Buzz
Nordstrand Pickups Introduces Big Blades Soapbar Bass Pickups
Nordstrand Pickups has once again expanded their signature pickup offerings with the new Big Blade soapbar. The pickup, which is available in standard soapbar shapes and sizes, was built for a “striking and aggressive sound.” “The Big Blade is a result of the pursuit of a continuous sensing blade style pickup whose tone brings with it the huge, rich, and...
Weekly Top 10: New Bass Transcription, Talking Technique, Advanced Bass Lesson, New Gear, Top Bass Videos and More
Time to celebrate the best of the best from the world of bass – aka the weekly No Treble reader’s top 10. Here are the most read stories, columns and lessons, and the most watched videos of the week. Thanks for reading, watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Tal Wilkenfeld: Under the Sun Back in March, Tal Wilkenfeld visited Paste Studios...
Bill Withers: Kissing My Love
In 1972, Bill Withers made an appearance on the Germany TV show, “Beat-Club”. Backed by his band – which included Melvin Dunlap – they laid down one sweet groove on “Kissing My Love”.
Yousician Introduces Bass Guitar Learning Platform
Yousician has added support for bass guitar. The digital music education platform, which is available on desktop and mobile versions, teaches by listening to your playing and giving feedback. “The Yousician platform works by listening to users play a real instrument through the microphone of a desktop or handheld device, and uses gamification to deliver real-time feedback on a musician’s...
Gillett Guitars Launches Contour Bass Range
Luthier Michael Gillett has launched a new range of basses called the Gillett Contour Electro-Acoustic Bass. Introduced at the London Bass Guitar Show, the aptly-named hollowbody basses feature unique contouring for an ergonomic experience. “Our basses have been a long time in the design and creation phase starting out over ten years ago when I was working as a peri...
Prince with Larry Graham: Motherless Child
Like countless others, we were devastated to hear the news of Prince’s passing on April 21st. Since then, the flood of Prince videos and tributes have filled up our feeds on social media. This one stood out to us. Backed by Larry Graham on bass, here’s Prince performing their funky version “Motherless Child”. RIP, Prince.
Gaelen McCormick Releases New Book on Double Bass Spiccato Bowing
Arco aficionado Gaelen McCormick has expanded series of instructional books for the double bass with Mastering the Bow, Part 2: Spiccato. The book dives into the intricacies of spiccato strokes with elaborate definitions and examples. It’s designed to systematically build your technique with a variety of exercises and etudes, including those from the methods of Dotzauer, Kreutzer, Lee, Popper, Bille,...
Tom Hamilton Joins Thin Lizzy
As a part of Aerosmith, Tom Hamilton has held an important bass seat in the world of rock for decades. Now he’ll assuming another as the bassist for Thin Lizzy during their 2016 and 2017 reunion shows. “I’m really psyched to be playing these shows with Thin Lizzy during my downtime with Aerosmith this summer,” Hamilton stated. “It’ll be great...
Bass Players To Know: Mike Dirnt
In the previous BPTK column, we took a look at the early years of punk rock with Paul Simonon of The Clash. It’s time to fast forward to the 1990’s and the punk renaissance that popularized bands such as Green Day, Blink-182, The Offspring, and Weezer. Exercising a modern take on this musical counter-culture, Green Day’s record Dookie personally inspired...
A Prairie Home Companion: Bass
A Prairie Home Companion’s bassist Larry Kohut shared this epic video with us yesterday, and we couldn’t wait to share it with you. We’ll let Larry set it up: “Here’s a bit of bass player humor, courtesy of Garrison Keilor, Prairie Home Companion. He wrote the script, spot on. I only wish that I had as much insight into what...
Doug Johns Gets Personal on “Vodka In The Woodpile”
If you’re into funk bass, you probably know the work of Doug Johns. However, you might not know Doug Johns as well as you think. That may change after a listen to his brand new album Vodka in the Woodpile. The bassist’s fifth solo album is described as his most autobiographical to date with a fresh approach added to his...
Undertone Audio Introduces the Vari-Cap Cable
Undertone Audio has introduced an innovative new product called the Vari-Cap instrument cable. Designed by producer Eric Valentine and Larry Jasper, the Vari-Cap allows for varying the amount of capacitance imparted by the cable with a 16-step rotary knob. The effect changes the tone of the cable. Its range of adjustment from 150 pF to 1650 pF in fifteen 100...