Weekly Top 10: New Gear, Constructing Bass Lines, What Makes a Great Bassist Discussion, Top Videos and More
1. Schecter Unveils Sean Yseult Signature Casket Bass
Sean Yseult now has her own signature casket bass from Schecter Guitars. The new coffin-shaped axe is based on the bass she designed for White Zombie’s AstroCreep tour in 1994, which led up to the release of AstroCreep: 2000. The bass features a mahogany body and 3-piece mahogany neck with an ebony fretboard…
2. What Makes a Great Bassist? Part 1: Playing For The Song
It’s easy to get wrapped up in the “hows” of bass playing: scales, chords, arpeggios, slapping, tapping, harmonics… Maybe you’re working on getting that one awesome lick just right so you can use it someday. With so much information to digest, sometimes it’s best to take a step back and remember what it is we’re actually working toward…
3. Bass Line Construction: Rhythm and Repeating Patterns
Let’s take a look at some of the fundamentals in bass line construction. In this lesson, we’ll improvise on some funk in the key of C…
4. Franck Hermanny: The Quickening
Bassist Franck Hermanny‘s demo videos are legendary. Here’s Franck tapping, finger picking, chording, soloing, playing fretless – all in one video. Wow.
5. Bass of the Week: Bassline Worp
In experimenting with neck designs, German luthier Rüdiger Ziesemann was looking for a way to improve sustain in his Bassline brand designs. He came up with a radical neck profile with extended mass and a groove on the back for your thumb. The concept was first introduced into his electric upright model called the “Universal”…
6. Getting Started with the Nashville Number System
This week’s reader question: I am classically trained, so I’m used to Roman numerals to designate chords (I, IV, V7, etc.). I have become aware of lead sheets using numbers 1, 4, 5′ 1/5). Are you aware of any music I could download that uses this system? Damian breaks down the Nashville Number system…
It has been a while since we featured bassist Trip Wamsley, which is not good. Recorded almost four years ago to the day, here’s Trip performing a house concert, playing a fretless bass in such a unique way… looping, laying it down and soloing – all while keeping it very musical.
8. Sonuus Set to Ship Wahoo Dual Analog Filter Pedal
Sonuus is now accepting pre-orders for The Wahoo, a dual analog filter stomp box. The pedal, which was introduced at Winter NAMM 2012, allows for each filter to be configured as low-pass or band-pass and independently in wah, envelope, LFO, and pitch-tracking modes…
9. Alberto Rigoni: Funky Metal Bass Riff
Alberto Rigoni is gearing up for the release of his upcoming album, Three Wise Monkeys with a few teaser videos. Here’s a clip of a funky metal bass riff from the song “Free Falling”. Rigoni’s group also includes vocalist Jonas Erixon, drummer Mark Cross and guitarist Simone Mularoni.
10. Kauer Guitars Introduces Daylighter Bass
California-based Kauer Guitars has introduced the Daylighter Bass, modeled after their popular series of guitars by the same name. With several feature options, the company says the bass can cover ground from “classic Motown vibe straight through the most aggressive modern bass tones.”
