Buzz
The Who Hits 50! Celebrates Five Decades of the Iconic Rock Band’s Output
As The Who celebrates the 50th anniversary of its recording career with a 2014-15 tour, it’s also releasing a greatest hits collection, , as part of the celebration. While the 2-CD set features work from late, great bassist John Entwistle (including “Boris the Spider” on which he also sings lead), it also features The Who’s first new single in eight...
Reader Spotlight: Josh Barber
Meet Josh Barber, this week’s No Treble Reader in the Spotlight. Josh has been playing music for most of his life, but it was at the age of 14 that his friends needed a bass player for their band, and Josh made the leap. Once he did, he said he had a hard time putting the bass down. Josh makes...
Fender Introduces Adam Clayton Signature Jazz Bass
U2 bassist Adam Clayton has teamed up with Fender to create a new signature bass. The veteran rocker’s new axe is take on his 1965 Jazz with a few tweaks. “I played (my Sherwood Green 1965 Jazz Bass) a lot on the ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’ tour and I really love it,” Clayton said in a press release....
Richard Bona: Live at Safaricom International Jazz Festival 2014
We’re celebrating the birthday of Richard Bona today at No Treble HQ, and this video is just perfect for it. So upbeat, so impressive… and like everything Mr. Bona does – so musical. Enjoy this live performance, filmed during the 2014 Safaricom International Jazz Festival. Happy birthday, Richard!
Led Zeppelin Releases Remastered Sets for “IV” and “Houses of the Holy”
Led Zeppelin’s year-long releases of remastered versions of its studio albums continue with the iconic (also known as Zoso to many) from 1971 and from 1973. The remastering and assembly of the sets were overseen by Zeppelin guitarist/producer Jimmy Page. These albums show the band, featuring superstar bassist John Paul Jones, at what some would argue was its height —...
Bass of the Week: Tomisic Guitars MIA Fretless Bass
This week we take a look at the MIA, a custom fretless P-style bass built by Serbian luthier Milos Tomisic. The design is the brainchild of bassist Marko Cvetkovic, who put his work talents to use for his musical endeavors. “After some planning, [Tomisic] decided to start his own model line and that’s where we started to cooperate,” Cvetkovic writes....
Josh Cohen: Toots Thielemans’ “Bluesette” Solo Bass Arrangement
Back in January, bassist Josh Cohen shared his terrific story in our Reader Spotlight series. Josh is back with this new video of him performing a solo bass arrangement of the Toots Thielemans standard, “Bluesette”. “Bluesette” was first recorded by Toots in 1962, with him whistling and playing guitar in unison. Here’s the original from The Whistler & His Guitar:
Keeley Electronics Releasing Bassist Compressor Pedal
After introducing it at the NAMM show this year, Keeley Electronics is now readying to ship the Bassist Compressor. Described as an affordable studio-grade dbx compressor in stompbox format, the pedal is built around the THAT Corporation 4320 integrated circuit that utilizes voltage controlled amplifiers, an on-board true-RMS detector, and high performance op-amps. The Bassist works as a compressor as...
Weekly Top 10: Fender Dimension Reviewed, Federico Malaman Signature Bass, Expert Advice, and the Top Videos
The word of the week on No Treble was gear. No Treble readers enjoyed stories on the new Federico Malaman Signature Bass by Laurus, the updated Vox amPlug G2 Bass Headphone Amp, Kevin’s review of Fender’s American Standard Dimension Bass IV HH, and the Bass of the Week. Dr. D and Damian Erskine shared their expert advice in their columns,...
Höfner Unveils Limited Edition Eco Violin Basses
A classic bass is getting a limited edition contemporary makeover. Höfner has announced two new versions of their German-built Violin Bass featuring composite material in place of their typically rosewood fingerboards. “Traditionally most fingerboards have been faced with Rosewood or Ebony, but these are becoming restricted in use in some countries as world wood resources dwindle or there is a...
Renaud Garcia-Fons: Bajo de Guia
Renaud Garcia-Fons never ceases to amaze me. Here’s another fantastic performance of his song “Bajo de Guia,” taken from his DVD The Marcevol Concert. Garcia-Fons has an insane amount of facility on the bass, especially in thumb position. His gypsy/flamenco style proves his rhythmic mastery, which is taken even further with his foot-tapping pattern.
Classic Joy Division Live Album Reissued on Vinyl
Nothing seemed to work at Joy Division’s February 28, 1980 performance at The Warehouse in Preston, England. The amps failed and instruments went in and out. But somehow, the band coaxed an inspiring performance out of rotten circumstances. The rough bass sound created by Peter Hook that night is one of the performance’s selling points. It’s a latter-day performance from...