Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 522

Juan Alderete is the king of pedals and effects, and he’s proven that once again with his new group Halo Orbit. The band, which includes Japanese guitar whiz suGar Yoshinaga and drummer Mark Guiliana, released their debut album earlier this month and it’s filled with the bassist’s unreal tonal palette. Halo Orbit’s self-titled debut is Alderete’s first full release since...

Viktor L?rincz’s creativity always astounds me, and his latest video is no different. “This video was made with drummer Steven Oravecz, who made a ‘grinder drum’ video on the Facebook,” L?rincz explains. “When I heard it, I felt the groove, and I made my bass line and video, and I mixed them.” Dig it:

Electro Harmonix has expanded their line of synthesizer pedals with the SYNTH9. Suited for bass and guitar, the stompbox emulates classic electronic synthesizers with nine settings: OBX, Profit V, Vibe Synth, Mini Mood, EHX Mini, Solo Synth, Mood Bass, String Synth, and Poly VI. “Using the same innovative technology that powers the award-winning B9 and C9 Organ Machines as well...

Punk legends The Descendents have announced a massive headlining North Amercian tour that will kick off in April and continue throughout December. Anchored by Karl Alvarez, the band will start in Santa Cruz, California and make their way East and then South to cover most of the U.S. with a handful of Canadian dates mixed in. The band will be...

Zoom revealed their latest bass product at the Winter NAMM Show with the B3n, a multi-effects processor that can model individual effects or chains of effects plus amps and cabs. It’s pre-loaded with 67 stompbox DSP effects including 19 dynamics and filter effects, 15 overdrive and distortion effects, 17 modulation effects, 11 delay and reverb effects, and more. “The B3n...

The duo of bassist Hector Baños and vocalist Majo Saenz, aka Boisse, released a new video for their song “Danii.” Featuring an ambient harmonic groove and soulful vocals, this one is beautiful.

Bassist Chris Wolstenholme and Muse will be hitting the road this year for an 18-date tour of North America. Beginning May 20th in West Palm Beach, Florida, the trek will take them across the U.S. and Canada with performances scheduled out as far as September 20th. Tour support will be provided by 30 Seconds To Mars, who is joined by...

This week we’re checking out a cool new bass from Lorita Basses. The Century Series II carries the same singlecut body shape as the Century model, but with a solid body construction and a bolt-on neck. This particular bass has a headless setup and is constructed with a swamp ash body, burl elm top, hard ash and hard maple neck,...

Chris DeAngelis is back with another killer looping bass cover. This time he knocked it out of the park with Michael Jackson’s “I Can’t Help It.” After setting up a percussive groove, he lays out the melody and bass line at the same time. Then he loops the groove and kicks off an ear-bending solo. Dig it:

D’Angelico introduced the Premier version of their Mott acoustic/electric bass at the Winter NAMM Show this year. The affordable bass features a cutaway design with a 16-inch-wide body and solid Sitka spruce top. Its mahogany neck has a slim C-shape, which the company says allows for maximum comfort and playability. Similar to the rest of the Premier series, the Premier...

Craig Butterfield first caught our attention with a burning note-for-note playalong of Charlie Parker’s “Donna Lee.” but he can do more on the upright than shred. Here’s a beautiful tune called “Lulu’s Theme,” written by multi-instrumentalist Jesse Jones, who accompanies on guitar. Butterfield brings tons of emotion to the gorgeous, sweeping melody to pull on your heartstrings.

Mike Lull introduced a new short-scale version of his P-style bass called the P430 at the Winter NAMM Show this year. The P430 will carry the same features of the full-size P4 – such as an alder, swamp ash, or mahogany body – but it will have a short 30-inch scale. That’s something Lull was not interested in doing until...