Archive for September 2011 - Page 8

We’ve seen acoustic bass jams, and we’ve seen piccolo bass jams, but never the combination of the two. Here, bassist Jim Bennett shows off his acoustic Ibanez bass, tuned D A D G, with a hint of Jeff Schmidt and Michael Manring. Jim describes his technique: “It’s kinda like an open hammer pluck, but instead of plucking, you do an...

The world of extended-range basses has taken off over the last few years, and if you’ve ever searched for the term “bass” on YouTube, you’ve likely seen this week’s bass of the week: the Kenneth Lawrence “Joust” 11-string ChamberBrase I, built for Nuclear Rabbit and solo bassist Jean Baudin. A customization of Lawrence’s models, the bass features a chambered North...

Lift Off — Common Sense Guidelines for Lifting and Moving Your Equipment Most of us carry our own gear around. Sometimes we get lucky and use house gear or somebody else’s gear (which isn’t always as good a deal as it may sound). At times, some of us are fortunate enough to have somebody else haul our equipment around for...

This is cool beyond words: Chuck Rainey laying it down on this instrumental reunion remake of Steely Dan’s “Peg”, from Aja. Bonus: Bernard Purdie on drums. This is from the DVD, .

Fuzzrocious Pedals has released the Terrordactyl, a fuzz that feeds into an envelope filter all in one stompbox. The pedal’s three controls include volume, envelope level, and envelope range. For further control, they included an expression pedal output to adjust the envelope’s range on the fly. The Terrordactyl features true bypass and is powered by a “Boss”-style 9 volt adapter....

Q: I’m challenged by my lack of demo material. I figured I would accumulate some good clips along the way and build up a portfolio. However, my networking skills have outpaced my gigging experience (I’m picky). I’ve recently been asked by some high B-list caliber artists for samples. Gulp… I don’t have any so the conversation ends there. I don’t...

Well, maybe “live” is used loosely here since it’s lip-syncing on Soul Train, but there’s no doubt the Brothers Johnson are funkin’ on this episode, originally aired on August 26, 1978. Slap-bass pioneer Louis Johnson can be seen with an early Music Man StingRay, and gets some time to shine at the 2:46 mark.

Donald Harrison has released This is Jazz, his second effort on the Half Note label with master bassist Ron Carter and drummer Billy Cobham. The six-track album is cultivated from a set by the seasoned trio at New York’s Blue Note club. Carter, who is lauded as one of the most recorded bassists in with over 2,500 albums under his...

Meet Michael Modeste, a jazz-turned-metal bassist from Hartford, Connecticut. Michael is our player in the spotlight for September 6, 2011. Bio: I am the bass player in a metal band called Dead by Wednesday. I’m a finger style bass player with a jazz background that somehow fell into the world of heavy metal. I’ve studied privately with John Patitucci and...

Following on from their first two left-field grooving studio albums Matorning and Rudder, the funky band have released a DVD recorded last year in New York. I got the chance to ask the band the rationale behind the release of the DVD. Bassist Tim Lefebvre shares, “Well, we wanted to document the vibe of the month long tour of Europe...

What is your favorite bass line? (or at least one of them) Answer below in the comments, or on our Facebook page.

The double bass quartet known as The Bass Gang is one creative bunch. Here’s a 2007 performance by the bassists, performing Hiroyuki Shinshi’s “rock and roll” take on Beethoven’s Symphony Nr. 9.