This fretless bass cover of Polyphia’s Playing God is the most mind-blowing thing you’ll see all week
YouTuber Charles Berthoud reasserts his authority as one of the world’s most adept internet bassists.
Credit: Charles Berthoud/YouTube
Polyphia’s Playing God is this decade’s Through the Fire and Flames – it’s capable of stumping even the most adept guitar players looking to get it down. Some are persistent enough to nail it, though, and an even fewer number manage to learn it on other instruments.
Take YouTuber Charles Berthoud, for example, who’s just posted a cover of Tim Henson’s electric guitar part from the track. Only difference is, he’s played it on a fretless bass guitar – his custom-made Le Fay model, to be specific.
In an enviable display of low-end prowess, Berthoud navigates the tracks opening natural harmonic-laden percussive lines with ease, before launching into the main instrumental section, offering a notably smoother take on the original.
Since it was posted earlier this month, the video has, quite rightly, amassed nearly 400,000 views at the time of writing. Check it out below:
It’s not the first time Berthoud has covered Polyphia on the bass – he previously covered the Texan prog outfit’s 2018 song G.O.A.T. Indeed, it’s not his first attempt at putting his own spin on Playing God either, as last year, he covered the track on a six-string slap bass.
He’s also entertained his 1.6 million YouTube subscribers with bass covers of Slipknot’s Duality, Dream Theater’s Under A Glass Moon and Guthrie Govan’s Fives, the latter of which he described as “the hardest solo I’ve ever attempted.” He’s taken on these songs using a variety of four-, five- and six-string basses.
Meanwhile, last November, Berthoud led 200 bass players from Rockin’ 1000 in a rendition of Queen’s Under Pressure at a stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
To see more from Charles Berthoud, head to his official YouTube channel.
Polyphia’s song Playing God is taken from their recent album Remember That You Will Die.