The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and scale length. The bass guitar most commonly has four strings, though five- and six-stringed models are also relatively popular, and bass guitars with even more strings or courses have been built. Since the mid-1950s, the bass guitar has largely come to replace the double bass in popular music due to its lighter weight, the inclusion of frets in most models, and, most importantly, its design for electric amplification. This is also because the double bass is acoustically compromised for its range in that it is scaled down from the optimal size that would be appropriate for those low notes.
William Sheehan is an American musician known for playing bass guitar with acts such as Talas, Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, Niacin, and The Winery Dogs. He is also known for his "lead bass" playing style, including the use of chording, two-handed tapping, "three-finger picking" technique and controlled feedback. Sheehan has been voted "Best Rock Bass Player" five times in Guitar Player readers' polls.
Blue Murder were an English hard rock band led by guitarist-vocalist John Sykes. The group was formed in 1987 following Sykes's dismissal from Whitesnake. The initial line-up was rounded out by bassist Tony Franklin and drummer Carmine Appice. In its nascent stage, vocalist Ray Gillen and drummer Cozy Powell were attached to the project. In 1989, Blue Murder released their self-titled debut album, which cracked the Billboard 200 chart and spawned a minor hit with "Jelly Roll". Nevertheless, the record proved to be a financial disappointment for both the band and their label Geffen Records.
Hunter Benedict Shepherd is an American musician best known as the bassist of rock band Soundgarden. Shepherd has won two Grammy Awards as a member of Soundgarden.
Derek Sherinian is an American keyboardist of Armenian descent who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X and also one of the founding members of Black Country Communion, Sons of Apollo, and Whom Gods Destroy. He has released nine solo albums that have featured a variety of prominent guest musicians, including guitarists Slash, Yngwie Malmsteen, Allan Holdsworth, Steve Lukather, Joe Bonamassa, Michael Schenker, Steve Vai and Al Di Meola, and extensively drummer Simon Phillips.
Leroy "Roy" Buchanan was an American guitarist and blues musician. A pioneer of the Telecaster sound, Buchanan worked as a sideman and as a solo artist, with two gold albums early in his career and two later solo albums that made it to the Billboard chart. He never achieved stardom, but is considered a highly influential guitar player. Guitar Player praised him as having one of the "50 Greatest Tones of All Time." He appeared on the PBS music program Austin City Limits in 1977.
John Voorhis "Tim" Bogert III was an American musician. As a bass guitarist and vocalist he was best known for his powerful vocal ability and his fast runs, fluid agility and ground-breaking sound on his Fender Precision Bass. He was one of the pioneers of using distortion with his bass to help it cut through the mix with the low-powered amps of his time which also imparted a very sharp-edged sound to it. He was a frequent collaborator with drummer Carmine Appice; the duo performed in such bands as Vanilla Fudge, Cactus and the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice.
The Fender Precision Bass is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrument usually equipped with a single split-coil humbucking pickup and a one-piece, 20-fret maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard.
John James Sykes is an English guitarist, best known as a member of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang. He has also fronted the hard rock group Blue Murder and released several solo albums.
Blue Murder is the debut album by English hard rock band Blue Murder, released on 24 April 1989 by Geffen Records. It was produced by Bob Rock. The band was formed by guitarist John Sykes after his dismissal from Whitesnake. He was eventually joined by bassist Tony Franklin and drummer Carmine Appice. The band entered Little Mountain Sound Studios in early 1988 to begin recording their debut album. After several unsuccessful attempts at finding a lead singer, John Sykes took up the role, having already sung the band's first demos. Following the record's release, Blue Murder embarked on tours supporting Bon Jovi and Billy Squier.
A fretless bass is an electric bass guitar whose neck is smooth like traditional string instruments, and like the acoustic upright double bass. As a guitar-like amplified alternative to this instrument, the Fender Precision Bass was introduced in 1951, with frets to help guitarists who are used to them, to provide precision, and to offer a different sound. This concept has since become the standard, as other companies followed with similar electric fretted basses, like the Höfner 500/1 of Beatle Paul McCartney, which looked like a viol but with frets.
Doug Aldrich is an American hard rock guitarist. He founded the band Burning Rain with Keith St. John in 1998 and has played with Whitesnake, Dio, Lion, Hurricane, House of Lords, Bad Moon Rising and Revolution Saints. He is currently a member of The Dead Daisies. He has also released several solo albums. Doug toured with former Deep Purple bassist and vocalist Glenn Hughes' band in 2015. It was announced in early 2016 that he would be replacing Richard Fortus as guitarist of The Dead Daisies.
True Obsessions is the fourth studio album by guitarist Marty Friedman, released on April 17, 1996 through Toshiba EMI (Japan) and October 8, 1996 through Shrapnel Records. It was also the last to feature Nick Menza on drums.
Black Utopia is the third solo album by keyboard player Derek Sherinian. In addition to the returning members Zakk Wylde, Simon Phillips and Steve Lukather, three new musicians joined Sherinian: bass guitarist Billy Sheehan and guitarists Yngwie Malmsteen – with whom Sherinian had toured in 2001 – and Al Di Meola. "One of the highlights of my career was flying to Miami to produce Yngwie, and the next day Al Di Meola - all for my record!" The song "Axis Of Evil",, has Zakk Wylde and Yngwie Malmsteen in a guitar duel. Black Utopia was the beginning of an ongoing collaboration with drummer Brian Tichy, and album cover artist Mattias Noren. Black Utopia is Sherinian's best selling solo record to date.
Dragon Attack: Tribute to Queen is a Queen tribute album produced in 1997. Like most tribute albums, it features cover versions of many Queen songs by various artists, but uniquely the songs are not performed by established groups. Instead, the album is performed by a group of musicians who normally perform with other groups or artists, in different combinations for each track.
Stone Cold Queen: A Tribute is a Queen tribute album. It features various covers of Queen songs by various artists. Some songs relied on backing tracks provided by an unnamed "house band" put together by producer Bob Kulick, who also contributed rhythm guitar and bass tracks to the album. Many of the listed guitarists provided only guitar solos for the songs.
Paul Abrahams is an Australian musician and bass player for the Reels
Cozy Powell Forever is a tribute album dedicated to the British rock drummer Cozy Powell, who died a few months before the album release. The album was produced by Japanese drummer Munetaka Higuchi, with the contribution of many prominent Japanese rock and metal musicians and of the western musicians Carmine Appice and Tony Franklin. The songs covered in the album span from the early career of Powell in the Jeff Beck Group, to his membership in Rainbow, Whitesnake and Michael Schenker Group, to his solo production. Higuchi brought the songs of this album on tour in Japan and in 1999 released a live album with recordings of a show held in Tokyo.
Humanary Stew: A Tribute to Alice Cooper is a 1999 tribute album to American rock musician Alice Cooper.
