Archive for September 2018

The year is flying by, and we’re closing out another month. Don’t worry about it, just enjoy the latest roundup of the top 10 reader favorite bass gear stories. Here’s the list for September. 1. Ashdown Engineering Tone Pocket Portable Bass Headphone Amp Ashdown has just introduced the Tone Pocket, a compact headphone preamp designed for practice, home studio, and...

Korg has expanded their line of metronomes with the MA-2, a compact card-type device that builds upon their MA-1 model. The new unit has an improved display, a louder sound, and new functions like a timer mode. Available in blue/black or black/red color schemes, the MA-2 has a tempo range of 30 bpm to 252 bpm. It allows for different...

We were sad to learn the news of Chicago blues guitarist Otis Rush’s passing this week. Here’s a great clip of the blues legend in 1966 performing “I Can’t Quit You Baby” (a tune written by the great Willie Dixon). Jack Myers is laying it down, and looking quite cool doing it. RIP, Mr. Rush.

Megadeth bassist David Ellefson is gearing up to release his second memoir, More Life with Deth, in November and he’s taking his bass on the road to support it. Following the final dates of the Midwest leg, his “Basstory: An Intimate Evening Of Riffs And Repartee With David Ellefson” tour will be coming to the East Coast with a string...

France’s Zorg Effects has updated their flagship bass pedal with the Glorious Basstar 2. New features include a vertical enclosure with top-mounted jacks and an optional soft switch relay true bypass. It still retains its sonic features with a three-band overdrive. “It cuts the signal in three frequencies bands: bass/mids/trebles,” Zorg writes. “Each band can then be saturated independently and...

Check out our good friend Federico Malaman rocking and grooving it out with the Dali Mraz Group in this live clip. The tune, “Kicks,” was written by Federico, who takes an awesome solo along the way.

Last year, Esperanza Spalding shocked the world by creating Exposure, an album created on the spot and completely live-streamed on Facebook over 77 hours. Now she’s revealed her next album, 12 Little Spells, will be available in October with another unique release. Starting on October 7th, Spalding will release one song per day on her website and social platforms until...

I pledge allegiance to the time… set by the drummer? By the click? Somewhere in between? These days, almost all recordings are done to a click track. And why not? It forces everyone to be aware of the desired tempo and to be responsible for their own sense of good time-keeping. It eliminates huge fluctuations, assuring that the adrenaline rush...

To say we’re excited about Vulfpeck’s upcoming album, Hill Climber, would be an understatement. The excitement continues with another video showcasing the music we can expect. Here’s their latest, featuring a tune called “Soft Parade.” Joe Dart and the guys give a new definition for being a tight band in this one. The album is available for pre-order.

Whose Hat Is This? has a new album coming in November called Everything’s OK?, and they’ve just announced a tour to lead up to its release. The “Everything’s OK” tour will see the band starting in New York City before jumping down to Mobile, Alabama so they can snake their way back up the East Coast. Anchored by bass heavyweight...

After discontinuing the line in 2015, GHS Strings has reintroduced their Tapewound Bass strings. They’re designed to be dark and thumpy like a double bass, the company writes. “Tapewound bass strings combine the thump and decay of an upright bass string while retaining the characteristics of an electric bass string,” GHS says. “Flatwound strings are wrapped with a black nylon...

John Jarvis has been tearing it up on the bass in Pig Destroyer for five years, but Head Cage is the first album to feature his bass playing. That’s no big deal for some bands, but Jarvis is also the only bassist they’ve ever had. Fitting his sound into the already intense band was tricky at first, but Jarvis is...