Bass of the Week: Turan Guitars TG Semi-Hollow Bass
This week we take a look at the TG Semi-Hollow, a gorgeous single-cut bass made by Turan Guitars. The semi-hollow bass is crafted with a korina body topped with flamed maple. The top is complemented with matching pickup covers, control knobs, and headstock. While this is an untraditional looking instrument, Turan utilizes traditional f-holes to tie the bass together. The...
Blotted Science, Featuring Alex Webster, Announce New Album
Three years after the release of bug-themed album The Animation of Entomology, instrumental metal band Blotted Science has announced they’ll return to the studio in December to record their next project. Group leader Ron Jarzombek says the new album has a title and nearly forty minutes of music written. Virology will be a concept album again, but the group will...
Reed James Engineering Introduces Edmond Gilmore Signature Pickup Set
Reed James Engineering has teamed up with bassist Edmond Gilmore to produce the company’s first signature pickup set. Based on their RJ NEO Vintage Vibe Noiseless pickups, the set has a bridge pickup that is wound for more balance and punch while retaining a classic tone. The voicing is suited specifically to Gilmore’s fretless playing. The new pickup set also...
BassMods Introduces K534 Bass
BassMods has introduced the K534, a 5-string bass that pays homage to a classic style. The model is built with a chambered alder body and a bolt-on maple neck with white binding and pearloid block inlays. Each K534 is made to order and built for a dual pickup configuration. Pickup options include Bartolini Dual Coil Brights, Bartolini Deep Tone Dual...
In Memoriam: Rick Rosas
Another great bassist has left us. Rick Rosas, who served as longtime bassist for Neil Young, has passed away at the age of 65. The cause of death has not been released. Affectionately known as “Rick the Bass Player,” Rosas got his musical start in an instrumental surf band called Mark & The Escorts in the early 1960’s. The core...
Eve Guitars Announces IONA Bass
Eve Guitars has expanded their instrument lineup with the IONA, a handmade bass fitted with the company’s Eve Jazz + Humbucker pickup configuration. Luthier Douglas Mullen says the bass spent lots of time in the development phase. “We’ve spent a significant amount of time getting this instrument right,” he shares. “We had a great starting point originally from the Elite,...
Tha Truth: An Interview with Bill Dickens
Many people have been introduced to the work of Bill Dickens through his jaw-dropping technique and finesse on his 7-string bass, but that’s not the whole story. Dickens, who started on drums at the tender age of 3, has been a songwriter since his teen years. His writing, producing, and arranging has gotten scored Billboard hits for several R&B artists,...
La Bella Unveils Vapor Shield Treated Bass Strings
La Bella has announced a new type of extended-life string called the Vapor Shield series. Instead of spraying or dipping the string into a coating, the process treats the entire surface of the string with a nucleated polymer vapor. “Using a highly sophisticated Ionic Vapor Process™ developed by Acoustic Science™, proprietary compounds are activated in a glow discharge electromagnetic plasma,...
Petros Klampanis: Minor Dispute
Bassist Petros Klampanis is working on his next album and has released this awesome video for the title track. The group mixes jazz, world music, and chamber music into a beautifully organic style of music. Klampanis is currently raising money for his album on Kickstarter.
Bass of the Week: Naked Bass Hitchhiker 5-String
Luthier Bill Woger decided to make the jump to create his own business last year called Naked Bass and Guitar Company. His fourth bass ever built is the Hitchhiker 5-string, and it’s No Treble’s Bass of the Week. The Hitchhiker is a neck-through design built around an awesome 9-piece multi-laminate neck consisting of maple, mahogany, and wenge. Its body wings...
Erlend Caspersen: Abhorrent’s “Reward System Malfunction” Playthrough
Prepare yourself: Erlend Caspersen sent us this playthrough of his band Abhorrent’s song “Reward System Malfunction,” and it’s scary good. The song comes from their upcoming album Intransigence, and while the band has a vocalist, this playthrough removes the vocals to focus on the instruments. Caspersen navigates the song with incredible agility moving between lightning fast fingerstyle and slap.
Devi Ever: FX Announces Big Distortion Sound Machine
Devi Ever: FX has unveiled the Big Distortion Sound Machine, a parallel distortion that combines their Ruiner and Torn’s Peaker fuzz circuits. The company, which is now owned by the same people that run Dwarfcraft Devices, says the pedal was designed for bass guitar but is applicable to guitar or keyboard as well. It is the first release under the...