Weekly Top 10: News from NAMM, Melodic Minor vs. Diminished Scales, Creative Bass Lines and More

The No Treble team is back at our HQ after another NAMM show. Our feet are still recovering, our jet lag is just about over, and the news we compiled is still coming. NAMM news is the theme of the week, but we also shared some great new how-to’s, some videos and more.

Check out this week’s reader favorites. And thanks as always for reading, watching, commenting and sharing.

Melodic Minor vs. Diminished Scales Over Dominant Chords

1. Melodic Minor vs. Diminished Scales Over Dominant Chords

This week, Damian Erskine responds to a reader’s question about melodic minor vs. diminished scales over dominant chords. Check out his in-depth “Ask” column on the subject…

Reverend Guitars Unveils Mike Watt Signature Wattplower Bass

2. Reverend Guitars Unveils Mike Watt Signature Wattplower Bass

Bass legend Mike Watt has teamed up with Reverend Guitars for a special signature bass called the Wattplower. The short-scale bass also features a smaller body and is reminiscent of vintage basses that Watt gravitated towards…

Creative Bass Lines: The Chameleon Variations

3. Creative Bass Lines: The Chameleon Variations

In this lesson, Rufus Philpot takes a pretty classic and fairly easy to play bass part from Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon” and gives you a few examples of how to use that as a springboard for creating other bass lines around that core groove…

Trace Elliot Unveils ELF Micro Bass Amp

4. Trace Elliot Unveils ELF Micro Bass Amp

Trace Elliot is back in a big way in a tiny package. The ELF bass amplifier weighs in at just 1.6 pounds and produces 200 continuous watts RMS at 4 ohms…

Aguilar Amplification Unveils AG 700 Bass Amplifier

5. Aguilar Amplification Unveils AG 700 Bass Amplifier

Aguilar Amplification has announced the expansion of their AG amplifier series with the AG 700. The company describes their latest creation as having the clarity, dynamic range and fast transient response of their AG 500 with a larger low end and headroom. It offers 700 continuous watts at four ohms while weighing just 4.9 pounds…

Bass of the Week: Stradi Symphony Stone Bass

6. Bass of the Week: Stradi Symphony Stone Bass

A lot of times, basses with exotic burl tops look like they are made out of marble. The Stradi Symphony Stone Bass is a step in that direction. In addition to its unique singlecut body shape, this particular bass is built with a cedar body topped with a thin layer of natural stone…

Fender Unveils Limited Edition American Professional Jazz Bass

7. Fender Unveils Limited Edition American Professional Jazz Bass

After introducing the American Professional line in December, Fender has unveiled the Limited Edition Exotic Collection. The series includes the 2017 Limited Edition American Professional Jazz Bass FMT, which combines the features of the Professional model with a figured maple top…

Stuart Clayton: Giants of Bass – Stuart Zender

8. Stuart Clayton: Giants of Bass – Stuart Zender

Stuart Clayton is set to release his new edition of Giants of Bass on March 4th, which is a completely revamped version of his original book. In this video, Stuart offers another preview of what to expect, with a focus on former Jamiroquai bassist Stuart Zender…

Ampeg Introduces Two New Bass Pedals at NAMM

9. Ampeg Introduces Two New Bass Pedals at NAMM

Ampeg launched two new pedals at the Winter NAMM Show this year with the Classic analog bass preamp and Scrambler bass overdrive. The pedals represent either side of Ampeg’s other pedal offering, the SCR-DI, into two smaller focused pedals…

Richard Bona and Raul Midon: Teen Town

10. Richard Bona and Raul Midon: Teen Town

Here’s an incredible fan shot video of Richard Bona and Raul Midon performing Jaco’s “Teen Town” live in Tokyo in 2013. In addition to nailing the tune, Bona and Midon trade some pretty sick solos…

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