Gibson Introduces Krist Novoselic Signature RD Bass
Gibson is helping to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s Nevermind album with the introduction of the Krist Novoselic Signature RD Bass. The grunge bassist used an RD Artist series bass during his years with the trio and as such, the new bass is a recreation of its predecessor, with Novoselic’s own customizations. The RD body shape is an offset...
Bass of the Week: BL Design Barbary Fretless 5-String
Our featured bass this week is a BL Design Barbary 5-string. This custom fretless bass is a single cutaway design built with a redwood theme, the body is birdseye redwood with a maple veneer, while the stunning top is exhibition grade redwood burl. From there, the body is accented by a 9-piece padauk neck that has wenge and maple pinstripes...
The Rockin’ Chair Bass
Last week we featured a video about a bass being built into a snowboard. This time, it’s a little different. According to the guys who made this, “the Rockin Chair was invented on a coffee break at a newspaper in Värmland, Sweden, back in 1984 by the journalist Kjell Palmers and noted by his college Stefan Markebo. Many years later...
Christian McBride Big Band Releases “The Good Feeling”
Jazz bassist Christian McBride has hit another milestone in his career with the release of The Good Feeling, his first full big band recording as a leader. The 11-track album features large ensemble arrangements of his own songs as well as jazz standards like “Broadway,” “The More I See You” and “A Taste of Honey.” McBride first got a taste...
M Basses Introduce Elite Series Basses
M Basses has announced the Elite line of basses, stepping up from their Mj designs with more options while retaining the classic style. Available with Alder, Ash, or Mahogany bodies topped with your choice of figured wood. The maple necks feature Indian rosewood or maple fingerboards. The basses are passive and come standard with Nordstrand NJ4 single coil J-style pickups...
Chickenfoot Releases III, Announces Tour Dates
Chickenfoot has released their second album, ironically entitled III. The group consists of bassist Michael Anthony, singer Sammy Hagar, guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Kenny Aronoff, who replaces Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers while they go on tour. Anthony, who is a former member of Van Halen, says the new album has a lot more meat. “It’s...
Planet Waves Introduces NS Mini-Headstock Tuner
Planet Waves has released the NS Mini-Headstock Tuner, designed in cooperation with Ned Steinberger. The discrete tuner has a ratcheting clip to fit to your headstock and a 360 degree swivel for easy adjustments. Instead of a microphone or cables, the NS Mini Tuner utilizes a piezo transducer to detect pitch and displays the reading on a multi-color display. Red...
Fender Releases Classic ’70s Precision Bass
Fender has released the Classic Series ’70s Precision Bass, paying homage to the P-bass of yesteryear. Made in Japan, the basses include era-specific features like the bass-side thumbrest, the ’70s-style large headstock logo and a bound neck with block inlays. The bass has an alder body with a C-shaped maple neck and fretboard, which has a 9.5″ radius and 20...
Acoustic Image Introduces Series 4 Line
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,...
The Jamiroquai Bass Book Released Worldwide
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 Introduces TFB800-B2 Bass Amp
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 Launches Official Tribute Band with Open Auditions
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...