Archive for May 2017

A good friend of mine came to a gig I had recently in Seattle. Jeremy Sherman lives in San Francisco and our relationship began as one of student and teacher (he would fly to Portland on occasion to take a few lessons from me and hang out for a weekend) and we soon became friends both within and outside of...

Discover Double Bass’s Geoff Chalmers shared this video, and it blew me away. Adam Chaffins delivers a solo performance of Wilco’s “Hate It Here” with intensity, intimacy, and great bass playing.

After announcing the amp at NAMM this year, Trickfish Amplification is now shipping the Bullhead .5K bass amp. The straight-ahead unit features a Mike Pope low noise preamp matched to a Class D power amplifier that dishes out 500 watts at 8 ohms or 700 watts at 4 ohms. Its EQ section is flush with four bands with two selectable...

Richard Bona is a captivating musician on his own. Add the Metropole Orkest and you’ve got some glorious music for your ears. Here’s Bona and the orchestra performing last year honoring Quincy Jones for the BBC Proms. Bona fronts the massive group with his bass and a microphone, whipping the group into a frenzy. Be sure to check out his...

Clip-on tuners are notorious for being iffy on the bass, but now Korg has released one specifically for us. The AW-LT100B is a clip-on tuner dedicated to bass instruments with enhanced sensitivity for detecting the low-frequency range. “It uses a chromatic mode with dedicated circuitry that boosts the detection sensitivity in the ultra-low range below 100 Hz,” Korg explains. “The...

This week we’re checking out a submission from Frederiek de Vette, who just finished making her first bass. For a first shot, it looks like an incredible instrument. “Building a musical instrument is something I dreamed of doing one day. After having to quit playing because of an injury I found no reason to pursue that dream anytime soon,” de...

Jason Everett, aka Mister E, sent in this awesome cover of Suzanne Vega’s “Caramel” on his fretless seven string bass. Covering the bass line and chords, the bassist mixes in Vega’s vocals for an awesome and intimate cover.

2017 marks the ten years since Between the Buried and Me released their seminal album Colors. To celebrate, the band is embarking on an extensive North American tour in which they will play the album in its entirety. “Colors was our statement of rebellion,” the band states. “We were challenging how others identified us in the context of heavy metal,...

Switzerland’s Greuter Audio has expanded their line of effects with the Fuller Drive. Described as a “very expressive low-to-mid-gain overdrive,” the pedal features a discrete JFET circuit design that they say makes it act like a good tube amp. “The basic idea was to build an overdrive pedal that can produce the break-up point we love in tube amplifiers,” Greuter...

Wayne Jones may be known for his innovative bass amp designs, but he’s also a great bassist himself. Here’s a cool clip of his band playing a benefit concert on December 4th, 2016 at Memo Music Hall, St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia. Jones leads the band on his bass with additional groove bass played by Craig Newman. For extra fun, the...

Japan’s Providence Effects has released a new comprehensive effects switching unit for the bass called the Bass FX Console BFX-1. The new bass switcher is fitted with an on-board preamp, the company’s Vitalizer B buffer, and an XLR direct output. “The Bass FX Console BFX-1 enables the player’s favorite pedals with one action without interrupting technical performance,” Providence writes. “A...

I really enjoyed Kevin’s recent interview with Mai Agan. Among the topics they discussed was her work with the legendary David Crosby. “Croz is on fire! I mean, he is singing really really good. He is a happy man, and you can hear it in his music,” she said. “On Sky Trails there are songs that he has co-written with...