Archive for November 2010 - Page 4

Hoyer Guitars has released a reissue of their classic Hoyer Eagle Prestige Bass, featuring many of the same characteristics of the original 1970’s model including a neck-through-body construction, Eagle-typical headstock, Eagle-shaped inlays, and a burr walnut top. The bass has a 33.5” scale, with an ebony fingerboard and 20 medium jumbo frets. The bass’s pickups are Hoyer custom HHB-106 humbuckers....

Q: I have a hard time not sounding stiff when focusing on my time. Any suggestions? A: I’ve been noticing this phenomenon lately, especially with students who are working on various cello suites. There’s a tendency to try and play the piece metronomically as opposed to musically. Remember that, while we are expected to have good time, we are also...

Long before he joined the ranks of Mars Volta, Juan Alderete was the metalhead bassist in Racer X, with guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert. This song, Scarified, is proof of Alderete’s own virtuosity. Check out the solo licks and the unison tapping. It’ll melt your face.

A new biography on former Beatles bassist Paul McCartney, penned by Howard Sounes, has just been released by Da Capo Press. Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney offers an extremely detailed look at the bassist’s life, from childhood to fame with the Fab Four, post-Beatles career and up through modern day. The 656-page book includes more than 200 interviews...

Meet Andrea Morse, a bassist from St Louis, Missouri, and our player in the spotlight for November 16, 2010. Bio: I grew up in NYC and have lived up and down the east coast before coming to St. Louis in 2003. My musical study began with drums at age 10 before spending time with guitar and violin before finding the...

There are a number of variables to consider in the search for your ideal tone. To date, we have discussed options relative to amplification. Key among the variables that impact bass tone is pickups thus this column concentrates on pickups. While there are many things that contribute to the timbre and tone of your bass (tone woods, strings, etc), pickups...

Melvin Lee Davis grooves hard behind Chaka Khan in this live performance in 1996 during “Sinbad’s Summer Jam.” The group performs a medley of “Tell Me Something Good” and “I’m Every Woman”. Does it get any better?

Jazz bassist Boris Kozlov has released a new solo bass CD, Double Standard, featuring a mix of originals and jazz standards. The entire album is made of single-take, solo bass tracks with the exception of “RGB/Self Portrait in 3 Colors,” which has the bassist layering arco tracks on the Charles Mingus ballad. That track is especially poignant since the entire...

Bunny Brunel has released his latest instructional DVD, this time focusing on slap bass. Slap Bass, a 50-minute, region-free DVD, includes basic slapping technique, popping and hammer-ons, and other tricks to enhance a player’s slap technique. A variety of exercises are demonstrated as well. Here’s a preview: Slap Bass is available on Brunel’s store as well as Amazon.

When improvising, we are freest when we have deeply internalized a song on multiple levels. Before we can improvise the “solo to end all solos,” however, we must have fully assimilated the tune. The fewer rudimentary thoughts we must hold in our mind (such as: what scale goes with this chord?, what fingering can I easily execute? what does F#...

Marcus Miller shared this video of Larry Graham a while back. Not much more needs to be said, does it?

Here are the most read, most popular stories and features on No Treble for the week of November 7-13, 2010. Top 10: The Best Bass Gear (October 2010) News: Elvis Bassist Bill Black’s 1960 Fender Precision Up For Auction Video: Stanley Clarke: School Days (1990) Player News: Bootsy Collins Dives Into The World Of Fine Art Player News: Flea Joins...