Articles by Kevin Johnson - Page 806

Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton recently taped an update video for the band’s fan site AeroForceOne revealing that the group is working on new material “commencing immediately,” and should be touring by the end of the year. The group’s progress has been delayed by singer Steven Tyler’s new gig as a judge on the TV show American Idol, but according to...

Fender has rolled out a few new bass products this year, including the introduction of their bass models into the American Special series and an update to the Mark Hoppus Signature Jazz Bass. The American Special Precision and Jazz basses are built in the U.S. and feature a slim neck profile, high-gloss finish, and the Fender “Greasebucket” circuit. The circuit...

Who says you need a band to play gigs? Singer-songwriter Seth Horan utilizes a looping pedal to fill out the song, which is the opening track on his album Clang & Chime.

F-Bass has released a new Alain Caron signature model, dubbed the AC-Classic. Built to attain an “upright” tone from an electric bass, the instrument features a redwood top, additional chambering, and a floating bridge. Another new development for the series is a natural sounding RMC piezo pickup system that is controlled by master volume, bass cut/boost, and treble cut/boost knobs....

Here’s a cool video of funk legend Louis Johnson and 7-string wonder Bill Dickens trading licks at The Stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The clip kicks off with a couple minutes of drums by Reggie Bordeaux (and some weird faces), but once the two bassists start lettin’ loose, the good times roll.

Among a slew of new gear Ampeg released at NAMM this year is the Heritage B-15, a combo that pays homage to former Ampeg VP Jess Oliver’s original flip-top design. Limited to 50 units, the B-15 is hand-built and hand-wired in the U.S. by George Metropolous and his team at Metroamps. The classic design includes an all-tube head and a...

Here’s a classic clip of bassist Jerry Scheff pouring his soul into a blues solo during a taped performance with Elvis Presley.

Fishman unveiled their new Fission Bass effects pedal at NAMM; a box that adds harmonies to your bass lines, including octave up, 4th and octave up, octave and 5th up, and an octave, 5th, and second octave up combined. The stompbox utilizes 32-bit signal processing and 24-bit audio conversion. Harmonies selected are visually displayed via four footswitch LEDs. There are...

While checking out the booths at NAMM, we stumbled upon Jon Smith and Federico Malaman jamming on a couple of Ken Smith basses. Here they treated us to a funky duet of the tune “Footprints.”

We’re still sorting through plenty of photos and notes from our NAMM trip (and missing the warm weather!). There’s no shortage of gear and artist news left for us to cover, so keep your eyes out for that on our NAMM update page. In the meantime, here are some more photos from the trip. Sam Finlay from Dave Gage String...

To celebrate 10 years since the release of their Loop Station, BOSS has unveiled the RC-3 and RC-30 loopers, each featuring three hours of stereo looping, 99 on-board memory locations, and USB 2.0 connectivity for importing and exporting audio to your computer. A step up from previous loop stations, the new models have multiple inputs, including 1/4” A and B...

Maybe he’s not the Rick James you’re thinking of, but this Rick James really lays it down on his 6-string in this bass and drums jam.