Articles by Evan Kepner - Page 9

After a time of uncertainty, Wal Basses is back in action, keeping their tried and true detail oriented approach to bass building and great tone. The company is once again accepting orders. Luthier Paul Herman, from Electric Wood, is now on board and is creating the instruments. Wal Basses and Electric Wood both began in England and were founded by...

This great video is Josy John playing from Antaragni, a fusion band from Bangalore which disbanded in 2004. Antaragni is a combination of two Sanskrit words, Antar which is “fire” and Angi meaning “within.” John appears to be playing a 5 string Warwick.

KISS fans, here is your chance: Gene Simmons is selling a limited edition Axe Bass designed, numbered and signed by the man himself in each city on their latest tour. The bass comes with a customized case and you get to meet Simmons in person on the tour. Each case is individually hand painted and is build to hold the...

Bassist David Pastorius and his band, Local 518, have released their second album in the U.S., Sense of Urgency. The album features Pastorius on bass with Local 518 members Al Brodeur on guitar and keyboards, Bjarne Jannik Kjaer on drums, steel drums and keyboards, Anthony Darmana on percussion and Dijeradoo and Dave Hoag on keyboards. Other performers on the CD...

In one of my earlier lessons I talked about using melodic minor scales to create different degrees of altered tension over functional dominant seventh chords. I got a request from a No Treble reader named Mark, asking for ii-V-I applications. Mark, this lesson is for you! We’re going to focus on different ways to reharmonize the ii-V-I and how that...

This is a video from a 1984 performance by bassist Ron Carter playing “Willow Weep for Me.” Carter is one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, heard on more than 2,500 albums. Carter is probably best known for his jazz work, playing in the Miles Davis quintet with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams in the early 1960s...

Bassist Meshell Ndegeocello has just released Devil’s Halo through the Downtown record label. This is Ndegeocello’s eighth album to date and features live music energy, but thematically resting on loneliness and alcohol. Ndegeocello has explained part of her muse: “I live in Hudson, N.Y., and you can walk the whole town in about 10 minutes. The unifying factor is the...

Pedulla has just announced a new line of bass guitar: the Pedulla Nuance. Like all Pedulla bass guitars, the Nuance line is also hand crafted in the USA by Michael Pedulla. This model was developed to respond the subtleties in a player’s technique and has been tested by bassists Tim Landers, Mark Egan, and David Buda, all of whom are...

At the performance in Madison Square Garden, Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz had his head shaved by Mark Hoppus of Blink 182. The head shaving was allegedly payment from Wentz to do anything to be on tour with Blink. Wentz has described how big of an influence Blink has had on him: “Ever since I heard Dude Ranch I...

TC Electronic has customized their RH450 head with a new sound design specifically for Tower of Power bassist Francis Rocco Prestia. The Staccato’51 has the same look and feel of the RH450, but there are plenty of new features to differentiate this model. World Ready Power Supply – a built in power supply that operates from 90-240V, no need to...

South African psychedelic rock dub group BLK JKS (pronounced “Black Jacks”) have released a new album After Robots on the Secretly Canadian record label. The BLK JKS have been sharing performances with both Dirty Projectors and Afro-pop icon Femi Kuti. After Robots lives up BLK JKS description, you’ll hear raw township sounds mixed with reggae and blasts alternative rock. BLK...

We frequently see bassist Christian McBride playing the upright, but can he ever play on the bass guitar. Check out this video of McBride taking a solo during a live performance of the Jaco Pastorius tune “Havona”, with the Christan McBride Band. McBride has three bass guitars that he currently uses: first a Pensa 4-string fretless maple neck, an Atelier...