Fodera Adds Emperor-J 5 To Standard Classic Bass Series
Fodera has added a five-string version of their Emperor-J to the Standard Classic line. The retro-styled instrument can be ordered in two different layouts to represent the tones of different eras. “The Emperor-J 5 is available in either a 60’s jazz-style configuration of an Alder body/ Rosewood FB with its pickups in 60’s location or in a 70’s jazz-style configuration...
Alkaline Trio Releases “Is This Thing Cursed?”
Alkaline Trio has returned to release their first album in five years, entitled Is This Thing Cursed? The pop-punk band took a new direction by writing the album almost entirely in the studio, but it also draws a comparison to their 2000 album, Maybe I’ll Catch Fire. “The songwriting process is almost like what it was back in the day....
AC Guitars Unveils the Micro Krell Bass Guitar
AC Guitars has scaled down their Krell model with the new Micro Krell, a bass featuring a tiny 26.5-inch scale while still being tuned as a normal bass. Luthier Alan Cringean created the model out of a bit of exploration. “It started out as an experiment using a Krell guitar body I had in the workshop to find out just...
Alice Cooper Releases “A Paranormal Evening at The Olympia Paris”
Rock legend Alice Cooper is still going strong. After releasing his 27th studio album, Paranormal, last year, he took his band on the road in support of the release. The massive tour culminated in an over-the-top show at the Olympia in Paris, France that is now available as a live album. A Paranormal Evening at The Olympia Paris captured the...
Dug Pinnick: New King’s X Album In The Works
Last month we reported that Dug Pinnick was stepping down from the MC5 50th Anniversary tour this year, saying there was no drama but he was “not the right guy for the job.” However, the busy bassist is wasting no time in getting to work. In an interview with Rock Titan, he revealed that King’s X has committed to making...
The Band’s “Music From Big Pink” Gets 50th Anniversary Reissue
The Band is one of the most influential rock groups of all time. 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of their debut album, Music From Big Pink, which has been re-released in a special edition. The original music has been given a new stereo mix by producer Bob Clearmountain, who used the original four-track analog master for his work. It has...
Dunable Guitars Unveils The SplatterBlaster Pedal
Dunable Guitars and Chicago Music Exchange have collaborated to offer Dunable’s first ever pedal: the SplatterBlaster. The two-in-one stompbox is an all-analog circuit that brings together a fuzz and a distortion into one pedal. It’s made for flexibility and can be routed as running two independent circuits in parallel or into two outputs. It also includes a clean signal blend...
Steve Lawson’s “Beauty and Desolation” Now Available
After releasing it to his Bandcamp subscribers last month, Steve Lawson has made his new album Beauty and Desolation available to the public. The improvised work is themed around beautiful things that are going to destroy us, says Lawson, and that brought out his melodic touch. “The hip-hop influence that’s been [in my music] for the last few years is...
Ashdown Engineering Introduces the Tone Pocket Portable Bass Headphone Amp
Ashdown has just introduced the Tone Pocket, a compact headphone preamp designed for practice, home studio, and stage applications. It allows for plugging in your bass for access to a 3-band EQ plus a line input for connecting a smartphone and, of course, a headphone output. “The well-equipped rear panel of the Tone Pocket features a USB recording output for...
The Devil Makes Three Releases “Chains Are Broken”
Folk/Americana group The Devil Makes Three has released Chains Are Broken, which marks their sixth studio album and first of all original material since 2013. The trio also stuck to its core members – Pete Bernhard, Lucia Turino, and Cooper McBean – with only one guest on the album. Their touring drummer Stefan Amidon adds some extra support to their...
Bob Marley and The Wailers’ “Kaya” Gets 40th Anniversary Edition
Four decades after its initial release, the historic Bob Marley and the Wailers album Kaya is new once again with a 40th Anniversary edition. The album features some of the band’s most recognizable songs including “Is This Love”, “Satisfy My Soul”, and “Easy Skanking”. The Wailers lineup was of course anchored by the mighty Aston “Family Man” Barrett, who contributed...
Bass of the Week: Waja Bass Soma NT 5-String
This week we’re checking out the Waja Bass Soma NT five-string, which features a striking body shape in an equally striking high gloss blue finish. The neck-through bass is crafted from a three-piece swamp ash body topped with flamed maple and a seven-piece birdseye maple and bubinga neck. Its fingerboard is ebony. Waja fits the bass with a pair of...