Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 667

Acoustic Image has introduced its new Series 4 line of amps and cabinets, with new features and updates from their predecessors. The company says the new series simplifies their product line, as it consists of two preamp types, one power amp and three cabinet types. The components are then combined to create the actual line, consisting of two amp heads,...

Bassline Publishing has announced the worldwide release of The Jamiroquai Bass Book, featuring transcriptions of 16 tracks from the group’s first two albums, Emergency on Planet Earth and Return of the Space Cowboy. Previously unavailable in the U.S., the 134-page book provides musical notation, TAB and chord symbols for all the lines played by founding bassist Stuart Zender. Each track...

Thunderfunk has unveiled the TFB800-B2 bass amp, rated up to 800-watts RMS at 2 ohms. The new model is an update of the TFB750, combining all the mods that had been added to its predecessor. The TFB800-B2 is housed in an aluminum chassis, weighing in at 21 pounds, and has a plethora of tone-shaping capabilities with a 4-band parametric EQ,...

Queen drummer Roger Taylor has announced a North American talent search to put together an official Queen tribute band for a tour next year, called the Queen Extravaganza. Auditions are open to bassists, vocalists, guitarists, drummers and keyboardists. “The Queen Extravaganza will not be a traditional tribute show,” Taylor explains. “It’s a brand-new show specially designed to enable fans to...

This week we’re featuring a beautiful custom Xylem 5-string bass. This particular bass is a neck-through design featuring a black limba body with a bookmatched macassar ebony top, accented with bocote and maple. The quartersawn neck is bird’s eye maple and has an ebony fretboard and custom inlays of a tomoe and falling leaves. All the electronics are Bartolinis, including...

After settling up with customers left from the demise of King Doublebass brand, luthier Jason Burns went to work to create a new upright venture catering to the alternative bassist. Blast Cult officially launched this month with their One4Five model bass, a design cultivated from Burns’ 20 years of building. Among the first instruments built under the moniker is a...

Victor Wooten has released The Music Lesson Soundtrack. The album, which is the first all-original release for his new VIX Records label, is culled from the audio version of his book of the same title and is only available digitally. Wooten describes the album as the “largest musical project [he has] ever completed to date.” The bassist recruited his brothers...

Reed James Custom Pickups has announced the RJE Neos, new soap-bar style neodymium pickups. Made in the USA, the pickups have a modern sound, described by the manufacturer as “warm, punchy and very clear.” The RJE Neo pickups are available for 4- through 6-string basses and feature CNC machined black ABS plastic covers with a matte finish, though custom exotic...

Thirty-one years and fifteen albums after forming in Athens, Georgia, the rock icons of R.E.M. are calling it quits. The trio, whose latest album Collapse Into Now came out earlier this year, broke the news in a statement on their website explaining that they “walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all [they]...

Dream Theater celebrated the 15th anniversary of their debut record, When Dream and Day Unite, in 2004 by performing the album in its entirety. The instrumental “YTSE Jam” has some fancy fretwork by bassist John Myung, as he plays the melody with guitarist John Petrucci. Unfortunately, the camera guys don’t focus on Myung during the bass solo at 3:47, but...

Bag End has updated their TA series with the introduction of the TA1202, TA2002 and the TA6002. Suited for both sound reinforcement and musical instrument applications, the Time Aligned, full-range loudspeakers feature the new and updated E-700 driver, replacing their previous counterparts’ E-600s. The new driver utilizes newer materials and offers better high-frequency response and lower rates of distortion at...

Some people play bass, and some people ride it. Signal Snowboards is a company that makes handmade boards, and on every third Thursday they get a little adventurous. In their latest edition, they hook up with bassist Duff McKagan and build a snowboard out of his signature Fender bass. The kicker? It’s still playable.