In Memoriam: Peter “Mars” Cowling
More sad news to report today: Peter “Mars” Cowling has passed away. He was 72 years old. Fellow bassist Rodney O’Quinn helped break the news on his Facebook page. “On behalf of The Cowling/Clark Family, with a heavy heart, the music world, and especially the bass community has lost another great one,” he wrote. “Peter “Mars” Cowling, best known as...
MOD Kits DIY Unveils the Rock Bottom Bass Fuzz Pedal Kit
Bassists interested in building their own effects have a new option with the MOD Kits DIY Rock Bottom Bass Fuzz pedal kit. Designed for novice and experienced musicians, the kit comes with easy-to-follow instructions as well as all the necessary parts. “The Rock Bottom is a bass fuzz kit that delivers all the sizzle you’d expect from a vintage fuzz...
Nicole Row Joins Panic! At The Disco
Earlier this year we reported that longtime bassist Dallon Weekes left the ranks of Panic! At The Disco. The band is back in action again with a new bass player: Nicole Row. Row made her debut with the band on March 19th at a secret show in Cleveland. Row is no new-comer to the music scene. She’s performed alongside Troye...
In Memoriam: Buell Neidlinger
Sad news to report today: bassist Buell Neidlinger has passed away after a heart attack. He was 82 years old. Born in New York City, Neidlinger’s family moved to Westport, Connecticut when he was two years old. He was a prodigy on the cello, switching to bass at 13. He was a student of Count Basie Orchestra bassist Walter Page,...
Kala Adds Three New Affordable U-Bass Models
Kala’s popular U-Bass has three new models for 2018 called the Wanderer, the Passenger, and the Journeyman. The trio are described as their most affordable models yet. Each ukulele-sized bass is made of mahogany with a satin finish and comes equipped with black die-cast tuners, Aquila Thundergut strings and a Kala UK-500B preamp with EQ and built-in tuner. The lineup...
Alice in Chains Gear Up For Massive World Tour
Alice in Chains is getting ready to head out on a huge world tour. Anchored by Mike Inez, the band will be hitting the road starting April 28th at the House of Blues in Boston, Massachusetts and covering part of the U.S. through May. They’ll be heading overseas for June and July, only to return to North America for August...
Sadowsky Guitars Launches Re-engineered Blue Label Flatwound Strings
Sadowsky Guitars has re-engineered their line of flatwound strings including their sets for bass guitar. The new Blue Label Flatwound strings, which come in four and five-string sets, are described as “superb for fretless basses or that classic Motown sound.” “Our challenge was to create a string with a true vintage tone and feel that retains a strong fundamental to...
Bass of the Week: Millimetric Instruments MB4
This week we’re checking out a cool minimalist design from Millimetric Instruments called the MB4. The four-stringer is their first bass model and shows some Travis Bean influence in its neck. “This bass was made seeking efficiency in sound and playing,” the company writes. “The tone lies in the neck construction, pickups and the use of maple. MB4 sound is...
Meshell Ndegeocello Covers Her Influences On “Ventriloquism”
Meshell Ndegeocello’s style is so singular that she owns every song she performs. That includes the tracks on her latest album, Ventriloquism, which features eleven covers that pay tribute to her diverse influences. “Early on in my career, I was told to make the same kind of album again and again, and when I didn’t do that, I lost support,”...
Dean Markley Adds Extra-Medium Set to NickelSteel Bass Signature String Series
Dean Markley has added an Extra-Medium set to its NickelSteel Bass Signature Series of strings. The XM strings split the difference between medium and heavy with gauges of measuring .050, .070, .090, and .110 mm in the four-string set. A five-string set adds a .130mm low B string. The company describes the string as offering a “full bright sound” with...
Derek Smalls: It Don’t Get Old
We’re still eagerly awaiting the release of the new Derek Smalls album, Smalls Change. Thankfully the Spinal Tap rock god has given us another tease with a music video for the song “It Don’t Get Old”. Smalls (portrayed by Harry Shearer) is joined by session guitar legend Waddy Wachtel as well as a wigged Chad Smith on the drums. And...
TC Electronic Unveils the SpectraDrive Bass Preamp & Line Driver
TC Electronic has expanded their bass offerings with the SpectraDrive, a bass preamp and line driver that the company calls a powerful tone tool for bass players. Its preamp section is taken from their BH800 head and features a four-band EQ plus TonePrint compression from their SpectraComp effect. “But the real power of SpectraDrive is the custom built studio-grade DI...