Charles Berthoud's 60 second version of Slipknot's Duality might make you want to give up playing bass altogether
A warning: if you're after sheer speed, Charles Berthoud's latest playthrough is a bass shredding masterpiece
Boasting well over a million followers on YouTube, Charles Berthoud is one of the most visible bass players to come from the social media generation. His YouTube channel is loaded with play-along clips of him shredding over a variety of pop covers, and, of course, a few bass battles with fellow YouTuber Davie 504.
Having already showcased jaw-dropping arrangements of 'September' by Earth Wind and Fire and 'Toxic' by Britney Spears, Berthoud’s latest series sees him perform a 60 seconds audition reel taking aim at the likes of Rage Against The Machine, Dream Theater, Red Hot Chili Peppers and in his latest video, masked metalheads Slipknot.
The video – which clocked up over 300 thousand views in its first 24 hours – sees Berthoud wielding his Le Fay D-Tuner 4-string bass to Slipknot’s 2004 metal anthem 'Duality', taking his lightning fast fretboard pyrotechnics to the extreme.
“I started out on piano, so I had a lot of experience playing solo and accompanying myself,” says Berthoud when I asked about his solo bass heroics. “I’ve worked with bands and I love doing that, but I’ve always found that I really love the freedom of playing solo. I’ve never felt like I’m doing some weird bass thing that no one else is interested in. And I think most people enjoy it.”
Charles delivers his signature tone via an arsenal of different Le Fay and Schecter basses. Though he primarily stays true to a Le Fay D-Tuner when it comes to executing technical lines of any calibre. “My main bass is a Le Fay, but Schecter have been really nice with hooking me up with instruments."
To watch more mind-blowing bass videos from Charles Berthoud, subscribe to his YouTube Channel or visit charlesberthoud.com
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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.
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