Archive for August 2012 - Page 2

In 1978, Patrice Vigier set out to become an independent luthier of guitars and basses, and Vigier Guitars was born. Thirty-four years later, the Vigier is still going strong. We got our hands on the company’s Arpege IV bass, and took it for a test drive. The Arpege IV is a lovely sounding four string bass and will easily handle...

Facebook friend Alex Kalicinski sent us this great clip of UK bassist Damien Langkamer working out a groove and some solo ideas. Dig that tone! For the gear heads out there, Damien is playing a Roscoe SKB3005 bass.

Alfred Music Publishing has just published Rush: Clockwork Angels for both bass and guitar, as part of their Authentic Bass TAB series. The 108 page book includes the tab for all of Geddy Lee’s bass lines from the Clockwork Angels – the album released in June of this year, as well as complete lyrics and full color artwork (view sample...

Fuzzrocious has just introduced the Heliotropic, a new pedal that combines a modified big muff circuit and preamp. The new stompbox was inspired by a song of the same name by the band Failure. “Failure coaxed some amazing and unique sounds out of their instruments,” Fuzzrocious builder Ryan Ratajski stated. “I have been chasing those tones ever since I started...

I’ve written in the past about the importance of scale work to solidify instrumental technique (see the Lowdown archives for those columns and more). If we are new to learning a particular scale it is probably wise to start by playing from root to root (e.g. C-C in C major) until we are comfortable. This may prove helpful at first,...

Earlier this year, Marcus Miller and his band took part in the Thanks Jimi Festival in Wroclaw, Poland. Here’s one of the best fan-shot videos I’ve ever seen, capturing the band in their performance of WAR’s 1971 tune, “Slippin’ Into Darkness”. And it is awesome. This tune made it to Marcus’ recent release, Renaissance (read our review).

1. Schecter Unveils Sean Yseult Signature Casket Bass Sean Yseult now has her own signature casket bass from Schecter Guitars. The new coffin-shaped axe is based on the bass she designed for White Zombie’s AstroCreep tour in 1994, which led up to the release of AstroCreep: 2000. The bass features a mahogany body and 3-piece mahogany neck with an ebony...

Kings of Leon may be taking a break, but that’s not stopping bassist Jared Followill. Followill has launched Smoke & Jackal, a new band with Mona front-man Nick Brown. “Coming together just worked,” Followill said. “I think it’s because we took such an easy approach to it, we didn’t bring any egos to it. We just talked about each other’s...

Cuban bassist Charles Flores has passed away, after a two year battle with cancer. Flores’ career included work with a host of Latin and jazz superstars including Michel Camilo, with whom he had played with since joining the pianist’s trio in 2002. It was with Camilo that Flores won a Grammy for the album Live at the Blue Note. “It...

Here’s bassist Mattia La Maida, performing a Brian Bromberg-inspired solo bass version of the Beatles’ “Come Together”, which of course features Paul McCartney’s highly recognizable bass line. And in case that’s not enough bassists mentioned, a photo of Jaco Pastorius also makes a cameo appearance. And in case all of that is not distracting enough, Mattia has a pretty sweet...

We’re huge fans of the combo of bassist Evan Marien and drummer Dana Hawkins, and it is clear that No Treble readers agree. Here’s the duo with one of their most recent videos, performing the tune “Flashes”.

Reggae masters Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare have done it again with New Legend – Jamaica 50th Edition, a new album of 10 original tracks celebrating Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of independence. The drum and bass duo are joined by a new band called the Jam Masters, which is filled out by guitarist Earl “Chinna” Smith, keyboardist Robbie Lyn and vocalist...