Archive for February 2013 - Page 7

As 3D printing becomes a more accessible means of creation, it seems that imagination is our only limit. ODD Guitars realized this and put the technology to use in instruments. “3D printing allows designs to be manufactured that could not be manufactured through traditional means,” the company writes on their website. “The 3D Printing technology used in ODD guitars is...

If you are really serious about improving your bass playing, at some point you are going to realize that you need to have a solid practice plan in place. Merely working on a random variety of exercises or picking up your bass arbitrarily between performances will not put you on the fast track to solid and consistent progress. The Importance...

Alex Bershadsky is working on a new album and sent us this track as a sneak peek of what’s to come. The bassist teamed up with drummer extraordinaire Dennis Chambers to make a duet of the famous Eddie Harris tune “Freedom Jazz Dance.” The duo lock in tight as Bershadsky ornaments the funky melody with some incredible right hand technique....

Drummer Terri Lyne Carrington has good taste in bassists, and her new album Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue is more evidence of that as she recruited Christian McBride to lay down the low end. The effort pays homage to the classic Duke Ellington album Money Jungle, which featured bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach, on its 50th anniversary. “I...

Warwick has entered the lightweight amp market with the new LWA 1000, a six pound bass amp rated at 1,000 watts at 4 ohms. Featuring a Class A preamp and Class D power amp section, the LWA 1000 has two identical channels with individual mutes, 4-band EQs, built-in compressors, and gain controls. Connectivity on the amp includes an auxiliary input,...

Q: What’s the best way to smoothen up my playing? I notice that a lot of bass players play like the strings are made of wool. I play a basic 4-string Cort G-series model, but I always get the feeling the strings are way to hard/high to play smoothly, or when I lower them, they make a lousy sound because...

If you’re familiar with Nick Schendzielos, you may know that the following video is full of insane bass playing and quirky antics. This one is no exception. After a heartfelt (albeit completely fictionalized) tale of clown abuse, Schendzielos breaks into a strumming groove topped with an ear-catching, circus-inspired, overdriven melody. Cephalic Carnage bandmate Brian Hopp makes a cameo with an...

Zoom unveiled the MultiStomp MS-60B at NAMM this year. The stompbox features over fifty types of effects and six amp models in a standard-sized pedal. The MS-60B comes with 30 preset patches with room to create up to 50 original patches, and players can switch through different patches using a unique toggle footswitch and cursor keys. It allows for using...

Meet Florian Imbaud, a bassist now living in the UK while studying music and performing. Check out his story about switching to bass, and how he came full circle, in a way. Florian is our player in the spotlight for the week of February 4, 2013. Bio: I’am a French born bass player who decided two years ago to move...

Here’s a great exercise aimed at expanding your fretboard knowledge. For this lesson, we’re going to use the five positions of the A minor / C Major pentatonic scale. The pentatonic scale contains five notes, of course, and you can play this from different positions. Learning these patterns will significantly increase your fretboard knowledge. Here’s how it breaks down, taking...

Here’s a fun video sent to us by bassist Dave Delgado, who rocks out his P-bass during this live session with pianist Andrew Balkwill on the tune “Let Go”. And Delgado grooves hard. He revealed to us that he used “muted plectrum grooves trying to imitate and old analogue synth with fast attack and short decay & release for extra...

In a career that only spanned three years and produced two albums, the post-punk rock band Joy Division altered the direction of rock music. Their influence can be heard in the music of U2, The Cure, Interpol, and even the Red Hot Chili Peppers. A fair portion of their success is due to bassist Peter Hook, who details his life...