Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 667

We have some sad news to report today, as John McVie has been diagnosed with cancer. The 67-year-old bassist, who founded the iconic rock band in 1967 with drummer Mick Fleetwood, just finished a European tour with the group on October 25th. Fleetwood Mac has announced they are canceling their upcoming Australian tour scheduled for November and December. “John McVie,...

Fodera is honoring one of their friends with a bass they’re calling the Victor Wooten Fretless; A Tribute to Joe Compito. The bass is a nearly identical replica of the five-string fretless bass that the late Joe Compito built for Victor Wooten, who famously used it on the Grammy-winning Flecktones album Flight of the Cosmic Hippo. “Those of you that...

Armin Metz is back with another great solo bass song called “Lu.” He grooves hard with a fat bass line, singable melody, and some gorgeous chord work. Bravo!

U2’s Adam Clayton has revealed that the iconic alternative rockers will have a new album out in early 2014. The bassist announced the news on the Irish radio station 98 FM during the Dermot and Dave Show. “We hope to have it finished very, very soon. And it will be out sometime early next year,” Clayton said. “But it’s a...

IK Multimedia has introduced the iRig BlueBoard, a wireless MIDI pedalboard for use with iOS and Mac devices. Using Bluetooth 4.0, the pedalboard transmits MIDI messages to control parameters in apps and software such as stompboxes in AmpliTube and Garageband. The iRig BlueBoard has four backlit footswitches with two optional external device inputs that allow for use of expression pedals...

Magnus Sjöquist is a U-Bass master. Our Facebook friend John Stam sent this video of Sjöquist kicking out a groove in tribute to the Victor Wooten arrangement of “Amazing Grace.”

La Bella has introduced the 7710T White Nylon Tape Wound Set as part of their revamp of the Double Bass Nylon Tape Wound Series of strings. Developed with Ron Carter and Attila Zoller, the series is aimed at jazz pizzicato players and described as capturing the rich tone of gut strings and the sustain of steel strings. The new 7710T...

Ask any double bassist what the biggest pain is about their instrument of choice, and they’ll likely tell you it is the task of lugging it around. Enter the Chadwick Folding Bass: a standard 3/4 bass that folds in on itself for travel. The bass has a removable panel on the back that allows the entire neck to fold into....

Here’s a cool lesson for the adventurous bassist: Jayme Lewis’s lesson on performing sweep arpeggios and inversions. Jayme walks through his effects to make the arpeggios pop before dissecting each part of the etude’s intricacies. He even provides a PDF of the lesson with music notation and TAB, via his website.

The metal juggernauts of Motörhead have released their 21st studio album, Aftershock, a 14-track collection of hard-hitting, in-your-face rock that has been the staple of their sound for nearly 40 years. Led by bassist/vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, the trio’s latest effort offers up a healthy mix of punk and metal with songs like “Heartbreaker” and “End of Time” while also getting...

3Leaf Audio has introduced a new fuzz box called You’re Doom, which the company says is suited for all instruments. The pedal responds to playing dynamics to create vintage synth-inspired sounds. You’re Doom has a Shape switch to toggle between a lead sound and a broad mid scoop, while further tonal shaping can be done with the Tone knob which...

The insanely talented trio of Ritchie Kotzen, Mike Portnoy and Billy Sheehan – aka The Winery Dogs – has released a new music video for the track “Time Machine,” from their debut album, and it’s one fine piece of rock and roll. The mid-tempo stomper is glued together by Sheehan’s gnarly bass tone. He also takes a tasty solo at...