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How do you keep your bass playing sounding fresh after 40 years?

Bass Player

THREE’S ACHARM • Sir Paul McCartney returns with his third self-titled album

Finger Style • Lee Sklar is booked up.

Great Scott! • Devine intervention.

Danelectro shorts out

Dark matters

BILLY SHEEHAN ATTITUDE BASS HITS 30 • The legendary Yamaha design gets a reboot for its fourth decade

Introducing • A posse of new bass players answer this month’s burning questions. Do you agree with their replies?

David Ellefson, Megadeth

MEGADETH Rust In Peace (1990)

ELLEFSON No Cover (2020)

ALTITUDES & ATTITUDE Get It Out (2019)

SOULFLY Prophecy (2004)

THE ALIEN BLAKK Modes Of Alienation (2004)

Pink Floyd return with new bassist Guy Prattfor 1988’s Delicate Sound Of Thunder • A historic moment in bass world—recalled by those who were there to see it

LEARNING LONG SETS • Commit those epic setlists to memory every time!

ADJUSTING PICKUPS • Learn how to get those units into optimal position

EXPLORE HARMONY IN THE WHOLE TONE SCALE

RAW POWER • There is no band like AC/DC. There is also no bassist like Cliff Williams . “Jazz makes me feel kinda twitchy,” he confesses to Joel McIver

NASHVILLE BOUND • Producer, author, and bassist Norbert Putnam looks back half a century at a session with a difference—the near-mythical Nashville Cats recordings with Elvis Presley

GOING SUPERNOVA • Nova Twins bassist Georgia South brings a huge tone—and attitude—to modern rock music. We find out (partly) how it’s done

GAME TIME • Think you’ve played some high-profile gigs? High-profile for Adam Blackstone means being the musical director for a Super Bowl halftime seen by 100 million people. We find out how he keeps his head...

ACE IN THE HOLE • Motörhead’s immortal Ace Of Spades album is 40 years old, and to celebrate its legacy, we revisit our times with the sadly not immortal bassist Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister . Raise a glass, salute the great man, and don’t forget the joker...

WIN!

WILL POWER • Austin-based Bonnie Whitmore returns with a bass-packed new album—and some serious food for thought...

SCHOOL’S IN... • ...says bassist extraordinaire Damian Erskine as he launches his new bass education portal

FENDER 60th Anniversary Jazz • Now a sexagenarian, is the Jazz Bass still sexy? Chris Gill takes this Sixties-inspired model for a swing

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

YAMAHA SLB300 Silent Bass • An electric upright that assembles in 30 seconds? Jon Thorne sets his stopwatch...

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

JACKSON Minion JS1X SQUIER Mini Precision • Small but perfectly-formed, these affordable bass guitars bring a touch of fun-sized charm to the table—but can they compete with their full-grown siblings, asks Joel McIver

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

Bass Lessons • Making you a better bass player in every issue, our state-of-the-art team of educators will guide you every step of the way. Say hello to them here!

BP Notation Legend • The following is a guide to the notation symbols and terminology used in Bass Player magazine

OCTAVE-BASED BASS-LINES PT. 2

CHROMATIC NOTES EXPLORED

PENTATONIC SCALES REVEALED

If you only practise one thing this month...

ADD POPS WHILE DOUBLE THUMBING

AMPLIFIERS EXPLAINED • Dan signs off this issue with a dig inside your amp