John Entwistle — The Who’s not-so-silent one.

December 1981 Musician interview with John Entwistle

Approach — I never tried to base my style on anyone. I saw a draft transcription of the bass part on “The Real Me” once and it freaked me out completely, semidemiquavers all over the place and that kind of stuff. That only comes when you’re really playing freely, when you’re not worried about what chord’s coming up next ,you know exactly where you’re going, and you decide to play something completely different. If it works, it works, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. You take the risk.

Strings — Rotosound, of course.

Amp — Two Stramp stero pre-amps, Sunn Coliseum power amps, driving three Sunn 18″ cabinets and three 4 X 12″ cabinets. This set-up is still a bit too loud, so I’m thinking of switching to two Mesa Boogie stacks instead. In the studio I use a Music Man HD-130 head and a 2 X 12″ cabinet for the clean sound, and a Mesa Boogie with an extension cabinet for the distortion and the treble.

Effects — Occasionally I’ll use a Boss Chorus.