Archive for 2014 - Page 93

Here’s a quick lesson about a little trick for manually fading a note without using a volume control. It really is all in the fingers, and I bet it’ll come in handy.

In 1992, the Pat Metheny Trio took the stage at the Brecon Jazz Festival, performing Milton Nascimento’s “Vera Cruz”, among other tunes. Bassist Dave Holland and drummer Roy Haynes make the trio really cook. Check out Dave’s solo around the 1:00 mark. Oh yeah.

I love it when a top 10 list has another top 10 list in it. So much bass goodness. Last week, No Treble readers enjoyed more gear news from the NAMM Show (we’re still working on stories from the show!), as well as some great videos, Damian Erskine’s lastest “Ask” column, our interview with Snark Puppy’s Michael League and more....

Spector was showing lots of new instruments at the NAMM show this year, including the NS-2000/5 Dan Briggs Signature bass. It’s modeled after the same NS-2000/5 that Briggs has owned and played since he was 16. The bass features neck-through construction with a 3-piece rock maple neck, a rosewood fingerboard, maple body wings, and a quilt maple top. The body’s...

One of the great hangouts during the annual NAMM show is the Bass Bash held at JT Schmid’s in Anaheim. This year was no exception as players ranging from the great Uriah Duffy to Ethan Farmer to Snarky Puppy all laid it down to a crowd of bass fanatics. Here’s one of our favorite videos taken from the two night...

Bassist Carlo Chirio has released a new instructional eBook called Double Thumb Technique for Electric Bass. The technique, popularized by Victor Wooten, makes use of the thumb almost like a plectrum by striking down and up. Chirio’s book uses short patterns to get readers comfortable with the technique and groove before building on it. “I think that the choice of...

Following up on the introduction of the NS Radius Bass Guitar last year, NS Design has announced the CR4 Radius bass. The newest addition to the line is a 4-string version of the Czech Republic-made headless model. Similar to the CR5 Radius, the CR4 features bolt-on construction with the company’s Fusion one-piece maple neck, which features an embedded continuous carbon...

When Victor Wooten shared this awesome video of himself playing a duet of Pete Seeger’s “Living in the Country” with guitarist Eric Silver, it really drew me in. The song has special significance to to Silver, who recorded it after Seeger’s recent passing. “‘Living In The Country’ was one of the first songs I remember learning on the guitar,” the...

Bass legend Stanley Clarke has announced tour dates through April. It begins February 21st in White River Junction, Vermont then heads across the Northeast and Midwest before heading to Chile for a one-off perforamnce. The trek is rounded out by concerts in Florida, California and New York City. Four of the dates include a special program called “Stanley Clarke Presents...

Bass solo! Bass solo! The bandleader points his finger at you, giving you the okay and hushing the rest of the band. Great. Now what? We’re not the guitar player… we haven’t worked on Hendrix licks or memorizing the solo section to “Freebird”. We can’t just crank up the distortion or create mesmerizing soundscapes with our pedals. We’re the bass...

The DiPinto Belvedere Deluxe bass is a hot rod with strings. The retro styled bass has is adorned with an extensive pearl pickguard, white binding, star inlays in the fretboard and a sparkle finished headstock. The bass is built with a semi-hollow mahogany body, a bolt-on maple neck, and ebony fingerboard. DiPinto adds some extra flair with chrome covers for...

When Snarky Puppy snagged the Grammy for Best R&B Performance, it was a victory for independent artists everywhere. Many called the group an underdog but their track “Something,” featuring Lalah Hathaway, is an undeniably phenomenal song. The song’s music video went viral on YouTube with over two million views and has catapulted the band into the limelight. And while a...