How did your Artist Series bass come together?

It all started because I always wanted to play one of these basses (vintage ’51 Precision Bass™, but I never had the heart to pay three grand for one of the vintage ones and then gut it. Because most “Frankenstein” guitars end up jacked! So, I called Alex Perez in the Fender® Custom Shop and asked if he could make me one with a rosewood fretboard. Initially, he built me a regular P Bass® with all the body contours. He sent me that and I called to tell him the good AND bad news. The good news is you made a smokin’ P Bass and the bad news is you’re not getting it back because it was the wrong one (laughs)!

Check out the new Mike Dirnt Precision Bass™

It took a while and eventually I get it at the house and we both thought it looked amazing! I asked if the Custom Shop had ever made these and he said that they had never made one with a rosewood fretboard. He asked me if I would consider having it be an Artist Series bass and I asked him if he would consider putting in some “Hot Rod” P Bass pickups in it with a BadAss bridge. And, he said “Now we’re taking!”

To me this bass is the ultimate other option for a bass player to play. You always see guys who want to play these basses, but they’re so distinct to their sound – they’re limited. You have to dial your amp to get your sound almost. The old ones have a particular thing; they rock! I have one.
So I sent him my “Stella” P Bass, which was named after my daughter. That’s what the star on the back of the neck plate stands for. I also have a star on my wrist where I pick a lot. And, they took a picture of my tattoo on my arm that says “Estelle” and actually put that on there. It’s kind of cool.

I sent my best bass down to them and they modeled the neck after that. It’s the same size. It’s not too big and its not too small. That old ’51 neck was SO HUGE! And, we also wanted the ’55 contoured body so the sharp edge wasn’t railing your wrist.

I understand that you’re playing Fender Bass Amplification. Tell me a little about your rig.

Right now, I have the 800 PRO in the studio as an option. But, the 1200 PRO is what I’m playing mostly. It’s got the tube preamp, has plenty of power and is a little grittier than the 800. I dig it! On stage, I’m going to be powering THREE 810 PRO cabinets (laughs)! I like spreading the cabinets across the stage so I can hear and feel by bass no matter where I’m at. It distributes the sound better.

What’s GREEN DAY up to?

We’ve been in the studio demoing up in the Bay area for over a year. Already, we’ve written 60-something songs. Now, we’re going down to Los Angeles to record our record in mid-February. We’ll be recording for three months or so. We’re hoping to have a record out around August and a tour shortly thereafter.

What’s the direction of this record?

Without giving too much away, we want to raise the bar for ourselves musically. We want to increase the musicianship, the depth of the songs, and lyrically – we want to go for some different things.

We had the record done a year ago, and we were pretty much done with it. We said, “This is great! But, we’ve got these other few songs that are totally awesome and we feel like we should be chasing these”.

We have a thing that we do and I think that we do it the best. But, how do you push that to the next step? That’s really what it is. We feel like we need to raise the bar for ourselves and our fans.

How did you get started? Why’d you pick up the bass instead of guitar or drums?

When I was a kid, I started playing guitar. Billie (Joe, singer/guitarist for GREEN DAY) tried to show me some stuff and it didn’t work. My Mom’s roommate played guitar and he showed me some stuff. From there, I taught myself. Then after I learned five or six chords, Billie and I started jamming together. Two years into it, our bassist had a dentist appointment. And, Billie, our drummer and I were just sitting there. So, I picked up his bass. And, we started jamming. Billie and I looked at each other and said, “This is “hella” good (laughs)!”

My Mom used to have this real crappy bass that had buttons all over it and two flatwound strings. So, I just picked it up and started jamming on it until I saved up to buy my own bass. I still play guitar just as much as I play bass. That’s how I write songs. We all play all the instruments. It’s totally important that we understand where each one of us is coming from.

Because of that, would you say that GREEN DAY is a democracy?

Yeah, I would say so definitely. We’re a democracy with an elected leader (laughs).

How’d you get your very first P Bass?

Billie bought me my first P Bass. We had just started writing songs for “Nimrod.” He sent Bill Schneider, my bass tech, out to look for one. And, he got me – still to this day – probably one of my best recording P Bass guitars. It’s a ’69 Sunburst P Bass. It’s flawless!

So, back to your amplification. How’s it working out?

I’ll tell you… The first time I played my 1200 PRO head through the 810 PRO cabs, it kicked my a#@! I couldn’t believe it. My jaw was on the floor!

How about your new Artist Series basses…

I got one of my Artist Series P Bass guitars back and it sounds as good as my old P Bass. I was tripping! It sounds, plays AND looks cool! When we turned that neck to a rosewood fretboard, it felt like we were matching our shirt to our shoes (laughs)! Plus, you can take off the pickguard easily and paint it whatever color you want, and make it your own style. As corny as it may sound, my new bass is really a dream come true. And, hopefully, someone will write their own anthem on it!

For more Green Day info, click here.