The Levin Brothers Announce Tour Dates
After releasing their first ever album together last year, Pete and Tony Levin have announced twelve date tour of the Northeastern United States. The musical brothers duo will kick things off in Rosendale, New York at the Rosendale Cafe on March 14th before covering most of New York state with stops in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. The group’s classic cool...
Bass of the Week: Rikkers Guitars Hollowline
Based on the the company’s Powerline model, the Rikkers Guitars Hollowline is distinguished by a chambered body that makes all the difference. “Not only do [the chambers] reduce weight significantly, they also make for a remarkably resonant and transparent tonal character,” Rikkers shares on their website. Each bass is custom built to order with a plethora of options. Rikkers prefers...
Nordstrand Introduces Alnico III Series Bass Pickups
Nordstrand Pickups has launched the Alnico III series of bass pickups. After introducing an Alnico III Tele pickup set, the company realized the alloy works well for bass. “[Alnico III] gives it a slightly more mellow sound,” Stewart McKinsey told us at the NAMM show. “It doesn’t have quite as much crunch to it, but it really fills out the...
Seymour Duncan Introduces Studio Bass Compressor
Seymour Duncan has added to their lineup of bass products with the introduction of the Studio Bass Compressor, a pedal the company says is designed to provide increased sustain, accentuated picking and evened out single-note runs. The pedal is designed for versatility while keeping things intuitive. I has Level, Attack, and Compression knobs for controlling the tone, while a Blend...
Jojo Mayer & Nerve, Featuring John Davis: Live in Europe
We don’t often feature full sets of music, but when John Davis sent us this video of Nerve performing live in Europe, I couldn’t stop watching. The band – which also features drummer Jojo Mayer, keyboardist Jacob Bergson, and effects specialist Aaron Nevezie – mixes the formats of programmed electronic music styles with live instruments and improvisation. Davis is described...
Mike Frost Band: Armando’s Rhumba
Mike Frost sent us this great clip of his band performing the classic Chick Corea tune, “Armando’s Rhumba.” Taken from a performance at the Shapeshifer Lab in Brooklyn, the band is cooking with some Latin flavor. Frost gets a warm sound from his fretless to pin the band together. “The video is showing my new Fretless Clifford Roi 4 string...
DOD Announces The Boneshaker Distortion Pedal
DOD is getting heavy with the new Boneshaker, a distortion pedal aimed at bass, baritone, and extended-range guitars. The circuit was designed by Black Arts Toneworks to focus on anything “heavy, loud and low.” The Boneshaker has Distortion, Depth and Level controls for dialing in the type of distortion. Its twist is a 3-band parametric EQ section that includes Low,...
Katie Thiroux: “Oh, What A Beautiful Morning” & “Ray’s Kicks”
There’s a new name in the world of double bass we think you’ll be hearing a lot: Katie Thiroux. A student of John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton, Thiroux has an essence on the double bass that recalls the bluesy, soulful, straight-ahead style of Ray Brown while expressing her own voice. Here’s a great clip from the Berklee College of Music...
G&L Guitars Introduces Detroit Muscle Series R/T Collection LB-100 Bass
Continuing on last year’s Detroit Muscle Series, G&L Guitars has unveiled the R/T Collection, including an LB-100 model. The new instruments pay homage to classic muscle cars with four historic Mopar colors: Sublime Green, Go Mango, Plum Crazy, and Panther Pink. Each of the colors, which were honed for the instruments by Mitch Lanzini of Lanzini Body Works, is available...
Harry Connick, Jr. and Ben Wolfe: Fly Me to the Moon
Here’s a great clip of bassist Ben Wolfe swinging hard with Harry Connick, Jr. on the jazz standard “Fly Me to the Moon” from a 1989 appearance on Night Music. Connick and Wolfe keep things light by drawing out the melody and playing off of each other. The duo start with just bass and vocals before Connick sits at the...
Q-Tuner Introduces Q2.0 J-Bass Pickups
Q-Tuner has expanded their line of neodymium pickups with the Q2.0 J-bass model. Designed for use with roundwound strings, the new pickup utilizes the company’s humbucker sidewinder technology fit into a standard J-style pickup size. The pickups uses a neodymium blade for passive, noiseless operation. Q-Tuner describes their output as dynamic and exceptionally clean, with a frequency range of 10Hz...
Bass of the Week: Healy Guitars Healer Bass
This week we check out the Healy Guitars Healer Bass. Based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, the company is headed by luthier Trevor Healy, who spent years honing his craft under the legendary Roger Sadowsky, Joe Zon, and others. The Healer is a take on a classic bass and features a curvy, offset mahogany body. Its set-neck is also made of mahogany...