Archive for May 2016 - Page 4

Here’s a new lick lesson for you, using a good fingering exercise with a Major Pentatonic scale. This is also great for practicing slides and hammer-ons. The fills are mostly Pentatonic, with added flat 3rd (B?) and flat 7th (F). The backing track is a one chord (G7) vamp, but you can transpose it and use it in many blues...

In April 1974, Rush took the stage at the Laura Secord Secondary School in St. Catharines. Here’s a clip of the band performing “Working Man”, which includes John Rutsey on drums (who was replaced by Neil Peart just a few months later) and Geddy Lee rocking a P-bass. The tape of this concert was found during the making of Rush:...

If you don’t feel like your version of New Order’s Music Complete was actually complete, an extended version of the album has arrived for you as Complete Music. The band says that due to overwhelming demand, it decided to release the extended versions of the tracks, previously only available on a limited edition vinyl box set. Music Complete was New...

Germany’s Rodenberg Custom Amplification has expanded their lineup of effects with the Commander distortion pedal. Apt for bass and guitar, the pedal is described as the logical development following the company’s GAS Overdrive series. “While the GAS-808 is designed for overdrive sounds, the Commander’s home is distortion,” Rodenberg writes on their website. “But you can also dial down to overdrive...

We may have lost Lemmy, but his music will live on. The remaining members of Motörhead are gearing up to release a live album called Clean Your Clock, featuring one of the band’s final performances together at the Zenith in Munich, Germany. This concert, which took place just over a month before Lemmy’s passing, is a testament to the bassist’s...

Hal Leonard’s book, Royal Blood for Guitar and Bass with Tab, provides an insight into how Mike Kerr, bassist/vocalist for the bass/drum duo Royal Blood, creates his sound. His bass setup allows him to use his bass to emulate two guitars, as well as carry its own sound. “Through careful arranging of the riffs and deft switching, he’s able to...

Radial Engineering has introduced the Headlight Pro, a direct box designed for use with multiple instruments on stage. The device has a standard 1/4” input for bass, guitar, mandolin, or fiddle and multiple, switch-able outputs for PA sends. A mute switch allows you to disconnect your bass, connect to your next instrument, and select a new output. “When you are...

The O Bass by Orange Amplification is their first offering in the bass guitar market, aimed at appealing to the retro vibe market. It’s not hard to see the paring of an O Bass and a tube powered bass amp sonically. It’s definitely a rock bassist’s guitar, although you can get a pretty fat full warm tone for R&B styled...

I’ve been on a King Crimson – and Tony Levin – kick lately, which brought me to binge-watching a ton of videos of the band. Here’s a 1984 performance of “Thela Hun Ginjeet”, with Levin’s tremendous bass line for you to enjoy.

Groove metal band DevilDriver has released its seventh studio album, Trust No One. The record was the band’s last with bassist Chris Towning (Bury Your Dead), who played on the group’s previous effort, 2013’s Winter Kills. Diego “Ashes” Ibarra, formerly of Static-X, has stepped in to handle bass duties as DevilDriver tours in support of the new album. The record’s...

Sonic Nuance has introduced the TDI Mk2, a direct box that combines tuner and DI functions. The new pedal retains the signal path from the Mk1 version but has a more accurate and stable tuning section, the company says. At the heart of the TDI is a passive Jensen JT-DBE transformer. The chromatic tuner is phantom powered and fully operational...

Earlier this year we featured the Roks Instruments Futura bass as a bass of the week. It garnered so much interest that we decided to get the inside scoop on the company with luthier Axel Roks. Based in the Netherlands, Roks describes his basses as “tools for musicians created in the twilight zone between craftsmanship and artistry.” One look at...