Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 205

It’s been nearly thirty-six years since Metallica’s fateful bus accident that ended Cliff Burton’s life in Sweden. A memorial stone was placed at Dörarp near the site of the crash back in 2006, but now a full museum is opening on May 14th.

For the first time in 28 years, Pink Floyd has released a brand new song. “Hey Hey Rise Up” was recorded on March 30th as a means to raise money for Ukrainian humanitarian relief.

Taurus Amps has unveiled a new amp aimed at upright bassists. Although The Qube-350 Acoustic was made with upright in mind, it works great for bass guitars, making it a good option for doublers.

Ernie Ball unveiled a new set of their Slinky Bass Strings back in 2020, and now they’re available. The Hyper Slinky Bass strings offer a new gauge set of .040, .060, .080, and .100.

The Stick Men have just released a limited edition EP, marking the trio’s first new music in six years. “Tentacles” is a five-song collection that runs 30 minutes, but that’s plenty of time for the band to dig in.

Oteil Burbridge has announced a new set of tour dates with his project Oteil & Friends. The band on this go-around will include keyboardist Melvin Seals, guitarists Steve Kimock and Eric Krasno, and drummer John Kimock.

Kiesel has updated their JB bass lineup with the MJ, aka Modern J-Bass. The new take removes the pickguard to fully display each bass’s top woods.

Black metal legend Abbath has returned with his third solo album, entitled Dread Reaver. While Abbath handles bass on five of the album’s tracks, the remaining four are handled by bassist Mia Wallace.

Recently, I was able to check Consider the Source on their Hybrid Acoustic/Electric tour. John Ferrara told me about a bass he got to try by Dan Mangrum of Mangrum Basses. The bass builder picked Ferrara’s brain for what he calls the “Echo”.

Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler has gotten into the NFT game for a good cause. He’s teamed up with YellowHeartNFT to unveil “The Antibody,” a graphic novel broken up into separate chapters as animated, limited edition NFTs to tell the story.

Spector has launched a new set of basses in its NS Pulse series with the NS Pulse II. The four- and five-string basses now have three new matte finishes, while the new six-string model comes in Black Stain.

Dunlop’s awesome Bass Freq’s Podcast, hosted by bassist Josh Paul, has just launched its second season. The show is jumping back in with a bang as Paul gets deep with bass master Billy Sheehan.