Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 577

Hundreds of thousands of people witnessed The Grateful Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” concert series, marking the final time the “core four” surviving band members would perform together under the band’s moniker. A month later, three of the four band members – Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart – have announced a concert on Halloween night at Madison Square Garden...

Recording bassists have some new amp modeling software options with Universal Audio’s new Ampeg Bass Amp plug-ins. The two new plug-ins focus on the SVT sound with an SVT-VR model and an SVT-3 Pro model, both of which are included in UAD Software v8.3 and are made exclusively for UAD-2 hardware and Apollo interfaces. Each of the amp simulating plug-ins...

Herbie Hancock has never been short on great bassists to play with over his career. Here’s a killer clip of his band being anchored by Tal Wilkenfeld on “Actual Proof” during the 2010 Montreux Jazz Festival. Wilkenfeld brings tons of energy to the performance and follows each soloist to support their ideas. She then takes a thoughtful solo of her...

Mike Poggione is back with another death metal playthrough. This time the bassist tears through his band Doomsilla’s “Redlight Executioner” on his 7-string bass with lighting fast riffs and a biting tone. Warning: death metal vocals ahead.

It’s always good to look back at your work when you hit a milestone, but Fodera does it with style. They recently completed a special Flame Koa Monarch 4 Elite that they’ve dubbed Fodera #4,000, and it’s a beauty. “Our Monarch design was our very first bass design and the second instrument that we ever built was a Monarch Bass...

After introducing the model last year, Ibanez is now offering the Terra Firma model in 5- and 6-string models with maple fretboards. The single-cut BTB model is part of the company’s experimental “Bass Workshop” series and has several features typically found on boutique basses. Its neck-through design includes a five-piece maple and bubinga neck with ash body wings topped by...

Here’s your daily dose of old school cool: Bachman-Turner Overdrive performing “Not Fragile” live in 1974. Fred Turner lays down one of the most simple yet effective bass lines on his black Rickenbacker to kick the band into high gear.

Nearly two years after their first release, bassist MonoNeon and producer Kriswontwo have teamed up again as Weon to release Neon the Won. The experimental duo fuse stellar bass playing with ear bending soundscapes to create an album that transcends genre. This time around they invited several guest musicians, including David “Fuze” Fiuczynski, Jerome Flood, Lance Lucas, Amber Baker, and...

Here’s something different: Bohemian Guitars has introduced the Boho Bass, a hollow body electric bass constructed with an upcycled oil can. Each body has a removable back as well as an internal wood frame for increased amplification and structural integrity. The Boho Bass features a 30-inch scale with easy access to the upper register on its maple neck and rosewood...

Here’s a beautifully creative clip of What A Day, a bass and vocal duo made up of Jonathan Joly and Leah Gracie. The band describes their project as a “musical trip through the entrails of the bureaucratic world” of the music industry. “Closet” features an interesting bass line that evokes imagery of the passing of a work day with a...

Carl Martin has updated their ProPower for better performance and power stability while keeping all the same features. The ProPower Version 2 power supply offers eight individual isolated and regulated nine-volt to twelve-volt outputs with extended power on outputs seven and eight. It’s power chain begins with a switchable AC input that toggles between 110 and 230 volts. A simple...

How many bass lines get people excited after only two notes? Marcus Miller riled the crowd up at the 2015 North Sea Jazz Festival with an instrumental version of the classic Temptations hit “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”. “How good does that bass line have to be that I just have to play two notes?” Miller jokes. The bass legend...