Archive for February 2018 - Page 3

GoGo Tuners has unveiled the Drop Spot, a USB rechargeable 9V lithium battery power supply for pedals. The portable device is capable of powering multiple pedals, pedalboards, and high current effects by offering 9V, 700ma power. The company’s slogan of “Green you’re in and Red you’re out” applies to the Drop Spot as well. Indicator lights go from green to...

Q: What should I play at soundcheck? I always feel like I should be impressive or something when the sound tech says “okay, let’s hear the bass,” But maybe just pulsing on the open E string is enough? What’s your soundcheck agenda? A: This is the perfect opportunity for me to: a) make a suggestion as to the best use...

Sons Of Apollo has released their latest video featuring music from their album, Psychotic Symphony. “Alive” starts out with a mellow beginning before the band kicks it into gear. And once again, Billy Sheehan is sporting his Attitude double neck bass.

Ray Brown was a master jazz bassist that could carry entire songs, with or without chordal instruments. One of his most notable recordings of the latter situation has just been reissued on vinyl for its 60th anniversary. Sonny Rollins’s Way Out West features the trio Brown on bass, Rollins on sax, and Shelly Manne on drums. It was taken from...

Wilson Effects has updated their Freaker Wah with the Freaker Wah V2, which they explain offers more flexibility in addition to some updates to the circuit. Equally useful on bass and guitar, the unit is based on the vintage circuit used by Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler. The dual-filter synth wah offers a wide range of frequency sweeps...

Blackstar Amplification has gotten into the bass game with the Unity Series, their first ever line of bass amps. Models in the range span power ranges from 30 watts to 500 watts in combo amp packages. Each has a preamp equipped with a 4-band EQ as well as three preamp voicings: Classic, Modern, or Flat. They also have a response...

Metallica has been awarded The Polar Music Prize for 2018 – considered the Nobel Prize for music. This marks the first time a heavy metal band has received the honor. The award includes one million Swedish kronor, (approximately $126,000), which the band said will be donated to its own “All Within My Hands” organization, which aids communities in need with...

Karl Alvarez and The Descendents have announced a spring tour to continue support for their 2016 album Hypercaffium Spazzinate. The massive tour will take them from April 12th in Tampa, Florida to November 17th in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Check out Alvarez’s tasty bass work in the video for “Without Love”: The Descendents 2018 Tour Dates:

This week we’re taking a look at another great bass we saw at the NAMM Show: the Majesté Buckeye 5. Majesté’s Willy Abued showed us the bass, which is named after its stunning buckeye maple top. Its striking body shape is made with debitou for the body wings while the five-piece carbon-reinforced azobe and maple neck runs through the length...

Today’s episode is all about thinking inside the box. Pentatonic box shapes only on the G and D string are easy to finger and make for quite the pizzazz when you lay them over a variety of chords. Check out the PDF to guide you along the easy shape and what colors you introduce using them with various chords.

Today’s video feature a couple of true virtuosos: guitarist Guthrie Govan and bassist Mohini Dey, who perform Govan’s tune, “Wonderful Slippery Thing.” Mohini is laying it down!

There’s more troubling news abound for industry giant Gibson Guitars. After announcing plans to sell off their downtown Memphis factory, rumors have been flying that they may be facing bankruptcy in the coming months. In an article for the Nashville Post, Geert De Lombaerde laid out the dire state of affairs. “The situation facing the iconic Nashville-based music instrument maker,...