Thanks in large part to Kenny Howes, I got to spend a
little time with Chris Squire last year (he played the
Rickenbacker 50th anniversary shindig last summer,
Kenny worked his ass off putting that thing
together!). 

I was privy to a rehearsal or two; it was truly
amazing to see Squire simply plug "that bass" into the
rehearsal studio stock bass amp, sans pedals, and
immediately get "that sound". Unreal. I talked to his
tech who told me that the Rickenbacker was flawed in
some respect with regard to the pick-ups; this flaw is
-- supposedly -- responsible for "that sound". The
tech told me that, in the late 60's, he'd "fixed" the
bass and it changed the sound, so he "un-fixed" it and
it's been legend ever since.

And, no, he didn't tell me how to do it myself, the
bastard.

Man, there are so many great bass players, and, for
melodic pop music, it truly does start with Paul
McCartney. I often think his bass playing is
overshadowed by all his other talents, but the bass
line for "Silly Love Songs", alone, cements his
position at the top of the four-stringed heap, IMHO.

I guess my favorite rock bassist -- go ahead, laugh!
-- is Geddy Lee. There are moments where Lee and Peart
do some incredibly intense inter-locked sections that
have, on occasion, moved me to tears. For an example,
please, I beg you, listen closely to the bass and
drums underneath the guitar solo on the song "Red
Barchetta". Oh man! That bass melody -- played so
fiercely, with such chutzpah and attitude! -- is
simply perfection. It's the melody Lee plays that I
find truly moving. It's just beautiful.

There's a bassist named Bryan Beller who is also
insanely great, albeit more in a Berkeley School of
Music way rather than as a pure melodic player. Chops,
chops and more chops, but also melodic as anything.
Again, he turns my ears on because he's able to
combine melody with finesse and technique and, in the
process, elevate the song.

I admit, I just love playing bass, even though guitar
is my main focus. If you can play guitar, you can play
bass, although not always in the same way as a "pure"
bassist. But as a guitarist playing bass, it's really
freeing because you realize, "Hey, I'm basically
solo-ing here all the time!" It's so much fun. Plus,
you REALLY have to clam, big-time, to have a
detrimental effect on the song; you can get away with
a little more leeway than the other instruments.

kErrY
www.myspace.com/kompost


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