Archive for April 2016 - Page 5

The majority of the classic Santana III lineup of guitarist Carlos Santana’s eponymous band, Santana, has reunited to record together for the first time in 45 years on Santana IV. Sadly, the new record could not include Santana III bassist David Brown, who died in 2000. Instead, current Santana bassist Benny Rietveld (Sheila E., Miles Davis) holds down the low...

Happy Sunday. We have a great top 10 list for you this week, built by readers. Here are the top 10 stories, how-to’s, videos, and more for the week of April 9-15, 2016. Thanks for reading, watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Jeff Healey with Marcus Miller: See The Light Ian Pettersson has sent us a handful of great videos, and...

Sire Guitars has teamed up with Marcus Miller once again to introduce the Sire Marcus Miller M7 Series. The dual humbucker design, which has been in the works for some time, is now open for pre-order and will be shipping on April 30th. Available in four and five-string versions, the M7 has a modern body shape made of either alder...

Norwegian bassist Svadah sent me this “Rainy Day Bass Groove” on what happened to be a perfectly rainy day. “Took my bass out in to film a bass groove I made a little while ago on a typical rainy day in Bergen,” he wrote on Facebook. “Really loving the result, check it out! Key of Cm.” It’s good for any...

Alberto Rigoni’s new album, which mixes funky, electro, ambient, rock, pop and experimental vibes, is all about the bass – it’s even called Bassorama. Italian bassist Rigoni (TwinSpirits, Kim Bingham, The Italians, and his own solo work) pulled together an extraordinary assortment of bassists for the album, including Doug Wimbish of Living Colour, Divinity Roxx, Stuart Hamm, Steve Lawson, Nik...

Jackson Guitars is now shipping the CBXNT IV Concert and CBXNT V Concert basses. Four and five-string models, respectively, the company describes the basses as perfect for metal or other styles that demand low, punchy bass. Jackson says the heart of the bass is in their electronics. “The heart of this beast is a pair of Jackson High Output Humbucking...

Simon Fitzpatrick has taken the third suite of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets Suite” and turned it into an all bass arrangement, using his Sei Bass Flamboyant 6 bass. Mind blown!

Transcriptionist Aidan Hampson has released bass transcriptions of Green Day’s Dookie and The Stone Roses’ self-titled debut album, as well as best-of compilations for The Killers and Blur. All the transcriptions are PDF downloads, easily purchased with a click, for less than $8. Check out the songs covered in each book: Blur (Best Of) Song List: There’s No Other Way...

Cort has updated their B5 Plus AS bass with a new set of electronics. The model, which is part of the Artisan Series, now comes with the Markbass MB-1 EQ to match its Bartolini MK-1 pickups. The bass’s preamp is described as providing a “very natural and transparent boost” that won’t color the instrument’s natural tone. “The crystal clarity and...

Here I am, once again, on the bandstand with a bass in hand. Two sets down, one to go. It’s a free for all… no official set list and a handful of requests. A guy with a twenty in his hand walks up to the stage and says, “Do ya’ll know ‘Whipping Post’?” The guitar player immediately looks at me...

Bassist and electronica artist Squarepusher is taking his band Shobaleader One on the road in the UK next month, and we’ve got a clip of the first live video footage of the group. The up-tempo song “Squarepusher’s Theme” blends all the elements of the artist’s personality with drum and bass styled drumming, synth pads, and killer bass lines. The bassist...

When the West Coast Get Down locked themselves in a studio for an entire month, each member of the group came out with a plethora of material. The first release from the session was Kamasi Washington’s groundbreaking 2015 album The Epic, and now upright bass phenom Miles Mosley has unveiled his first piece from the collaboration. In the bassist’s typical...