Archive for 2013 - Page 11

I first became aware of Billy Sheehan as a teenager in the 80’s. Around that same time, I discovered Tony MacAlpine thanks to a guitarist friend of mine. I still have MacAlpine’s records on vinyl. Both of these guys are still going strong and still knocking me out with their virtuosity. Here’s the dream team quartet – also including drummer...

Ashdown is now shipping the latest addition to their Artist series effects pedals, the NM2 Double Distortion Pedal. Designed in collaboration with Foo Fighters four-stringer Nate Mendel, the stompbox is a stereo pedal with two separate distortions that can be routed to different amps or combined. It has a single input and two outputs – one for each overdrive. Both...

Bassist Adam Neely has started experimenting with new sounds and genres with his bass. “I have been influenced recently Thundercat and Squarepusher and love the idea of melding virtuosic bass playing with modern electronic dance textures,” he explains. In “I Didn’t Know,” Neely teams up with Indie/soul singer Justina Soto to deliver a catchy groove and thick textures in a...

Guitarist/composer Justin Morell’s new album Subjects and Compliments is an experimental exploration of the relationship between the jazz and classical idioms. Compositionally, Morell reaches into the past with fugue forms on some tracks while also blending in room for solos on others. The ensemble itself fits somewhere between a big band and jazz combo and chamber group with instruments ranging...

There are certain things in life that require a great deal of courage… bungee jumping off a bridge, rafting through class five white water, snowboarding down a double black diamond mountain side, etc. Even the daredevil in me doesn’t have the guts to try those things. These are pretty extreme cases of having to muster up courage and it’s pretty...

We recently featured Jerry Scheff in a new series, Profiles in Tone. In that interview, Jerry shared insights on how he got his tone. While I was researching for the interview, I found this clip from a 1970 concert with Elvis Presley in Las Vegas. The whole band is cooking, but Scheff’s bubbling yet muscular bass line really brings the...

Seven-string fretless bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling has released the first track from his new band Nufutic entitled “Dark Full Moon.” The band, formed by Thesseling and Sadist guitarist Tommy Talamanca, blends metal and fusion with plenty of awesome bass lines. “We had ideas that we couldn’t use in bands we played in in the past, and we thought it could...

My Facebook friend Dusty Mulholland shared a picture of a Becker/Martian Bass a couple weeks ago, and I’m glad he did. It led me to find this fine specimen of a bass, known as the Mantis – a bass with a body shape that you might expect from an other-worldly bass company. While they can be made to order, this...

Leland Sklar recently took part in an episode of Studio Jams, an online series that brings together different legendary musicians to jam on songs and see what happens. The rest of the band includes saxophonist Najee, guitarist Joe Jewell, drummer Rayford Griffin and David Garfield on keyboards. The group decided to jam out the classic Meters song, “Cissy Strut.” “These...

When a band has been active for five decades, there’s bound to be some songs that fall through the cracks. That’s certainly the case with The Rolling Stones, according to bassist Daryl Jones. Jones, who has been playing with the veteran rockers since Bill Wyman’s departure, told Noise11 that there’s a wealth of unreleased tracks from the band’s recording sessions...

EBS will be releasing the Classic 500, a solid state, retro-styled bass amp. Building upon the company’s Classic 450, the 500 is rated at up to 500-watts at 2 ohms while fitting into a more compact casing. Although the Classic 500 is a solid-state amp, EBS says its sound is aimed at capturing a classic tube amp tone. Controls include...

Q: I have a question regarding when switching between finger-style and slap. I set my amp up predominantly for finger-style playing, but when I switch to slap – particularly mid-song – or if I throw in a slap embellishment, the slap gets buried underneath everything else and is barely audible, consequently losing the momentum and presence of the tune/bass part....