Olivier Babaz: Boplicity
Many know Olivier Babaz for playing kalimba at the same time as bass, but he’s also incredible at jazz bowing. Here’s a great clip of him performing “Boplicity.” “It’s a follow up of [my] Swing feel & Baroque bow grip series with a classic Miles Davis & Gil Evans composition,” he writes.
MonoNeon Releases New Album, “I Don’t Care Today”
Dywane “MonoNeon” Thomas, Jr. has just dropped a new album called I Don’t Care Today (Angels & Demons in Lo-Fi). The former Prince collaborator utilizes his genre-bending style to create what he calls his most intimate work yet. “‘I Don’t Care Today’ is a push and pull between the flesh and the spirit. MonoNeon creates a soundtrack about his existential...
Darkglass Electronics Introduces Alpha Omega Ultra Pedal
Last year, Darkglass Electronics wowed NAMM-goers with the Alpha Omega. Now they’ve built upon the model with Alpha Omega Ultra, which they describe as “the most versatile bass preamplifier we’ve designed.” Just like its predecessor, the Ultra has two distinct distortion circuits that can be selected or mixed as well as a dry blend knob to retain your original signal....
Bass of the Week: R. Low. Vaughn 34? Scale Four-String
This week we’re checking out a slick four-stringer by R. Low. Vaughn. Built by luthier Rob Vaughn, the bass is one of his newer models. “This particular bass is the 3rd one of that style I’ve made,” Vaughn says. “It started out as a concept for a bassist over in Britain named Alysha Moore who got the first one last...
Clutch Announces Spring Headlining Tour
Clutch is hitting the road again for a headlining tour with some stellar support. The band, anchored by bassist Dan Maines, will be kicking off their spring outing on April 27th in Chattanooga, Tennessee with following dates sticking to the South. Joining them will be Red Fang (bassist Aaron Beam), The Bronx (bassist Brad Majers), and Fireball Ministry (bassist Scott...
Rickenbacker Unveils the 2018 4003S/5 5-String Bass
Rickenbacker announced the return of the 4003S/5 bass at the 2018 Winter NAMM Show. The five-string bass, which has not been offered for over a decade, has been updated with a slightly wider string spacing, a Schaller 3D-5 bridge, and a new single coil pickup design. The pickup was re-engineered with two blade magnets that angle further out towards the...
Armin Metz: Back In The Jungle
Armin Metz is back with another incredible solo bass video for his song “Back in the Jungle.” Filmed at night in the forest, the track has a hypnotic flow. The song is an incredible feat in itself, but it’s even more impressive that he can perform it as he walks the path at night.
Ampeg Introduces Liquifier and Opto Comp Pedals
Ampeg launched two new pedals at the Winter NAMM Show this year: the Liquifier Analog Chorus and Opto Comp Analog Optical Compressor. The new pedals add to their existing preamp and overdrive pedals. The Liquifier features a dual chorus circuit, which Ampeg says offers deep potential. “This isn’t your typical chorus pedal,” Ampeg Product Manager Ryan Cassady says. “The dual...
Victor Wooten: NAMM 2018 Performance and Lesson
Victor Wooten’s appearances at the NAMM Show are always special. This year he gave a performance and talk at the Reverb booth. Starting with an awesome solo piece, Wooten talks about his summer camp before diving into music theory in a relatable way. He’s then joined by saxophonist Bob Franceschini for a pair of tunes.
Fuzzrocious Pedals Unveils the Octave Jawn Pedal
One of the cooler effects we got to check out at NAMM this year was the Fuzzrocious Pedals Octave Jawn. (Jawn is Philly slang for “thing”.) Builder Ryan Ratajski says the new digital octaver will be a drop-in mod for his pedals. “Octave Jawn is a digital octaver specifically made to track faster than many other digital octavers on the...
Ibanez Announces Soundgear SR870, SR875, and SR876 Basses
Ibanez is continuing to grow their Soundgear bass lineup this year with the SR870, SR875, and SR876 models. The new basses, which they describe as some of the most visually striking basses in the series, were unveiled at the Winter NAMM Show. Each of the basses is built with a mahogany body topped with flamed maple. The 870 is a...
Primus and Mastodon Team Up for Expansive Tour
The bass will be riding high this spring as Primus and Mastodon have announced a co-headlining tour. With Les Claypool and Troy Sanders at the helm of each band, the tour is not to be missed. The lengthy trek kicks off May 6th at Red Rocks in Colorado before heading South, up the Northeast, through the Midwest, and down the...