Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 719

Rush will be returning to the U.S. in April to catch some venues that the Canadian rockers passed over on their first go around. Kicking off in Austin, Texas on April 23rd, the trek will focus on the East Coast with stops in Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, and New Jersey. The group, which will be inducted to...

Fender’s 2013 additions to their Select Series includes the Fender Select Active Jazz Bass. Described as the company’s “top-of-the-production-line”, the new bass features an alder body with a flame maple top and hand-stained Tobacco Sunburst finish with a gloss-lacquer topcoat. The Select Active Jazz bass sports a neck made of quartersawn maple, with a modern “C” shape and reinforced with...

Our Facebook friend Samwise Fair suggested we check out the song “The Hunter” by Swedish progressive rock band Beardfish. The tune features a bubbling and driving bass line from Robert Hansen, who lays down the low end on a J-Bass. He also has some fancy footwork that only a bassist could do.

Status Graphite has introduced the Chris Wolstenholme Signature Bass, which the company says retains most of the classic Status design with a few features tailored to the Muse bassist’s tastes. The bass is built around an alder body with a graphite shell on the front and back faces, which is matched with a woven graphite through-neck topped with a phenolic...

The Dropkick Murphys are kicking off the new year with a new album. Signed and Sealed in Blood is the eighth full-length studio album by the Irish-influenced punk rock band. This time though, the band wanted to do something different than the 2011 release Going Out in Style, which was a concept album. “This is just the opposite of [our...

Aria Guitars has announced they’ll be launching the Aria Pro II Cliff Burton Signature Bass at NAMM this week. A year in the making, the bass is a replica of the Black ’n Gold I bass Burton played. The bass made with the authorization of the late bassist’s family and bandmates in Metallica, with whom Burton set the bar for...

The first leg of Clutch’s Earth Rocker Tour is set. The tour kicks off with the North American leg on March 8th in Cincinnati, Ohio. The band is hitting the road in support of their upcoming album, Earth Rocker, which has been confirmed for a March 19th worldwide release date. Supporting acts for the upcoming tour include Orange Goblin, Lionize,...

Spector will be unveiling their Coda Pro series basses at NAMM this year. The new models offer the company’s classic inspired Coda at a lower price point by building them in their Korean Factory. Available with four or five strings, the Coda Pro basses feature two EMG HZ passive single-coil pickups paired with Spector’s TonePump Jr. active 9-volt tone circuit....

I’m not sure how I stumbled onto this video, but I’m sure glad I did. Gentle Giant’s “Free Hand” is already an awesome song, but add bassist Ray Shulman’s ballsy tone and energetic performance to the mix, and it’s a home run.

Traynor has introduced the Small Block Series, a line of compact, lightweight 200-watt bass combos. Available in 1×10, 1×12, and 1×15 speaker configurations, Traynor says the the new models are ideal for the working/practicing musician with features like a 1/4” auxiliary input, 1/4” headphone output, and an XLR balanced DI output with switchable pre and post settings. Each of the...

With all the talk of the new Black Sabbath album this year, I’ve been geeking out on tons of old videos of Geezer Butler and the band. Here’s one of my favorite songs, “Snowblind”, live in 1975. Geezer really rocks out on this one, white ’70s pants and all.

Sadowsky has introduced a new onboard bass preamp that comes prewired and offers the same controls and preamp as all Sadowsky basses. The controls include Volume, Pan, Vintage Tone Control, Treble, and Bass. Pulling up on the tone control bypasses the preamp. The preamp can be installed with the included control plate or transferred to another plate or pickguard and...