Judging from the backstage scene, life on tour with the Foos certainly seems like a suspended adolescence. But the band is less a horde of rock & roll pirates than a crew of music-loving dudes who just want to have a little fun. And Mendel takes his work seriously. “I grew up with punk rock, listening to people like Klaus Flouride of the Dead Kennedys,” says Nate, describing his bass headspace. “Energy and tone is most important to me, rather than notes or flashy technique.” 

There’s a beautiful simplicity in Nate’s approach with the Foos, where his formidable P-Bass thump pumps under frontman Dave Grohl’s tuneful rock ditties. “My instinct is to play my own melodies on bass, but over the years I’ve gotten better at playing around Dave’s vocal melodies,” says Nate. “And with so much guitar going on, I want the bass to sound clean.”

After successful exploration of a kinder, gentler Foo Fighters sound on the double-disc In Your Honor [RCA, 2005] and the live acoustic CD/DVD Skin & Bones [RCA, 2006], the band continues to supplement its roster of aggressive rockers with more mellow numbers. “That can be a real challenge for me; I have to really concentrate, since the bass is much more bare. It’s definitely made me more aware of how and what I play.” Like a referee moderating the sonic scuffle the Foos stage nightly, Mendel’s become a pro at the rules he sets for himself: Keep it clean, keep it moving, and keep it up.

Mendelian P’s

Between a rack of radical relic’d P-Basses and drawers stuffed with strings and such, Foo Fighters bass tech Geof Templeton describes his work as a dream job: “I basically stand here and stare at Nate’s ass all night,” he deadpans. What he means to say is that after extensive preproduction gear testing, he and Nate have their gear formula figured out, so there’s no little need to futz.

For the current Foo Fighters tour, Mendel’s go-to is a Lakland Bob Glaub Bass in Shoreline Gold, rather than the red ’71 Fender P-Bass he’s used for most of his years with Foo Fighters. “The Lakland is as close to the sound of a vintage Fender I’ve heard,” says Geof, who also maintains two Fender Custom Shop reproductions built to the specs of Nate’s battered P-Bass. “The neck is the key,” says Nate of his vintage Fender. “Mine was made in a transitional period when they used some unusual neck dimensions. It’s wide down at the nut, and gets more shallow as you move up the neck.” All basses get a fresh set of GHS Bass Boomers for every gig.

Before hitting the road, Nate and Geof got together to benchtest a bevy of bass stacks from Ampeg, Ashdown, Divided by Thirteen, and Mesa Engineering. “The Ashdown’s low end was unbeatable,” says Geof, he and Nate opting for the company’s 900-watt hybrid AMB EVO II heads and a pair of 8x10s. “Tube heads are great, but they usually sound a little gritty. The Ashdown keeps the low end clean. Plus, they can survive life on the road.”

“Since we started playing bigger places, it’s gotten harder to hear my amp onstage,” says Nate. “So I send my bass through a Line 6 Bass POD for my in-ear monitors.” The rack-mounted PODxt Pro is blended with DI and amp signals for the front-of-house sound. For a few tunes, Nate plays through a Fulltone Bass-Drive distortion, and when he puts down his pick to play fingerstyle, he runs through a Boss EQ pedal to cut some lows and keep from sounding too boomy.

CAN BE HEARD ON

Foo Fighters, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace [RCA, 2007]

CURRENTLY SPINNING

Thin Lizzy, Live and Dangerous [Warner Bros., 1978]
“On a tour of Europe, we played it nonstop. That’s what I’m after as a player—that kind of energy and attack.”

GEAR

Basses Two Lakland Bob Glaub Signatures; two custom Fender Precisions with Leo Quan Badass II bridges (reproductions of Nate’s ’71 P-Bass)
Rig Ashdown ABM 900 EVO II with two Ashdown 8x10 cabinets; Line 6 Bass PODxt Pro
Effects Fulltone Bass-Drive, Boss GEB-7 Bass Equalizer
Other Shure UHF wireless; GHS Bass Boomers (.045–.105), .84mm picks