Hartke Unveils HD Bass Combo Series
Hartke’s new HD Series of bass combos loads the company’s HyDrive speakers into four models aimed at the beginning or intermediate player. Starting with the 25-watt HD25, each model steps up in speaker size, wattage, and features. Common features to the series include a built-in limiter, an 1/8″ auxiliary input, and a 1/4″ headphone output. The HD25 is built with...
Warwick Announces RockBass Artist Line Bootsy Collins Space Bass
Two years ago, Warwick presented Bootsy Collins with a one-of-a-kind “Space Bass” made in the company’s custom shop. The star-shaped instrument garnered so much attention that Warwick has now introduced a similar model to their more affordable RockBass Artist Line. The Warwick RockBass Artist Line Bootsy Collins Space Bass is built with a mahogany body, maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard....
Fuzzrocious Pedals Introduces There Is No Dana… Only ZUUL Pedal
Fuzzrocious Pedals has unleashed a new pedal called “There is No Dana… Only ZUUL.” Named after a line in the movie Ghostbusters, the pedal is an oscillator that is semi-clean blended and driven into an overdrive. It has three controls: Volume, Blend and Oscillator. Turned to the left, the Blend knob mixes your signal in with the oscillator. Turning it...
Petros Klampanis: Blackbird
“Blackbird” is a song many bassists cover, but Petros Klampanis takes it in his own direction in this video with vocalist Sofia Ribeiro and percussionist Marcelo Woloski. Starting with an intimate bass/voice duet, the song soon kicks into a beautiful groove with Ribeiro’s voice soaring over top. The song is also available on the bassist’s album Contextual.
Marco Machera Releases “Dime Novels”, Featuring Tony Levin
Italian bassist and songwriter Marco Machera has released his sophomore album, . The effort includes a host of special guests, including fellow bassist Tony Levin on “Out of Blue,” drummer Pat Mastelotto, guitarist Markus Reuter and more. With an interesting cast of characters, Machera offers up a quirky take on pop music. “Dime Novels is a beast. Pretty much like...
Reverend Guitars Introduces Mercalli 4 Bass
Reverend Guitars used the NAMM Show this year as an opportunity to introduce a 4-string version of their Mercalli bass. The bass had previously only been available as a 5-string. The Reverend Mercalli 4 is built with a korina body and a five-piece maple and walnut neck that’s finished in a satin amber. It comes with several options, including a...
Orange Amplification Announces OB-1K Bass Amplifier
Orange Amplification introduced the new OB-1K bass amplifier at the NAMM Show this year. The 1000-watt solid-state amplifier is inspired by bi-amping and splits the signal into two separate paths. The first side offers a tight, clean bass sound while the second features two stages of controllable gain and is rich in upper harmonics. Each channel can be toggled or...
George Porter, Jr. Returns to UK With Tour
George Porter, Jr. will be returning to tour the UK for the first time in years. The bassist will be taking his band The Runnin’ Pardners on a four-date run of Brighton, Manchester, Nottingham, and London. Porter is famed for founding the legendary New Orleans band The Meters and can be heard on such classics as “Cissy Strut,” “Just Kissed...
Bass of the Week: Jon Willis’ Billy Sheehan “Wife” Bass Replica
Jon Willis shared a photo of his pride and joy on our Facebook page, and needless to say I was floored by the instrument. But the story behind it is even better. The bass is a near perfect replica of Billy Sheehan’s famous Wife bass, which the Mr. Big bassist used from his very first gig in 1971 until the...
Milt Jackson & Ray Brown: “Slippery”, Live at Montreux 1977
Here’s another great video of Ray Brown doing what he does best. This clip is taken from his performance at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival with Milt Jackson. With the help of a star-studded band, the duo tackles “Slippery,” which is also found on Brown’s album Something for Lester. The rest of the band includes Clark Terry on trumpet, Eddie...
Ibanez Introduces Fieldy K5 Signature Limited Edition Bass
The members of Korn are getting new signature instruments from Ibanez this year including bassist Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu’s K5 Signature Limited Edition bass. The updated K5 takes an opposite aesthetic approach of Fieldy’s black signature bass and features a flat white finish as well as a white painted maple fretboard. The white theme is accented with a set of blue...
Aretha Franklin with Jerry Jemmott: “Make It With You” (1971)
Sometimes you just need a nice buttery groove to make your day. Here’s Jerry Jemmott making it happen with Aretha Franklin on the song “Make It With You” during her 1971 concert at Fillmore West.