On the tabs.

This is bass tablature.

Tablature (or just Tab) is a dead simple way to read basslines. Four lines represent the four strings, starting with the low E as the bottom line. Then the numbers on the lines tell you which fret to put your fingers on. A '0' means play the string open.

So this:

Would mean play here, here, then here:

The bassline for Radiohead's 'Creep' would look like this:

G[-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------]
D[-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------]
A[-------------------------2-222-2-2-222--2-3-333-3-3-333-3-3-333-3-3-5-6-8--]
E[-3-333-3-3-333-3--------------------------------------------------------------------------]

Pretty much any song you want to play will have been tabbed on the internet. Just Google the name of the song you want to learn followed by the words bass tab and hey prestö...

Spotter's guide.

Bass guitars come in all shapes and sizes. There are longer necks, shorter necks, fatter necks, thinner necks. It's pretty much down to what you feel most comfortable with or best suits your playing style. Here's a quick roundup of some of the most iconic (click to enlarge).

There is even a specific model ideal for followers of the B-CNT method. Several examples of all the above were in this gentleman's 200 plus collection. But more about him in a minute.

HISTORY - John Entwistle.

John Alec Entwistle (born 9 October 1944) was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer and horn player best known as the bass player for the rock band The Who. His aggressive lead sound influenced many rock bass players and he has been described as "the greatest bassist in the history of rock". Entwistle's lead instrument approach used pentatonic lead lines, and a then-unusual trebly sound created by roundwound RotoSound steel bass strings. Entwistle died in a Las Vegas hotel room on 27 June 2002. He had gone to bed that night with a stripper/groupie, who woke at 10 am to find Entwistle cold and unresponsive. The Clark County medical examiner determined that death was due to a heart attack induced by cocaine.

This amazing bit of footage is just his bass playing isolated in the mix. The sound takes a minute or so to kick in - but by crikey, it's worth the wait.