Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 660

When keyboardist Ray Powell set out to fill out his project band Mumpbeak, he went straight to the top of prog rock royalty. Mumpbeak’s features drummer Pat Mastelotto and a host of talented bassists: Bill Laswell, Tony Levin, Lorenzo Feliciati, and Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz. Described as “art by committee,” the project takes on shades of King Crimson, Yes and Gentle...

Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has officially announced the 2014 inductees. The artists that will be joining the Hall next year include Nirvana, KISS, Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, Cat Stevens, and Linda Ronstadt. The E Street Band will be given the Award for Musical Excellence. Among the artists are bassists Krist Novoselic (Nirvana), Gene Simmons (KISS), and...

Grab your egg nog and have a seat by the fire, because Bobby Vega is about to put you in the Christmas mood. Vega plays two beautiful solo bass versions of the carols “Silent Night” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” on his Ribbecke bass and his 1966 Fender Jazz, affectionately named “Gumby.”

Can’t decide between a P, J, or MM bass? Spear has you covered with the Flextool, a bass that’s loaded with all three pickup types. The Flextool is built with an alder body, Canadian Hard Maple neck and Indian Rosewood fingerboard. Its pickups and hardware are all Spear’s own brand. The pickups include a single coil in the neck position,...

We’re kicking off the holiday season as we do every year: bass style. Bassist Alberto Rigoni and beatboxer Enrico Buttol help us do just that with this lighthearted version of “Jingle Bells.” Happy holidays!

Mooer has introduced the Noise Killer, a noise gate fitted into a micro pedal configuration. The Noise Killer eliminates noise and feedback in signal chains. It has a simplistic control layout with a single rotary knob to set the threshold and a two-position switch to toggle between a hard or soft knee. The threshold can be set from -70dB to...

There’s something beautiful about stripping a song down to just bass and voice, especially when that voice comes from Lianne La Havas. In this gorgeous rendition of Little Dragon’s “Twice,” bassist Chris Dagger lays down the song’s hypnotic bass line and harmonics.

Kansas City’s JHS Pedals has unveiled the Moonshine Overdrive. Designed for bass and guitar, the stompbox is described as a “massively tweaked version of the most famous overdrive ever created.” The Moonshine has standard Volume, Drive, and Tone controls that are augmented with a “Proof” toggle switch. When switched down, the Proof toggle pus the pedal into a higher gain...

N-Audio has introduced a new compact solution for switching between two amps connected to a single cabinet. Aptly named the “Two Amps to Cabinet,” the system is a two channel amp switcher that includes a control unit that connects to the amplifiers and a foot controller for hands-free use. The system comes in a mono version and a stereo version,...

Phish’s Mike Gordon has announced his fourth solo LP, Overstep, will be released on February 25th on ATO Records. Following up on 2010’s Moss, it’s the first album that the bassist hasn’t produced himself. Instead he enlisted Paul Q. Kolderie, who has worked with Radiohead, Uncle Tupelo and the Pixies. Gordon also stretches out musically on the album. It features...

Educational instrument maker Fretlight has introduced their first bass guitar, the FB-525. The bass is the four-string to feature the company’s built-in LED learning system that teaches you to play by lighting up dots on the fretboard. The FB-525 comes in right and left-hand models and features a P/J pickup configuration with a 3-way toggle switch. Its neck is made...

Bakithi Kumalo and Kala Brand Music have teamed up to released the Bakithi Kumalo Signature U-Bass. Kumalo, who first made his mark on Paul Simon’s Graceland album, has been a U-Bass endorser for several years and helped to create the new signature model. The B.K. U-Bass is solid-body fretless four-string with a 21″ scale. It’s built with a select ash...