Watch Victor Wooten deal with a broken string in the middle of his bass solo

Bassist Victor Lemonte Wooten of the Flecktones performing at Summerstage at the Rumsey Playfield in Central Park in New York City
(Image credit: photo by Gabe Palacio/ImageDirect)

Victor Wooten’s unique approach to the bass guitar caused shock waves when he first emerged in the late 80s. Today, he still manages to retain some of that youthful vitality in his live shows, and has became quite the showman. On one occasion, having broken a string mid-solo, reducing his four-string bass to three, he still found time to style it out and have a little fun with the crowd. 

How? Well, first Victor establishes a new groove in the lower register before tearing through the rest of his solo, all with a string hanging loose, which he then throws into the front row. If you closed your eyes, you’d never know anything went wrong at all, a sign of how a true pro deals with the unexpected.

Victor's string breaks at 02:40 during this performance of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones' mercurial hit The Sinister Minister.

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Nick Wells
Writer

Nick Wells was the Editor of Bass Guitar magazine from 2009 to 2011, before making strides into the world of Artist Relations with Sheldon Dingwall and Dingwall Guitars. He's also the producer of bass-centric documentaries, Walking the Changes and Beneath the Bassline, as well as Production Manager and Artist Liaison for ScottsBassLessons. In his free time, you'll find him jumping around his bedroom to Kool & The Gang while hammering the life out of his P-Bass.