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Primus — Primus All bass tabs

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#——————————————————————————————————PLEASE NOTE—————————————————————————————————#
#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
#——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————##
—————————————THE CHEESY—COMPLETE BASS TABLATURE REFERENCE———————————————————

———————————————————————————VERSION 2.0——————————————————————————————————————

——————————————————Compiled by CHRISTOPHER PRESTON———————————————————————————

——————————————————————————[email protected]———————————————————————————————————

———————————————Music by PRIMUS, Lyrics by Les Claypool——————————————————————

PRIMUS: SAUSAGE:
Les Claypool— bass, vocals Les Claypool— bass, vocals
Larry LaLonde— guitar Jay Lane— guitar
Tim "Herb" Alexander— drums Todd Huth— drums


IMPORTANT:
IF YOU FEEL THAT SOMEONE ELSE HAS BEEN GIVEN CREDIT FOR A SONG YOU TABBED,
PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO TELL ME!!! I CHANGE THE BEGINNING OF EACH TAB LINE
TO |——etc. OCCASIONALLY I FIND A TAB ON THE NET WITH NO NAME. IF IT IS
YOURS, TELL ME.

I've compiled a bunch of different people's ideas, added to them,
added some of my own, and voila! Here it is. I have tried to include who
tabbed each song, but if you know yours or someone else's name was left out,
please E—Mail me and let me know. I am very sorry for anyone who hasn't
gotten credit for their tab. , I'm trying to figure out the interlude to
"Harold..." so I can post the complete song, not just the basic chords.
Please send any additions to this list to [email protected]. The list can
include anyting by Primus or Sausage in bass tab (Please no Guitar— Somebody
start one just for guitar, please) and off bootlegs (e.g. Master Of Puppets,
Skinny) I'm also working on the EXACT notes for "Tippi Toes".

Please send comments!

————————————————————An Introduction to Claypooldom——————————————————————————
Because of the growing number of Les's basses, I'm adapting this system:
****************************Les's Basses*************************************
1. Carl Thompson fretted 4 string. Includes a black Kahler tremolo with
a whammy bar.
2.Carl Thompson fretless 6 string. Nicknamed the "Rainbow bass", It has a
36 inch scale. The body contains strips of walnut, curly maple, padauk,
purple heart, ebony and cocobolo. The strings are threaded through the back
of this rear extension — near where the strap pin is. They're stretched
over a one—piece, hand—made wooden bridge and anchored by Schaller tuning
machines. The basic part of the neck is made of quartersawn hardrock maple.
The center of the fingerboard is Indian ebony, with 1/8—inch—wide strips of
padauk, cocobolo and ebony on either side. The serial number, which is the
day the bass was finished, and also Carl Thompson's bithday, is 2—5—90.
Les got this just in time to record "Sailing the Seas Of
Cheese". It has a single active EMG mode 45P
3.Carl Thompson 4 string fretted maple. It's the same as his other Carl
Thompson 4 string, except without the tremolo, and maple. He uses it as a
backup for the above 4— string.
4. Zeta electric stand—up, which he bought in a pawn shop.
5. Kay acousic upright, which he bought for $300 in a pawn shop.
6.Eko beatle bass, which he bought from some store which acquired all of
Eko's stock.
7.Tune 6 string fretless, which he used before he got his Carl Thompson.
It can be seen in "Bill and Ted's bogus Journey", and at the '91 Roskilde
Festival.
8.Carl Thompson fretted 6 string, which Les bought toward the end of Pork
Soda. Carl Thompson claims it's the first 6 string bass ever made in the
world. He had it sitting around his house, and Les asked him to put a real
light gauge of strings on it. Carl Thompson didn't like it because the neck
was so thin. The "G" and "C" strings are unwound like a guitar's. The
body's maple.
9.Dan Maloney 3 string fretted bass banjo. The only one in the world, It
was made by Les's high school friend.
10.Dan Maloney electric stand—up. I have never seen this one, but on MTV's
SUPEROCK, Les says that he was the guy who made it.
11. ??? Rickenbocker (White) which was given to Les by Geddy Lee, when they
were sitting in Geddy's house drunk.
12.??? Fender Jazz bass???
For amplifiers, Les has a ADA MB—1 preamp, and an ADA MP—2 guitar pre—amp
modified by ADA's Todd Langer with a MIDI Ground Control footpedal made by
Digital Music. That has a bunch of effects which he uses, such as distortion
and chorus. His head is a Mesa/Boogie 400 plus head which feeds into two
Mesa/Boogie 2X15 cabinets.
For his studio gear, (Pork Soda) he used an ADA MB—1 pre—amp, a Meyers EQ,
an Alesis Micro Limiter, an ADA Stereo Tapped Delay, and a Systech Harmonic
Energizer.
For "Tales From the Punchbowl", Les recorded right from ADA MP—2 pre amp
into the soundboard.
Les uses three fingers for plucking (index, middle, ring). He slaps
most of the songs, and strums the chords. He does this by striking the two
or three notes with his ring and index finger in a casual up or down stroke.

————————————————————————Subscription Information—————————————————————————————

Well, there just isn't that many Primus/Sausage songs to tab! If you can
tab one, PLEASE send it to [email protected]———otherwise, just send your name,
and some usefull Primus info (A typed magazine article, interview, etc.) If
you're interested in trading bootlegs, please mail me your list!

——————————————————————————————Fan Club———————————————————————————————————————
I am not a member of the fan club, but I just thought I'd give the
address. Someone please tell me if it's good!

Club Bastardo
3470 19th st.
San Francisco, CA 944110

Be sure to send a S.A.S.E.

———————————————————————————Internet Sites———————————————————————————————————
Here's some Primus sites&shit I have encountered in my travels:

The Primus Cheesy Homepage (Highly Recomended):
http://iris3.carb.nist.gov:8000/pub/ram/music/primus/primus.html

Those Damn Blue Collared Tweekers:
http://dragon.acadiau.ca/~901430w/primus.html

alt.music.primus (Newsgroup)
alt.music.primus.sausage (Newsgroup)

A big thank you to the Primus FAQ and all of its contributers!

Extra special thanks to:
Jeffrey Swing, [email protected]
Dave Walker, [email protected]
__________________________________________________
——————————————————————————————————————————————————

"American Life" from "Sailing the Seas of Cheese"
__________________________________________________
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
Tabbed by Jeffrey Swing ([email protected])

After seeing Les play this song on a video that somebody copied for me
(thanks again for the video, Dave) I noticed that Les strums and does hammer
ons for this riff. I have rewritten it below. The important thing to
rememeber when playing this is to keep your strumming constant and hammer on
all of the notes with your left hand. The slap on the lowest note is done
on the downstroke strum, and isn't hard to work in to your strumming
technique. Make sure that you let the G—string drone on while you hammer on
the D—string notes.

V = downstroke strum
^ = upstroke strum
h = hammer
S = slap

(V) ^ V ^ V ^ V ^
G—|———————0—(0)(0)——0—(0)(0)——0—(0)(0)———0—————0—————0—————0——|——
D—|*——————0——3h—5h——0——3h—5h——0——3h—5h——————5h—5—————5—————5—*|—
A—|*—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————*|—
E—|———3S——————————————————————————————————————————————————————|—

The fills are done with the same strumming (downstroke on the downbeat,
upstroke on the upbeat), except that the left hand remains still, fretting a
power chord first on Eb, then later on F.

G—|——8——|—G—|——10——|—
D—|——8——|—D—|——10——|—
A—|——6——|—A—|——8———|—
E—|—————|— E—|——————|—



__________________________________________________
——————————————————————————————————————————————————

"Bob" from "Pork Soda"
__________________________________________________
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
Tabbed by Christopher Preston

This is played on a 6 string frettless, but I've figured it out
on a 4 string fretless. It can be done on a fretted, but it doesn't
sound as good. Drop the "E" to "D", and finger each note, until the
intro/verseriff, which is slapped. The chorus is fingernail strummed,
with the low note slapped.

Intro:
I————————11————12————————————I———————11————12—12—12—12—11————————————————I
I*—0——12————13————13——9—\sl—*I—0——12————12————————————————12——12—11h—12h—I
I*——————————————————————————*I———————————————————————————————————————————I
I————————————————————————————I———————————————————————————————————————————I

Intro/Verse: 28 times
I—————————————————I——————————7———I—————————5———I
I—7—6—7—6—————————I*—————————7———I—————————5——*I
I—————————7—6—7—7—I*—————————————I————————————*I
I—————————————————I———0/6——x—————I—6\0——x——————I

Chorus: 9 times
I——4—/—5——————I
I*—4—/—5——————I
I*—2—/—5——————I
I————————6\———I


"Solo"/Verse: 28 times Chorus: 9 times
I——————————7———I—————————5———II——4—/—5———————I
I*—————————7———I—————————5——*II*—4—/—5——————*I
I*—————————————I————————————*II*—2—/—5——————*I
I———0/6——x—————I—6\0——x——————II————————6\————I

Pre Solo:
I————————11————12————————————I———————11————12—12—12—12—11————————————————I
I*—0——12————13————13——9—\sl—*I—0——12————12————————————————12——12—11h—12h—I
I*——————————————————————————*I———————————————————————————————————————————I
I————————————————————————————I———————————————————————————————————————————I

Solo + Verse: A billion times
I—————————————————I——————————7———I—————————5———I
I—7—6—7—6—————————I*—————————7———I—————————5——*I
I—————————7—6—7—7—I*—————————————I————————————*I
I—————————————————I———0/6——x—————I—6\0——x——————I

Outro:
I————————11————12————————————I
I*—0——12————13————13——9—\sl—*I
I*——————————————————————————*I
I————————————————————————————I


__________________________________________________
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
"Chicken And Corn" from Roskilde Festival 1991
__________________________________________________
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
Tabbed by Christopher Preston
I think I've heard this at other concerts, but I tabbed it from this one.
It leads into "American Life".

|—————————————|
|—0——0——0——0——|
|5——5——5——5———|
|—————————————|

Lyrics:
Corn, corn, chicken and corn
Kernals of chicken and cobs of corn
Corn, corn, chicken and corn
Kernals of chicken and cobs of corn...etc.
Tablature player for this song:
Primus - Primus All Bass Tab

How to Read Bass Tabs

Bass tablature (tabs) is an easy way to learn songs without needing to read traditional sheet music. Here’s a quick guide to understanding the symbols and techniques commonly found in tabs:

1. The Basics

  • Strings and Frets:

    Each line in a tab represents a string on your bass:

    • The top line is the highest-pitched string (G on a 4-string bass).
    • The bottom line is the lowest-pitched string (E on a 4-string bass).

    Numbers on the lines indicate which fret to press. For example:

    G|-------------------|
    D|-------------------|
    A|---3---------------|
    E|-------------------|
                

    This means you play the 3rd fret on the A string.

2. Common Techniques

  • Hammer-On (h):

    Play the first note by picking it, then press down on a higher fret with another finger without picking again.

    G|-------------------|
    D|-------5h7---------|
                
  • Pull-Off (p):

    Pluck a note and then "pull off" your finger to let a lower fret ring.

    G|-------------------|
    D|-------7p5---------|
                
  • Slide (/ or \):

    Move your finger up (/) or down (\) the fretboard while maintaining pressure.

    G|-------------------|
    D|-------5/7---------|
                

3. Advanced Techniques

  • Bend (b): Push the string up or down to raise the pitch. Example: G|-------7b9---------|
  • Vibrato (~): Shake the string slightly after playing a note to create a vibrating sound. Example: G|-------7~----------|
  • Muted Notes (x): Rest your finger lightly on the string without pressing a fret and pluck for a percussive "click" sound.

4. Rhythm and Timing

Tabs don’t always indicate timing, so listen to the song while reading the tab. Wider spaces between numbers mean longer pauses, while closer numbers indicate quicker notes.

5. Slap and Pop

  • Slap (s): Strike the string with the side of your thumb for a percussive sound.
  • Pop (p): Pull the string away from the fretboard and let it snap back.

Practice Makes Perfect

Tabs are a great tool to learn songs, but mastering the techniques takes practice. Listen carefully to the original track and play along to lock in the rhythm. Don’t rush — smooth, accurate playing is more important than speed. Happy jamming! 🎸

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