Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 614

Reed James Engineering has expanded their RJ NEO line of pickups with the RJ NEO Split Blade. Utilizing the same technology as the rest of the series, Reed James describes the new split blade as having the same mid-range and dynamics of their Vintage Vibe Jazz Bass pickups with the smoothness of of the RJ NEO. The RJ NEO Split...

British metal outfit Seven7 is gearing up for their upcoming third album, The Follower, which is due in November. Here’s their latest video for “Free,” which features bassist Arran McSporran keeping it heavy on his 6-string fretless.

After two years of development, TWA has released the Little Dipper Mk II envelope-controlled vocal formant filter. The new version of the pedal, which is based on the classic Colorsound Dipthonizer circuit, adds new control features as well as a fuller frequency response, lower noise floor, and improved tracking. Among the new features is a Low Boost switch that the...

Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life is one of the most brilliant albums ever made. Musicians from all walks of life cite it as a heavy influence, and it was ranked at 57 on the Rolling Stone’s 500 greatest albums of all time. Wonder will be presenting the album in its entirety on an 11-date North American tour...

If you haven’t caught on to the incredible playing of Snow Owl, it’s high time you did. The bassist – real name Juan Garcia-Herreros – has been turning heads with a style that synthesizes all of his musical tastes with flavors of jazz, latin music, pop, rock and more. Part of that special blend comes from his multi-cultural experience. Garcia-Herreros...

Here’s a great clip of Umphrey’s McGee in the studio performing “Puppet String” from their latest release, Similar Skin. The band builds an atmosphere before bassist Ryan Stasik comes in at the 1:14 mark with a cool slap line that becomes the centerpiece of the song. The band goes on to groove hard on unison lines with huge drums provided...

Ever since Meghan Trainor released her single “All About That Bass,” we’ve been getting tons of email and Facebook messages about it. We can certainly appreciate the song’s chorus, “You know I’m all about that bass, no treble.” It has a nice ring to it. Postmodern Jukebox took things a step further with this swing version of the song with...

Reunion Blues is doubling down on their RBX series with the introduction of the RBX Double Bass Guitar Gig Bag. Designed to carry two bass guitars, the new bag features the company’s RBX protection system that includes a multi-layer foam surround, a strategically placed impact panels, a multilayer foam neck cradle and end-pin rest. An interior padded wall separates the...

Jensen has added two new types of bass speakers to their product lineup with the Jensen Punch Sound series and the Jensen Smooth Sound series. Each style of speaker comes in 8, 10, 12, and 15-inch diameters with wattages ranging between 150 and 350 watts. The company describes the Punch Sound series as focusing on dynamics with a fast response....

A few months ago, Jordan Brown sent us some pictures of a bass he was having made. I knew even before it was finished that it was going to be a killer bass, and it looks like I was right. Brown, who is an active player in London, reached out to Italian luthier Matteo Rufini to build an instrument that...

MBS Effects has introduced the Mr. Smith, a compact delay pedal that offers up to 1600 ms of delay that can be set via Tap Tempo or rotary knob. It has four types of subdivisions: quarter note, eighth note, triplets, and dual triplets. The Argentinian effects company designed the pedal to have an analog dry-through with selectable true bypass and...

Solo bassist Gheorghe Postoronca sent us this video for his latest song, “Dreaming of You.” Combining fingerstyle, slap and tapping, the song flows through several textures to give a full accompaniment to Postoronca’s catchy melody.