MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson's second installment of his Guitar World magazine Mega Bass column is featured in the August issue, due to hit stores on June 30th. This month's column, Getting In Gear, focuses on tips on choosing the best equipment to create your signature sound.

Ellefson: "Creating great tone is that elusive and mysterious assignment we musicians undertake to create our own sonic signature. This month, I want to explore some fundamental aspects of tone that can help you create a signature sound."

Mike Bax at Toronto-based Lithium Magazine recently caught up with MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. An excerpt from the interview is available below:

Bax: From a technical standpoint, this is most obvious on The Big 4 Bulgaria Blu-ray. All of the performances are wonderful to watch, but the Megadeth performance captured on that Blu-ray is flawless, Dave. It’s a real showpiece for the band, I'm sure.

Dave: "(Laughs) I appreciate that, thanks. I mean, that’s one of the things that I notice coming back to Megadeth. There was an incredible work ethic from the band right through to the crews. Everybody was really into it. Chris Broderick plays his guitar for eight hours, and THEN he goes and lives his life. That’s how he is every single day (laughs). It’s amazing; that’s why he’s such a fantastic guitar player. We would sometimes run through the entire set backstage before we would go onstage to play it for an audience. Our approach was like a marathon runner… if you are required to run ten miles, then you had better be able to run twelve. You need the extra gas in the tank to be able to run that ten miles efficiently."

Bax: That makes sense. How are Shawn and Chris to write with? This will be your first studio work with them both, correct?

Dave: "It’s really been good, actually. It’s a much different process than I’ve ever done before with Megadeth, but it’s a collaborative environment I’ve done with other bands, so I am certainly comfortable with it. It’s really gone well, honestly. Johnny K is a fantastic producer – I’m really happy we were able to get him involved. He and Dave seem to have a good working relationship. Kind of like we came off of Rust In Peace and went right into Countdown To Extinction, that’s kind of how I feel about the new album. We came off the Rust In Peace 20th Anniversary and went right into what could theoretically be our next Countdown to Extinction, just twenty years later."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

A snippet of the new Megadeth song, 'Never Dead', is featured in the trailer below for the new NeverDead fantasy action game: