Advice For Bass Players In the New Year
If you happen to stumble across this article, it may be worth reading Walking the Bass Line #7 which is the first in my series for new bass players or checking out all the articles about my bass journey. All about bass guitar
Two more influences
I’ve never been a great fan of standard teaching approaches when it comes to developing my musicality and learning more about bass guitar. YouTube offers hundreds of seemingly quick routes but I wanted to go down the route of the old-school musician, pay my dues and stand on the shoulders of giants in the hope of finding my musical voice.
In last month’s Walking the Bass Line article, I talked about John Paul Jones and Andy Fraser, the first two badass bass players I studied when I first picked up my low-end love.
The other two are:
Jack Bruce | Cream
Carl Radle | Eric Clapton (and others as a session player)
Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce Photograph – used with permission from Marek Hofman Photography
When I was a teenager in the early ’80s, Cream was a band that wasn’t really on my radar – I was that bit too young and my older siblings preferred listening to a real mixed bag from the Jackson 5 to Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, ELO and Roxy Music.
Listening to music with a focus on what the bass was doing was a whole new experience for me and not something I’d ever consciously done before. I would only ever notice the bass if the groove or riff was insanely catchy and jumped out of the track.
Now, I was listening to music in a completely different way and this time I actually knew the name of the bassist – hehe – in this case that would be Jack Bruce.
Instead of reinventing the wheel, the about section on his website is a great overview of such an innovative and inspirational musician:
Hailed as one of the most powerful vocalists and greatest bassists of his time, his improvisational skill and utterly unique, free-spirited approach to composition and performance would forever change electric music.
He was inspired by jazz and classical bass, including James Jamerson and also loved Paul McCartney’s playing, especially on the song ‘Rain’.
This made me chuckle when I read an interview in Forbes magazine when Jack was chatting about guitarist Jimmy Page who started off on bass guitar when he joined The Yardbirds
Bruce: “Yeah, he used to play bass. Again, I remember Jimmy Page from being a session musician. That’s why I never took Zeppelin seriously. They were a bunch of session musicians that we kind of looked down on. We looked down on everybody [laughs]. We looked down on Mick Jagger and Keith Richards early on when they used to come along and try to sit in with us. We’d tell them to piss off: “Go away, learn to play and then come back” [laughs].
Jack Bruce and Butch Photograph – used with permission from Michael Antoniou Photography
It’s strange when you read about people’s stories and experiences many years later. How could you possibly tell who out of the people you knew in your 20s would go on to become mega-famous, or despite their insane talent, achieve zero commercial success?
Playing music is not just about talent, it’s very much connected to that moment in time – that’s when the magic happens!
Now Jack says that he avoided solos! It seems to me that in Cream Live Volume all the instrumental passages were improvised lines that changed from night to night in reaction to Baker and Clapton’s playing. Suspiciously like solos to me ????
If you read my previous article you will know that I learned my chops by playing twice a week for two years in a covers band with my husband and a selection of drummers on the Isle of Man. We even tackled three or four of the songs from Cream Live Volume II including White Room, Crossroads and Badge.
Rather than improvise, which at the time I wasn’t confident about, I learned all the songs by ear, note for note and attacked them with suitable ferocity utilising the Gretsch and HiWatt amp on #loud.
Bruce has a unique style and really puts you through your bass-paces and I love the energy he brings to the bass line – especially on Crossroads – he’s up and down the neck like a bride’s nightie.
Watch this video of Cream playing White Room!! Sensational!!
Carl Radle
They call him the musician’s musician – a role model of a classic multi-genre bassist.
Carl Radle photograph – used with permission from Dan Howard
Radle was the consummate sideman who has worked with an impressive list of artists including Leon Russel, Dr John, J.J.Cale, John Lee Hooker, Art Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Joe Cocker.
It was his gig with Delaney & Bonnie opening for supergroup Blind Faith that changed things up for him when he first met Eric Clapton, which led to him playing on the Derek and the Dominos’s album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.
Carl Radle Photograph – used with permission from Dan Howard
I first heard Carl’s bass playing on Clapton’s E.C. Was ‘Ere and I had no idea how beautiful bass lines could be. The motifs and melodies he played were sublime and brought to mind a picture of dancing across rocks navigating your way downstream in the middle of a fast-flowing river. His tone also. Rich and deep, a real bass sound.
Sadly Carl died at the young age of 37 but you can find out more about him on Wikipedia
Watch this video of Eric Clapton, Carl Radle and George Terry on second guitar playing live on The Old Grey Whistle Test to get a feel of their vibe!
Another favourite of mine is Have You Ever Loved A Woman from E.C. Was Here.
Radle is so chilled back – the space – the melodic counterpoints – it’s simply brilliant. The feel… and his cheeky little runs.
Developing your skills
Session playing
There is nothing more terrifying than having to perform on someone else’s record. It’s their work and they are always passionate about it and how it sounds.
Apart from recording with my band, I had also done quite a bit of session work before providing backing vocals (BVs) on a number of sessions for my husband Simon’s solo record, Cartesian Jetstream, The Mighty Revelators and Joe Marshall.
Even though I had only been playing four strings for a few months I ended up playing bass and singing backing vocals for the soundtrack to Ground Pilots animated film ‘The Race – A Magical Boy’ – gasp. There is no doubt that this focuses the mind and steps up your game!
Watch the video they made of the recording session when our Supertone residential recording studio was in Spain (reopening in Portugal in January 2025).
I’m playing bass, changing things up on the fly in response to direction – and my husband Simon, who engineered the three-day session, played guitar – on his knees!
Endorsements #1
I am amazingly fortunate to have business relationships with various cool manufacturers which all started with Mike and Spencer Lull at Mike Lull Custom Guitars and Basses.
I have found the bass community to be supportive and appreciate the love I have been shown over the years. Getting to know the people who help you make the music is really cool and adds another layer of meaning to your artistic work.
Bass Guitar Magazine
In September 2018 I was featured in Bass Guitar Magazine with a front cover mention and in-depth interview about all things bass!
It was a bit of a shock as the magazine’s editor and prolific rock author, Joel Mciver emailed me out of the blue! There’s nothing like an interview to get you thinking about what matters and why you do stuff.
Sadly the magazine is no more.
Bass guitars (part two)
As you may recall from my first article in this series, my first two basses were the Gretsch ThunderJet short-scale and the Mike Lull M4V.
One more bass I definitely knew I needed for my low-end stable was an acoustic. There’s something quite beautiful when you play an acoustic bass with an acoustic guitar – the tonality is rich and authentic – like wisdom speaking through the wood.
I also wanted a guitar I could play that I didn’t have to plug in to make a sound out of as sometimes I just want to pick up a bass and play without any kerfuffle.
The Fylde Guitars King John bass
Fylde Guitars King John Bass photograph – used with permission from Simon Campbell
My King John bass guitar – it’s huge!
I have an acoustic folk-rock background touring the UK with my band Megiddo in the ’90s.
When I met Simon on the Isle of Man we started playing acoustic duo gigs together, playing our own original material. We were both songwriters and hadn’t started writing together at this point.
Double harmonies and two acoustic guitars; very much a case of I’ll bring the bread and you bring the cheese – a musical tapas of influences.
We moved to Spain and started touring as a duo after the release of Simon’s second solo album The Knife – a mix of Americana, blues and contemporary folk. The set-up consisted of acoustic guitars, electric bass, piano / Mellotron, harmonica and Cajon. Some of the songs really needed the touch of an acoustic bass but that was for another day… maybe.
Out of interest, Simon contacted Roger Bucknall MBE, an English luthier who owns Fylde Guitars which is now based in Penrith, England. You can’t get better than a Flyde hand-built instrument and can see Roger’s craftsmanship played by the hands of outstanding musicians such as Martin Simpson, Eric Bibb and Gordon Giltrap.
Simon wrote an article about his—and subsequently our—relationship with Fylde which is certainly worth a read.
Roger said there was a two-year waiting list for him to build a new bass guitar but mentioned that he knew of a second-hand King John Fylde acoustic bass for sale by musician Joss Clapp. What to do?
I called Joss about the guitar, really got on well and came up with an agreement; we would pay a deposit now and collect the guitar in a year’s time. Joss was willing to wait to give us enough time to save up the rest.
So twelve months later, true to our word, we rocked up at Tebay service station near Penrith in the UK and met up with Joss.
We had a lovely chat and it was clear he really loved this guitar; it had a lot of history: Sting had played it, Joss had toured with Kathryn Tickell and other bands (being a mighty fine player in his own right) and it had also graced the stage of the Royal Albert Hall.
I reassured him it was going to a good home where it would be well treated and that I was really looking forward ‘us’ getting to know each other (the bass that is).
We went to his van, collected the bass and drove off. It felt like a scene from a movie.
When I returned home I picked up the guitar and wow – what a sound… it is absolutely out of this world, like the echoes of an ancient civilization. Alive, full of history and wisdom, the wood feels like it sings stories of times gone by, of the earth, the people and the stars…
It also has to be noted here that my King John Fylde bass is huge; the neck is so long you have to take a taxi to the low F!
In Germany with my Fylde King John Bass! Look how big it is!! Photograph – used with permission from Simon Campbell
I tried playing it standing up with a guitar strap but that was an abject failure as we fell about laughing… the guitar sticks out so much I couldn’t see the front of the guitar and all that was missing was a sombrero!
I changed the strings to Thomastik-Infeld flat wounds and together with the Headway under-saddle pickup, my bass is the most enchanting of guitars. Yes, it’s a little battered by its many years on the road but that’s because it has travelled and been played – the reason guitars are made in the first place – not just to be hung up on someone’s living room wall looking perfect. Who wants that? That’s like being a bird and never singing.
When the old man John and I are together, something magical happens.
You can read more about the bass on my website via the button below.
When Simon and I wrote It Ain’t Right a track from our second studio album The Language of Curiosity it was a natural choice to play the King John acoustic. The bass line has a lot of movement in its melodic cycles and perfectly compliments the vocals.
Lyrically it is a protest song – listen out for the gigantic vocal harmonies – I envisaged hundreds of people gathered together on a hilltop singing in unison as the sun rose on the horizon.
My amps & cabs (part two)
I like to play loud on stage and at bigger venues using valve (tube) amps and big cabinets.
Shortly after I started playing I decided I needed a small amp as well and bought the Littel Mark III for my ‘practice rig’. Perhaps that is an unfair description as I do use it for small acoustic concerts when my valve/tube amps would be too much and overpowering.
Mark Bass // Little Mark III
My Little Mark III bass amp photograph – used with permission from Simon Campbell
I needed a practice amp which could also be used for smaller acoustic gigs. The MarkBass is on paper, more powerful and feature-rich than either of my valve heads and to call it a practice amp is a bit of an insult!
There is no doubt it’s a professional tool however I love that valve sound. It is very light with good EQ and fits in a small compartment under the speaker in its flight case known as R2D2!
My favourite feature is the speaker emulation control which rolls off the top end. FAT!
I may be upgrading my sound soon to the new Bergantino Forte’ HP2X amplifier with its rich harmonics as we are planning a Starlite & Campbell acoustic tour for 2025. I will need more versatility in my sound to suit the variety of music we will be playing.
Bergantino HD112
I needed a cabinet to match and there was really only one choice – the Bergantino HD112. Yes, it has a tweeter but there is an attenuation knob on the back of the cabinet which I have wound down to zero—see my previous article to understand why!
It’s small, relatively light with good power handling and sounds massive with a tight creamy low end, perfect for fingerstyle playing. The HD112 is my cabinet of choice for smaller gigs and has been used all over Europe; from outdoor concerts in Germany and Spain to intimate acoustic gigs in the UK – it’s simply a great piece of gear.
Starlite & Campbell outdoor concert featuring Bergantino HD112- Café Walkdkristal, Germany. Photo: Suzy Starlite
EHX POG 2 Polyphonic Octave Generator
Electro-harmonix (EHX) only came onto my radar when Simon started talking about the Big Muff, whose name I have always thought was a little saucy.
EHX always seem to have gear at a reasonable price point and at the time I was starting to explore the higher registers of the bass and thought it might be cool to buy an octave device.
I had no experience with these and looked into both analogue and digital pedals.
The EHX POG 2 Polyphonic Octave Generator is digital and seemed a good alternative as it has not only one or two octaves down but also an octave up and filters.
It tracks OK with flat-wound strings (that is how well it follows the original note) but is better using round-wounds. Naturally, your technique comes into play here – it’s essential to keep the notes ‘clean’ as any fluff will cause it some problems.
They have also just released a POG 3 which looks superb!
It hasn’t made it onto a recording at the moment as Simon tends to use a DBX subharmonic synthesiser—doesn’t that sound cool—or our Eventide Harmonizer H3000 for octave/harmonizer FX in the Supertone Sonic Laboratory. However, I do use it live which is great fun to change things up a bit.
I need a great analogue octave pedal. Any suggestions?
And finally
Next month I will feature my approach to two original songs from my band, a surprise gift from our son, another valve amp and more pedals.
Much love
Suzy
