Archive for 2012 - Page 21

Someone recently shared this video with me of the Travis Larson Band. I wasn’t familiar with them (hey, I don’t follow guitarists all that much). But bassist Jennifer Young really impressed me on this one. Sporting her Blue Dawn MusicMan Sterling bass, she does it all – doubling the lines, playing chords, and laying down a mean solo complete with...

Duran Duran bassist John Taylor’s new autobiography In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death, and Duran Duran is now available in the U.S. The 304-page book details Taylor’s life from his shy childhood to pop stardom with all the trials and tribulations in between. Born Nigel John Taylor, the bassist formed Duran Duran with friend Nick Rhodes in Birmingham during the...

Time for another top ten list of awesome bass covers. As we’ve said before, we love love love all-bass arrangements of cover tunes, and we love that our instrument of choice is that versatile (and the versatility of those who play it). This time around, we have two by Adam Stevens (yeah, he’s that good), and two versions of The...

Voodoo Lab has introduced the Pedal Power 4×4, a new power supply to offers eight independent, filtered and regulated output sections. The box takes gets its name from having four high-current capable outputs that handle modern DSP-based effects as well as four standard 100mA outputs. All of the outputs are compatible with 9-volt battery operated pedals while two of them...

Check out this awesome solo bass performance by Anthony Crawford. Recorded while on tour with Allan Holdsworth and Virgil Donati in Opole, Poland, Crawford takes the crowd for a ride with his tune “What” from his album Urban Jazz.

Dethklok are back with Dethalbum III, a 12-track album full of melodic death metal from the second, third, and fourth seasons of the virtual band’s show Metalocalypse. While animated bassist William Murderface may be the part of the face of the group, the new album features the low-end work of Bryan Beller, who has been a part of the band’s...

Gibson is reviving another model from their past catalog with the new Thunderbird Studio Non-Reverse Bass. First introduced in 1965, the Non-Reverse flips the body shape of the original Thunderbird for a more traditional, albeit asymmetrical body style. Gibson kept the design identical while fitting the new version with upgraded hardware and pickups. The Thunderbird Non-Reverse is built with a...

This time around, I have two lessons in one for you to try out. The first part touches on the concept of practicing with a metronome. In this example, the metronome is counting on beats two and four. To make this fun, the other part focuses around a sort of offbeat, Larry Graham-style rhythm. We tie it all together –...

Check out this awesome version of the Beatles’ “Get Back” performed by Eric Krasno & Chapter 2 during their gig at The Iridium. Bassist Chris Loftlin is having so much fun, you can’t help but smile at his bubbling groove and funky moves. He gets a solo at the two minute mark that’ll make you jump out of your seat.

Stone Sour guitarist Josh Rand recently announced on the band’s Facebook page that Cavalera Conspiracy bassist Johny Chow will be joining them on their upcoming tour. “I am pleased to announce that Johny Chow will be playing bass guitar with Stone Sour on the House of Gold and Bones Parts 1 & 2 tour cycle,” Rand said. “Johny is a...

Fretted and fretless models respectively, the Pedulla MVP and Buzz are the flagship basses based on the design that first brought luthier Michael Pedulla to prominence. The unique body shape and fresh approach to ergonomics set them apart from standard designs. The bass starts with a three-piece laminated maple neck that’s reinforced with a double-acting truss rod and two steel...

Stew McKinsey is a bassist with an affinity for extended range instruments. It wasn’t long after getting into the 4-string that he was introduced to a 5-string, then a 6-string, and so on. His current arsenal includes a 10-string Conklin Sidewinder. While that may seem extreme, McKinsey is quick to point out his efforts are to be a musician first....