Bob Gollihur’s site is home to an astonishing array of bass links-in fact, with over 350 links it might just be the site for bass-related Web fun. Bob’s site focuses mainly on uprights– both acoustic and electric. To get your feet wet, start at www.gollihur.com/bass.html. Another upright-oriented site worth a visit is the online-only String… Continue reading Web Watch
(two excerpts from interviews with Jeff Berlin in Guitar Player Magazine) What kind of strings do you use? Long-scale round-wounds made by Carl Thompson. They’re gauged .100, .085, .065, and .045, low to high. I’ve been using them for several years now. They’re without peer. For years I searched for the right strings – I… Continue reading Endorsement from Jeff Berlin
Could you tell me something about the origins of the modern 6-string bass? Who built the first one, and what companies manufacture them today? -Terry Chatreau, Los Angeles, CA Although Danelectro, Fender, and Gibson all built what they called 6-string basses in the ’60s, those instruments might more accurately be called bass guitars, with their… Continue reading Guitar Player questions to the Editor
(excerpt) The Four-String Mutual Admiration Society Proudly Presents: Rush’s GEDDY LEE And Primus’ LES CLAYPOOL. The Blows Are Low, But Never Off-Bass GW: It’s been the Wal bass for you of late, right? LEE: In the last few years, yeah. It has a great sound – and a very flexible one. It’s an easy bass… Continue reading First Bass Men
(excerpt of an article by by Karl Coryat) KC: How did you discover funk? LC: One day, a friend of mine said, “Geddy Lee is good, but he’s nothing compared to Stanley Clarke and Larry Graham.” I told him he was crazy, even though I didn’t know who those guys were. Then I saw Stanley’s… Continue reading Les Claypool gets a Taste of the Big Time
(Excerpts from Bass Player Magazine, February 1993) GW: The bass line on “DMV” is really out there. Do you conceive of these things modally or what? CLAYPOOL: It just comes out of jamming – I think that one was a hotel room jam. I wrote it on my [Carl Thompson] six-string fretless [See Collector’s Choice,… Continue reading Les Claypool | Primus
(reference: Bass Player Magazine, Jun 97, Page 96) First of all I would like to thank Bass Player and John Slog for that wonderful picture of my Bass in the June 97 issue. Thank you kindly. However, there are a few points I would like to make clear. I didn’t spend my life dreaming about… Continue reading An open letter to Bass Player & John Slog from Carl Thompson
Carl Thompson Guitar Maker by Colin Hodgkinson Photo credit: Stephen J Wilkes Colin Hodgkinson visits the Brooklyn guitar maker who numbers Stanley Clarke’s piccolo bass among his artefacts. During the past few years a handful of young luthiers have become well known for beautiful handmade guitars and basses. One of the most respected of them… Continue reading Sound International, June 1979
