Archive for 2016 - Page 70

Update: Thanks to everyone who entered! We’re thrilled to announce the winners: Darrell S. (grand prize), Fred W. (second prize) and Ed M. (third prize). A huge thanks to Gallien-Krueger, MTD, Gruv Gear and La Bella for putting on such a stellar contest! Gallien-Krueger, MTD, Gruv Gear, La Bella and No Treble are teaming up for an ultimate Robert “Bubby”...

The music of bassist Marcelo Yakko is on heavy rotation in my library. I just spotted this great video of him jamming along to one of the Coffee Break Grooves backing tracks, and it knocked me out like so much of his music. Marcelo is jamming to the track “Chill 1-2”, which you can get here if you want to...

A documentary film about seminal British punk band The Damned, by the maker of the “Lemmy” documentary about late Motörhead bassist/bandleader Lemmy Kilmister, is now available on DVD and Blu-ray. The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead features interviews with Lemmy (who had a brief stint with the group), fans like Guns ’n’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, original...

Our friend Andrew Arnautov wrote in to share this gorgeous Pandora bass made by Ukrainian luthier Alex Kurdritsky. Arnautov calls the maker, who has over four decades of instrument building under his belt, one of the field’s best kept secrets. Kudritsky named the model Pandora after the Greek goddess because “the instrument explodes with plethora of sounds just like a...

So you haven’t gotten to touch your bass in a while. It happens! We all have those times where we don’t get time with our bass for extended periods. When we get the bass in our hands again, our gut instinct is to get all our fast chops back, but that’s not such a great idea. The way to get...

Here’s a great old clip of the Carlos Santana/Wayne Shorter Group performing the Santana tune “Deeper, Dig Deeper” at Pori Jazz in 1988. Laying down the groove is the one and only Alphonso Johnson. Such great footage.

Jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut’s latest album, Natural Essence, features the work of noted jazz bassist Buster Williams (solo artist, Herbie Hancock Sextet, Art Blakey, Ron Carter and many more) and drummer Lenny White. The album features classic piano trio material, distinguished by Chestnut’s pleasure in playing, particularly when supported by such accomplished fellow musicians. The record isn’t Williams’ first time...

Time to celebrate a whole lotta bass with another edition of the weekly top 10. Here are the No Treble reader favorite stories, lessons, videos and more for the week of May 14-20, 2016. Thanks for reading, watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Making Practice Meaningful This week, a reader asks Damian Erskine for advice on making a practice routine more...

Here’s a new lick lesson for you, using a good fingering exercise with a Major Pentatonic scale. This is also great for practicing slides and hammer-ons. The fills are mostly Pentatonic, with added flat 3rd (B?) and flat 7th (F). The backing track is a one chord (G7) vamp, but you can transpose it and use it in many blues...

In April 1974, Rush took the stage at the Laura Secord Secondary School in St. Catharines. Here’s a clip of the band performing “Working Man”, which includes John Rutsey on drums (who was replaced by Neil Peart just a few months later) and Geddy Lee rocking a P-bass. The tape of this concert was found during the making of Rush:...

If you don’t feel like your version of New Order’s Music Complete was actually complete, an extended version of the album has arrived for you as Complete Music. The band says that due to overwhelming demand, it decided to release the extended versions of the tracks, previously only available on a limited edition vinyl box set. Music Complete was New...

Germany’s Rodenberg Custom Amplification has expanded their lineup of effects with the Commander distortion pedal. Apt for bass and guitar, the pedal is described as the logical development following the company’s GAS Overdrive series. “While the GAS-808 is designed for overdrive sounds, the Commander’s home is distortion,” Rodenberg writes on their website. “But you can also dial down to overdrive...