Archive for 2012 - Page 69

Overture Guitars has made a pretty rad signature bass for Timothy Gaines of Stryper. The “TG” Stronghold sports a poplar body with a Yellow Relic paint scheme hand-painted by artist Tim Beck. As each is done individually, every bass has a little different paint scheme and is unique to itself. The bass’s maple neck is topped with a unique 7-piece...

This week’s column comes thanks to a question from Maria G. Maria asks: I’m a pretty new player, but I’m not happy with my upright bass strings. I know I need something different, but there are so many different kinds of strings out there I don’t know where to start. They are also expensive (!) so I can’t really experiment...

How cool is this? Bassist (and No Treble columnist) Damian Erskine joins his uncle, drummer Peter Erskine, in a live performance with the Jaco Pastorius Big Band. This performance was part of Jaco’s 60th birthday celebration and took place last November in Kawasaki, Japan. Damian kills it!

The week starts out right when you start with an all-bass top 10 list. Here are the most read stories and most watched videos from No Treble for the week of May 13-19, 2012. Thanks for reading! 1. Fender Jazz Bass: The Movie G.A.S. alert! Davey4557?s Leo Fender and the History of the Electric Bass video is one of the...

Stomp Under Foot has unveiled the Dirty Rooster, a new pedal inspired by the Jumbo Tonebender. Designed for both bass and guitar, the straight-ahead pedal has Volume, Sustain, and Tone controls for dialing in your sound. “The gain borders on smooth but leans a bit more to a gritty sound and it has a full low end that is well...

Rock group Van Halen has postponed all their tour dates following their June 26th concert in New Orleans, making a total of 31 performances to be rescheduled. Now anchored by bassist Wolfgang Van Halen, the band hasn’t released an official statement, though the insider website Van Halen News Desk has dismissed rumors of band feuding by stating the group is...

The guys from Rush are so cool. In addition to their amazing musicianship, they’re really funny. And pretty good actors. This of course comes from the band’s Time Machine 2011 – Live in Cleveland DVD. We may be partial, but we like Geddy Lee’s character best.

Bassist John Carey has released his newest solo effort, Oh So Funky, an album full of music by The Meters. Summoning the spirit of George Porter’s playing, Carey recruited a top-notch band for the project including drummer Anton Fig, guitarist Oz Noy, and Andy Narell on steelpans, who fills the original role of organ. Late Show bassist Will Lee also...

Carl Martin has unveiled their new Bass Drive pedal, which the company says has been in the works for several years. Built in Denmark, the pedal employs a 12AX7 in the circuit for classic tube tone growl as well as fatness and extra sustain. Besides the Level and Gain controls, the Bass Drive has a 3-band EQ for dialing in...

Jazz/rock supergroup Return to Forever is releasing a 3-disc set of music culled from over 200 performances from last year’s world tour. The group, originally formed in the early ’70s had reunions in 1983 and 2008, before a new line-up joined together in 2010. That line-up – including existing RTF members Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White – joined...

Bassist Tom Pesch shared several videos he’s put together, playing along to Rush tunes with his basses to match. Here’s Tom playing “Hemispheres” on his Rickenbacker 4001. Well done.

Prog rock supergroup Flying Colors is gearing up for a European tour this fall, in support of the band’s debut album, released in March. Formed by ex-Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, Flying Colors is anchored by bassist Dave LaRue, and features Neal Morse on keys and vocals, Casey McPherson on lead vocals and guitar, and Steve Morse on lead guitar....