Buzz
The Winery Dogs Dish Up “Dog Treats” Special Edition Box Set
The Winery Dogs have something special for you — . They’re not Milk-Bones, as you know. It’s a re-release of the self-titled album from the supergroup, featuring rock bassist extraordinaire Billy Sheehan and cohorts Mike Portnoy and Richie Kotzen. The Dog Treats special edition features not only the debut album from 2013, but also a disc of 10 live songs...
Gibson Introduces Memory Cable With Built-In Recorder
Gibson has unveiled a new development in the world of instrument cables with the introduction of their new Memory Cable. The cable, which works on bass, guitar or keyboards, has a built-in recorder that can save up to 13 hours of playing to a microSD card. The TASCAM-designed component captures audio at 44.1kHz/16-bit resolution and can easily be transferred to...
Happy Fifth Birthday, No Treble
Every May 2nd, we celebrate No Treble’s birthday with a post. Today – No Treble’s 5th birthday – is pretty amazing to me. First, I’m surprised it has already been five years since I pushed the button to launch this site sometime after midnight on May 2nd, 2009. Second, we just hit 100,000 fans on Facebook this week. Third, and...
Bass of the Week: KlangKraft Tiefdruck IV EMG
This week we take a look at the Klangkraft “Tiefdruck” IV EMG, a bass the company designed with modern rock and metal players in mind. The body features nice 3D body shaping for comfort with a matte black finish for aesthetic appeal. The European-made bass is created with an ash body, hard rock maple neck, and an ebony fretboard that...
Rockin’ With Rocco: An Interview with Francis “Rocco” Prestia
Few bassists have a style that is as instantly recognizable as Francis “Rocco” Prestia’s funky, bubbly ghost and 16th-note playing. His work with Tower of Power has shaped what is expected of a funk bassist in terms of playing in the pocket and has subsequently inspired countless bass players. Prestia himself is humble about his contributions, citing James Jamerson and...
Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters: “Butterfly” Live with Marcus Miller
Herbie Hancock took the stage at the Tokyo Jazz Festival in 2005 with a version of the Headhunters which included bassist Marcus Miller. Here the group performs “Butterfly”, which appeared on Hancock’s 1974 album Thrust. Marcus starts things off on bass clarinet before picking up his bass. And at that point, things get extra groovy. This lineup also includes Roy...
In Memoriam: Paul Goddard of Atlanta Rhythm Section
Atlanta Rhythm Section bassist Paul Goddard has passed away, according to news reports and confirmed by the band on their Facebook page. He was 68. Goddard was among the founding members of the band in 1970 when the former members of the Candymen and the Classics IV became the session band for Studio One in Doraville, Georgia. Goddard retired from...
La Bella Strings Introduces Low Tension Flexible Flats
La Bella Strings is introducing a new take on their flatwound strings with the Low Tension Flexible Flats series. Made with the same techniques as their Deep Talkin’ Bass sets, the new strings have a slightly adjusted construction for a lighter and more flexible feel to their heavier counterparts. The company says that the Low Tension Flexible Flats offer the...
Adjusting to Alternate Tunings on Bass
Q: As you may know, many bassists who play Urban Gospel music will detune their basses to a low B? or lower to achieve that extra low range. About a year ago, I decided to give detuning a try and detuned my 5-string bass to B?. It was strange at first, because I had to get used to the half-step...
Miles Mosley Trio: Planetary Princess
We’ve typically seen Miles Mosley in solo settings, and he’s always knocked us out. But as we learned in our interview with Miles, he’s an incredibly versatile bassist, and one who studied with some true bass giants including John Clayton, Ray Brown and Al McKibbon. Here’s Miles with his trio performing “Planetary Princess”. The trio includes Tony Austin on drums...
The Allman Brothers Release 40th Anniversary Concert DVD
On March 26, 2009, 40 years to the day that the original Allman Brothers Band played together, the revitalized version of the group — original members Gregg Allman (vocals and keyboards), Jaimoe (drums), and Butch Trucks (drums, tympani) along with Marc Quinones (congas, percussion), Warren Haynes (vocals, lead and slide guitar), Derek Trucks (slide and lead guitar) and Oteil Burbridge...
Reader Spotlight: Jason Raso
Meet Jason Raso, a bassist and instructor from Ontario who says he has “zero control over [his] face muscles when [he] plays.” In other words, he’s a bass player. He’s also the No Treble reader in the spotlight for the week of April 28, 2014. Bio: Jason Raso has a funk heart and a jazz head. They are hard wired...