Uploaded January 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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This video is a demonstration of John Entwistle's bassline from 'Pinball Wizard', a hit song from The Who's 1969 rock opera Tommy. This song has a simple bassline (by John Entwistle's standards) and is a great piece to learn for plectrum practice.

I recorded this line using a Fender Custom Shop '67 Precision bass strung with Rotosound strings. The tone control was almost on full for a bright sound, and I played with a Dunlop .073 pick. The bass was recorded via a SansAmp Bass Driver DI, all controls set flat. A small amount of compression was added digitally.

A full video tuition course for this song is available to video course subscribers at Bassline Publishing. You can check out the course below:

basslinepublishing.com/video-section/the-who-pinball-wizard

You can SUBSCRIBE to my video courses here: basslinepublishing.com/video-course-choice

Don't forget to like the video and subscribe so that you see more great bass content from me in the future!

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