Archive for 2012 - Page 11

As part of the band’s 50th anniversary celebration this year, the Rolling Stones have released a mega compilation, Grrr!. The set spans the group’s five decades together, starting with their first single – a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Come On,” – released in 1963. Two new tracks, “Doom and Gloom” and “One More Shot”, recorded in August of this year,...

If you’ve met Jack Casady, you’d know that the Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna bassist is particular about his gear. He’s always tweaked his basses, pickups, and amps to get just what he wanted, so it’s no surprise that he had a large role in designing his own signature bass with Epiphone. “It’s based off of the Les Paul bass that was...

Chuck Rainey has been dealt another tragedy just 12 months after suffering a stroke, as the 72-year old bassist and family have lost their home to a fire on November 15th. Luckily, the Rainey family is unharmed, but the local fired department described the amount of loss as “quite a lot.” The family has set up a Facebook page to...

Aguilar has followed up their hum-canceling J-pickups with the AG 4P/J-HC Precision/Jazz Bass Pickup Set, which combines their 4P-60 and 4J-HC pickups. Wound in Aguilar’s New York City factory, the set is a direct replacement for 4-string Fender P-Bass and Jazz bridge pickups. The company describes the set as “well-balanced with a flexible array of tones.” As with the 4J-HC...

Let’s face it, we usually don’t enjoy picking up the phone and finding out that our gig is canceled. Hearing the news via email or text doesn’t make it any better, especially if it’s short notice. On one hand, the middle-schooler in us delights in the fact that we can stay home in our PJ’s, watch movies and maybe even...

Here’s a recent video by bassist Simon Fitzpatrick, this time showing off his incredible solo bass arranging and playing skills with an all-bass cover of Radiohead’s “Karma Police”. Simon is playing his 6-string GB Spitfire bass. Awesomeness.

Progressive rock outfit Porcupine Tree has released Octane Twisted, a new live release taken from performances during their world tour for The Incident in 2010. The double disc set is anchored by bassist Colin Edwin, who’s jazz sensibilities come out in his playing. “Most of the tracks were recorded live at the Riviera in Chicago on April 30th 2010,” he...

Q: As bass players, we often find ourselves in situations where we do a job for others, be it taking the bass chair in a singer’s project, subbing in a band, teaching, giving workshops, etc. I often find it difficult to get appropriate feedback for my job. I like it when people are happy with my work, and I also...

You don’t hear a lot of fretless in death metal (save for Steve DiGiorgio and Jeroen Paul Thesseling). So it’s cool to hear the instrument add a new element to a genre. A good example is the band Beyond Creation, featuring bassist Dominic “Forest” Lapointe on six-string fretless. Check out this music video for the song “Omnipresent Perception”, in which...

On December 10, 2007, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin reunited for the first time since in 27 years. The concert, which served as a memoriam to friend and Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, is now available as a DVD/CD set called Celebration Day. The band’s lineup features its surviving members – singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, and bassist...

Meet Kody Audette, a bass player from Albuquerque, NM who loves the bass as much as we do, and is as diverse a bassist as they come. He has a pretty impressive sounding day gig too. Kody is our player in the spotlight for the week of November 20, 2012. Bio: I play everything from classical music to blues to...

Electro-Harmonix has unveiled their latest bass specific pedal with the Deluxe Bass Big Muff Pi. Building on its predecessor, the Deluxe has the same Volume, Tone, and Sustain controls, but adds a -10dB input pad, a Blend knob and a noise gate. Another new feature is a foot-switchable crossover section that’s split into two parts: a low pass filter on...