Archive for 2011 - Page 58

Meet Emily Madison (aka “Goldilocks”), a bassist from Kansas City, MO and our player in the spotlight for July 5, 2011. Bio: I grew up in Lincoln, NE, always loved music of any kind as my parents and older brothers were very into music from Motown, to Classical, Jazz and Punk and anything else. I started playing piano and violin...

Esteban St. James of Von Saint Design sent us his third installment of a 4-part series on vintage Ampeg SVT gear. Here, Esteban walks through the things to look for when purchasing the classic equipment, including the tubes, transformers, and tech work performed on it. For info on understanding the vintage SVT sound and dating your gear, check out the...

Did you attend a music school? Answer below in the comments, or on our Facebook page.

Artie Rodriguez shared this video with us, saying “Amazing technique AND killer groove.” This is Linley Marthe doing his thing at Bass Day 2007. Alexey Samarin is on keys, Vartan Babayan on percussion and Petr Ivshin on drums.

HeadCat, featuring Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister, Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom and guitarist Danny B. Harvey, has released a new album entitled Walk the Walk… Talk the Talk. The 12-track album includes rockabilly and blues classics that the group explains is “how Rock and Roll is supposed to sound.” The rockabilly supergroup formed after each of the members contributed...

Bootsy Collins’ Funk University has begun it’s second year of classes. The online funk school’s faculty for this year includes Ron Carter, Verdine White, Jack Bruce, Hansford Rowe, Stanley Clarke, Larry Graham, Jani Hendrix and more. The program, which costs $29.99 a month, includes access to on-demand video lessons, tutorials and lectures on playing and the music business as a...

I have trouble memorizing. Do you have any suggestions? —–Gina D. In general, if we have played a piece enough times, we often find we have memorized it without trying. However, some pieces (and styles of music) are more difficult to memorize than others and may require special attention. Also, on occasion, we may also find that we don’t have...

Nate Watts really lays down the groove on this live performance with Stevie Wonder. This is from a French TV show in the mid-90’s.

Here are the most read, most popular stories and features on No Treble for the week of June 26 – July 2, 2011. 1. Dirty Loops: Just Dance Facebook friend Helge Rudolph shares this video with us, featuring the group Dirty Loops performing a cover of Lady GaGa’s “Just Dance”. Bassist Henrik Linder helps make this tune so much better....

Bass amp innovator and former Ampeg Vice President Jess Oliver has passed away at the age of 85. Among his many contributions to the bass world was the Ampeg B-15, a portable flip-top design that revolutionized bass amplification. Born Oliver Jespersen in 1926, Oliver was drafted into World War II in 1944 and played bass in the Army band after...

Ruppert Musical Instruments dubs their Basswitch IQ DI the “Swiss Army Knife for Bass Players”, and I have to agree. The device is just now available in the U.S. The device indeed is many things in one: A/B box: Allows you to have to instruments plugged in for fast switching on stage Clean Boost: Engage the EQ with a separate...

Traynor has released their newest bass head, the YBA300. The YBA300 is an 300-watt, all-tube amp designed for touring bassists. The amp features rear panel tube bias adjustments with an LED display to aid in fine-tuning the power tubes. The LEDs on the rear show proper tube function and status. If a tube fails during a performance, the YBA300 will...