The Way
You Used to Do,” there are moments when three guitars
are going non-stop. So I have to choose the right sound
and cover the lower frequency. But there are times when
I might double a guitar riff. Whenever I do that, I have
Is there anything you’d like to improve about
your playing?
That’s a good question. I’m not going to say slapping,
and I don’t want to learn about any more than four strings.
I would love to be a better finger player. I usually play with
the one finger, like Jamerson. It would be great to be able
to use all my right-hand fingers however I wanted to. That
would be a nice tool to have in the bag. BP

bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 13
 B
LEARN
PLAY
TECH
FACE
LINK

i INFO
BASS NOTES

LISTEN
Death From Above,
DEATH FROM ABOVE Outrage! Is Now [2017,
Warner Music]

Jesse Keeler Air Raid On The Airwaves Bass 1969 Ampeg Dan
Armstrong Basses with
Kent Armstrong Pickups
BY JON D’AURIA | PHOTOGR APH BY JON D'AURIA
Amp ’70s Peavey Super
Festival 800B, ’70s Acous-
SINCE HIS BAND’S 2001 FORMATION, JESSE Lucite 24-fret basses, and not only does he cop some seri- tic Lead 450B, 2x Traynor
Keeler has boasted some of the loudest, most distinc- ously low frequencies, he also has enough fingerboard to YBA10 810, Furman volt-
tive bass tones in the punk/rock racket. Fans of Death play chords and strum riffs that will leave listeners swear- age regulator
From Above are quite familiar with his formidable ing the duo has added a guitar player. Other songs lend Pedals Ibanez CS9 Stereo
low-end brutality, which is made all the more signifi- themselves to Keeler’s skilled playing on keys, such as Chorus, Morley ABY, MXR
cant given the outfit’s two-man lineup of just bass and the album’s first single, “Freeze Me,” and “Holy Books.” M80 DI, MXR Ten Band
drums. Yet in chatting with him about his desire for sol- But whatever the instrument in his hands, Keeler is cer- EQ, Earthquaker Devices
itude on his frequent bow hunts, and his silent nights tain to crank it as loud as it can possibly go. Bit Com-
EQUIP

at his secluded wilderness home in Toronto—where mander &

his WiFi signal might be the only one that shows up on What did you want to achieve on this record? Dispatch
devices for miles—you might not immediately figure The initial goal for us was to capture and record our Master V2,
him as a guy with a penchant for cranking decibels to band so you hear everything we’re doing. A lot of times, TC Electronic
large crowds. That said, on his duo’s third studio album, playing in a two-piece, there’s an unspoken pressure to fill Sub ’N’ Oc-
Outrage! Is Now, the 40-year-old is far from quiet. He out all of the space, which we’d done in the past. People tave Up, Dun-
and drummer Sebastien Grainger are unapologetically think, “Surely it’s not just bass and drums. You gotta lop Cry Baby
louder than ever. add a bunch of stuff.” It’s not a bad thing to have extra Q-Zone Auto Wah, Death
This time around, Keeler decided to embrace pedals stuff happening, but when there’s no space and sounds By Audio Fuzz War, Line 6
and experiment with fuzzes, reverbs, wahs, choruses, are happening all the time, it can detract from the song. Tonecore Verbzilla Reverb,
and octavers in an effort to expand his sonic presence Your tone is grittier than before. What did you Ernie Ball Wah
beyond his usual signature sound that was attributed pre- do differently? Synth Roland Juno-60,
viously to his trusty ’70s Peavey and Acoustic Heads and I’m still using the same amps that I always have, but Dave Smith Prophet-6
two towering stacks of Traynor cabinets–all of which cost the real change for me is I had a real openness to pedals. I Strings Ernie Ball Medium
him just $300. Mix with that his Ampeg Dan Armstrong wanted to try different shit and see how far I could push Slinky

14 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
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my rig and my sounds in different directions. I was always afraid to put reverb My bass has 24 frets, so a lot of times I’m just
TECH

through my rig because it would feed back like crazy, but this time we figured playing up that high to get those notes and chords.
out ways around that. There’s a lot of analog octave-up and down on this album. The frequencies are there; sometimes they just need
Another trick I did was double tracking with two different basses through the a little extra help to be clear. And with the right high-
FACE

same processing. I found that between the two, often one would be super hot mid boosts, we don’t need guitarists at all—we bass
through the mids and the other a little rounder and low. people can just take care of it ourselves.
Did you have any specific goals for your playing? How much freedom does it give you to play
One of my goals was to make complicated things sound easy. Our producer, in a duo?
LINK

Eric [Valentine], said to us, “If it sounds hard to play, it’ll be hard to listen to.” I It’s always been really fun. When we were young
definitely think that’s true. I’m sure a lot of people would take issue with it, but and very unprofessional, we would just go for it. I
I wanted to explore that concept. Even if something was just killing me from didn’t own a tuner, so I would just tune to myself
BASS NOTES

a playing standpoint, I would do anything to make it feel and sound natural,
which is easier said than done sometimes.
What was a tricky part to play?
One interesting example is the song “Caught Up,” where every other note
is a full-step bend. I feel like I’ve never had better calluses in my life than
after playing that song so much. When I made the part up, I was worried,
because I realized if Sebastien liked it, I’d have to play it all the time. But at
this point I’ve done it a thousand times, and it’s actually fun to play. Initially
I was losing my mind.
There are a handful of songs with guitar-sounding parts, like
“Moonlight” and “Statues.”
and go along with however my bass was tuned that
night. But once we added synths, that ended. In
this format there’s very little impedance creatively
between an idea and it becoming a song. Things
have always come together really fast for us, which
is how my brain wants it to go. I like the responsi-
bility of having to think about the whole spectrum
of sound. Not everybody likes having more respon-
sibility, but I do. Or maybe it’s just that we don’t
like to play with other people and we’re just shitty
humans [laughs]. BP

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BP RECOMMENDS
TECH
REGGIE YOUNG
YOUNG STREET [reggieyoungmusic.com]
FACE
Gospel-rooted New York bassist (and Apollo
Theater house-band anchor) Reggie Young
goes yard on his latest effort. The brass-
bolstered title-track opener establishes the
LINK
groovy ground rules, including Young’s powerful presence—whether
laying it down, playing the melody, soloing, or commenting in-
between the other instruments. Additional highlights include the
BASS NOTES
hard rock and tapping-infused “Riding Low,” the fretboard fire-
works showcase “Sister Mother Funky,” the provocatively panned
and layered soundscape “Adjacent Perspective” (featuring Matt
Garrison), and Young’s lead vocal stylings on the playful “Alright
with Me” and the highly original “Magic.” Add this one to the list
of the year’s standout bass albums. — C H RI S J I S I
THE KILLERS
WONDERFUL WONDERFUL [Island]
Listen to Mark Stoermer’s solo project
released last year, Dark Arts [St. August], and
you’ll hear hints of the gritty, percussive tone
he brings to the Killers’ first studio album in
five years. The title track, a brooding art-rocker spiced with prog-
ish bombast, sets the mood; Stoermer channels the resolute, nail-
picked twang of Geddy Lee (one of his heroes), but with a crunchier
edge that has started to become his own signature. Further on,
“Run for Cover” tests his punk chops, while the U2-ish “Life to
Come” highlights the bond he’s forged over 15 years of banging
out grooves with drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr. — B I L L MU RP H Y
MIKE STERN
TRIP [Concord]
Winkingly named for a not-so-funny fall
in which he broke both arms, guitar savant
Mike Stern’s latest is an inspiring testament
to his recovery, including nerve damage
that required him to glue his pick to his fingers. You’d never
know it from his fertile fingerboard flights, which—as usual—
are anchored by an array of veteran and young bassists. Victor
Wooten drives the title-track opener with muted finger funk.
Tom Kennedy’s octaver-fueled ostinato is the backbone of
“Whatchacallit.” Edmond Gilmore contributes upright and
electric respectively to the ballads “Gone” and “I Believe You.”
Most impressive is Teymur Phell: Paired with Lenny White,
he displays stellar bass guitar walking chops on “Half Crazy,”
“Scotch Tape and Glue,” and “B Train” (see if you can name the
standards each is based on), while also getting down and dirty
beneath the album-best “Screws.” —CHRIS JISI
18 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
THE MASTER MUSICIANS OF
JAJOUKA FEATURING MATERIAL
APOCALYPSE LIVE
[M.O.D. Technologies]
Bill Laswell and the Material collective team
up with Morocco’s Master Musicians of Jajouka,
once described by William S. Burroughs as a “4,000-year-old rock
& roll band,” for a stunningly vibrant, made-in-the-moment con-
cert featuring North African trance music at its most intense.
Laswell’s heavily effected, earthshaking rumble holds this cul-
tural amalgamation together with a gravitas that intensifies the
performances’ spontaneity. — F RE DDY V I LLA N O
MR. BIG
DEFYING GRAVITY [Frontiers]
Billy Sheehan has been keeping busy lately,
sharing his time between the Winery Dogs, the
Fell, and hard rock favorites Mr. Big. Proving
that he’s not spreading himself thin, Sheehan
delivers in the way that only he can—by unleashing blazing-fast
fills and re-writing the script of rock bass. Even on soft acoustic
ballads, Sheehan is able to add flavor and flair while remaining
tasteful, a feat in itself. — J ON D’AU RI A
WOLF PARADE
CRY CRY CRY [Sub Pop]
After a six-year hiatus, Wolf Parade is back
with an angular, hook-laden slab of indie
pop that reminds us why they work so well
together as a unit. Dante DeCaro is a key
part of the chemistry, laying down solid, melodically adventur-
ous lines that help propel songs like the hard-driving “Valley
Boy,” the loping, psychedelic “Flies on the Sun,” and the Bowie-
esque closer “King of Piss and Paper” into bold new sonic terri-
tory for the band. Catchy art-pop rarely sounds this unswervingly
experimental. — B I L L MU RP H Y
BLACKMORE’S NIGHT
TO THE MOON AND BACK:
20 YEARS AND BEYOND
[Minstrel Hall Music]
Bob Curiano, Mick Cervino, Peter Rooth,
John Ford, Mike Clemente, and the man in
black himself, Ritchie Blackmore, make up the list of musicians
who’ve contributed bass to Blackmore’s Night since its inception
20 years ago. This best-of package provides a thorough taste of
the harmonically sumptuous counterpoint this kind of renais-
sance fare requires from its bottom feeders. —FR E D DY V I LLA N O
 PULSE
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 B
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THEO KATZMAN MONONEON

HEARTBREAK HITS [theokatzman.com] A PLACE CALLED
TECH

Primarily known as Vulfpeck’s drummer and multi-instru- FANTASY

mentalist extraordinaire, Theo Katzman’s new classic-rock [dwaynethomasjr.bandcamp.com]
solo album departs from his usual funky fusion style. One MonoNeon continues refining
FACE

(albeit huge) element he carries over from his main ensem-
ble is the accompaniment of Joe Dart, who shows a different side of his groove.
Katzman is at his best when Dart goes to the depths of the pocket on “Hard
Rock,” “As the Romans Do,” and “Plain Jane Heroin.” — J ON D’AU RI A
LINK
his Southern R&B/experimental
aesthetic, all adorned by greasy, bold bass. Abrupt
modulations, surprise transitions and endings, and
lyrics that address themes of empowerment, rela-

tionships, and fame, are essential ingredients of the

ARCADE FIRE magic. The uplifting “Little Tittie Committee” and
EVERYTHING NOW [Sony] “True Happiness Happens at the End” are straight-
BASS NOTES

Wildly popular Canadian indie-rock band Arcade Fire has
just released its most bass-centrically mixed album yet, and
one glance at the liner notes reveals why. Amidst a slew of
producers, Tim Kingsbury’s bass tones received the royal
studio treatment from both Pulp bassist Steve Mackey and Thomas Bangal-
ter (one half of Daft Punk) on some of the album’s key tracks. That explains the
up-front and even funky tone on songs like “Signs of Life,” “Good God Damn,”
and “Everything Now.” —JON D’AU RI A
up earworms, while “So U Wanna Be a Superstar” and
“Are U Going to Love Me the Same” owe a debt to
George Clinton. “Ain’t Nothing United About Amer-
ica” smoothly grafts a microtonal riff onto Prince-
approved bass and guitar, followed by a live jam that’s
just a tease. Fantasy spans only 33 minutes, leaving
MonoNeon’s status as an enigma intact. When he
throttles a finger-busting double-time bass line toward
the end of the album and sings, “All I ever wanted to
do was be a mystery,” it’s hard not to nod and com-
pliment him on a job well done. —E . E . B R A D M A N

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 N
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HARTKE
HyDrive HD Cabinets
Hartke celebrates the tenth anniversary of its
NEWGEAR popular HyDrive cabinets with an HD-series
TECH

update that includes the HD112 1x12 (which

handles 300 watts), HD115 1x15 (500 watts),
HD210 2x10 (500 watts), and HD410 4x10
FACE

(1,000 watts). Every cab features two twist-

and-lock inputs and two q" inputs, enhanced
HyDrive speakers, and plywood cabs with black
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LINK

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($600), HD410 ($700)
Contact samsontech.com
NEW GEAR

HUNTINGTON
Supro Bass
This passive 30"-scale 4-string, a fusion of the
1960s Supro Ozark guitar body shape and ’60s
Supro Pocket Bass sound, comes in three flavors:
Get it in single-, double-, and triple-pickup
configurations, with an optional piezo bridge and
a variety of metallic and transparent colors (over
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Street Huntington I ($1,000), Huntington II
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ELECTRO-HARMONIX
Green Russian Big Muff
The 1990s cult-classic Green Russian Big Muff,
darker and punchier than a standard Big Muff, is
back in a compact, Nano-size chassis that retains
the original’s SUSTAIN (drive), TONE (harmonic
distortion), and VOLUME controls. It runs on a 9-volt
battery or an AC adapter.
Street $80
Contact ehx.com

Janek Gwizdala’s Chordal Harmony: A

Comprehensive Guide to Chords on Bass
The energetic bass/tennis guru is back with a
133-page exploration of double-stops and three-
note chords. Chordal Harmony begins with the
basics (playing a major scale in 10ths) and triads
(inversions, V–I, IIm–V–I) before heading to usable
vocabulary and advanced reharmonization
techniques. Plus, there’s an appendix with major
7, minor 7, and dominant chord voicings—and
a recap of basics, triads, vocab, and reharm
material in both tab and treble clef.
Street $40
Contact janekgwizdala.com

22 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
 CS
CONSTANT CURIOSITY
With each release, V I C TO R WO OT E N shows us
why the best musicians are often the humblest.
I’VE INTERVIEWED VICTOR WOOTEN AT LENGTH SEVERAL
times in my BP career, seen him play dozens of times, and hung out
with him in private a fair amount. I thus feel well equipped to conclude
the following: He is the best-qualified bass god ever. Yes, he could argu-
ably merit that distinction on skill alone, but the pitch-perfect casting
he enjoys atop the bass marquee suggests more than phenomenal tech-
nique and an unflappable pocket—plenty of people can play. Instead,
Victor sits at the top of the heap because he comprehensively embod-
ies all the things good musicians preach every day. He’s a walking, talk-
ing set of best practices.
B Y J O N AT H A N H E R R E R A
PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEVEN PARKE
24 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
If Victor led only by his sterling example, it’d still cement his iconic
status. But his special place in the pantheon is assured because above
all, Victor is an activist bass player. From the beginning of his career,
Victor has consistently advocated for an ever-evolving set of ideas, and
he’s created venues to share those ideas, most notably with his long-
running Wooten Woods Music Camp (now open to all
instruments) and his book, The Music Lesson [2006,
Berkley Trade]. The strength and resonance of Vic-
tor’s ideology lies not in its sophisticated technical
depth, but rather in its full accounting of music’s
human origin. Each of us is a person first, and
Victor sees no division between our success in life
and our success in music. His leadership by exam-
ple, then, is not limited to playing. It can be found
in his attitude, generosity, and ethical consistency.
Above all else, Victor is a relentless and voracious
student. When he burst into our consciousness with
the 1989 release of Béla Fleck & the Flecktones’ self-
titled debut, Victor almost immediately earned his
place among the bass gods. Not since Jaco Pasto-
rius’ first album had a player so profoundly pushed
the instrument’s voice forward, forever expand-
ing our notion of its possibilities. Victor’s singular
slap technique—incorporating rapid-fire double-
thumbing and multi-finger pops—overwhelmed the
bass world, and the impact was obvious at any large gathering of bass-
ists. At NAMM, for example, a competition seemed to emerge among
up-and-comers as to who could best ape Victor’s signature style. Given
the depth of his impact, Victor could have easily maintained his rari-
fied status without much effort. Yet, the nearly three decades since he
bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 25
 CS VICTOR WOOTEN

achieved international recognition are marked not by complacency,
but by an inexorable drive to get better. His voluminous output,
whether under his own banner, as a duet partner with longtime
collaborator Steve Bailey, or as a sideman with any number of
legends, evince a musician with tireless curiosity and ability to
acknowledge his own weaknesses to grow.
Victor’s latest release, Trypnotyx, demonstrates perfectly the
fruit of his labor. Self-produced, it represents a significant matu-
ration in his songwriting, harmonic insight, and notably, his full
embrace of a revolutionary new technology, the FretTraX MIDI
system from InnProcess Music (see sidebar, below). Victor has
long thrived on the edges of the bass’s capabilities, employing
innovative techniques to wring new tones and textures from the
instrument—but the FretTraX system exponentially expands his
palette, giving him easy access to a near-infinite sonic landscape.
Using the system to trigger synthesizers, samples, and more,
Victor makes the Trypnotyx trio sound like a much larger ensem-
ble. It’s not mere studio trickery, either; as his fall tour demon-
strates, he pulls it off.
I was excited to speak with Vic not only about his latest record,
but also about the insight and process behind his success. Not
many artists can boast comparable staying power, and as ever,
Vic had much to say on the subject.

What compelled you to release a trio record?

THE FRETTRAX
REVOLUTION
IF YOU’VE SEEN VICTOR’S
FretTraX demo on YouTube, watched
one of his recent trio gigs, or checked
out Trypnotyx, you’ve undoubtedly
been curious about the new technol-
ogy, which brings unprecedented track-
ing speed and accuracy to a MIDI bass
system. I talked with designer Lee Young
of InnProcess Music for his thoughts
on working with Victor during the
system’s development:
“ Victor Wooten is an amazing
ambassador for the FretTraX bass-to-
MIDI technology. From the first time
he tried my FretTraX prototype in a
small cabin at his Wooten Woods Music
Camp—ordering one on the spot—to
premiering it to a packed house in Nash-
ville on his 2016 tour kickoff, his per-
formances and comments have changed
people’s minds about what can be done
with a bass and MIDI.”
Changes on the horizon include sup-
port for Apple MainStage and Ableton
Live, battery power, wireless MIDI sup-
port, new licensing opportunities, and
“pluck detect,” which will allow for MIDI
velocity messages.
It started because I really wanted to play with Dennis
Chambers [drums] and Bob Franceschini [sax]. We started the
project with a short tour, although at first I also had Anthony
Wellington play some bass. I figured that would free me up to
play melodies and things like that. That was right around when I
got the FretTraX MIDI system on my bass. As good as it was with
Anthony, it dawned on me that that if we could pull this off as a
trio, it would be impressive. So I started working on some of the
songs myself, and I realized, Wow, I can do it. Anthony of course
understood, and then it was obvious we needed to record.
When you say pull it off, what does that entail? There
are a lot of layered parts from the bass and MIDI bass on
the record.
I have to loop some sections and bass lines. Bob also uses an
octave pedal with his sax and plays some bass, and he even has
another pedal that allows him to play chords. And then with the
FretTraX I can play keyboard-style parts along with the bass line,
too. It makes the band sound bigger than it is.
Did getting a MIDI-capable bass enable a new dimen-
sion of your voice?
Totally. Even when you buy a new pedal, it opens up new ideas
and expands your vision. But having the FretTraX, after people have
tried to develop a good MIDI bass for decades, totally expanded
my horizons. The inventor, Lee Young, lives in Nashville, so I’m
on the front end of it. I can take it out on the road and say, Lee,
this is incredible but I need it to do this or that. And he’ll figure
out how to do it. It expands the capabilities of what I can play.
Trypnotyx is your most harmonically rich record. How
has that progress gone for you?
I’m just growing every day, as a musician and as a person.
I wish I could grow in height, but I haven’t figured that one
out. I keep getting wider, not taller [laughs]. I play differently
depending on who I’m playing with, and I knew that if I did this
record with Dennis and Bob, it needed to be a players’ record. It
had to be musical, but it wasn’t going to be one of my records
where there’s vocals or even rap. I knew I wanted to do more
of a fusion record. One of the main things that led me in that

26 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
 CS VICTOR WOOTEN
direction is the people I’m playing with.
Is there something in your own regimen
that you stay committed to?
Really, just listening. Then going for what I hear. I
play from emotion, and while the emotion is usually
there, sometimes the notes just aren’t, so I end up
having to fix a note on a record while trying to keep
the emotion. Sometimes I’ll leave the wrong note
because the right note didn’t carry the same emo-
tion. Then, sure, there’s some practicing thrown in.
What do you practice?
I try to do a little of all the things I hear. I may
literally be onstage at soundcheck and hear Béla
or Bob play a line, and I’ll figure out what it is, put
some chords in the looping pedal, and then practice
it over changes. When we learn a word in English,
we don’t just say it over and over, we use it—and
when I learn a new line or lick, I try to use it, right
then, wherever I am. It’s a lot of that. The days of
having hours to practice are gone for me, because
I’ve got a busy schedule, kids, and more who need
my time when I’m off, so I have to know how to
practice in the spur of the moment wherever I am,
whenever I can. A lot of it happens at soundcheck
and maybe after soundcheck if I get to hang in the
dressing room for a bit.
What have you learned over the years about
balancing so many demands on your time?
The main thing is to try not to do it alone. I
surround myself with good people who help. The
other thing that comes to mind is finding that time
for yourself to do whatever it is you need to do to
feel balanced—something to relax, to bring enjoy-
ment, or to get away from work. You always need
to replenish your energy, especially when you’re
living such a public life and giving yourself to other
people, like I do when I’m out on the road. I want
to see everyone, sign everything, and hug every-
body. It takes a lot. Sometimes you have to go in
your own cocoon.
What does your cocoon look like?
I love to take walks. Usually when we get to a
town, I go out for a walk. I’m very lucky that I rarely
have to set up my own gear anymore, even though I
sometimes enjoy it; it’s almost meditative. But now
when I get to a venue, I can take a walk. I also love
spending time in my hotel room by myself.
For nearly three decades, you have success-
fully weathered huge changes in the music
industry. How would you advise someone
coming up now?
Some things are different, but many are the same.
I learned a lot from my parents, especially my mom.
28 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
Even when we were playing sports, she would say,
“Somebody has to lose, and if you’re not big enough
to lose, you’re not big enough to play.” I translate
that to music. As egotistical as this may seem, you
have to please yourself first; then, you become so
good at it that other people enjoy it. I’d rather be the
me that makes me happy and that would make my
parents happy, and in doing that, I found an audi-
ence. They love me for who I am, not some façade
that I’m putting on.
I can hear my mom’s voice right now: “You may
not have any control over whether you become
famous, but you have control over whether you
are worthy of being famous. Become someone
that the world should know about.” She’d say, “You
boys are already successful. The rest of the world
just doesn’t know about it yet.” I tell people, Don’t
worry about becoming famous. Develop some-
thing. Become someone that the rest of the world
will benefit from knowing about. That’s been my
goal since I was little.
Endeavors like the Music Camp and your
book show that good art and artistry often
come from good people.
Who you are shows through your music, and
that’s truer now than ever, because your music is
more widely accessible. People aren’t putting up
with the bad-attitude folks anymore. Musicians are
too easily replaced; we don’t live in the day when
there was one Jimi, Jaco, or Charlie Parker—now
Stanley Clarke can go on YouTube and find a kid
barely out of high school to replace his drummer.
You want another Victor Wooten? They’re out there
on YouTube.
Do you listen to pop music?
Not as much as I’d like, but I’m always asking my
kids what they listen to. For this record, I listened to
a lot of pop for the sonic range in the mixes. After
I got my record mastered, I had to go back and do
it again, and I told the engineer to reference big
pop records. I wanted that pop sound, with high
highs and low lows. Jazz records tend to be more
midrange-y and smooth. I wanted more of that pop
sound. It’s popular for a reason, and it’s good to
know what that reason is.
Some of the tunes have deep layers of inter-
esting sonics and sound design. Are there keys
on Trypnotyx?
There are almost no keyboards on the record. I
played a lot of keyboard-style parts with the FretTraX
on my bass, and some of them were played with an
effected sax. I love ear candy—if there’s a solo hap-
pening, there’s still something going on in your left
ear, or sounds panning across the stereo spectrum,
or whatever. I wanted things to keep the listener’s
attention, like a pop record, and less like a jazz record.
How do you find sounds to use with the
FretTraX?
I start by going to the synth and turning a knob
to see where it ends up. In the studio I have time
to explore. I can listen to another record or have
someone else come in and say, Hey, what if you try
this? I was always taking advice and direction from
Dennis and Bob, too.
How do you deal with the temptation to per-
fect everything and possibly kill the vibe, now
that digital recording makes that possible?
That’s the gift and curse of Pro Tools. Nowadays
we even have our own studios, so we’re not stressed
looking at the clock on the studio wall. I can sleep in
my studio, wake up, and then keep going. For me, the
best way to keep perspective is to let other people
hear it. And then it always starts with the playing;
I want to make sure we play well. Then we just want
i INFO
Victor Wooten,
Trypnotyx [2017,
LISTEN
Vix]
Bass 1983 Fodera Monarch, ’80s
Fodera Monarch Tenor (strung ADGC),
Fodera Monarch Yin-Yang w/FretTraX
MIDI system, fretless Fodera Monarch
Yin-Yang, Fodera NYC Empire 5-string,
fretless Compito 5-string, 18th-century
y-size upright
EQUIP
Rig Two Hartke LH1000 heads, two
Hartke HyDrive 4x10s, two Hartke
HyDrive 1x15s
Strings Fodera Victor Wooten Signa-
ture Nickel (.040, .055, .075, .095)
Synth Yamaha Motif-Rack XS
Effects Boss GT-6B, Source Soundblox-
Pro Multiwave Bass Distortion,
Rodenberg Volume Boost
to add things that don’t take away from that.
Did you mix the new album?
I mixed most of it. I’m the one who’s always
there, and we recorded in my studio. But because
I wanted the record to sound better than my abili-
ties, I also reached out to a couple of mix engineers.
In every case I’d have to stick my head back in and
change a few things, but real engineers know how
to get better sounds than me. The drums came back
sounding bigger. The vocals from Varijashree Venu-
gopal and Michael Winslow sounded better. Even
though I mixed most of the songs, hearing these
other guys made my mixes sound better.
The hardest part of having a studio is know-
ing when a mix is finished. How do you deal
with that?
If you don’t have a deadline, nothing will ever
get completed. I have friends who’ve been working
on their records for ten years, no exaggeration. For
my record, I got together with my manager and a
few other people, and we looked at the calendar. I
knew that I wanted it to be eligible for a Grammy,
so we looked at the deadline for that. Then my pub-
licist said he needed a few months to promote the
album before that deadline. And so on. Finally we
settled on July 4 to deliver the record, and that gave
me a hard deadline to work toward.
Anytime you’ve recorded something, you’re better
by the time you start mixing it. Even by the next
day you’re a better person and musician, hopefully,
so you’re going to hear it differently. You’re going to
second-guess, and if you have the ability, you’ll fix
it. But with a hard deadline eventually you’re going
to say, Okay, I think I’m done.
How do you think about the difference in
your roles as a sideman and a leader?
When it comes to being a leader, my first big
teacher was Béla Fleck. Béla is the leader of the Fleck-
tones—always has been, always will be. But he’s also
consistently said he feels like a leader among equals.
He knows that when you squash someone’s chance
to speak, they’ll quit speaking. Also, when Béla
writes a song, he comes in and plays only his part;
he doesn’t dictate other parts. He tells us nothing.
He just starts playing, and that allows us to react
with our first impressions. It’s wonderful, and his
songs often change because of it. If we’re taking his
song too far away, he can always bring it back. I’ve
learned to do that, also.
Dennis and Bob are such good sidemen. They’ve
played on everything with everybody. How do
people like that get those gigs? It’s because they
can paint many different pictures, and they’re
bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 29
 CS VICTOR WOOTEN

really good at helping you paint yours. They’re
like chameleons; whatever color you put them in,
they become that.
How much does the interpersonal stuff
matter as a sideman, as opposed to the musi-
cal ability?
It’s a little of both. Bob was telling me that when
he was rehearsing with Paul Simon for a year, people
in the band would just disappear.
How can you stay attentive in a
year-long rehearsal? You have to be
able to perform and do a good job
whether or not you like the music
or situation. That’s the mark of a
good musician, playing like you
love it, no matter what. You’re not
What would you like to improve in your
playing?
I’d like to get better at using the theory I know.
I’m still not good at that. I’m not that good at solo-
ing through changes. If I know the tune well, I’m
fine, but if you give me a new song and I’m just look-
ing at it on paper, I’m horrible. I know how to do
it, but I can’t do it fast enough on the spot. And if
I could start over again, I would
learn to play piano. Every musi-
cian I know who has a good har-
monic sense plays piano, and not
necessarily as their main instru-
ment. It’s harder when you only
have one way to get home and that
road is blocked.

New CD
always going to play what you enjoy. You’re currently sharing
How do you maintain that the bill with the Elektric Band.
focus even when the music is It must be great to hang with
now available, along with the not happening? John Patitucci, too.
The fact that you’re playing I’m so excited! I got my upright
LEGEN DARY music should be inspiring enough. from Stanley Clarke, and I’m getting
There’s too many people out there In his just-released book/ a copy made and a friend is bring-
All–Bass Orchestra DVD wishing they had a gig. Don’t get online video package, ing it to me today. I’m so happy.
and much, much more! the gig and then complain about Victor Wooten outlines his I cornered John and said, Look,
it. There’s a fine line, though; you ten essential elements of man, I need an hour with you!
don’t want to lose yourself, either. music and presents lessons You’ve been more inter-
If the band stands for something ranging from warming up ested in upright lately.
you don’t, then there’s a decision and hand-strengthening to Definitely. I’ll tell you a crazy
to make. Not playing because you tapping, looping, soloing, and story. I got called last-minute to
don’t like the music is not a good thumb technique. Available do a week with Chick at his 75th-
enough reason. If you can’t find from hudsonmusic.com. birthday residency at the Blue
something good in the music, that’s Note in New York. I was already
your fault, not the music’s fault. scheduled to do the final week, but
You spent a lot of time playing with Chick something happened with Avishai Cohen that made
Corea. Tell me about that. it impossible for him to get to the U.S. So I was asked
Wow. Chick is even better than most people to do a week on upright with Chick, Ravi Coltrane,
realize. I’ll tell you a great lesson Chick taught me. Hubert Laws, and Lenny White. I told my manager
Before my first rehearsal with him, I had a short to make sure Chick’s people know that I don’t really
time to learn the music, and then we only had one play upright. The message that came back was that
evening to rehearse. Now, I’m no John Patitucci; I Chick knows, but “Victor is the magic man. He’ll
can’t solo through changes like him. John is unbe- make it happen.” What an honor to be thought of
lievably good. So, we’re at rehearsal and playing a that way. He could have called up so many people
ballad, “Crystal Silence” or something. I start solo- in New York who could have walked to the gig and
ing over it, and I’m royally sucking. Finally, Chick nailed it. I also thought that if I could pull this off,
stops. And he says, Do you know the melody? my stock goes up—not just to the public, but to
Embarrassingly, I had to say no. And immediately myself. So I got the confirmation on Friday after
ORDER NOW FROM I thought, Man, how many times have I told people Thanksgiving, and the first gig was the following
to learn the melody? I realized I’m not above what Wednesday. Chick sends me the music, and I start
I teach. Just because I teach it, it doesn’t mean I’m practicing on my upright at home. I’m dealing with it;
good at it. So Chick said, “Learn the melody.” And it’s cool. I’m going to be able to do this. Then Sunday
then we just moved on. It was embarrassing, but comes, and Chick sends an email to the band with
Also on iTunes what a wake-up call. the song list. I don’t recognize any of the songs! I

30 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
 CS VICTOR WOOTEN
send Chick an email and say, Sorry, but I don’t know these tunes. My phone
rings, and Chick says, You’re learning the wrong music. Inside I’m screaming; I
have to fly to Boston to teach at Berklee, so I only have enough time to print out
and tape up the music. I put all the songs on my phone so I can at least listen
on the plane. I don’t get to touch or look at the bass at all. I get to Boston that
“You have to please yourself first.
Then, you become so good at it
that other people enjoy it.”
night, no bass, so Steve Bailey gives me a bass and lets me practice in his office.
I practice from like 6:30 to 2 in the morning, and the bass has super-high action.
I ask Steve for another, but he says, No, if you learn it on a hard bass it’ll be easier
later. Meanwhile my bass is being repaired by a guy in Connecticut, Gary Upton,
and it’s important because it’s a y-size, which I can deal with. The week before,
he had sent me photos with the top off. I say, Gary do you think you can get my
32 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
bass back together for these gigs? He says, No way,
but I’ll bring you a bass and I’ll even put dots on like
yours. So we arrange that when my train from Boston
to New York stops in New London, Connecticut, he’ll
be there waiting, and I’ll just hop off and grab the
bass. As the train pulled up, I saw my upright bass
case. Gary Upton had done it—he finished my bass. I
was able to hop off the train, grab a photograph with
Gary, and then get back on the train.
I pulled off the gig after all. I’m not a great upright
player, but I had a blast. I learned a lot. It made the
following week where I got to play electric way easier.
It made my juices start flowing, though. I really want
to learn how to play the upright now. I need to get
together with people like John Patitucci, John Clay-
ton, and Steve Bailey, and I’m going to start taking
lessons. I want to do an all-acoustic record.
What do you like about upright?
It’s where the electric came from, and there’s
nothing cooler than the sound of an acoustic. Piano
is cool, sax is cool, but there’s nothing cooler than
a walking bass. I want to get good at doing that. I
don’t want to ever stop growing. BP
 On Your Mark At

LOCATED TWO HOURS FROM ROME IN THE BEAUTIFUL We traveled to Randy Jackson, Alain Caron,
coastal town of San Giovanni Teatino, with the ocean at the east and and Robbie Shakespeare.
winter ski mountains to the west, lies the headquarters for Markbass. Italy to see the Currently, Markbass pro-
The state-of-the-art facilities spare no expense on technology, tools, duces and ships out over 4,000
design, and comfort for its factory employees, which is all part of hands-on work amps per month, in all sizes
the family-first mentality of owner and Markbass creator Marco De and configurations. While
Virgiliis. An innovator on many fronts, De Virgiliis began his career study-
that goes into some hardware parts are con-
ing electronic engineering, which led to him creating bass amp designs on every Markbass structed and shipped back
the side while working in telecommunications. After launching his first from Indonesia, the Markbass
short-lived company, Parsek, he was brought on to build amps for Ernie amp. team assembles each amp’s
circuitry by hand. Every unit
goes through rigorous mechanical and performance testing before being
approved to ship. Priding their product on using only the best and most
durable materials, Markbass employs only two repair engineers to work
on defective or broken amps. While the company offers extensive war-
ranties and remarkable customer service, the two employees typically
don’t have much work on their hands. “We don’t have many amps come
back for repairs,” explains De Virgiliis. “But when we do, we try to fix and
return them within 24 hours. We don’t like to keep our players waiting.”
The factory itself sprawls through an abundance of large rooms and
warehouses that include a beautiful music venue with a bar and café,
where De Virgiliis’ office is located. Lining the walls are basses from a
The beautiful beach town of Pescara, located minutes from huge array of builders. The
Markbass HQ production f loor is kept
immaculately clean, and the
Ball Music Man for a brief stint in the ’90s. He soon decided he wanted workstations are spacious
to do things his way and see his own vision take form. In 2001, nearly and comfortably equipped.
broke, De Virgiliis—a life-long horn player who dabbles on bass—was The main warehouse boasts
forced to sell his beloved saxophone in order to gain funding to create the largest space in the fac-
his own amp company, Markbass. tory, as every boxed order
Early on, De Virgiliis relied on his breakthrough use of neodymium rests there before being
speakers and shrinking the size and weight of heads with Class-D amps, shipped. Just off the ship-
which led to a rapid expansion and the need to move to the company’s ping quarters is the market-
current, larger factory space. Before he knew it, De Virgiliis had a loyal ing department, where an
following of Markbass users, which is still growing. As of today, accom- in-house crew photographs
plished players are flocking to get his amps and join his roster, which and video-demos amps,
includes greats such as Marcus Miller, Stu Hamm, Richard Bona, Michael and puts together ads for
Manring, Hadrien Feraud, Michael League, Jeff Berlin, Mark Egan, everything on Markbass’

The man behind Markbass, CEO and

By Jon D’Auria owner Marco De Virgiliis

34 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
 No shortage of basses in De Virgiliis’ office Marcus Miller’s legendary Jazz Bass, on loan for sound modeling

growing list of products.

At any given time, De Virgiliis
has dozens of new innovations up
his sleeve that he and his ten R&D
engineers are fine-tuning before his
yearly unveilings at Winter NAMM.
On this visit alone, we previewed
about ten items (sorry, we can’t reveal
them). Furthering music technol-
ogy, pushing the science of amplifi-
cation, and keeping his work family
happy is everything to De Virgiliis—
and seeing his operation firsthand,
it’s evident that his success goes far
beyond sales numbers.
The factory’s music venue, complete with bar and café
The factory’s
warehouse
entrance in
San Giovanni
Teatino

Every circuitboard is assembled and tested in-house. A look inside the assembly wing

One of many parts rooms in the factory Putting the finishing touches on the amps
Photos continue

bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 35
 F MARKBASS FACTORY TOUR

A device De Virgiliis invented

to hand-test every Markbass
What Italian amp factory is complete without a custom Ducati? speaker for quality Ads and promos are created in the marketing wing.

The boxing process Every Markbass amp is shipped from company headquarters.
 PAHOEHOE
STRINGS
Upright tone, smooth
feel, deep low-end

CUSTOM

SHORT SCALE
Huge tone in an extremely
portable bass

Available in 4 and 5 String,

Fretted and Fretless

Designed and Handmade at the Kala Shop in Petaluma, CA

UBASS.COM
 F MARKBASS FACTORY TOUR

The new Marcus Miller “Little Marcus” head, com-

plete with the spot-on “Millerizer” knob to cop his
legendary slap sound

Limited Edition white enclosures Marcus’ amps ready to rock The signature cabinet of Snarky Puppy’s Michael League

38 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
 S
LEARN
PLAY
SOUNDROOM
TECH
FACE
LINK
SOUNDROOM
Warwick Sklar Bass I Signature
BY ED FRIEDLAND |
WHEN WARWICK DECIDED TO BUILD A SIGNATURE
model for Leland Sklar, the company knew it would have to live
up to the reputation of the man. Sklar’s work has influenced mul-
tiple generations of bassists to play with taste, impeccable groove,
and melody, while Sklar himself is a style icon for his prodigious
beard and love of work coveralls—so Warwick knew the bass
would have to sound amazing and also look cool. Since Sklar has
been a Warwick artist for many years, favoring the semi-hollow
Star Bass, he had plenty of time to develop a wish list that turned
this already-stellar instrument into a highly personalized axe.
As you would expect of a German-made Warwick Custom
Shop axe, it ain’t cheap. In fact, with a street price of $8,000, it’s
beyond the reach of most players. But Warwick’s philosophy on
signature models is to give the artist what they truly want regard-
less of cost, with less concern about how many they may sell each
year. For most of us, this bass falls into the “after-I-hit-the-Lotto”
category, but those with enough scratch to bring one home will
have the pleasure of playing a unique instrument that satisfies
one of the most influential bassists on the planet.
The most noticeable aspect of the Sklar Bass is the atypi-
cal arm cut on the top. Players of semi-hollow basses are all too
40 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
familiar with the crease you get in your forearm as you reach over
the body binding. Built for comfort as well as speed, the Sklar
Bass top angles back at the critical point, preventing the loss of
blood flow to the hand. It also looks pretty cool. The body has
been offset to allow better access to the higher frets, because one
thing Lee Sklar has shown us: If you put the music first, there is in
fact money to be made up there. Two punchy active MEC single-
coil pickups sit in ’60s J-Bass position, and are completely devoid
of the typical single-coil hum that plagues this configuration.
While the Star Bass is passive in standard configuration, the Sklar
Bass has an active bass-and-treble circuit that can be bypassed
via the push/pull volume pot. Unlike the Star’s separate volume
and tone controls, the Sklar has master volume, blend, bass, and
treble knobs. Then there’s the true secret behind Lee’s Grammy
Award-winning tone: the Producer Switch, a 3-way toggle. It
allows you to effortlessly make drastic changes to your tone, at
least one of which will create a hit record. The secret? The switch
is a dummy, totally useless and unconnected to anything. The
Producer Switch (which Lee had installed on his Star) earned its
name from the many times producers have asked him for “a little
something different,” or to “make it darker, but with sheen,” or to
play “more purple.” With some of the best hands
in the business, Sklar simply approaches the string
differently to change his tone, but the switch is
a way to convince the producer he actually did
something. Here is instruction from Master Sklar
himself: “It’s very simple. When you flip the switch,
the only factor is timing. That is critical. It must
be observed to function properly.”
The chambered body has an AAA flame-maple
top with flame-maple arm support, with mahog-
any sides and back. Warwick Product Specialist Jon
intonation. The Warwick-supplied toolkit is always
a blast to play with, and the super-deluxe leather
gig bag (included) is sturdy and heavy.
The Sklar’s design eliminates two complaints
I have with semi-hollow basses in general: The
armrest allows for right-hand comfort, and by
attaching the strap button at the top of the bass-
side horn instead of the neck heel, the instrument
hangs with less neck-dive. Atypical of its breed,
the sustain and clarity rivals any high-end solid-
body, but the Sklar retains a woolly character that
Custom Shop. With its unique and well-conceived
alterations to the Star Bass platform, the Sklar
distinguishes itself as its own instrument, suit-
ing Leland Sklar himself for the majority of his
workload. BP
S SPECIFICATIONS
Sklar Bass I Signature
WA RW I C K

Giroux explains the unique construction method:
“The body itself starts out as two solid blocks of
mahogany. We then rout out the inside of the
blocks to give it the semi-hollow chambering. The
‘chambers’ are glued together, and then the neck
is glued in. Last, they add the maple top and back.
Although it’s extremely difficult and time consum-
ing to do this, the result is a real solid-wood instru-
ment. It does not have laminated back, sides, or
top. For the arm bevel, we glue a chunk of wood
into that section and then rout it out.”
The Sklar Bass is outfitted with Warwick’s well-
engineered hardware: a brass Just-A-Nut III, two-
lets you know the internal chambers are involved Street $8,000
in the tone as well. In passive mode, the pickups Pros Superb quality, versatile
have that non-GMO tone that sits in a track like a Cons Costly
true classic. I found rolling the blend knob toward Bottom Line A versatile, attractive update
to the semi-hollow world.
the neck pickup gave an increasingly wide/open
sound, but it never lost focus. In the middle posi-
Construction Set neck
tion, you could compare it to a passive J-Bass, but
Body Chambered
with a little more depth—“darker, but with sheen,” Neck Flame-maple
perhaps. The bridge pickup gives a tight, articulate Fingerboard Tiger-stripe ebony
tone that still represents a full frequency spectrum. Fingerboard radius 20"
Pushing the Sklar into active mode transforms the Frets 21 small, flat nickel–silver w/Invisible
bass into a different animal. You can reggae-blast Fretwork Technology
the lows for earth-moving bottom, or balance the Nut Just-A-Nut III Brass
SPECS

piece brass bridge, angled closed-gear tuners with
sexy wooden paddles, and Warwick locking strap
buttons. The 20" tiger-stripe ebony fingerboard is
the resting place for 21 relatively flat (1mm tall)
and narrow (2mm wide) nickel–silver frets, instead
of the typical bell-brass frets found on most War-
wick builds. Sometimes referred to as “mandolin
frets,” they make sliding around the fingerboard
easy, and offer the potential for more precise
two controls for a sparkling, modern fingerstyle Scale length 34"
tone. While I don’t typically think of this instru- Neck width at nut 1.5"
Pickups 2 MEC active single-coil
ment genre as useful for funk or slap, the Sklar is
Tuners Warwick machine heads w/wood-
actually quite slap-friendly.
en knobs
At a reasonable weight of just under nine
Bridge Warwick two-piece brass
pounds, the Sklar felt comfortable on the end of a Weight 8.8 lbs
strap, and it played like the champion it is. While
not in everyone’s price range, the Sklar Bass is a Made in Germany
top-notch bit of work from Warwick’s renowned Contact warwick.de

bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 41
 S
LEARN
PLAY
TECH

IN MAY 2014, I FOUND MYSELF FLY FISHING

FACE

next to Stuart Spector in the middle of the East Branch

River, located an hour west of Spector headquarters in
Woodstock, New York. An experienced fly fisherman, I
marveled at Stuart’s attention to detail—his dedication
LINK

to correct casting, his skill at drifting his lure across

the top of the water, and his awareness of the local bug
hatch that told us which flies we ought to be using at
SOUNDROOM

any given moment. The trout in the East Branch are

notoriously difficult to catch, but under Stuart’s direc-
tion I did quite well, though Stuart did land the big-

Spector gest fish that day.

Such attention to detail is exactly what has made
Spector a revered builder in the bass community, and
Euro5LX his approach to fly fishing mirrors that of his approach

B Y R O D C . T AY L O R |

S SPECIFICATIONS
Euro5LX
Street $2,550
Pros Beautiful finish, custom electronics,
SPECTOR

stellar craftsmanship
Cons None
Bottom Line: A gorgeous, sophisticated
5-string that looks, feels, and sounds
great.

Neck Three-piece maple with graphite

rods inside for additional strength
Fingerboard Rosewood, mother-of-pearl
crown inlays
Frets 24
Fingerboard radius 16"
Scale length: 35"
Width of nut: 1.81"
SPECS

Body USA figured maple over European

alder, separated by a thin piece of walnut
Pickups Custom Bartolini dual-coil
humbuckers
Tone controls Spector TonePump, boost-
only bass and treble, internal output trim
pot

Made in Czech Republic

Contact spectorbass.com

42 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
 S
LEARN
PLAY

to building basses. In the early ’70s, he waded right into the fray of a Fender-
saturated market, going against the current to design the Spector NS, which
TECH

quickly became a favorite among top players. His dedication to detail and excel-
lence in craftsmanship has not waned over the years, and the updated EuroLX
line makes that clear.
FACE

Those familiar with the Spector’s history will recall that in 1993 the company
began producing the NS model basses in the Czech Republic and quickly devel-
oped a reputation for producing high-quality instruments there. As a result, the
EuroLX series has long been a favorite of many pro bass players, and the newest
LINK

5-string iteration guarantees that reputation will continue.

EUROBEAUTY
SOUNDROOM

Upon its arrival, I took a moment to admire the instrument’s beauty. I’m a fan
of translucent finishes, as they allow for eye-popping colors—like the blue of
our test bass—without the bass coming across as too bold on the bandstand.
The figured maple on this bass shone well through the stain, and the updated
chrome hardware worked well with the blue finish.
You would hope that a bass that looks this good would play even better. I
took some time to play the bass sans amplification, and, as expected, the neck-
through-body construction aids in elevating the instrument’s reverberation,
and the 35" scale ensures a tight B string. Having played several EuroLX models
over the years, I can attest to the way these instruments offer plenty of sus-
tain and harmonic resonance. The brass nut is almost like a zero-fret, and the
Ned Steinberger-influenced curved body makes
this one of the more comfortable basses out there.
Another minor but welcomed update on this model
is the separate battery compartment, which allows
you to replace the battery without having to hunt
down a screwdriver.
To see how our test bass performed amplified,

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I plugged into an Aguilar Tone Hammer 500-watt
head connected to two Aguilar 1x12SL cabinets. I
also occasionally engaged an EHX Platform Stereo
Compressor pedal to see how it responded to a
little compression and drive. I was pleased all the
way around. One thing you will notice immediately
when you play this bass is how quick the fingerboard
is. You can thank its flatness for that. With a radius
of 16", it’s over twice as flat as a traditional Fender
fingerboard (7q"), and you can certainly feel the
difference. With modern basses, I see no negative
consequence to having a high-radius fingerboard; it
helps when playing more technical lines or chords.
If you’re a stickler for a traditional feel, however,
you won’t find it here. But then if you’re a stickler
for the traditional, you probably wouldn’t be look-
ing at a Spector bass.
A LOT FROM A LITTLE
Our test model featured proprietary Bartolini soap-
bar pickups. In the past, EuroLXs came with EMGs,
which always sounded great—so I was a little skepti-
cal of the switch, but my concern proved unfounded.
The Bartolinis delivered well—providing deep, punchy, growling lows and
crystal-clear highs. I typically play with my right hand at or behind the bridge
pickup, and I appreciate a bass that can offer up a fairly fat tone for that hand
position. This one did, and it turns out, it’s by design: The bridge pickup has a
higher output level and resonant peak for enhanced treble response, while the
neck pickup is wound for a slightly lower output to better complement the bridge
pickup. I could definitely hear the benefit of that partnership.
As with most Spector basses, the preamp here is simple: two volume knobs
and two individual boost-only controls for the lows and highs. For most of my
test, I didn’t boost anything, pleased with the sound the instrument offered
with its frequencies set flat. The option is there, though, so I played around with
it some. For funk-style playing, I boosted treble and bass evenly. For normal
fingerstyle playing—and especially when I engaged the B string more often—
I boosted the bass a bit and left the treble flat. That gave me a nice, meaty low
end, but not at the expense of clarity. You’ll quickly notice with this bass that,
despite the simplicity of controls, you can get a wide variety of tones.
In short, any player looking to step into the 5-string arena would be well
served to take a Euro5LX for a test drive. Although the market is saturated with
options in this category, few offer this high level of workmanship and electron-
ics for this kind of price. In the end, as with fly fishing, success at bass playing
depends foremost on the skills you bring to the task, but it sure doesn’t hurt
when you’re working with superior equipment. The Spector Euro5LX will ensure
you have that covered. BP
bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 45
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THE INQUIRER

TECHBENCH
TECH

EQ: Part 2
FACE

B Y J O N AT H A N H E R R E R A |

IN THE LAST INQUIRER, I DEFINED EQ, DESCRIBED to use the wireless tip above, in order to get a sense of your
LINK

its influence over a bass’s timbre, and outlined the types of rig’s projection into the room.
EQ found on most amps and studio gear. If you’re new to the Once you’ve sorted out your live volume, it’s best to con-
technology and terminology, have that column handy for this sider your rig’s bass response. My philosophy is to have the
TECHBENCH

installment’s discussion of live sound and the relevance of EQ minimum amount of low end onstage to effectively commu-
in the live environment. nicate your sound and feel good. Depending on the room size,
The live stage is easily the trickiest acoustic environment we low frequencies (such as 100Hz and below) have an omni-
encounter. The variables that impact sound are innumerable. directional quality that reduces the listener’s perception of direc-
When you pluck a note, the speaker cone(s) in your rig oscil- tionality. This can be cool to create an immersive experience,
late and produce air-pressure pulses, but so do the speakers in but it can diminish a live mix’s perceived tightness. Also, your
the PA and monitors. All of this sound is coming from differ- rig has to work extra hard to effectively amplify low frequen-
ent places and then reflecting off the room’s interior, further cies, some of which aren’t even being faithfully reproduced, due
muddying the already-complex wave interference. Depending to the cabinets’ limited low-frequency response. I recommend
on the room’s interior, the sound waves can also resonate with mildly cutting the lows using your head’s shelving bass con-
the walls and other surfaces, altering their frequency profile. trol, which likely has a cutoff somewhere between 70Hz and
No wonder live-sound people always look stressed. 100Hz, until you notice a more coherent and clear mix onstage.
In all this chaos, EQ can do a lot to help, but it’s important The midrange is where your bass’s soul exists, as it encom-
to understand the live ecosystem. First, if you’re playing a gig passes most of the lower-order harmonics that most strongly
with sound reinforcement (a PA system), you’ll have to abdicate influence timbre. It’s also the area of maximum acoustic clutter
most responsibility for what the audience hears to the front- onstage, given the frequency spectrum of the average guitar,
of-house (FOH) engineer. One tip for verifying the FOH mix, keyboard, or vocal. Your amp’s semi-parametric EQ is an ally in
though, is to get a wireless system. It’s a means to unte- helping to create a refined midrange blend. You want to
ther from the stage and walk into the audience area balance the need to audibly assert your bass’s timbre
to hear your tone from that perspective. Given while making space for the other instruments. This
your limited control over the FOH, your focus is where it’s useful to have two midrange con-
should be primarily on making the FOH engi- trols on your amp. While every situation is dif-
neer’s life easier and getting the tone you need ferent, it can often be helpful to make a broad,
onstage to perform your best. minimal cut in the 150Hz to 400Hz range, to
Broadly, focus on three areas: volume, bass make space for your bandmates’ fundamental
frequencies, and midrange frequencies. It’s crit- frequencies, while making narrower boosts in
ical not to turn up your amp too loud, both to the 1kHz to 2kHz range, for assertive defini-
save the audience’s ears and reduce bleed into Bass Player Senior Contrib- tion and attack.
stage microphones. The temptation is well jus- uting Editor Jonathan Her- Ultimately, it’s impossible to provide spe-
tified: bass frequencies have a long wavelength, rera is the magazine’s former cific guidelines to get good sound, although the
and since we’re often forced to stand close to our Editor-in-Chief. An accom- tips above should serve as good first steps. The
cabinets, the wave’s amplitude is weak relative plished player, Jonathan is most important insight is to recall the bass’s
to its peak a dozen or more feet away. Mean- now a full-time musician and role in the average ensemble: support. Most
while, the folks in the front row are getting producer. His latest endeavor often, we’re there to make everyone else sound
annihilated. This is where monitors become is Bay Area recording studio good. That role isn’t limited to our musician-
crucial. While they don’t usually have the deeply Airship Laboratories. ship; it’s just as crucially applied to our sound.
satisfying low-end response of a good bass rig, Catch up with him at When you play live, know that supporting the
they allow us to hear ourselves without over- jonherrera.com and at song is about more than good time and the
whelming the audience. This is also a good time airshiplaboratories.com. right notes. BP

46 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
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WOODSHED
TECH
FACE
LINK

JAZZ CONCEPTS
WOODSHED

More Simple Stuff

1st-Inversion Triads
BY JOHN GOLDSBY | i INFO
John is a simple
Last month, my advice to you was to focus on simple things, even when learning complex
man—he loves

J O H N G O L D SBY
music. Great bass players anchor their playing with small musical building blocks, practiced
triads in all inver-
to perfection. Virtuosic bass playing flows from a large wellspring of simple techniques that sions. Check out
the master player combines and transforms at will. Whether you’re laying down the bottom his video lesson
in your weekend wedding band or striving to be the next Wooten, Pastorius, or McBride, a series, The Upright
mastery of simple fundamentals will provide the skills you need to confidently approach Bass Handbook, at
any musical situation. You can solidify your technique by learning triads all over the bass. truefire.com and
This month, let’s revisit triads, and learn an étude based on 1st-inversion major triads. johngoldsby.com.
Example 1 shows a C major triad in root position. I didn’t write the notes as a chord (all notes
• Rick Beato shows
sounding at once), but rather, as an arpeggio (the notes played separately). Play the notes one
why triads are the
after the other—you know this sound and fingering! For a good fingerboard review, find all
building blocks of
of the places on the neck where you can play a C major triad in root position in any octave.
harmony.
Example 2 shows the C major triad in 1st inversion. The term 1st inversion means that • Mark J. Smith at
the bottom note of a chord or arpeggio is moved up to the top. In the 1st inversion of a C TalkingBass.net
major triad, the note C is on the top of the arpeggio, leaving the E (the 3rd of the chord) on clearly explains and
the bottom. The 1st inversion sounds melodic because of the placement and prominence of demonstrates triad
the 3rd. Here you see the 1st inversion starting from the E on the D string, and also (notated construction.
in parenthesis) starting on the open E string. Find all of the spots on the neck where you can • Revisit John
Goldsby’s Jazz
CONNE CT

play a 1st inversion C triad.

The 2nd inversion of a C major triad has the note G, the 5th of the chord, on the bottom Concepts column
“Bottom’s Up”—
(Ex. 3). Playing the 5th on the downbeat might be harmonically ambiguous in a bass line,
practice tips for
but you should understand the construction of this inversion.
learning arpeggios.
Let’s play an exercise around the cycle of 4ths—but first, we’ll analyze the two patterns
bassplayer.com/
used in the étude. The pattern in Ex. 4 starts on the 3rd of a C triad (the note E) and moves november2017
up the arpeggio to the 5th and root (the notes G and C). This is a 1st-inversion major triad.
On beat four, the note Bb is the flatted 7th of the C7 chord, which leads into the 3rd of the
F chord in the next bar (the note A).
If you started in C and kept moving up through the cycle of 4ths using 1st-inversion arpeg-
gios, you would fly off the top end of your bass about the time you reached the B7 chord.
We want to avoid that, so I’ve added a 2nd pattern to bring the line back down and keep the
étude in the low register. Example 5 starts on the 3rd of the Eb7 chord (the note G) and

48 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
 3rd 5th Root
Root 3rd 5th

EX. 2
EX. 1

5
2 5 2 5
3 (3)
(0) (3)

5th Root 3rd

EX. 3

moves down scale-wise to the 3rd of the Ab7 in the next

bar (the note C).
5 9
5 Using the patterns in Examples 4 and 5, you can romp
(3) (7)
(3) through the cycle of 4ths, while clearly outlining the
sound of each chord. Example 6 shows the complete line.
C F7 Note that every bar of the étude begins with the 3rd of
the chord on beat one. Each bar uses one of the patterns
from Example 4 or 5.
EX. 4

Example 6 begins on the low E, the 3rd of the C7 chord.

1st-inversion C triad b7 (leading tone) 3rd of next chord in cycle
The line moves up the 1st-inversion triad arpeggio. The
5 3 2
2 5 Bb, which is the 7th of the C7 chord, leads into the A on
the F7 chord in the next bar. The arpeggios are all in 1st
inversion, except where the line descends the scale. (In
Eb7 Ab7 bars 4, 6, 9, and 11, the line moves down scale-wise, like
the pattern in Ex. 5.)
Regardless what style of music you play, your knowl-
EX. 5

edge of triads will help you play better bass lines and solos.
Descending Mixolydian scale from 3rd 3rd of next chord in cycle Next month, we’ll travel the endless universe of 7 chords
5 3 1 and their inversions. BP
4 3

Medium walking
bass tempo
C7 F7 Bb7 Eb7 Ab7 Db7

3 1
3 1 3 5 3 6 4 3 1
EX. 6

3 1 0 3 5 6 4 3 6 4 2
0 3

Gb7 B7 E7 A7 D7 G7 C7
7

4 2 1 5
4 2 1 4 4 2 2 7 5 4 2 5 3 2 5
1 4 5 4 5 3 2 5

bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 49
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TECH

R&B GOLD
FACE

WTF Is Going On?

LINK

BY ED FRIEDLAND |
WOODSHED

MY INSPIRATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME ONCE
again from listening, but this time, not to music. Hearing reports
of an innocent, unarmed woman being murdered in the streets of
Charlottesville, Virginia, there was only one song on my mind, and
I knew I was not alone. It has been said that life sometimes imi-
tates art, but really, art is a reflection of life. Consider what was
being reflected when Marvin Gaye wrote his universal anthem for
peace, “What’s Going On.” The turbulent years of the late ’60s/
early ’70s brought violence and mayhem to our streets as the
struggle for civil rights and the anti-war movements dovetailed
into a period of unrest that ultimately changed this country for
the better. But writing this column the week after Heather Heyer
was killed for protesting Nazis and white nationalists marching in
the streets of an American town, I must ask, WTF is going on? I
suggest we all sit down and listen to the words of this song again.
Much has been written about James Jamerson’s performance
on the original Marvin Gaye version—the legend of how he played
it in one take, at 3 AM after a long night of drinking, lying on his
back. Its brilliance has been explored and appreciated numerous
times, most notably in the seminal work Standing in the Shadows
of Motown by Alan “Dr. Licks” Slutsky. There is a lesser-known ver-
sion of this song that may not have placed as high on the charts,
but it had a major impact on the generations of young jazz players
that followed. Donny Hathaway Live is widely regarded as one of the
most important (and groovy) live R&B recordings ever produced.
It stands tall with the twins Aretha Franklin Live at the Fillmore,
and King Curtis Live at the Fillmore, and of course, on the shoul-
ders of James Brown Live at the Apollo. Keeping it all together on
bass is the legendary Willie Weeks—and this specific recording
contributed heavily to that legend. Throughout the
live set, Weeks plays fiery support with no fear of
the upper register. His lines are tightly woven into
the fabric of the groove, but every now and then he
INFO
reminds you why Hathaway introduced him as “the Ed Friedland of
E D F RIE DL AND
swing. While Gaye’s version certainly does “swing” in the sense
that it is filled with life force and a propelling groove, Hathaway
interprets the rhythm with a swinging half-time feel that is infec-
tious, laid back, and a perfect springboard for flights of improv
that take this track well beyond the realm of pop music. This ver-
sion has become as much of a standard for the post-1970s gen-
eration of jazzers as “I’ve Got Rhythm” was for the swinging cats
of the ’40s and ’50s.
Weeks definitely takes his cue from the Jamerson line—the
basic melodic idea is intact, but interpreted with the lazy drawl of
swing 16th-notes. It’s difficult to draw a head-to-head compari-
son of the two players, but as Jamerson came first, his influence
on Weeks is apparent. Being 11 years younger, Weeks was also
influenced by rock & roll, and he employed fluttering blues riffs,
trills, string bends, and his own version of Chuck Rainey-inspired
double stops—all with tasteful panache. In Ex. 1, Weeks comes
slamming right out of the gate with a double 16th-note triplet
pickup, quickly settling down for the main riff of the first verse.
By the time the second verse rolls around, things are heating up
a bit (Ex. 2), and Weeks starts adding cool skip/bounces off the
open strings to fill out the rhythm. He stutter-steps his way up
the E string and implies a G#7 chord on beat three of the phrase’s
second bar, a harmonic element that shows up in the “blowing
changes” that follow the vocals. He sticks mostly to the root–
5–8 pattern, but also ventures up to the 6th fret on the G string
for the first time, giving you a hint that he’s just getting started.
After rocking back and forth between the octave and 5, he drops
down to the low C#, only to drop a “bucket-a-fish” triplet pickup
into a funky rhythmic kick that the band nails in unison. Oh yeah.
Things also get interesting during the instru-
mental interlude sections between the verses.
i The groove under the 16-bar Am7 chord gets
approached with the basic pattern shown in
Ex. 3. This is followed by four measures of B7sus.

baaadest bass player in the country!” His solo on
“Everything Is Everything” is the stuff of legends.
But his take on “What’s Going On” is not only an
interesting study in contrast, it illustrates how the
approach to a song can change simply by making it
Tucson, Arizona, is
currently touring
with Grammy
Award winners the
Mavericks.
During the improv, a jazzy, descending chromatic
II–V progression at the end of the B7 section beefs
up the soloing form. At the climax of the solo sec-
tion, Willie unleashes eight bars of bass magic
over the Am7 (Ex. 4) with a cascading triad run

50 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
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from the b3 that hits bottom on the low E, and bounces back to long before “smooth jazz” meowed its way into the public con-
the middle A for another trip up the ladder—only to drop a two- sciousness, yet it was jazzy and popular. These musicians created
TECH

octave “bucket-a-fish” in bar 4. But wait, there’s more. Jumping
two octaves, Willie starts another cascading arpeggio down the
Am7 chord, this time starting on the 5th (E ), but in bars 6, 7, and
the first half of 8, he pulls the rug out from under the time/space
FACE
art and substance that would never happen as the result of a cold,
calculated grab for popularity. This is Soul music—with a capital
S. When I think of Soul music, most of the artists that come to
mind are African-American. But when you examine who actually

continuum with a 3-against-4 pattern that finally lands with two created and played this music, it is a distinctly cooperative prod-
beats to set up the change to the B7. uct of people of all races. When your reality is strictly based on
Donny Hathaway Live beautifully blurs the line between jazz the external, it’s easy to get hung up on appearances. But when
LINK

and R&B, and it’s a prime example of what can happen when great listening to great music with your eyes closed, you quickly learn
musicians are inspired by vocal performances of this caliber. It was that our souls are all the same color. BP
WOODSHED

Emaj7 C#m7
Swing 16ths 3
EX. 1

12 3 4
4
42 2 4 2 42 2 2 3 4 4 4 2 3 4 4 42 224 24
0 0 0 0 4 4 0 4 44 4

Emaj7 C#m7
3
EX. 2

6 6 6 6
2 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 0 1
2 2 4 4 2 (6) 6 5 4 4 4 4 64
0 0 0 0 (0) 2 2 3 (3) 4

Am7
EX. 3

7 7 5 7 7 7 0 2
5 7 7 7 0 3
5 5 5 5 5 0

Am7 3

H H H H
5 5 5 7 8 9
7 7 0 2 0 2 0 2 7 7 7 5 6 6 7 7 7 9
EX. 4

7 7 7 7 3 3 3 0 0 3 3 (5) 7 (5) 5 7 7
0 0 0 0

9 9 9 5 5
7 7 7 7 2 2 2 2
7 7 7 3 3 3 0 0 3 3 3 3 0 0 3 3 3 3 0 0 3 3 3 3 0 3 3 0 3 0

52 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
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TRANSCRIP TION
TECH
FACE
LINK
TRANSCRIPTION

An Exclusive Look At Soul Fingers:

The Music and Life of Legendary
Bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn
With A Complete Transcription Of Sam & Dave’s “Wrap It Up”

BY CHRIS JISI |

AMONG HIS FELLOW CORNERSTONE BASSISTS, THE LATE
Donald “Duck” Dunn remains one of the most understated and underrated in
style and impact. That will, at last, change—thanks to a revealing new book
by pro bassist Nick Rosaci. Soul Fingers: The Music and Life of Legendary Bass-
ist Donald “Duck” Dunn [Hal Leonard] features a biography related by Dunn’s
family and many of his closest friends (with rare photos and a foreword by Blues
Brother Dan Aykroyd), a stylistic analysis and gear spotlight, tributes from his
fellow musicians, and for the remainder of the 208-page book, transcriptions
of 57 Duck Dunn bass lines spanning four decades. These include his indelible
Stax parts on “Soul Man,” “Knock on Wood,” “In the Midnight Hour,” “I Can’t
Turn You Loose,” “Hold On I’m Comin’,” and “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay,”
as well as later tracks with the Blues Brothers, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Stevie
Nicks, Tom Petty, Jimmy Buffett, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Half of the
transcriptions feature accompanying instrumental audio tracks (via a web link),
with bass panned left and drums, guitar, and key-
boards panned right. Rosaci takes on most of the
bass tracks, with Duck’s son, Jeff Dunn, handling
“Soul Man,” and Will Lee stepping in for “634-5789”
and “Hip Hug-Her.” Courtesy of Hal Leonard, we
were able to excerpt some key sections.
BIRTH OF A BASS GOD
In Chapter 1, “Southern Roots,” Rosaci traces Dunn’s
early life, from his birth in Memphis to his first bass
and style roots:
The first one [Duck’s bass] was likely a Kay
K-162 Electronic Bass. Not only did bass
seem to be a better fit for Duck [than guitar],

54 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7

DUNN FAMILY ARCHIVES
Booker T. & the MGs on tour in Paris, 1967
but it filled a need for him and his [music-
playing] friends. Better yet, it had four
strings, much like the ukulele he used to
play. His first bass was bought from Larry
Brown, the house bassist at [Memphis’] Plan-
tation Inn. Brown taught Duck his first few
lessons to get him started, and Duck cred-
its Brown for the basis of his feel.
STACKED WITH TALENT
Chapter 2, “The Mar-Keys and the MGs,” recounts
the formation of Duck’s first band, the Mar-Keys
(with guitarist Steve Cropper), and Stax Records,
where Dunn began subbing for Lewie Steinberg (the
bass player on “Green Onions”). It also covers the
start of Booker T. & the MGs, and Dunn’s intro-
duction to and close relationship with drummer
Al Jackson:
After gigs, the guys frequented different
clubs around Memphis, keeping their fin-
gers on the pulse of the local scene. [Some]
nights, they’d visit the Manhattan Club,
where they would soon meet Al Jackson Jr.,
a young club drummer. Eventually Booker
T. brought Al to the Stax studio and made
him one of the core session players. “Al Jackson
was the James Jamerson of Stax, and Jamerson
was the secret of Motown, in my opinion,” Duck
would say on more than one occasion. “I was
[recording] during the day and playing a hillbilly
club [at night], and I’d stop by [to see Al] before
going home. He was my mentor. I’d stop in there
and he’d just mesmerize you.”
EARS ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
Stax hitting its stride is the focus of Chapter 3,
“Triumph and Tragedy,” the latter referring to the
plane crash that claimed the life of Otis Redding. The
DUNN FAMILY ARCHIVES.
Stax rhythm section caught the ears of fellow musi-
cians through recordings, and it later had a breakout
on a much wider scale, thanks to a very successful
1967 European tour:
Working at Stax was just a place where the guys
could record with these great singers and make Duck Dunn and Al Jackson
money. They had no clue how far their influence
had reached, but hints were starting to surface.
[Cream bassist] Jack Bruce would later say that he loved hearing the
bass line to “I Can’t Turn You Loose.” The Beatles had already shown
influence of the Memphis sound; Paul McCartney’s bass line on “Drive
My Car” was influenced by Duck’s on Otis’ “Respect,” which Duck used
to say was his “one la-di-da.” When asked later about how the [Euro-
pean] tour compared to everything else in his life, Duck said, “There’s
nothing to compare with it. That’s probably the highlight of my life.”
BEYOND MEMPHIS
The fall, rebirth, and final fall of Stax Records—peppered by fascinating accounts
of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination a couple of miles from the studio, and a
less-than-positive recording session with Elvis—make up the next several chap-
ters. The last four chapters cover Dunn’s “modern period,” including L.A. ses-
sion work, anchoring the bands of Levon Helm, Neil Young, and Eric Clapton,
and culminating in his unfortunate passing while in Japan for a Stax Review
tour, in 2011, at age 70. His triumphant, late-’70s re-emergence was essen-
tially started by a 3 AM phone call from John Belushi to join the Blues Broth-
ers. Chapter 7, “Starting All Over Again,” details how Dunn and Steve Cropper
made the Blues Brothers a hit act:
[Cropper recalls] “The elevator [at a Manhattan studio] opens and Duck
is standing right there, saying, ‘I gotta talk to you! Man, they’re doing all
this old blues stuff that I know ain’t gonna do nothing. You gotta go in
there and talk to these guys.’ And Duck was right. We know what sells
and what doesn’t sell. So I went in there and we did two hours’ worth of
rehearsal, and I said, ‘John [Belushi], why don’t you all do something you
can dance to? ‘Like what?’ I said, ‘Something like Sam & Dave. I looked
at [keyboardist] Paul Shaffer and said, ‘You Remember “Soul Man”? He
said, ‘Yeah,’ and I just counted it off. [John and Dan Aykroyd] started
dancing all crazy. And that’s how it happened. The only hit we had out
of that record was ‘Soul Man’—that went right up the charts.”
bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 55
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TECH
FACE
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TRANSCRIPTION

DUNN FAMILY ARCHIVES/MANNY CRUZ

The 1959 Fender Precision Bass
that became synonymous with
Duck Dunn.
Dunn’s 1966 Fender Precision
Bass with a Fender Jazz Bass neck
that he had installed later. Both
the body and the original neck
have demo stamped on the back.
Fender Duck Dunn Signature Bass. Dunn’s Lakland Signature bass,
This is the one Duck used in the strongly resembling his red ’66
Blues Brothers 2000 movie, with Fender.
serial number 0001.

than most, and profoundly affected how I play with Pearl

LOW END LEGACY
In a “Tributes” chapter featuring 25 remembrances, four top
bassmen recall Dunn’s influence and legacy:
Bill Wyman One of my best mates. Loved his style of
playing, which heavily influenced me. He played at my 70th
birthday party, at Ronnie Scotts, London. He was a sweet-
heart, always full of humor. I miss him still.
Jeff Ament Duck played deeper and with more economy
Jam. Thanks for the education.
Flea What a deep pocket that dude had. So glad I
got to see him play. Beautiful bass player we’ll be listen-
ing to forever.
Will Lee Unlike the unsung cats at Motown, this inter-
racial powerhouse [Booker T. & the MGs] made records
and went out and performed on their own while they were
part of the Memphis soundscape that flooded the radio

56 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
 !#45!,3):%v,8v78v(s7%)'(4/:

FOR DETAILS AND VIDEO, VISIT TECH21NYC.COM

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airwaves, backing up all the [label’s] Kustom 200 black tuck-and-roll head with 2x15 cab-
greats. Duck was a Tennessee trea- inet, his studio-favored Ampeg B-15, his Ampeg SVT
TECH

sure, a national treasure, and an live rig, and his strict use of La Bella flats, which he
international treasure. His music felt improved over time. His key basses are shown
will continue to inspire for gener- and described in the photos on page 56.
FACE

ations to come!
WRAPPING UP
TECHNIQUE & TOOLS One of most intriguing of the 57 transcriptions
In a stylistic-analysis chapter, subtitled is Sam & Dave’s 1968 single “Wrap It Up,” which
LINK

COURTESY BILL WYMAN

with a reference to Dunn’s line from the was the B-side of “I Thank You.” It features most
1980 film The Blues Brothers, “Turning of Dunn’s key devices: strong, pocketed quarter-
Goat Piss Into Gasoline,” Rosaci uses and eighth-notes, a root–5 framework, drop-downs
TRANSCRIPTION

numerous notated excerpts from Dunn from the root to the 3rd, anticipations, chromatic
tracks to break down his approach into leading and passing tones, and 16th-note synco-
the categories Rhythmic Choices, Note pation, with Dunn tuning his E string down to Eb.
Duck Dunn and Choices, and Stylistic Choices—the latter including articulation, note-length, and (Steve Cropper confirms that the track was indeed
Bill Wyman fingerboard choices. The chapter then segues into equipment, including Dunn’s cut in Eb.) BP

“Wrap It Up” Transcription by Nick Rosaci

Ab
= 114 Intro

G
D 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
A 3 3 4 6 3 3 3 4 5
Eb 5 5 5 5 5

Eb Db Gb Ab
3

G 6 6 6 8
D 8 8 8 6 6 3 4 4 4 5 6 6
A 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 6 4 5
Eb

Eb
7 Verse

G
D
A 6 6 4 5 6 6 4 5 6 6 4 5 6 6 4 5
Eb 0 0 0 0

Wrap It Up
Words and Music by Isaac Hayes and David Porter. Copyright © 1968 IRVING MUSIC, INC. and PRONTO MUSIC. Copyright Renewed. All Rights Reserved.
Used by Permission. Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard LLC.

Excerpts from “Soul Fingers” Reprinted by permission of Hal Leonard LLC. Soul Fingers - The Music & Life Of Legendary Bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn
(book/audio) Item #154326 – $24.99. Available for purchase from your local music retailers.

58 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
 TWO DAY BASS EXHIBITION!
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SUNDAY ALL-STAR JAM

2017
FROM THE SIR MAIN STAGE.
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SPECIAL VALUE TICKET PRICING
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GEAR GIVEAWAYS.
18TH NEW!
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TO ROCK SUPERSTAR FLEA
GEAR EXPO BASS PLAYER LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
ARTIST PANELS TO SESSION LEGEND JIMMY JOHNSON
CLINICS BASS PLAYER POSTHUMOUS LIFETIME
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ALL-STAR JAMS DONALD “DUCK” DUNN

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 LEARN


PLAY

Eb
7 Verse
TECH

G
D
FACE

A 6 6 4 5 6 6 4 5 6 6 4 5 6 6 4 5
Eb 0 0 0 0
LINK

11
TRANSCRIPTION

G
D
A 6 6 4 5 6 6 4 5 6 6 4 5 6 6 4 5
Eb 0 0 0 0

Eb Db Gb Ab
15 Chorus

G 6 6 6 8 8
D 8 8 8 6 6 3 4 4 4 5 6 6
A 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 6 3 4 5
Eb

Eb Db Gb Ab
31

G 6 6 6 8 8 8
D 8 8 8 6 6 3 4 4 4 5 6 6 6
A 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 6
Eb

Eb
35 Interlude

G 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
D 5 6 8 5 6 8 5 6 8
A
Eb

Cm
38 Bridge

G 8 8 8 8 8 8 5 5 4 4 3 3 4 4 5 5 4 4 3 3 4 4
D 5 6 8
A
Eb

60 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
 LEARN


PLAY

1. 2.
Bb
41
TECH
FACE

G 5 5 4 4 3 3 4 4 5 5 4 4 3 3 4 4 7
D 8
A 8
Eb 7
LINK

Eb
47 Verse
TRANSCRIPTION

G
D
A 6 6 4 5 6 6 4 5 6 6 4 5 6 6 4 5
Eb 0 0 0 0

Eb Db Gb
55 Chorus

G 6 6 6
D 8 8 8 6 6 3 4 4 4 5
A 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 6
Eb

Ab Eb Db
58

G 8 8
D 6 6 8 8 8 6 6 6
A 3 4 5 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 6
Eb

Gb Ab
61

G
D 4 1 4 5 6 6 6 6 6 6
A 1 2 3 4 3 3 4 6 3 3 3 4 5
Eb 5 5 5 5 5

Eb Db Gb Ab
64 Fade out
Outro

G 6 6 6 8 8
D 8 8 8 6 6 3 4 4 4 5 6 6
A 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 6 3 4 5
Eb

62 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
 SPOTLIGHT
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bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 63
SHOWCASE

64 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
 SHOWCASE

bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 65
 D
By Jim Roberts
WHEN JACO SAID, “THE SOUND
is in my hands,” he was talking about the
intimate connection between player and
instrument that begins with the strings.
No matter how advanced your bass may
be or how sophisticated your signal
chain has become, you need the right
Jim Roberts was strings to get the right sound. That was
the founding editor a key theme of a discussion I had with
of BASS PLAYER and Eric Cocco, vice president of La Bella/
also served as the E. & O. Mari, Inc.
magazine’s publisher La Bella is a family-owned business
and group publisher. that traces its roots back to Italy in the
He is the author of 17th century. Brothers Emilio and Olinto
How the Fender Bass Mari immigrated to New York City early
Changed the World in the 20th century and established the
and American Basses: La Bella brand in 1920. They opened
An Illustrated History a factory in Long Island City in 1937,
& Player’s Guide (both and 40 years later, they moved produc-
published by Backbeat tion to Newburgh, New York, where it
Books/Hal Leonard). remains today. All La Bella products are
66 bassplayer.com / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7
La Bella’s Eric Cocco
made in this 40,000-square-foot facility,
and every string is made from American
wire. “There are a lot of U.S. companies
buying wire that’s drawn overseas,” says
Eric. “It’s lower-quality—period. We’re
sticking to our guns and using only the
good stuff made here.”
The La Bella name has always been
associated with the flatwounds used on
early Fender basses. After Rotosound
strings were introduced in 1963, many
bassists opted for the brighter sound of
roundwounds—but recently there has
been a move back to flats. Eric attri-
butes this resurgence to historical fac-
tors, including admiration for the sound
of such players as James Jamerson and
Duck Dunn, and also to the versatil-
ity of onboard electronics and modern
amplifiers. “You can do a lot with flats
that you couldn’t in the past,” he says. “I
have friends who are slapping with flats.
They’re like, ‘Oh, I just turn this knob to
get the sound for that, and then I can go
back to the darker sound.’”
Another classic La Bella product that
has seen a revival are nylon tape-wound
strings, available with black or white
wraps. “The numbers on those have gone
through the roof,” says Eric. “They have a
unique sound, and they’re being used by
boutique builders making instruments
with chambered bodies, piezo pickups,
things like that.”
As much as he has enjoyed the renewed
interest in classic La Bella strings, Eric
has also been working hard to create new
products in response to player input. These
include the Rx Series, roundwounds that
have been re-engineered for lighter ten-
sion and increased responsiveness. Eric
asked artists to test different versions,
eventually settling on strings with lighter
cores and more windings. He describes
them as “more musical” and says he has
been gratified by the positive response
from such players as Chuck Rainey and
Rubén Rodriguez. The Rx 5-string sets
have a lighter B than many competitive
sets, an innovation that Eric is especially
proud of. “A lot of players were insisting
on these big strings—.135, .140—and I
had a hard time convincing them to try
a .118. I’d give them the string without
telling them the gauge, and they’d be
like, ‘Wow, what is this? It’s so punchy
and strong!’”
Four years ago, Eric moved La Bella
beyond string making by teaming up with
luthier Mas Hino to make Olinto basses,
named in honor of his great-grandfather.
Hino, well known for his work at Rudy’s
Music Stop, is hand-building instruments
inspired by the 1963 Fender Precision.
“You often see builders getting compa-
nies to make their [private-label] strings,”
says Eric, “but we did it the opposite way.”
Ed Friedland reviewed an Olinto in BP’s
August ’15 issue, praising it for “nailing
the important stuff” and saying it had
that “elusive magic” found only in cer-
tain special instruments.
The Olinto basses are made at The
Guitar Shop NYC in Brooklyn, where Eric
has established a retail sales and repair
operation. He sees the shop as a hub for
the area’s musicians, a place where they
can meet, try out gear, attend clinics, and
benefit from their shared interests. “It’s
what I remember from the stores I went
to as a kid. It’s been amazing—and it’s
made me a better string maker.”
For more about La Bella Strings, go
to labella.com. BP
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