“When I was in junior high, I wanted to be in the school orchestra,” says Rod EilicOtt, bassist for Cold Blood, “so I asked my father what I should play , and he said, “Learn to play bass and you’ll never be out of work. Good bass players are hard to find.’”

The electric bass can be a difficult instrument to play but the basics' are fairly easy to learn. First off, there’s only four strings, tuned from the fourth string to first string (thickest to thinnest), E, A, D, and G. To tune the bass with a guitarist (who is in tune), it is usually easiest to start by tuning your G string to the sound of the guitarist fretting a G (third fret) on his sixth String.(low E). The following is a little bit about each one of the people I consider to be the best bassists in the industry.

Billy Cox-, used to be with Jimi HeM^M Band of Gypsies, played a Fender Jazz bass (1964), and he was the most influenced by the styles of Ray Brown (jazz), Ron Carter (jazz), and a few others. He used the first three fingers of his right hand, but most of the time, his first two fingers (index and middle).

Jack Casady, bassist for Hot Tuna and the now-deceased Jefferson Airplane, used a Guild bass for years and then finally switched to an Alembic bass (custom), which cost roughly in the neighborhood of $4,000.

Chris Squire, bassist with Yes, started on a Futurama bass (probably Italian), then changed to a two-pickup Rickenbacker, which he later converted to stereo. This is still his primary instrument, even though Rickenbacker made a six-string bass for him. When Yes First started, he turned to a Marshall 100 amp then switched to two-Fender Dual Showmans with four Fender speaker cabinets, then changed to Sunn cabinets with 2-Six by Twelve’s in each cabinet, then changed to Sunn’s Coliseum lead amp. He also qses a Cry Baby Wah and a Maestro Brassmaster. He uses a Herco pick and occasionally fingers of the

right hand and prefers RotoSound strings.

Joe Osborne, a studio bassist who has cut with just about every group in the business the Carpenters, Fifth Dimension, Johnny Rivers, Mamas and Papas, Glen Campbell, Quincy Jones, Helen Reddy, Sergio Mendes, Neil Diamond, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel — uses a 1959 Fender Jazz bass after first using a Precision bass (Fender, also). He uses a pick, and says “If I have one rule governing my style, it is: the simpler the better

Carol Kaye, another damn good studio bassist, has also played with just about everybody in the industry — played on Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman,” Joe Cocker’s “Feelin’ Alright,” Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots . . .” and also with Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Mama Cass and on and on — and feels that the Fender Precision bass gives “the finest' all-around sound for recording.” She uses Fender medium gauge flat-wounds, although “Rotosound strings are great too.” She has used Benson amps, Fender amps and lately Versatone. She uses both right-hand fingers and pick.

Glen Cornick, who used to be with Jethro Tull and then formed his own band, Wild Turkey, began with a Framus bass, joined Ian Anderson and started playing a Fender Jazz bass which he ripped the frets out of and had a left-handed Precision bass neck put on it. When he was with Jethro Tull he played through two 100 watt Hi-Watt afhps with two cabinets of 4-12” speakers in each,and two cabinets with ■4wo-15” speakers. With Wild Turkey he used four Orange cabinfets with 4-12” speakers in each. He uses La Bella flat,

metal wound, heavy gauge strings. And uses mostly just his fingers.

Well, now, that should give you some idea about what to look for as far as bassists and strings and amps and things,. If you want some good instructional texts to begin working through your bass on, just scope out the following bibliography of bass books: one of ‘em should help:

Introduction To The Electric Bass Guitar, by Dale Howard & Larry Buckner, McKinley Publishers, Inc., 351 W. 52nd St., New York, NY 10019; $ 1.50.

Playing the Electric Bass, by Dick Bennett,Beacon Music Co., Inc., 581 Bergen Blvd., Ridgefield, NJ; $1.75.

The “Key Position” Method for Bass Guitar, by Roger Boykin, Soultex Publishing Co., P.O. Box 26067, Dallas, TX 75226; $7.50.

Mel Bay presents The Electric Bass, by Roger Fifiberto; Volumes 1 & 2, Mel Bay Publications, Inc., Kirkwood, MO 63122; $2.00 each. Electric Bass Guitar Patterns, by Ronny Lee, Alfred Music Co., Inc.; 50 cents.

Personally Yours, by Carol Kaye, Gwyn Publishing Co., P.O. Box 5900, Sherman. Oaks, CA 91413; $2.50.

Easy Electric Bass, by Frank Carroll and edited by Carol Kaye, Qwyn Publishing Co., see above; $4.50.

Electric Bass Lines, No. 1 through No.3, by Carol Kaye, Gwyn Publishing Co., see above for address; $3.75.

8 To The Bass Guitar (for guitar and bass), by Ivor Mairants, Mills Music, Inc., 1619 Broadway, New York,'NY 10019; $2.00.

Ralph Dougal’s Rock TV Roll Bass Guitar Method, by * Ralph Dougal, Ralph Dougal Publications, Clarksville, PA 10019; $2.00. Also, see Guitar Player magazine’s column “Basically Bass,” by Carol I£aye, each month in the publication since January, 1974, 348 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos, CA 95030; $8.00 per year.