'Megadeth Bass Anthology' Due Next Month

Hal Leonard has set a November 4 release date the "Megadeth Bass Anthology", featuring 20 of the finest from these thrash masters, with David Ellefson's awesome bass lines transcribed note for note with tab.

Featured songs:

* Countdown To Extinction
* Dawn Patrol
* Five Magics
* Hangar 18
* Head Crusher
* Holy Wars ... The Punishment Due
* In My Darkest Hour
* My Last Words
* 99 Ways To Die
* Peace Sells
* Sleepwalker
* Sweating Bullets
* Symphony Of Destruction
* Take No Prisoners
* Tornado Of Souls
* A Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free)
* Train Of Consequences
* Trust
* Wake Up Dead
* Youthanasia

In a 2010 interview with Bass Player magazine, Ellefson stated about his technique: "I'm not a hacker and slasher; my action is fairly low and I'm very meticulous and in control. I play with a pick predominantly, while muting the strings at the bridge to varying degrees with my palm. I hold the pick between my right thumb and index finger and sometimes my index nail hits the string slightly ahead of the pick, which gives the note a double-percussive attack. At the end of the night my nail is shaved down and I've even drawn blood, but hey, it's rock & roll. I strike the strings midway between the pickups, and I use butterfly up-and-down strokes.

"In the left hand, I basically use a one-finger-per-fret; my old Mel Bay books taught me to keep my thumb down behind the neck and play with my fingertips — there's not as much flesh on the string, which results in very defined, clear notes. Occasionally, I'll pluck with my alternating index and middle fingers, like on the song 'Trust'. I learned how to slap, but I never use it; I did do some tapping on 'Take No Prisoners', and I played some harmonics on 'Poison Was The Cube' [all from 'Rust In Peace'].

"Overall, I'd say 50 percent of MEGADETH's sound comes from righthand technique. I pick, mute, and phrase the same way as the guitar players. For example, Dave [Mustaine] often upstrokes his root-5th power chords so the 5th comes first; I do that, too, to match him. It's those nuances and subtleties that set us apart from anyone else attempting our music."