Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 646

This one is sure to get your head bobbing. Italian bassist Tobia Ciaglia gets an awesome groove going with just his bass, a slide, and a wooden box.

Dunlop has expanded the MXR Bass Innovations series with the M81 Bass Preamp, a pedal that packs a preamp into a stompbox the size of the company’s Phase 90. Similar to a studio preamp, the Bass Preamp has level controls for its input and output. The EQ section has bass, mid, and treble controls with a sweepable midrange from 250Hz...

Maurice Ellis has a way with all bass covers. His first one of Justin Timberlake’s “Mirrors” hit the nail on the head, and he’s done it again with the song “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” “Originally by Bonnie Raitt, this song has be redone by numerous artists,” he writes. “I figured it would be a good platform for a...

When we were interviewing Alex Webster for our recent Profiles in Tone column, one of the bands he said we had to check out was Revocation. And he was right. Bassist Brett Bamberger gets a gnarly pick tone on the track “Spastic” from the band’s self-titled album. Here’s his play-through of the song (first video), followed by the second video...

If you’ve ever wanted to hang out and learn with Billy Sheehan, here’s your chance. The Winery Dogs has announced the Dog Camp, an immersive program for musicians of all ages and levels. The event is set for July 21st through July 25th at Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, New York. Formed in late 2012, The Winery Dogs is...

Fender has completely revamped the Rumble Series of bass combo amplifiers into lighter and louder designs with more features. The new models are built with lightweight plywood enclosures with certain models featuring removable wooden grille frames, Eminence drivers, and upgraded compression tweeters. Fender also re-engineered the circuitry to include a three-button voicing palette and a new footswitchable overdrive circuit. Other...

Adamovic has unveiled their first in their line of concept basses called “The Dark.” Available in 4-, 5-, and 6-string versions, the bass was developed after years of feedback from players and numerous prototypes. “The Dark was designed to be a versatile bass while having its own unique voicing,” Adamovic writes. “For The Dark we chose a combination of African...

KNOWER makes fresh remixes of pop songs. Dywane “MonoNeon” Thomas takes songs and adds his own inventive style on top. When the two come together, it’s killer. Here’s MonoNeon doing his thing on KNOWER’s “Lady Gaga.” “On this video I am playing an arrangement/medley by KNOWER (Louis Cole and Genevieve Artadi),consisting of 11 Lady Gaga songs mashed together into one...

D’Addario has introduced a new series of bass strings called FlexSteels. The new line boasts a more flexible core and an all-steel wrap for string that the company says offers a “more comfortable feel with a focused, punchy tone.” FlexSteels also feature a new precise core-to-wrap ratio that’s formulated for tone and consistency. The sets are available in Super Light,...

Gheorghe Postoronca is one of my favorite solo bassists we’ve featured in the past year. His approach uses lots of cool techniques, but he always keeps things musical. Here’s a gorgeous composition entitled “Victoria” from his upcoming second solo album.

Peter Hook is taking his band The Light on the road once again to continue his streak of revisiting the work of the bassist’s former band, New Order. Hook and The Light started this trend in 2010 by playing material from his first band Joy Division, eventually leading to a chronological progression of albums from his career. The band will...

Eastwood Guitars has created a tribute to the 1960’s Mosrite bass in a new model they call the Sidejack. The retro-styled bass sports a medium 32″ scale and a Metallic red finish. The Sidejack Bass is built with a basswood body, a maple bolt-on neck, and a rosewood fingerboard inlaid with Mosrite dot markers. Eastwood took it further with a...