Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 146

Pop punk legends MxPx have released their 11th studio album, entitled “Find A Way Home.” The 13-song collection is tied together by a sense of community and working together.

Ernie Ball Music Man has unveiled the Summer 2023 collection of the Ball Family Reserve, which includes two guitars and one bass. The Ball Family Reserve “Shadow Korina” DarkRay is limited to 100 units worldwide.

The electric bass has plenty of extended techniques to make extraordinary sounds, but so does the double bass. Bassist and composer Jacob Warren wrote “Zola” to explore the use of “harp harmonics.”

Evergrey’s Johan Niemann emailed about his debut solo album, “Karnivore,” with a great opening line: ”Do you like your music odd sounding, 80’s smelling, fretless bass driven and instrumental? Then, please give this a spin!”

California’s Xotic Effects has revamped the Bass BB preamp for 2023 with new functional and aesthetic features. The pedal offers up to 30db+ of boost with Gain, Level, Bass, and Treble controls.

After a decade of dormancy, Dethklok has returned an album of all new songs and a full-length feature film. “Dethalbum IV” and “Metalocalypse: Army of the Doom Star” are out now, and as such, the animated death metal overlords are taking the metal to the masses.

The Cure’s Simon Gallup was seen road-testing some new basses during their recent summer tour, and now Schecter has unveiled the new signature basses to their lineup.

Charles Berthoud has been posting videos to YouTube for a decade, and in the last few years, his channel has blown up. Now he’s launching a second channel.

Whether he’s playing in House of Waters, making his own music, or just sharing practice pieces, Moto Fukushima never fails to blow me away. We caught up with him to discuss the new album, how to arrange for solo bass, and what’s coming up for House of Waters.

You may not know it, but modern funk guitar hero Cory Wong actually got his musical start on the bass. Wong has just returned with a new solo album called “The Lucky One,” featuring both his guitar and bass talents.

Way Huge has introduced the Smalls Stone Burner Sub Atomic Fuzz pedal. The new stompbox offers individual-level controls for the fuzz and sub-octave signals, while a switch lets you toggle between one and two octaves down.

Songstress Rhiannon Giddens has returned with her third solo album and the first of all originals. “You’re the One” features Giddens’ longtime bassist, Jason Sypher, who lays down the grooves on both electric and upright bass.