Buzz
Overwater Basses Announces J Series Scott Devine Bass Model
After releasing the Scott Devine Series bass in 2011, Overwater Basses has announced the J Series “Scott Devine Model.” The new model is based on the 4-string bass he uses in the majority of his YouTube bass lesson videos. “Based on the original custom 4 string bass we built for Scott back in 2010, encompassing all the physical attributes associated...
Maktub Project: The Sound of Silence
Bassist Davide Medicina shared this video of his band Maktub Project performing a reimagined version of Simon and Garfunkel’s classic hit, “The Sound of Silence.” Medicina describes their band as influenced by R&B, jazz and neo-soul, and it shows. The trio reharmonizes the song and adds a healthy dose of modern groove. Medicina lays a thick foundation while taking time...
Latin American Double Bass Workshop Celebrates 10th Anniversary
The 10th annual Encuentro Latinoamericano de Contrabajos will take place Saturday, November 22nd through Thursday, November 27th at the Tijuana Cultural Center in Tijuana, Mexico. The week-long Latin American bass workshop is presented by the Contrabajos de Baja California and will include quartets, group classes, masterclasses, a bass orchestra, and much more. This year’s guest artists include world-renowned bassists Catalin...
Reed James Engineering Introduces RJ Neo Buckers Bass Pickups
Reed James Engineering has expanded their line of neodymium pickups with the RJ Neo Bucker, a split coil design built in a soap bar shape with a reverse P-bass format. Utilizing the company’s Vintage Vibe Neo technology, the pickup boasts noiseless operation. The pickup is constructed with pole pieces powered by neodymium magnets. Other features include ABS plastic covers, a...
Bass Transcription: Wojtek Pilichowski’s “Cowboy from Prague”
This month’s transcription is “Cowboy from Prague,” a short piece by Polish slap bass wizard Wojtek Pilichowski, recorded at the Aguilar Artist Loft earlier in 2014. Wojtek has made a name for himself in recent years with his hard-hitting and energetic slap technique. True to form, he packs a lot of ideas into this short piece. Wojtek takes influences from...
Acoustic David Bowie with Gail Ann Dorsey: “Heroes” (Live)
In celebration of Gail Ann Dorsey’s birthday today, we’re looking back to a terrific acoustic performance of David Bowie’s “Heroes,” which took place in October 1996. Bowie is on acoustic guitar, with a bottlecap taped to the bottom of his shoe for percussion. Reeves Gabrels is also on guitar, and of course, the wonderful Gail Ann is on bass and...
“The Art of McCartney” Tribute Album Draws a Star-Studded Lineup
The Art of McCartney may be the most spectacular tribute album ever assembled for a bassist. McCartney, a legendary singer/songwriter/bassist (The Beatles, Wings and solo), has one of the most enviable catalogs of songs in popular music and a host of his musical contemporaries and descendants signed to sing on the collection of his work. Compiled over more than a...
Dream Studio Guitars Unveils M5 Bass
Dream Studio Guitars has released a 5-string version of their Maverick Bass called the M5. The bass retains many of the same features as its predecessor while adding a low B string. The M5’s body is built from a single piece of swamp ash that is given a vintage offset shape with extra contouring. Its bolt-on, hard maple neck is...
Breaking Down Harmonic Substitutions: Part 2
In part 1 of this series, we were experimenting with using substitutions that allowed us to play familiar major and minor scale shapes over various basic chord types. Now, let’s move on to melodic and harmonic minor mode choices. First, let’s make sure that we’re all familiar with these two scales: Harmonic minor = Aeolian (natural minor) with a major...
Fernando Lamadrid: La casa de las notas escondidas
If you’ve been a No Treble reader for a while, you’ll likely recognize the name Fernando Lamadrid, thanks to the video we shared in August 2013 of his tune “Mollete Express” (this was such a great tune, we even published a transcription by Stuart Clayton). Fernando is back with a new video that shows off another side, with the tune...
Prog-Rockers Gentle Giant Release 1976 Live Show for First Time
Gentle Giant might be the prog-rock band that casual fans of the genre overlook. However, the group had a decade-long career (1970-80), turning out creative pieces, often written by bassist/multi-instrumentalist Ray Shulman and keyboardist Kerry Minnear. Fans have long adored the band’s one previous official live album, Playing the Fool, released in the late 1970s. While other live recordings are...
Reader Spotlight: Linus Abrahamson
Meet Linus Abrahamson, a musician from Sweden who never seems to sit still and has certainly accomplished quite a lot in his musical career: three separate projects happening right now (with his fourth on hiatus due to “people having babies”), a double master’s degree in music education, and more. Linus is No Treble’s reader in the spotlight for the week...