EL SOBRANTE, Calif. — Founding Primus member Les Claypool finally reached a level of competence that will allow him to stop playing bass and switch to guitar, confirmed sources who thought he was finally ready to make the leap.
“It’s a dream come true! I’ve been practicing bass since the Ford administration and it has all led to this highlight of my career,” said Claypool, who has been hoping to play guitar for decades now. “When I was a kid my father wouldn’t let me touch power tools, the car keys, or a guitar. He gave me a pile of wooden blocks and Fender Jazz Bass to play around with ‘until I was old enough.’ Well, guess what, Dad? I’m 61 now and I can play guitar and stay up as late as I want! I can’t wait to rub this in Flea’s face.”
Claypool’s bandmates were equally excited about their friend’s new instrument.
“Les has wanted this as long as I can remember,” said now-fellow guitarist Larry LaLonde. “He would even add extra strings to his bass so he could pretend it was a guitar. It was kind of cute in a pathetic sort of way. I’m just so happy that all his hard work has paid off. I mean he still can’t play F major, but one step at a time ya know? Also, we’ve decided not to go with a bassist from here on out. It just overcomplicates things.”
Dr. Jim Wegrzyn, a professor of musicology at Oxford, said that the switch from bass to guitar is a rare occurrence in the musical world, and often the would-be musician gives up, or even downgrades to drums, long before he gets close to learning guitar.
“Most bass players are just boyfriends of other band members,” explained Wegrzyn. “They hang around at band practice and are given something to do to keep them out of the way. When it comes time to record an album, they are allowed to play but then the producer secretly drops them all the way out of the mix in a move that’s ironically called ‘Justice for All.’ Now that I think about it, Kirk Hammett started off as the bass player for Exodus, so there’s hope for all bassists out there.”
At press time, Claypool was excitedly trying to teach guitar to his friend Victor Wooten in the hopes he too would someday be able to play a real instrument.