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...
La Bella Strings Introduces Low Tension Flexible Flats
La Bella Strings is introducing a new take on their flatwound strings with the Low Tension Flexible Flats series. Made with the same techniques as their Deep Talkin’ Bass sets, the new strings have a slightly adjusted construction for a lighter and more flexible feel to their heavier counterparts. The company says that the Low Tension Flexible Flats offer the...
Fodera Unveils Victor Wooten Bow Bass Prototype
Victor Wooten is all about stretching boundaries, but most recently he’s teamed up with Fodera to create a radical new bass design. They’ve just announced the first prototype of their collaboration, which they’re calling the Bow Bass.
MonoNeon: Joe’s Apartment – The Bathroom Scene
MonoNeon adds a crazy amount of groove to everything he plays on, even if it’s a bunch of singing bugs. “Here is a new video of me playing along with a scene from the 1996 musical-comedy, Joe’s Apartment (first film produced by MTV Films),” the bassist shares. “This was and still is one of my favorite movies, I used to...
GHS Strings Now Shipping GHS Crossovers
GHS Strings’ new GHS Crossovers line of strings – designed to fit the NS Design CR and NXT series of electric upright basses – are now available. The new strings, which come in 4- and 5-string sets, fill a gap for the bass. “The string options for the NS Design upright bass are limited,” explains GHS Product Specialist, Jon Moody,...
Victor Bailey: Countdown
Victor Bailey is about to get you to kick your practicing into high gear with this video. It’s a playalong of his take on John Coltrane’s “Countdown” as heard on . “When I went to Berklee 35 years ago, I transcribed a bunch of Coltrane solos including this one,” Bailey shared. “I’m playing Coltrane’s solo. This is just my playalong...
Big Tone Music Brewery Releases Quadboost Pedal
Big Tone Music Brewery has released the Quadboost, a pedal that combines four of the most popular boost circuits into a single stompbox. Building upon the company’s Triboost, the Quadboost has germanium, silicon, MOSFET, and JFET boosts with a 2-band EQ to create sculpted boosts. The germanium boost is based on the Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster and features a new-old-stock...
Doug Johns: The Dougumentary
Doug Johns is one of the funkiest bassists alive. The Terra State Video Club caught some of the funk with this 45-minute look into his style, his outlook, and his personality. “I’m proud to announce… The Dougumentary!” Johns shared on Facebook. “Filmed at Terra State Community College/Terra Video Club/ Brandon Beining, Mark Grine, Chris Cavera. These are all talented cats!...
Bass of the Week: Anaconda Crusher Standard CX5
Facebook is great for discovering new and beautiful instruments. Our friend Russ Sargeant posted a picture of this fantastic Anaconda Crusher Standard and I was hooked. Built in England, the hand-crafted bass has some nice curves for ergonomics and aesthetics. The Crusher comes in several flavors, with the Standard version offering all of the most important features in a clean...
Viktor Lörincz: Return of the Boomerang
One of the most popular videos we’ve ever shared is Viktor Lörincz’s “Boomerang,” back in 2011. We even had Stuart Clayton transcribe it. Now Lörincz is back with “Return of the Boomerang,” a bass solo that builds on his previous and most popular video. This one’s got it all: slapping, tapping, chords, and of course, a deep groove.
Source Audio Releases The Soundblox Hub
Source Audio has released the Soundblox Hub, a box that allows for linking up five of the company’s Soundblox 2 pedals and saving the settings on each. It utilizes MIDI Program Change and Control Change messages to save and recall up to 128 pedal “scenes” to be recalled later. “For the first time, you can save the state of your...
Charles Mingus Quintet: So Long Eric
Today we’re celebrating Charles Mingus’s birthday. Here’s a video of one of my favorite Mingus tunes, “So Long Eric,” taken from Belgium’s “Jazz Pour Tous” TV program in April 1964. The quintet’s lineup includes drummer Dannie Richmond, pianist Jaki Byard, tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan, and alto saxophonist Eric Dolphy, for whom the song is named. Often, the song is thought...