Top Ten: Double Thump Lesson, Two New Gibson Basses, Plus The Best Bass Play-Alongs, Videos and Gear of the Week

We had a lot of fun with the Bass Play-Along Week last week, featuring several No Treble readers and their awesome bass skills. Readers seemed to love them too, as two of our top 10 features on No Treble were just that (and the others closely followed). Check out Adrian Bartol, who nails Pino Palladino’s bass line on the live performance of John Mayer’s “Who Did You Think I Was?” and Alex Myers who impresses with his take on Flea’s work on the RHCP tune “Around The World”.

In bass gear, two new basses by Gibson commanded top 10 status, as did the unique Mayones Elegance 5 Paper bass – our bass of the week. Rounding out our gear category is the new Little Bastard LB-550 from Ashdown Engineering and Essential Sound Products’ Victor Wooten and Gerald Veasley Signature MusicCord-PRO Power Cords.

The top bass video last week was by Simon Fitzpatrick, performing Emerson Lake & Palmer’s “Take a Pebble” as a solo bass piece.

In the learning department, we were thrilled to debut a new bass lesson series by Grant Stinnett of Stinnett Music Downloadables, who kicked things off with a Double Thump bass lesson. In his latest column, Damian Erskine answered a reader’s question on memorizing tunes.

Check out all this and the rest of our top 10 articles on No Treble for November 6 – 12, 2011.

Gibson USA Releases New Explorer Bass

1. Gibson USA Releases New Explorer Bass

Gibson has added a new Explorer Bass model for their USA line. The solid mahogany bass takes its body shape from the original Explorer guitar, first introduced in 1958, and comes in a Silverburst finish. The Gibson Explorer Bass has a full 34″ scale and features a glued-in, quarter-sawn maple neck with a Preciosa fingerboard….

Double Thump: A Lesson in Slap Bass

2. Double Thump: A Lesson in Slap Bass

Editor’s note: We’re really happy to announce a new bass video lesson series by bassist/educator Grant Stinnett on No Treble. Say “hi” to Grant and/or share your feedback and questions in the comments section below. In this installment of our new bass lesson series, we’re focusing on a slap-based, percussive bass technique widely known as…

Simon Fitzpatrick: Emerson Lake & Palmer’s “Take a Pebble” for Solo Bass

3. Simon Fitzpatrick: Emerson Lake & Palmer’s “Take a Pebble” for Solo Bass

Bassist Simon Fitzpatrick shared his latest solo bass video with us, featuring a live performance of Emerson Lake & Palmer’s “Take a Pebble”. Wait for the 1:30 mark, when Simon really gets going with some excellent tap bass. Then things get really crazy with Simon picking up a bow! Have a video to share? Send…

Ashdown Engineering Announces Limited Edition Little Bastard LB-550 Amp

4. Ashdown Engineering Announces Limited Edition Little Bastard LB-550 Amp

Ashdown Engineering has unveiled a limited edition of their Little Bastard amp head called the LB-550. The new amp couples their Little Bastard tube preamp section with the 550-watt digital power section from their new MiBass head, resulting in tube tone in a lightweight head weighing in at 6.2kg (approximately 13.6 puonds). The preamp uses…

Gibson Releases Flying V Bass

5. Gibson Releases Flying V Bass

In conjunction with the release of the new Explorer Bass, Gibson has introduced a new Flying V Bass. With a 30.5” scale, the bass is a “mean and meaty” instrument that the company says perfect for players with shorter arms and hands, as well as beginners, students, and those more familiar with six-string guitar lengths….

Essential Sound Products Announces Victor Wooten and Gerald Veasley Signature MusicCord-PRO Power Cords

6. Essential Sound Products Announces Victor Wooten and Gerald Veasley Signature MusicCord-PRO Power Cords

Essential Sound Products has introduced two new Signature MusicCord-PRO power cords: the Victor Wooten and Gerald Veasley models. The new cords have colors chosen by the artists, with Wooten’s cord being purple with clear crisscross tracer and Veasley’s being red with black crisscross. Brochures with unique photographs, pictorial discographies, and biographic information are included in…

A Guide to Memorizing Tunes

7. A Guide to Memorizing Tunes

Q: Do you have any tips on how to memorize tunes? I have the hardest time remembering tunes! A: I’ve been there. But a few years ago, I discovered the key: repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition… For years, I’ve always been a chart reader on gigs. I never understood how people could memorize so…

Bass Play-Along Week: Adrian Bartol’s John Mayer/Pino Palladino “Who Did You Think I Was?” Bass Play-Along

8. Bass Play-Along Week: Adrian Bartol’s John Mayer/Pino Palladino “Who Did You Think I Was?” Bass Play-Along

Bassist Adrian Bartol sends us his bass play-along of John Mayer’s live recording of “Who Did You Think I Was?”, which also includes Jimi Hendrix’s “Power of Soul” at the end. In…

Bass of the Week: Mayones Elegance 5 Paper

9. Bass of the Week: Mayones Elegance 5 Paper

Some basses are a piece of history, and then some are made from pieces of history. As part of their Master Builder Collection, Polish company Mayones unveiled the Elegance 5 Paper, a limited edition 5-stringer covered with reprints of newspapers, some dating back 100 years. The clippings are from all over the world: Poland, the…

Bass Play-Along Week: Alex Myers’ RHCP “Around The World Bass” Bass Play-Along

10. Bass Play-Along Week: Alex Myers’ RHCP “Around The World Bass” Bass Play-Along

Bassist Alex Myers submitted his bass play-along video of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Around the World”. He plays his Washburn Bantam bass through a BOSS GT-10b for the video. Alex says that…

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