Archive for March 2019

March was another big month of bass gear news, thanks partly to our continued coverage of news from this year’s NAMM show, and a later addition with the news of the Ernie Ball Music Man Joe Dart Signature Bass. Here are your top 10 favorite gear stories for the month.

Lamb of God’s Mark Morton has released his solo album, “Anesthetic.” Mark has performed with a number of impressive bassists in his career, including on this record. We caught up with him to get the scoop on the album, what he looks for in a bass player, and more.

Thundercat took part in the “Mac Miller: A Celebration of Life” concert last year, and performed his tune, “Them Changes.” He was joined by two backing bassists - Adam Blackstone and Dwayne Moore - and guitarist John Mayer.

Rockboard by Warwick has updated their lineup of pedalboards with the Rockboard DUO 2.0. The smallest of the series, the unit holds between 3 and 5 effects pedals.

Traveler Guitars has expanded their line of portable hollow-body instruments with the CL-3BE Acoustic Bass. The four-string is 3/4 the size of a standard instrument and has a 23.35-inch scale length.

It has been a while since we first featured Milk’n Blues, who does some pretty epic covers. In this clip, they take on The Doobie Brothers, “Long Train Runnin’,” with Eduardo Machado laying it down.

Former Dire Straits bassist John Illsley is back with a new solo album entitled “Coming Up For Air.” Produced with Guy Fletcher and recorded in Mark Knopfler’s studio, the album has a distinct flavor of Illsley’s former band in addition to his unique voice.

Ryan’s new “Lightbulb Moment” started out with a question: “Is there one song that contains an exemplary amount of bass playing knowledge?” She picked one and broke it down completely. (The tune may come as a surprise!)

Earlier this month we featured Melissa Petitto in our Reader Spotlight. A few days ago, Melissa reached out to us to share her new video, which includes Snarky Puppy keyboardist Shaun Martin, drummer Flaviano Pennisi, and Melissa on vocals and bass. The trio performs Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground.”

Mastro Valvola has released a new version of their Area multi-reverb called the Area MkII. The new unit has the same features as the original with the addition of a Timed Bypass System, which the company designed to manage the reverb trails.

The Eastwood Custom Shop has collaborated with designer John Backlund once again to create the Backlund 100 Bass. Modeled after the retro-futuristic guitar, the bass is built with an offset and angular mahogany body matched to a mahogany neck.

Suzi Quatro has been rocking for over five decades. Hailed as the first female bassist to become a major rock star, she scored hits in the 1970s. This year she’s here to let you know she’s not slowing down. We caught up with Quatro to get the scoop on the new album, her love of touring, and more.