Archive for 2013 - Page 66

Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx is offering fans a chance to buy his stage-played basses from the band’s current and upcoming North American tours. Each night of the tour, Sixx will play one of his signature Schecter basses for the concert. Fans that buy the bass will get to have a meet-and-greet with Sixx before the concert where he will...

David Gage Instruments is adding to their Realist series of instrument pickups with the Realist LifeLine. The new double bass pickup is a self-powered piezo that the company describes as offering a “focused bass sound.” The LifeLine works on basses with adjustable bridges and is mounted on the bridge adjuster without glue or fasteners. Its output jack is held tightly...

Bassist Jesús Rico Pérez shared this solo bass performance of this tune, “Reproches”. He asked us: “what do you think, is it good?” We thought it was fantastic, and we’re happy to share it with you. Jesús performs it on his 5-string bass with piccolo strings and alternate tuning (from low to high: G, Bb, F, Bb, F.). He said...

The 2013 round of Gigantour has been announced, and this year promises to be another great summer of metal. Hosted and headlined by Megadeth, the package tour will include performances by Black Label Society, Device, Hellyeah, Newsted and Death Division. If you’re keeping track, that means fans will be able to see David Ellefson, Jason Newsted, JD DiServio, Bobzilla and...

If you’re a fan of the Rolling Stones, you’re probably familiar with the story of Keith Richards coming up with the lick to “Satisfaction.” If not, here’s the story: the classic guitar riff came to him in the middle of the night, and luckily, he had a cassette player by his bed and was quickly able to record the idea....

Here’s some terrific old school music for you, with an 18 year old Bootsy Collins laying it down for James Brown. This performance of “Brother Rapp” was filmed in 1971, like another video we featured of The Godfather of Soul with Bootsy from the same year.

Here’s a fantastic bass built by luthier Mike Browne. This particular version of his Milo model bass features some fancy woodwork, especially on the body. It’s built with a Honduran mahogany core, a full face figured walnut top with a maple accent stripe, a walnut back, a walnut center block, and maple center block stripes. The neck is quartersawn hardrock...

Tal Wilkenfeld’s fantastic solo on the Jeff Beck classic “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” has been watched countless times. There are several live recordings of this track, but the one transcribed here is from the Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2007.

Every time I watch or listen to NHØP, I have to stop everything else I’m doing. His jaw-dropping virtuosity and sheer technicality is unmatched. Here’s an awesome clip of the Great Dane ripping up the jazz standard “Autumn Leaves”. He starts the song off with a tip of the hat to Jaco Pastorius by playing part of the electric bassist’s...

Hot on the heels of his new trio’s debut album, bassist and King’s X frontman dUg Pinnick is stepping out on his own again a solo effort entitled Naked on RockArmy Records. The deeply personal album is nothing but Pinnick, who wrote, played, recorded, and produced the entire album in his Los Angeles home studio. Naked is packed with 11...

DBZ Guitars has introduced the Barchetta Bass, a model based on DBZ’s flagship guitar. The bass follows the company’s trend of blending modern and traditional styles for unique instruments. The Barchetta Bass comes in three versions based on their tops: Standard (ST), Flame Maple (FM), and Spalt Maple (SM). Common features include a maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, and a matching...

Q: I’m not a professional musician, but lately I’ve been performing a lot more often. I play both upright bass and bass guitar, and I like to play just about any style of music: pop, funk, folk, jazz. These two things have made me somewhat “in demand” in part-timers’ circles and has led me to get involved in two or...