Archive for 2016 - Page 43

This may be Zander Zon’s most ambitious effort to date. Zander plays three basses in this latest video, where he is once again joined by vocalists KJC, who also provide piano and violin on the track. Here’s their take on Coldplay’s “Hymn for the Weekend”.

The Kevin Barnes-fronted rock band Of Montreal has released its 14th studio album, Innocence Reaches. Davey Pierce (Yip Deceiver) handles bass, as he has for most of the past nine years (he didn’t play with the band in 2014). Long influenced by legendary rock bands like The Beatles and The Beach Boys, Of Montreal decided to add some more modern...

Tech 21 has announced a new version of their flagship SansAmp Bass Driver DI. The Version 2 model retains all of the functionality of the original while adding features to better suit modern players. The all-analog pedal now has a switch for the bass frequency to select between 80Hz and 40Hz, which the company says helps 5- and 6-string players...

Q: Admittedly, this is not a bass specific question, but I am curious to know your thoughts on arranging standards and original tunes for a jazz quintet consisting of trombone, alto sax, drums, guitar, and upright/electric bass. I’ve written 15 or so tunes for the band, and we play some standards (“Satin Doll”, “Ornithology”, “A Night in Tunisia”, etc.), but...

We first featured Periphery’s Adam “Nolly” Getgood with an epic bass cam video for their song “Make Total Destroy“. Now Nolly is back with another face-melting run-through with the song “Prayer Position” from the band’s latest album, Periphery III: Select Difficulty. The bassist rips it up with an absolutely crushing tone that cuts perfectly on the song’s blazing unison lines....

Sub Pop has released a vinyl reissue of Sunny Day Real Estate’s 1998 reunion album, How It Feels to Be Something On. Original bassist Nate Mendel did not rejoin the band for the record, opting to stay with the Foo Fighters. However, since that time, he has played on an album with some of his former SDRE bandmates and has...

Meet Marcin Sypniewski, a high school student in Poland who stays busy with school and fills every extra minute with his musical pursuit. Marcin got his start like many bassists – no one was playing the bass when he formed a band with friends – but he’s extremely happy with how that turned out. Marcin is this week’s No Treble...

Kala has revamped their California U-Bass series for 2016. The mini-scale, solid-body instruments will have reshaped necks and bodies, plus new placement for the fret markers on the fingerboard. “The California body and neck have been cut and sanded to smoother, more rounded edges so they provide more comfort for the player,” The company writes. “The feel is enhanced when...

Spare Parts sent us their latest, and this time is a little different than we’ve seen from them previously. Filmed by Jody Michael Miller, here’s the trio anchored by Colin Scott performing their cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Four Sticks”.

The Fred Hersch Trio, featuring John Hébert on bass, has released the live album, Sunday Night at the Vanguard, which All About Jazz says may be the trio’s best recording yet. The Vanguard refers to the Village Vanguard, a legendary New York City jazz club that has become a second home for the trio. Sunday Night at the Vanguard sees...

This week we’re checking out a collaboration between Conklin Guitars and Jason Everett called the OM Bass. The bass is a seven-string fretless that is fitted with several interesting features to suit the bassist’s world music style. Its pickups are a pair of custom Bartolinis along with a set of GraphTECH Ghost piezos in individual saddlebridges. Besides EQing, the OM...

Looking for ways to spice up your grooves? Double stops are a great option. In their most basic form, double stops are when we play two notes together at the same time. They can sound muddy in some registers of the bass, but we’ll go over some tricks to make them sound like gold. This is another all-in-one lesson as...