Top 10: Tons of New Bass Gear, Top Videos, New Music from Esperanza Spalding and the Mark Evans Interview
The big Winter NAMM show kicks off later this week, but the bass gear news started coming early this year. And readers love it. Four of the top 10 stories last week were about gear, and that’s just the beginning. Be sure to follow our NAMM coverage all week — including some updates live from the show.
Our most watched video last week was a terrific street performance by Ojay. Everyone loves the bass playing, and the dancing it inspires. We also took a look back at last year’s NAMM show, with a solo bass performance by Victor Wooten, which made the top 10 as well.
Rounding out the top 10 last week was the announcement of Esperanza Spalding’s new album, coming out next month; Damian’s review of ChordBot, the songwriting and accompaniment tool for iOS and Android, the new Ultimate Bass Songbook: The Complete Resource for Every Bass Player and our exclusive interview with AC/DC bassist Mark Evans.
Here are the top 10 most viewed stories on No Treble for the week of January 8 – 14, 2012:
1. Fender Custom Shop Introduces 2012 Bass Models
Fender’s Custom Shop has announced two new bass models for 2012, including the 2012 Closet Classic Precision Bass Pro and the 1961 Closet Classic Jazz Bass. Both models are built in the U.S. by Fender’s master builders. According to Fender, the Closet Classic Precision Bass Pro combines “the best of the Precision and Jazz Bass…
2. Ojay: Street Performance Awesomeness
Check this awesome video of Ojay, a bassist from Newcastle in the UK. Armed with a pair of looping pedals and a couple more effects, Ojay takes it to the streets to bring the funk to the people. It really begs the question: Why can’t more street performers be like this?
3. Esperanza Spalding Announces New Album, “Radio Music Society”
Esperanza Spalding is coming off of a monster year, which started in February 2011 when the bassist became the first jazz musician in decades to win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist (and, much to our pure joy, beating out Justin Bieber for the honor). That award was for Spalding’s 2010 release, Chamber Music…
4. Squier Announces Mikey Way Signature Mustang Bass
Squier’s latest in their Artist Model Series is the Mikey Way Signature Mustang Bass, a short-scale bass made with input by the Chemical Romance bassist. The bass take on the class Mustang features and adds some flair, with a large-flake Silver Sparkle finish with black racing stripes, with a black headstock with a silver Squier…
5. Fender Introduces New Bassman Pro Series Heads and Cabinets
Fender’s Bass Amplification group has introduced two new Bassman heads and four new cabinets in a new Pro Series. The heads include the 300-watt Super Bassman and the 100-watt Bassman 100T. Cabinets include the new Bassman 8×10 Neo, 6×10 Neo, 4×10 Neo and 1×15 Neo. Super Bassman Dubbed the “stadium-level 300-watt tube head designed for…
6. Victor Wooten: Live Solo Bass at 2011 NAMM Show
Here at No Treble HQ, we’re packing our bags for the NAMM show taking place next week. We’re so excited, we started looking back at some videos from last year’s show, and found this gem from Victor Wooten. Victor was performing at the Music Education Day session and delivered the keynote presentation. Counting down the…
7. Xotic Introduces XP-1T 5-String Bass
Taking a cue from classic design, Xotic will be introducing the XP-1T 5-string bass at NAMM. The P-bass styled instrument debuts the newly designed PV-1 pickup, but also borrows from their XJ-1T by utilizing the Tri-Logic Bass Preamp. The preamp includes a 3-band EQ with toggle switches to adjust the mid and treble-frequencies as well…
8. Dirty Deeds: A Conversation with Mark Evans
In 1975, Mark Evans took the opportunity of a lifetime and joined an Australian pub band that would go on to be one of the greatest rock bands of all time: AC/DC. Just a week after joining, the band was gigging regularly, and within a year they were making the rounds in Europe. Evans’ turbulent…
9. ChordBot: A Look at the Songwriting and Accompaniment Tool for iOS and Android
ChordBot is a wonderful, easy to use app which is equally powerful for songwriting as it is for accompaniment. The app allows you to develop and play chord progressions in a number of styles. ChordBot features 60 different chord types (including slash chords), 50+ comping styles, a song generator, as well as the ability to…
10. The Ultimate Bass Songbook: The Complete Resource for Every Bass Player
Hal Leonard has published a whopper of a bass transcription book. The Ultimate Bass Songbook: The Complete Resource for Every Bass Player includes note-for-note transcriptions for 70 songs, spanning bass lines, bass melodies and solo bass arrangements. The book is designed to allow you to pick the arrangement you prefer to many top hits. The…
