Archive for January 2018 - Page 3

Q: I often wonder what kinds of little nuggets of wisdom some of my heroes have that would help us mortal bassists in the trenches. Things we don’t even know that we should know, or wouldn’t have had the opportunity to learn. It might be a weird thing to ask (me not having an actual question and all) but, what...

Last year we premiered the first Rooftop Stories series video by Petros Klampanis, and now we’re featuring the second installment. The video for “Alfonsina Y El Mar” starts with the precarious situation of getting a double bass onto a rooftop, but then it’s nothing but gorgeous views and music. “This is the second Rooftop Story, shot in East London. We...

Shin-ei has announced the B1G 1, a gain booster pedal that offers up to 30dB of boost. Useful for bass, guitar, and even vocals, the pedal is described as “totally transparent, non tone-coloring, and non tone-sucking.” “Featuring 100% pure, high fidelity, studio-quality boost, the B1G 1 explodes with power, fattens your tone, and sacrifices nothing in the process,” Shin-ei writes....

The Bass Bash is returning to Anaheim, California for its 15th anniversary, and this time they’re pulling out all the stops. The two-night event, which coincides with the Winter NAMM Show, features some of the most talented bassists in the world performing on one stage. The lineup for Thursday, January 25th will include Mohini Dey, Cheikh Ndoye, Reggie Young, Abraham...

dUg Pinnick has a new signature pedal from Tech 21 called the DP-3X that will be debuted at the Winter NAMM Show. The unit is a compact adaptation of his Ultra Bass 1000 head from the company, who says that both pieces of gear recreate the sound Pinnick developed in the ’80s that merges high-end distortion with low-end bass. The...

Kung Fu bassist Chris DeAngelis makes some killer bass arrangements for his own YouTube channel, but this one may take the cake. In this clip he mashes up Squarepusher’s “Iambic 9 Poetry” with “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” by The Police. DeAngelis utilizes chords and harmonics to fill the piece out for a beautiful sonic atmosphere. He also...

The Muscle Shoals sound was the key to some America’s most popular music of the ’60s and ’70s. The secret weapon, of course, was the group of musicians, dubbed The Swampers, who made up the legendary rhythm section for so many hits. They crafted hits for Aretha Franklin, Big Joe Turner, the Staple Singes, Paul Simon, Rod Stewart, and more....

Crazy Tube Circuits is expanding their bass effects line with the Locomotive. Debuting at the Winter NAMM Show, the pedal will offer real tube overdrive to players. “[The Locomotive features] a 12AY7 tube for warm organic tube grind with excellent touch sensitivity and dynamic response,” Crazy Tube writes. “We provided a wide range of gain that can produce from a...

The Daily Funk Club’s Andy Irvine is a guy who knows what he wants in a bass. That’s why he reached out to Rick Wilson of Moonshine Guitars with some specifics in mind. “He contacted me after seeing pics of my bass, he was looking for the feel of a well-played early 60’s Jazz as with the vintage look as...

Last year Erik Arkö made a pair of videos parodying the “12 types of metal bass players.” Now he’s back with part three, and it’s just as great. From “Les is More” to “The Folk Metal Guy,” Arkö has some fun with the genre. As with all good parodies, there’s a decent amount of truth to each spoof but no...

Back in June, we reported that Spinal Tap bassist Derek Smalls (portrayed by actor/bassist Harry Shearer) would be releasing a solo album. Now we have more details and the title track from Smalls Change. The album, which is a contemplation on an aging rocker, is packed with guest artists including Peter Frampton, Donald Fagen, Dweezil Zappa, Rick Wakeman, Richard Thompson,...

Electro-Harmonix has pushed their looping pedals to the max with the new 95000 Performance Loop Laboratory. Featuring six mono tracks with one stereo mixdown track per loop, the unit can record up to 375 minutes and 100 loops with a 16GB Micro SD card. The 95000 has MIDI capabilities, and the company says nearly every function of the pedal can...