Archive for August 2014 - Page 9

Darkest Hour’s includes songwriting with an otherworldly quality, courtesy of its two newest members, drummer Travis Orbin and bassist Aaron Deal (formerly of Salome), according to guitarist Michael Schleibaum. It’s the 11th album for the D.C.-area metal/hardcore outfit. The single “By the Starlight” provides ample evidence what Schleibaum was talking about, concerning the songwriting. Darkest Hour is available on and...

Les Claypool is once again auctioning off his personal bass to benefit Jacob’s Heart, an organization that offers children’s cancer support services. Similar to the instrument he auctioned in 2012, the bass is his own Pachyderm design. “This particular bass #122312003 was delivered to me on December 29th, 2012,” Claypool states. “I’ve always found that maple instruments have a very...

Have you always loved Dave Ellefson’s bass work in Megadeth and the metal band’s bass sound in general? If you want to replicate it yourself, check out the new from Hal Leonard. The 64-page book features a CD containing all the songs covered in the book, as well as backing tracks. You can also change the tempo of the CD’s...

I really dig what the guys at Studio Jams do. In each episode, they bring in a group of talented musicians, many who are meeting each other for the first time, and let them create music. In episode #38, which was released in 2009, Victor Bailey, Jeff Golub on guitar, Matt King on keys and Anton Fig on drums got...

Gov’t Mule has added a slew of tour dates to their “20 Years Strong” tour. The band, anchored by bassist Jorgen Carlsson, will follow up their current dates with a show at the Palace Theater in Cleveland, Ohio on September 12. The southern-fried jam band will then continue in the Midwest before heading west for dates in Washington, Nevada, and...

Another week in the books, which means it is time to celebrate the week, bass-style. Here are the top 10 most read stories and most watched videos on No Treble for the week of July 27 – August 2, 2014. Thanks as always for reading, watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Wojtek Pilichowski: Open Bass Solo Every time I see there’s...

Sterling by Music Man introduced a new natural finish to the left-handed version of the Ray34 bass at this year’s Summer NAMM show. The natural finish allows for the bass’s lightweight ash body to be show through. The bass retains the features of the Ray34 series including maple neck, a single alnico humbucker pickup, and an active 3-band pickup. It...

Sometimes there’s a mind-meld that happens between bassists and drummers. I’m pretty sure it’s happening here between bassist Trip Wamsley and drummer Clarence “Klue” Lewis.

Progressive metal band Intronaut has announced they’ll be taking a break from writing a new album in order to celebrate their 10th anniversary with a tour. The band, rooted by fretless bassist Joe Lester, will kick off their victory lap on November 6th at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, California before winding along the West Coast and into the...

Sandberg Guitars has been turning heads with interesting finishes on special handmade custom instruments. The company has now announced they’ve acquired a CNC machine that allows them to produce a new option called the Serpentine Finish, which brings two different types of woods together for each of the bass’s wooden components. “We have been doing this over the last few...

Ron Carter is a genius. This video is just more proof. Taken from a trio performance at France’s Jazz Soul Le Pommiers Festival in 2011, the clip only features Carter and guitarist Bobby Broom on the Luiz Bonfá tune “Samba de Orpheus,” while pianist Mulgrew Miller looks on. The entire song is a bass feature as Carter plays the melody,...

Bassists who use MIDI controllers on their pedalboard know that the displays aren’t always clear. Molten Voltage has released a device called the SIMI (pronounced “See Me”) to tackle this problem. SIMI is a modular MIDI pedalboard display that features 16 large bright red alphanumeric LEDs to show what MIDI program you are on. Further, each channel can be set...