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....
Joe Gallant & Mike Visceglia: Outvention
We love a good bass duo. Here’s Joe Gallant and Mike Visceglia playing their piece “Outvention.” Taken from the December Fretathon concert in New York City, the piece is a play on Bach’s Inventions, filled with cool counterpoint.
Dunlop Super Bright Bass Strings Now Available
Dunlop is now shipping their Super Bright Bass Strings, which the company designed with slap bass players in mind. The strings are defined by a lighter tension and provide clear highs balanced with a fat fundamental. The sets come in either stainless steel or nickel with options for 4- and 5-string basses with light and medium gauges. They’re available now...
Ron Carter Trio: Autumn Leaves
Ron Carter’s birthday is today, and we’re celebrating with this video of his trio performing the classic jazz standard “Autumn Leaves.” The video was filmed during Jazzwoche Burghausen in 2006, with Russell Malone on guitar and Jacky Terrasson on piano. Carter lays some masterful walking lines behind both of his bandmates before taking a walking solo at the 6:47 mark....
Rufus Philpot Trio: Jam Pt. 1
Gallien-Krueger has released their latest artist video with Rufus Philpot’s trio laying down a solid jam. Philpot, who is joined by drummer Raul Pineda and keyboardist Lao Tizer, floats some melodic lines overtop of a synth pad before kicking into the Latin-tinged groove.
Gibson Introduces Memory Cable With Built-In Recorder
Gibson has unveiled a new development in the world of instrument cables with the introduction of their new Memory Cable. The cable, which works on bass, guitar or keyboards, has a built-in recorder that can save up to 13 hours of playing to a microSD card. The TASCAM-designed component captures audio at 44.1kHz/16-bit resolution and can easily be transferred to...
Bass of the Week: KlangKraft Tiefdruck IV EMG
This week we take a look at the Klangkraft “Tiefdruck” IV EMG, a bass the company designed with modern rock and metal players in mind. The body features nice 3D body shaping for comfort with a matte black finish for aesthetic appeal. The European-made bass is created with an ash body, hard rock maple neck, and an ebony fretboard that...
Rockin’ With Rocco: An Interview with Francis “Rocco” Prestia
Few bassists have a style that is as instantly recognizable as Francis “Rocco” Prestia’s funky, bubbly ghost and 16th-note playing. His work with Tower of Power has shaped what is expected of a funk bassist in terms of playing in the pocket and has subsequently inspired countless bass players. Prestia himself is humble about his contributions, citing James Jamerson and...