Top 10: John Paul Jones Isolated Bass, Juan Alderete Interview, Plus the Top Bass Gear, Videos and How-To’s
Last week’s top bass videos ran the gamut, starting with the isolated bass track of John Paul Jones on Led Zeppelin’s “What Is And What Should Never Be”. Then there was 14-year old Keisuke Baba causing jaws to drop with his bass play-along to RHCP’s “Tell Me Baby” (with 8 months experience on bass!) Plus Marcus Miller giving us a taste of his upcoming album, thanks to a great video of the bassist and his band rehearsing during a tour stop.
Juan Alderete shared great stories from his impressive career – from Racer X to Big Sir (and everything in between) – plus his gear, his love for pedals, fretless and more in an interview with No Treble’s Managing Editor, Kevin Johnson.
In gear, news of Digitech’s new iStomp Configurable Stompbox and Ampeg’s new Portaflex Series Cabinets were among the top stories. Our Bass of the Week, the Moses Vertical Jump Bass, also caught readers’ attention.
Rounding out the top 10: Phil Wain’s review of Esperanza Spalding’s new (and awesome) album, Radio Music Society, Damian Erskine’s take on using an amp stand (or not) on stage, and the exciting return of Tribal Tech, with the release of the first album in over a decade, X.
Here’s the complete list of top 10 stories, videos and more on No Treble for the week of March 25 – 31, 2012.
Thanks for reading!
1. John Paul Jones: “What Is And What Should Never Be” Isolated Bass Track
If youâ??re looking for vintage tone and a melodic groove, look no further. Zach McFatridge shared this clip of John Paul Jonesâ??s isolated bass from the Led Zeppelin classic â??What Is And What Should Never Beâ? from their second album. With some bleed from the drums, itâ??s easy to hear Jones and drummer John Bonham…
2. Bassist Redefined: An Interview With Juan Alderete
Juan Alderete is a man who stays busy. After getting his break with thrash metal outfit Racer X, Alderete now contributes the low-end to progressive rock giants The Mars Volta, whose new album Noctourniquet hit stores this week. The record marks the band’s sixth effort anchored by Aldererte, who joined their ranks in 2003. Additionally,…
3. Keisuke Baba: 14 Year Old Bassist Covers RHCP’s “Tell Me Baby”
We’ve featured some incredible young bassists here before… and here’s another who just hit our radar. Keisuke Baba is a bassist from Japan who recorded this play-along when he was just 14 years old. But the real story is that Keisuke had only been playing for about 8 or 9 months at this point. Keisuke…
4. Bass of the Week: Moses Vertical Jump Bass
Known for making graphite necks, Moses Carbon Graphite Guitars has always been into making forward-thinking products, and the Vertical Jump Bass is no exception. Built to be played vertically or horizontally, the bass has a swiveling bout horn for proper balance when wearing it with a strap. The Vertical Jump Bass has a polycarbonate body…
5. Marcus Miller: “Nocturnal Mist” and “Revelation” Rehearsal
Marcus Miller is currently on tour in Europe, and we’ve heard he’s been playing tunes from his upcoming album, Renaissance. Marcus just posted some really cool videos of the band rehearsing during this tour, including the very songs we’d heard about. Here’s the bassist and his band rehearsing “Nocturnal Mist” and “Revelation”. The band includes…
6. Digitech Unveils iStomp Configurable Stompbox
Digitech has released the iStomp, a configurable stompbox pedal that can be changed to different effects. Different effects ranging from reverb to distortion can be downloaded from the new Digitech Stomp Shop and can then be loaded into the iStomp via an iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad and a proprietary cable. All effects processing takes…
7. Ampeg Expands Portaflex Series With New Cabinets
Ampeg has unveiled a new pair of bass cabinets in their Portaflex series called the PF-115LF and the PF-410LF. While the series previously had a 1×15? cabinet, the 4×10? is a first for the series. Both of the new cabinets are built with a 15mm poplar ply enclosure, covered in black diamond tolex with a…
8. A Review of Esperanza Spaldingâ??s “Radio Music Society”
Esperanza Spalding shocked many in the music world when she beat out Justin Bieber for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, about thirteen months ago. Bassists everywhere, likely less shocked, celebrated the win by one of our own. This exciting bassist/vocalist has just released her latest record, Radio Music Society, and one which shows…
9. Amp Stands: How to Raise Your Amp without Losing the Bottom?
Q: I recently down-sized my amp from a classic SVT setup 8×10 with a head to a combo amp. Obviously much smaller. I want to raise it off the floor without losing the bottom end because I have used my Ampeg rig exclusively for 20+ years, and I am used to having that stage sound…
10. Tribal Tech Returns with the Release of “X”
It has been over a decade since Tribal Tech released a new album, but thankfully, the quartet is making their return with the release of X, out today. Anchored by bassist Gary Willis, Tribal Tech returns with their line up of guitarist Scott Henderson, keyboardist Scott Kinsey and drummer Kirk Covington, X marks the tenth…
