Rage Against The Machine Release 20th Anniversary Edition of Debut Album
Rage Against the Machine are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their first album with Rage Against the Machine – XX, an expanded reissue of the landmark effort that launched the band into the spotlight with tracks like “Killing in the Name,” “Wake Up,” and “Bombtrack.” In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, guitarist Tom Morello revealed he had written the...
Lava Cable Introduces the Lava Power Tube Pedal Board Snake
Lava Cable has introduced the Lava Power Tube Pedal Board Snake, a 7-cable snake that can be customized with a variety of connectors. The cables included are for AC Power, Amp In, Effects Send, Effects Return, Mono Footswitch, Stereo Footswitch or XLR, and CAT 5/MIDI 5 or 7-Pin. Each of the cables is color-coded, labeled, and shielded to prevent crosstalk....
Ernie Ball/Music Man Unveils Sledge Basses, Including Sabre Reissue
Ernie Ball/Music Man has unveiled the Sledge basses, a new special offering available through their Premier Dealer Network. Designed in conjunction with Tony Levin, the Music Man Sledge has a custom metallic flake finish that shifts colors depending on your viewing angle. Offered on Classic Stingray 4 and 5s, the Sledge is also available on the Music Man Sabre bass,...
New School: Mike Dimin
Mike Dimin is a bassist that focuses on stretching what he calls “The Chordal Approach.” Inspired in part by jazz guitarist Joe Pass, Dimin took his knowledge of melody, harmony, and rhythm to start making chord-melody arrangements of songs for bass. He also utilizes a looper to create “lush arrangements of everything from Jazz Standards to R&B and pop classics...
Steve Lawson Releases “Nothing Can Prepare” with Saxophonist Andy Williamson
Steve Lawson has released a new duo album with saxophonist Andy Williamson entitled Nothing Can Prepare. The album is taken from performances captured on tour in church venues and features Lawson’s beautiful, ambient improvisation with Williamson joining in, starting from the back of the church for a gorgeous effect. While the title is taken from one of Lawson’s compositions, it...
Bass of the Week: MechBass
Science just got a whole lot cooler thanks to Victoria University of Wellington engineering student James McVay. As part of Bachelor’s degree, McVay designed and built the MechBass, a 4-string robotic bass guitar. And yes, it rocks. Built with lasercut and 3D-printed parts, MechBass has four separate units for each string controlled with PCBs. The strings are plucked with picks...
Kinsman Announces New Bass Amplification Line
Distributor John Hornby Skewes & Co. Ltd. have introduced a new line of Kinsman instrument amplifiers, including four bass combos. Ranging 15 to 100-watts, the amps all feature a built-in limiter and a headphone output but add features as they grow. The K15B sports a basic 3-band EQ, while the K25B adds another band to the EQ and a CD/Tape...
Steve Harris: Us Against the World
In late September, Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris released his first solo album entitled British Lion. Now he’s put out a music video for the first single, “Us Against the World”. The project is a bit of a step away from Iron Maiden, but Harris’ ballsy bass tone is still the center of the music.
Radial Engineering Introduces Tossover Variable Frequency Divider
Radial Engineering has introduced a new 500 series module called the Tossover. The new pro audio tool allows for dividing frequency bands of a signal to process lows and highs separately or to combine them in series to create a band-pass filter. While there are tons of possibilities for its use, Radial Senior Engineer Dan Fraser gave a couple suggestions...
Making the Scene: Nashville – How to Live, Network, and Succeed in Music City
Location can be a very important factor in a bassist’s musical career. Larger cities bring more opportunities, but also more obstacles and competition. Author Liam Sullivan offers advice for living and working in Music City with his new book Making the Scene: Nashville – How to Live, Network, and Succeed in Music City. The 300-page book dives into how the...
Voodoo Lab Now Shipping Pedal Power Mondo
Voodoo Lab’s Pedal Power Mondo is a new power supply with twelve independent, filtered and regulated output sections offering varying current and voltages to accommodate a wide range of pedals. The Pedal Power Mondo features four isolated 9-volt high-current 400mA output sections, two of which have a 12-volt options, as well as two 250mA outputs and six standard 100mA outputs....
Ray Brown Trio: Lady Be Good
No one can lay down a greasy, heavy swing quite like Ray Brown. Here’s a great video of him grooving hard with pianist Gene Harris and drummer Jeff Hamilton on the song “Lady Be Good” during a 1992 concert in France. The trio’s use of dynamics is astounding, going from the softest whispers to raucous wailing.