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Archive for April 2016 - Page 7

Bass of the Week: Hot Wire Blues Bass
Bass of the Week

Bass of the Week: Hot Wire Blues Bass

Hot Wire Basses took a page out of the old school with their Blues Bass. Modeled after the early fifties Kay Electric Bass, the Blues Bass is a vintage-style hollowbody, which the company notes was often played by four-stringers backing up Blues legends like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. While the design imitates an old Kay, Hot Wire made some...

Talking Technique: Killer Dead Note Grooves
Talking Technique

Talking Technique: Killer Dead Note Grooves

Dead notes are percussive effects that can really liven up a groove. There are a variety of ways to create them, including left-hand muting, right-hand percussion, and left-hand percussion. For this lesson we examine how dead notes (and silence) affect the groove. As is often the case, a good way to begin practicing them is by utilizing scales. We’ll be...

Ben Harper: When The Levee Breaks
Bass Videos

Ben Harper: When The Levee Breaks

I’ve been listening to Ben Harper’s latest album, Call It What It Is, and loving it – especially with the return of the Innocent Criminals and Juan Nelson. That got me digging around for more, which brought me to this excellent cover of “When The Levee Breaks”, performed live at Jazz à Vienne on July 5, 2013. Harper’s Relentless7 bassist...

Brad Russell Releases New EP
New Albums

Brad Russell Releases New EP

Prolific bassist Brad Russell (Pat Travers, Ric Derringer, Peter Cetera) has released a new EP, Daily Shred. The six-track, 20-minute instrumental EP also features drummers Gregg Bissonette and Jason Furman and includes a take on the pop classic, “Wichita Lineman,” made famous by Glen Campbell. Daily Shred is available as a digital download ( and ). Listen to how he...

Weekly Top 10: Jaco at MI, Practicing Slow & Fast, Jack Casady Podcast, Top Bass Videos, New Gear and More
Weekly Top 10

Weekly Top 10: Jaco at MI, Practicing Slow & Fast, Jack Casady Podcast, Top Bass Videos, New Gear and More

The week is up, which means it is time to celebrate the top 10 reader favorites on No Treble this week. Another great week is in the books. Thanks as always for reading, watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Gracie and John Patitucci: I’ve Just Seen A Face I love bass and vocal duets, but this one is special. John Patitucci...

New York Bass Works Introduces Reference Series Basses
Basses

New York Bass Works Introduces Reference Series Basses

New York Bass Works has announced the Reference Series, a line of basses that bring together luthier David Segal’s custom work with the classic J-bass platform. “The Reference Series Basses are instruments infused with the DNA of nearly 20 years of custom bass projects, complex renovations, and pain-staking repairs of nearly every brand of instrument,” the company writes. “The empirical...

Louis de Mieulle: Nanobot
Bass Videos

Louis de Mieulle: Nanobot

Louis de Mieulle, a French bassist/composer living in NYC, just released his second album, Stars, Plants & Bugs. He sent us his video of the track “Nanobot”, which was filmed live during his in studio session in Brooklyn. We dig it!

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals Are Back With Wide-Ranging Album
New Albums

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals Are Back With Wide-Ranging Album

The inimitable Juan Nelson is back on record with Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals on the band’s first album in nine years, Call It What It Is. The band, which reunited to tour in 2015, recorded the album in a number of sessions over the course of a year. The resulting record covers subject matter ranging from aging to...

Ernie Ball Music Man 40th Anniversary StingRay Now Available for Pre-Order
Basses

Ernie Ball Music Man 40th Anniversary StingRay Now Available for Pre-Order

Ernie Ball Music Man’s 40th Anniversary “Old Smoothie” StingRay Bass is now available for pre-order. Unveiled at the 2016 Winter NAMM Show, the bass is named after a prototype from 1976 that was designed by Leo Fender and gifted to Sterling Ball. Central to its design is a 10-pole piece pickup that gives it a smoother tone. “We recently revisited...

Jeff Healey with Marcus Miller: See The Light
Bass Videos

Jeff Healey with Marcus Miller: See The Light

Ian Pettersson has sent us a handful of great videos, and he just sent us another. “An old one, but I hadn’t seen it before,” Ian said. “Jeff Healey with Marcus Miller ripping it up. Awesome performance!” The band includes the late Jeff Healey on vocals and guitar, Marcus Miller on bass, Dr. John on piano and Omar Hakim on...

Felix Pappalardi Live Recording with Creation Available
New Albums

Felix Pappalardi Live Recording with Creation Available

A live recording featuring late Cream producer and Mountain bassist/producer Felix Pappalardi during his stint with the Japanese band Creation is available as Travelling in the Dark: Live… Denver, ’76. The recording was made at Denver’s Ebbets Field club on July 30, 1976, and broadcast on KCUV-FM. Even though the set featured his work with Creation, it also includes a...

Guns N’ Roses Reunion Tour Dates Announced
Concerts & Tours

Guns N’ Roses Reunion Tour Dates Announced

The wait is over. Guns N’ Roses have announced the specifics for their “Not In This Lifetime” reunion tour. The outing will be bring together original members Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan with longtime collaborators Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus, Frank Ferrer, and new keyboardist Melissa Reese. The band played their first reunion show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles,...