Archive for 2012 - Page 37

Q: I will soon be filling in on a gig with no rehearsals or charts. I’m a little freaked out. They said we’d get a few minutes during sound check to run through a tune or two, but how can I expect to play well when I can’t really prepare? A: I feel your pain, friend! In the scenario you...

Who doesn’t like a good viral video? Korean rapper PSY scored it big with his latest hit “Gangnam Style,” which has reached over 67 million views on YouTube. The zany and infectious tune inspired Xander Myers to make a slightly funkier version with his own bass line. Check it out!

Motorhead’s thirty-five or so year run has been chronicled by the band’s official biographer, Alan Burridge (aka “Professor Motorhead”), in a new book entitled Motorhead: Live To Win. Live To Win begins with Motorhead’s humble beginnings, with all the struggles and hardships – personal, professional and financial. Founder and bassist/vocalist Lemmy Kilmister stood alone in his conviction that this band...

Meet Kayhan Golkar, a bass player from San Francisco who makes his living playing music (mostly), and performs with a band he says is “equal parts rock, western, surf and world music”. Kayhan is our player in the spotlight for the week of August 28, 2012. Bio: I’m Kayhan Golkar, a Bay Area native. I picked up the bass 10...

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...