Archive for November 2022

For bassists and producers working “inside the box,” Pfundstein Audio Plugins has released the Virtual Sandberg Basic Ken Taylor RW 4 plugin. The virtual bass is authorized by Sandberg and runs on the VST3 and AU formats.

Brandon Shaw has a cool YouTube channel called Digging The Greats, and he just shared a fun video for bassists. He plays through eight songs that make for good lines for soundcheck, including deeper cuts.

Rage Against The Machine’s Tim Commerford unveiled a new project last year called 7D7D, and now we finally get to hear what it sounds like. The band has just released their debut track called “Capitalism,” and it might take some fans by surprise.

John Ferrara’s next bass lesson in his “Tapping Technique and Composition” series focuses on “Tremolo Tapping.” John demonstrates this technique using his song, “The Gnome and the Skeleton.”

Back in the 80s, I listened to a lot of Biréli Lagrène’s music. I was always blown away by his guitar skills and learned years later that he has some serious chops on bass too. Here’s a clip with Lagrène improvising to “So What” on bass.

Metallica has big news to share. First up is a new studio album, “72 Seasons,” which is slated to drop in April 2023. They debuted the first single, “Lux Aeterna,” which clearly has an old-school Metallica sound. The band also announced a tour.

Luthier Robin Stummvoll of Verso Musical Instruments has a unique take on basses, but it’s not just for the sake of making something different. His designs are based on his fundamental beliefs of keeping things economical and effective. This week, we're checking out the Gravis Bass Guitar.

Charles Berthoud is back with a new jaw-dropping video, and in this one, he turned “Master of Puppets” into a solo slap bass arrangement.

Brooklyn hardcore icons Biohazard have announced a reunion tour for 2023 to celebrate the band’s 35th anniversary. The group will feature the entire original lineup, including bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld.

This week, Paul Thompson broke down his favorite Donny Hathaway song, Ryan Madora joined Derrek Phillips to chat about improvising a funky 12-bar blues bass line with a drummer, and Brittany Frompovich continued her "Wonder Women" series with a look at the work of Kristen Pfaff. Add to it a reimagined version of “Comfortably Numb” by Roger Waters, some new tour and music news, plus a sweet Bass of the Week, and you have this week's top 10 reader favorites.

DiMarzio has improved and expanded on their Relentless line of pickups, which they created in collaboration with bass icon Billy Sheehan. Originally featuring a single split-coil model, the series now includes the Relentless P and the Relentless J.

Lake Street Dive dropped another video from their “Live from The Sultan Room” series, and this time, the band grooves to The Pointer Sisters’ “Automatic.” As always, Bridget Kearney impresses with some funky bass work and backing vocals.