Archive for May 2012 - Page 8

Three words that mean a lot to us around here: Victor Wooten and Jam. One of the commenters said it best: “He can groove fast. He can groove slow. Mr. Wooten is the master of flow.” Now, who wants to transcribe this for us?

Hosa Technology has unveiled the CBT-500 Cable Tester, designed to quickly and easily check the integrity of a host of cables. Besides instrument cable support, the CBT-500 can test XLR, Midi, RCA, speakON, DIN, Ethernet, and USB Type A to Type B. The quality of the cable connection is displayed by two rows of 8 LEDs that check individual pins...

Godlyke, Inc. has released the Providence FDR-1 Flame Drive pedal. The first in their new “F” series of pedals, it’s designed to provide everything from “silky overdrive to edgy, overtone-rich distortion.” In addition to Drive, Tone, and Level controls, the FDR-1 Flame Drive has a Bass Boost switch for added low-end punch. Kevin from Godlyke explained that the pedal works...

Q: I recently bought a 6-string bass and started working on playing chords. How should I voice more complex chords (e.g. Gm13) using few (3 to 4) notes, while maintaining the quality of the chord? A: It is important to note a few things when doing this. Much of this is learned by doing it wrong and having someone correct...

Big Sir, the project led by bassist Juan Alderete and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Lisa Papineau, just wrapped up a nice European tour. Lucky for the rest of us who couldn’t make it out, the duo stopped off for a performance at SSR Studios in Manchester for the online show Sessions 65, who made a few nice videos of their performance. “Old Blood”...

Double bassists know that with most upright bass pickups, you don’t get a volume control unless you mount a full preamp on your bass. As a solution to that, Ned Steinberger and David Gage teamed up to create the Realist Docking Station, a “no fuss dock and volume knob” that works with any double bass pickup. The device mounts onto...

Meet the bassist known as Punk Pappa, who also works as a producer, songwriter, arranger and (gulp) sometimes guitarist and says he’s from Funkville, UK. Punk is our player in the spotlight for the week of May 8, 2012. Bio: I’m a Session Bass Player, Guitarist, Songwriter, MOBO Award Winner and Artist, with a variety of musical credits. A few...

As part of their new line this year, Warwick has introduced the Artist Series Steve Bailey bass. Available in 4-, 5- and 6-string versions, the bass shares many of the specs of his Signature Series bass and is based on Warwick’s Streamer bass, with modifications to improve access to the upper register of the neck. The bass is built with...

So often at NAMM, the demos are all about chops… pure chops. But when Tal Wilkenfeld and Steve Ferrone took the stage at the EBS booth during the Winter 2012 NAMM show, it was clearly all about the music.

After working together for nearly 50 years, pianist Steve Kuhn and bassist Steve Swallow have teamed up once again for Wisteria, an 11-track collection, rounded out by drummer Joey Baron. The album’s title is taken from the name of a song by Art Farmer, whom Kuhn and Swallow both worked for in the ’60s. On Wisteria, Swallow’s rich electric bass...

Michael Kelly has unveiled the Sojourn 4 Travel Bass, a compact acoustic bass guitar with a 24.5? scale. Featuring a solid Englemann Spruce top, the company says the bass has a big sound for such a little bass. The Sojourn 4 comes equipped with a B-Band 22R UST (under saddle transducer) and B-Band A1.2 preamp, which provides superior frequency response...

One very enlightening way to prepare for an audition or performance is to record yourself prior stepping on the stage, or into the audition room. Expensive equipment is not required to gain benefit from recording yourself. Although better recording equipment means you can listen back in greater detail, the fact is that free recording software and the microphones on most...