Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner: Lotus and the Jondy
Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner is a phenomenal bassist with a singular voice. Here’s a video from the first episode of the online music series “Off Main St,” which features the bassist performing his song “Lotus and the Jondy.” The song is from his second album Apocalypse. If you dig this, make sure to check out the rest of the episode:
Sandberg Introduces Electra M-4 Bass
Sandberg has added the new M-4 model to the Electra series of basses. This latest addition joins the previous models to round out the three most common classic bass styles with a single humbucker with a 2-band EQ. Sandberg says this configuration gives it a modern rock tone. Similar to the rest of the line, the bass is designed, assembled...
In Memoriam: Ed Gagliardi
Original Foreigner bassist Ed Gagliardi has passed away after a eight years of battling cancer. He was 62. Gagliardi was the final member added to create Foreigner in 1976. The native New Yorker was of the American half of the band while the other three members of the sextet were British. Although he was right-handed, Gagliardi played a Rickenbacker bass...
Breedlove Announces Pursuit, Solo, and Studio Acoustic-Electric Basses
Breedlove Stringed Instruments has revamped their line of acoustic-electric bass guitars with three models including the Pursuit, the Solo, and the Studio basses. Breedlove Pursuit Bass The Pursuit is 32-inch scale bass built around the company’s Concert body shape that first appeared in 1992. The bass is built with a solid sitka spruce top and sapele laminate back and sides,...
In Memoriam: Juan Formell
Juan Formell, who played bass and led the popular Cuban band Los Van Van, has died of liver disease. He was 71. Formell was born in Havana in 1942 and started his professional music career at the age of 15. He worked in cabarets, radio and television and was bassist for the band Revolutionary Police by 1959. The bassist formed...
Skervesen Guitars Introduces Mondo and Prometheus Basses
Polish instrument company Skervesen Guitars has announced two new bass models to their lineup. The instruments are hand-crafted in Poland and can be built with range of options. Skervesen Guitars Mondo Bass The Mondo is a 5-string bass with an offset body designed with designer Dominika Pajdowska for a member of the Skervesen team. It was then chosen by Materia...
The Wailers Celebrate 30th Anniversary of “Legend” with Tour
Together with Bob Marley, The Wailers changed the face of popular music by fusing reggae with rock, pop, and soul elements. Marley’s death in 1981 rocked the music community, but the band kept playing under the leadership of bassist Aston “Family Man” Barrett. The group is now on tour in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Legend, a greatest hits...
Bass of the Week: MonoNeon’s Microtonal Bass
Most No Treble readers will recognize MonoNeon as a forward thinking bassist with a unique style that blends R&B with modern experimental music. He often plays with microtonality, meaning he uses quarter tones in addition to semi-tones that are created on fretted instruments. “My fascination with microtonality is ‘casual’, similar to my fascination with Dadaism, Color Field, and other visual...
Kala Brand Music Introduces USA Acoustic-Electric Exotic Wood U-Basses
Ukelele company Kala Brand Music made heads turn five years ago with the introduction of the U-Bass, a ukelele sized bass with proprietary polyurethane strings. The company is now celebrating the five year milestone by introducing the USA Acoustic-Electric Exotic wood U-Bass series. Built in Petaluma, California, the new models feature figured bodies of either Hawaiian Koa, Flame Maple, or...
Hugo Doyon-Karout: Playthrough of Brought By Pain’s “Guided by Fear”
Metal bassists don’t often get the credit they deserve. Here’s a video of Hugo Doyon-Karout playing through his bass line on “Guided by Fear” by Brought by Pain. The Montreal-based progressive death metal band delivers crushing riffs, which the bassist runs through with ease. Warning: Death metal vocals ahead.
Judith Owen and Leland Sklar Announce Free Tour
What’s better than seeing legendary bassist Leland Sklar perform with a super talented songwriter? How about seeing them for free? Sklar will be joining singer/songwriter Judith Owen on her upcoming “Ebb & Flow” tour across the United States. Each show on the duo’s tour will be free, with a suggestion that if you’d like to support the tour, you do...
Keeley Electronics Releases Neutrino Envelope Filter
Keeley Electronics is now shipping the Neutrino, an envelope filter that’s built for both bass and guitar. The hand-built pedal is a modern compact circuit of an opto-coupler based design that borrows concepts from their other stompboxes. “Our design team focused on building a tunable dual opto-coupler design that could be aligned for unit-to-unit perfection,” company founder Robert Keeley explains....