Weekly Top 10: New Bass Gear, Teaching (and Learning) Chords, One Finger Per Fret Lesson, Top Bass Videos and More
Another week ends, which means it is time to look back at the reader favorites here on No Treble. These are the top 10 stories, lessons, videos and more – as viewed by you.
Thanks as always for reading, watching, commenting and sharing.
1. EMG Introduces Solderless J System Pickups
Swapping out your Jazz Bass pickups has just gotten a little easier. EMG’s new J System is a completely solderless setup that includes everything you need to drop a new set of their J pickups into your bass…
2. Teaching (and Learning) Chords on the Bass
In this week’s “Ask” column, Damian Erskine responds to a reader asking about teaching chords to his bass students. Damian shares some thoughts, which are both helpful to teaching and learning…
3. Hartke Introduces TX600 Lightweight Bass Amp
Hartke turned some heads when they unveiled the TX600 at this year’s Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. The 600-watt bass amp is the company’s first lightweight Class D amp, weighing in at a mere 7 pounds…
4. Bass of the Week: Roks Instruments Futura
This week we’re taking a look at the Futura from Roks Instruments out of The Netherlands. Luthier Axel Roks, who created the bass as part of Dutch Design Week, uses the human body as a large influence on his creations…
5. Federico Malaman: I Love You, Giant
Federico Malaman sent me this video to share. “This is a song of mine, dedicated to the great Jaco Pastorius!” he said. “I composed it after watching the Jaco film. Hope you like it.” We loved it. We think you will too…
6. Talking Technique: One Finger Per Fret In The Lower Register
The lower frets on the bass are arguably the ones we use the most, but they’re also the largest frets. That makes it difficult for us to apply our “one finger per fret” rule in the lower register. So how can we overcome this physical obstacle? Ariane Cap shows us the way…
7. Dunlop Introduces Mini Bass Wah and Volume Pedals
If you’ve been skeptical to add a wah or volume pedal to your pedalboard because of the space it takes up, Dunlop may have you covered. They unveiled a pair of new Mini pedals at the NAMM Show this year including the CBM105Q Cry Baby Mini Bass Wah and the Volume X Mini…
Thirty-five years ago, Rush released Moving Pictures. Today, I feel old. The band shared this milestone along with this video of their “R40” performance of “Red Barchetta”…
9. Evan Brewer: “Cause For Concern” Bass Playthrough
Evan Brewer has released a bass playthrough for his song “Cause for Concern”, and it’s something you should be sitting down for. The track, which is featured on his album Your Itinerary, utilizes extended techniques to create a swirling sonic atmosphere…
10. Dunlop Introduces Flatwound Bass Strings
Dunlop went old school at NAMM this year by introducing a new set of flatwound strings. The Dunlop Flatwound Strings are designed to give the tone of classic rock, funk, and R&B recordings while providing a more modern feel…
