electric-bass

Our columnist’s bass, built by Anders Mattisson.

Would your instrumental preconceptions hold up if you don a blindfold and take them for a test drive?

I used to think that stereotypes and preconceived notions about what is right and wrong when it comes to bass were things that other people dealt with—not me. I was past all that. Unfazed by opinion, immune to classification. Or so I thought, tucked away in my jazz-hermit-like existence.

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The Grateful Dead’s bassist drew on his classical and avant-garde background to create his unique approach to the instrument.

Photo by Ebet Roberts

Lesh, whose bass effortlessly integrated the celestial, extrasensory, and deeply earthy within the Grateful Dead’s music, transcended many of his peers by fusing a classical upbringing, avant urges, and a boundless sense of irreverence and adventure.

The kindest Deadheads are empathetic to those who don’t immediately grasp the Grateful Dead’s art and appeal. The band’s music, after all, was loose, searching, inventive, improvisational, and, on occasion, utterly lacking form as most Western music audiences would understand it. That’s partly because, unlike some contemporaries that were uniformly inspired by the British invasion and folk rock, the Grateful Dead arose from a much more divergent set of influences. But no member of the ramshackle Haight-Ashbury dance combo was an odder fit than bassist Phil Lesh, who passed away October 25, 2024 at age 84.

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Epiphone Newport Bass Demo | First Look

Varied, blendable pickups help a super-affordable, vintage-style looker perform with modern panache.

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