This is nice ...

uwe · November 06, 2019, 09:04:57 AM

... even if it's coming from a Kraut. There are way too few melodic bass solos in this world.

gearHed289 · November 06, 2019, 10:37:05 AM

Nice.

Chris P. · November 07, 2019, 02:19:29 AM

I met him several times and he's a great guy too!

uwe · November 07, 2019, 09:00:24 AM

Yes, he had a long battle with cancer but is now recuperating and touring again though it has left its marks on his stamina.

What I like about Hattler is that in all his playing he never loses a hummable melody. A lot of other virtuoso bassists do and their jazzy lightning-fast scales then tend to sound same-ish.

Basvarken · November 07, 2019, 02:20:19 PM

Lovely!
And great to hear someone playing a bass solo with a pick.

uwe · November 07, 2019, 03:56:10 PM

Hattler is a convinced pick player, he finds it "more logical and functional to play downstrokes on the downbeat and upstrokes on the offbeat, pick playing invites to do that". He plays the same oversized Heriba picks I do (coincidence, Heriba is a German brand whose picks you can find in even the most remote mom & pop store), we both use the black version though.

They're hard (but not too stiff), yet thin, so they don't kill/muffle the harmonics like many heavier plectrums do. Hattler relies on that for his harmonics-rich sound.

westen44 · November 07, 2019, 05:06:12 PM

Nice to keep seeing threads like this. As opposed to tripe sometimes found elsewhere that maintains you're not a real bassist unless you're playing finger style. Actually, I've got a friend like this. He would rather die than use a pick.

uwe · November 07, 2019, 07:22:23 PM

All pick players are crap, sound the same and are generally an unmusical bunch.

slinkp · November 07, 2019, 09:07:23 PM

I'll just leave this here... sadly no video

uwe · November 08, 2019, 08:40:59 AM

I only saw the "real" (discuss!) YES (Benoit David & Geoff Downes line up on the Fly From Here tour) once but that performance is immortalized by Squire's utter stage dominance (in a pleasant, non-Ted-Nugent-way

), general gung-ho attitude, devil-may-care gifted sloppiness and, errrr ... V O L U M E !!! He was a force of nature. I can't remember any other band where a non lead-vocalist bass player held the whole band (in the case of YES not exactly consisting of slouches and shrinking violets) so much in his grip. That said, he sang so much, he was really a second lead vocalist.

I also saw the "other" (discuss even more!) YES aka ARW quite recently and Lee Pomeroy played all the right notes skillfully on his lefty Ric, but he wasn't in any way leading the band like Squire had. The difference (from a bass player's view) was profound, Chris Squire's occasional bum notes or not! He was - may the eternal bass gods (un)rest his soul - a real Ric-Rambo. If sometimes in his mother's wardrobe.

gearHed289 · November 08, 2019, 09:10:07 AM

Quote from: uwe on November 08, 2019, 08:40:59 AMthat performance is immortalized by Squire's utter stage dominance (in a pleasant, non-Ted-Nugent-way ), general gung-ho attitude, devil-may-care gifted sloppiness and, errrr ... V O L U M E !!! He was a force of nature. I can't remember any other band where a non lead-vocalist bass player held the whole band (in the case of YES not exactly consisting of slouches and shrinking violets) so much in his grip. That said, he sang so much, he was really a second lead vocalist.

I agree with all of this 1000%.

As for that whole anti-pick thing - It's both annoying and comical, usually spewed by people who don't know WTF they're talking about. Uwe's run of videos is just part of a list of legendary, respected bass players who use a pick some or all of the time. Add Entwistle, JPJ, Steve Swallow (a jazzer!), Tom Hamilton, Macca, on and on...

uwe · November 08, 2019, 11:29:33 AM

"I agree with all of this 1000%."

Can't you do better? I hate how non-committal you are.

Dave W · November 08, 2019, 03:33:43 PM

Quote from: gearHed289 on November 08, 2019, 09:10:07 AM
I agree with all of this 1000%.

As for that whole anti-pick thing - It's both annoying and comical, usually spewed by people who don't know WTF they're talking about. Uwe's run of videos is just part of a list of legendary, respected bass players who use a pick some or all of the time. Add Entwistle, JPJ, Steve Swallow (a jazzer!), Tom Hamilton, Macca, on and on...

99% of the anti-pick crowd are just third rate losers. Occasionally an accomplished bassist will say something ignorant (Chuck Rainey comes to mind) but for the most part, it's just jealous wannabes.

slinkp · November 08, 2019, 07:36:45 PM

Carol Kaye is 100% pick...
Tony Levin switches ...
So many excellent players use picks.
It's just snobbery to be anti-pick.
Don't like them? Don't use them.

westen44 · November 09, 2019, 12:31:55 AM

Here is a good article (in two parts) by one of the best known pick players--Bobby Vega. Note these points he makes--

When somebody says real bass players don't use a pick, my first thoughts are: (1) I guess they can't play bass with a pick, and (2) they're cheating themselves out of a lot of music.

https://www.bassplayer.com/artists/bobby-vega-to-pick-or-not-to-pick-part-i

https://www.bassplayer.com/lessons/bobby-vega-to-pick-or-not-to-pick-part-2