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Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 370


Ron Blair: Recording The Bass on Tom Petty’s “American Girl”
Bass Videos

Ron Blair: Recording The Bass on Tom Petty’s “American Girl”

Ever since Tom Petty passed away, I’ve been watching tons of his videos on YouTube. There are tons of great performances, but this Reverb.com interview with Heartbreakers bassist Ron Blair stuck out. Blair talks about how they figured out the melodic bass line to “American Girl” from the band’s self-titled debut. “[I started] to play all these things up high,...

11-String Bassist Jean Baudin Releases Third Solo Album, “2600”
New Albums

11-String Bassist Jean Baudin Releases Third Solo Album, “2600”

Extended range bassist Jean Baudin has released his third solo bass album, entitled 2600. The bassist recorded the entire 27-track album using only his 11-string Kenneth Lawrence bass and a pedalboard. “Having recorded my previous two solo ‘bass’ albums with a strict set of boundaries (no overdubs or edits), I wanted to try something different for my third album,” Baudin...

Suhr Introduces the Alexa Chorus/Vibrato Pedal
Pedals & Effects

Suhr Introduces the Alexa Chorus/Vibrato Pedal

Suhr has announced the Alexa, a multi-wave dual channel analog chorus and vibrato pedal. The flexible unit can be used with bass, guitar, or keyboard. Featuring an all-analog signal path, the Alexa offers six selectable waveforms with independent Speed, Depth & Delay controls for each channel. It also has an assignable chorus/vibrato switch for Channel A. Other features include Selectable...

First Fragment: Le Serment de Tsion
Bass Videos

First Fragment: Le Serment de Tsion

First Fragment, featuring bass monster Dominic “Forest” Lapointe, has just released a new music video for their song “Le Serment de Tsion”, and it’s brutal. Lapointe kills it with a biting tone and insane chops to add extra fire to the track.

Dwarfcraft Devices Unveils The Grazer Pedal
Pedals & Effects

Dwarfcraft Devices Unveils The Grazer Pedal

Dwarfcraft Devices has expanded their effect lineup with the Grazer, which they describe as a granular repeater and glitch machine. “[It] builds sounds by continuously taking tiny samples from the input audio,” they explain. “The sounds range from off-kilter echoes to curious “buffer overload” skips, all the way up to harsh machine glitches.” The Grazer has a Size knob to...

Mastodon Releases “Cold Dark Place” EP
New Albums

Mastodon Releases “Cold Dark Place” EP

Hot on the heels of Emperor of Sand, Mastodon has returned with a new EP entitled Cold Dark Place. Anchored by bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, the four-song album is compiled from previously unreleased tracks. Three of the four songs are from the album were recorded during the sessions for 2014’s Once More ’Round the Sun while the fourth track, “To to...

D’Addario Introduces Bass Tool Kit
Accessories & Strings

D’Addario Introduces Bass Tool Kit

Bassists looking to take care of their own instrument have a new set of tools to choose from. The D’Addario Bass Maintenance Kit includes a set of tools and cleaning equipment to keep your bass in shape. The case itself contains individual component compartments with pockets for extra strings and a magnet to hold loose screws, nuts, or washers. Inside...

Bass of the Week: Crom Custom Shop Romantic Warrior
Bass of the Week

Bass of the Week: Crom Custom Shop Romantic Warrior

Matias Crom sent us photos of his Romantic Warrior model, and I dropped everything I was doing. The 34-year-old, Italian-Argentinian luthier has been making baroque instruments like lutes and viols for the past 10 years, but he started making basses when he was 18 after hearing Primus. His unique influences are melded together in the bass, which features a beautifully...

Etienne M’Bappe Anchors New John McLaughlin Live Album
New Albums

Etienne M’Bappe Anchors New John McLaughlin Live Album

In March of 2017, John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension played two nights of sold-out shows at the world-renowned London jazz club Ronnie Scott’s. It was a special occasion for McLaughlin, whose history with the club goes as far back as the 1960’s when he was a member of the house band. He and his band performed works from early...

Prophets Of Rage, Featuring Tim Commerford, Releases Debut Album
New Albums

Prophets Of Rage, Featuring Tim Commerford, Releases Debut Album

Last year, fans of heavy music that grooves were elated at the formation of Prophets of Rage. The rap-rock supergroup includes three members of Rage Against the Machine (guitarist Tom Morello, drummer Brad Wilks, and bassist Tim Commerford), two members of Public Enemy (DJ Lord and Chuck D), and one member of Cypress Hill (B-Real). Created in reaction to the...

The Foo Fighters Return with “Concrete And Gold”
New Albums

The Foo Fighters Return with “Concrete And Gold”

The Foo Fighters are back with their ninth studio album, Concrete and Gold. The album features an eclectic array of styles that came to leader Dave Grohl in a burst of inspiration, standing in stark contrast to 2014’s Sonic Highways. Bassist Nate Mendel holds it all together, no matter the writing arrangements. “It’s really been pretty consistent over the years,”...

Rob van den Broek Dives Deep in “The Gibson Bass Book”
News

Rob van den Broek Dives Deep in “The Gibson Bass Book”

Rob van den Broek is a bassist and a luthier. He’s also a huge fan of Gibson’s basses, which led him to publish The Gibson Bass Book. The 180-page book documents over 80 Gibson basses and 70 Epiphone basses with more than 400 pictures. The story begins in the late 1930’s with the company’s first upright electric bass before jumping...