Archive for July 2017 - Page 2

Black Sabbath may have played their final tour this year, but Geezer Butler‘s tone will continue to inspire generations of bassists. Now Dunlop has introduced the Geezer Butler Cry Baby Wah, which is the company’s first ever signature Cry Baby Bass Wah. The pedal is designed to complement the legend’s tone with “massive low end power with a midrange that...

Jeff Hill may be the newest member of the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, but he’s no novice. The skilled bassist cut his teeth on rock and jazz in Chicago and New York City for years before becoming a go-to player for artists like Rufus Wainwright, Shooter Jennings, Linda Thompson, and more. Now his fantastic groove and tone are featured in the...

Our favorite Rush tribute band is back with a new original tune. “Run On Love” features the lineup of Rocky Kuner on vocals, Billy Alexander (who wrote the song) on guitars and Mini Moog, Tim Starace on bass, and Chris Moore on drums. The band is performing on August 20th at Gaslamp Long Beach. Get details here.

Ten years ago, Hartke unveiled a new series of bass cabinets featuring their HyDrive speakers. Now they’re celebrating the 10th anniversary with four new models in the HyDrive HD Series Bass Cabinets. It consists of four new models: the HD112, the HD115, the HD210, and the HD410. Each is fitted with HyDrive speakers, which are a hybrid design combining paper...

Q: What’s your take on string height? For over a decade, I’ve subscribed to Anthony Jackson’s view that the neck must be as flat/straight as possible and the strings as low as possible. And while I’ve spent as much time refining a light touch, I sometimes wonder if I’m spending too much time worrying about my touch and how much...

Camilla Chessa sat down at Piazza della Scala in Milan and absolutely nailed this all-bass performance of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” “Here is one of my favourite busking songs!” Camilla shared. We dig it too.

The music world was shocked in January when Tower of Power bassist Marc Van Wageningen and drummer David Garibaldi were struck by a train on their way to a gig at Yoshi’s Night Club in Oakland, California. Thankfully, they both survived, though Van Wageningen (aka Marc VW) was put in the hospital in serious condition. One week after the accident,...

Meet Alex Nikolaeff, who started playing the bass because no one else in the band wanted to pick it up. He says he’ll play his trusty Fender Jazz bass for the rest of his life. Alex is this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight. Here’s his story… Bio: I’m a 34-year-old bass player from the furthest hole of the...

NS Design’s WAV series got a little bigger this year with the addition of the NS WAV Omni bass, which debuted at the 2017 Summer NAMM show. The new model brings the Omni design, which has an upright bass design with the 34-inch scale of an electric bass, to the company’s most affordable WAV series. Available in four and five-string...

Toshi Clinch sent us this terrific video (and arrangement) of his big band performing Herbie Hancock’s “Spank-A-Lee.” “The video features LA/Nashville session musician Pat Coil. On bass is Henry Beal, who is the bassist behind the House of Cards theme,” Clinch shared. Beal grooves through the entire tune with some incredible lines and tone. The track is part of Clinch’s...

London-based music producer Gaudi has tapped a wealth of bassists for his latest album, entitled Magnetic. Drawing inspiration from the RareNoise Records catalog, the composer blends electronica, rock, jazz, and ambient music for a tapestry of sounds. “It is not a departure from the Gaudi we know and love,” a press release states, “however, Magnetic is a celebration of bass...

This week we’re checking out the Starfire II from Guild. The iconic semi-hollow bass first debuted in 1967 where it was used by artists like Jefferson Airplane’s Jack Casady and the Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh. It was reintroduced in 2015 to the delight of many a bass player. Central to the Starfire II’s design is a pair of Guild BS-1...