Buzz
YOSHA: Fire Rhythm
Bassist Karel Honasan sent us this video of his band YOSHA performing their original tune, “Fire Rhythm”. The video comes from a web show named “Tower Sessions”, after the band was invited to do a few live performances by Tower of Doom. This is one tight band, and Karel is a huge part of that. He’s playing an F-Bass BN4...
Motorhead Announces New Album Track List and Preorder
Motorhead has announced their 21st studio album, Aftershock, will be released on October 22nd in North America. Headed by bass legend Lemmy Kilmister, the iconic rock trio’s latest effort is being called some of their best yet. “I really think the variation on the album shows that we’ve dug deep and produced some of our best work for a long...
AC Guitars Introduces Über Spec Basses
AC Guitars has a new line of basses dubbed the Über Spec Series – a line defined by select woods and the company’s new MC Series pickups. Built as a collaboration between Aaron Armstrong, John East, and AC Guitars’ Alan Cringean, the MC Series are Multi-Coil Pickups with two coils per string. On a 4-string pickup, there are eight poles...
Weekly Top Ten: The Best in Bass for the Week of September 8th
Last week was a fun one, with seven straight days of isolated bass. And wow, that sure was popular – taking the #1 slot on our top 10 list by far. But the bass gear and lessons got a ton of attention too. It all added up to one of the best top 10 lists of all time. Thanks for...
Vulfpeck: My First Car
Jack Stratton sent this new video featuring Vulfpeck performing the title track from My First Car. Bassist Joe Dart really lays it down on this one – as he does on pretty much every tune I’ve heard. Dart is playing a P-Bass Jr. with medium LaBella strings. Jack said they “slammed [the bass] through a TG 12413 Limiter plugin emulation”....
EARasers Introduces Instant Fit Musicians Earplugs
EARasers has a new set of earplugs for musicians which provides an instant fit to your ear. The plugs’ design features a soft medical-grade silicone that creates a “smart seal” instead of requiring impressions of your ear to be made. It also places the filter at the tip of the plug instead of the opening of the ear canal, which...
Acoustic Image Introduces Flex Series Preamp and Cabinet
Acoustic Image has announced the Flex Series, consisting of a Flex preamplifier and Flex 2×10 powered cabinet. While the set has great bass capabilities, AI created the setup to be “flexible” and work for many instruments. “Think of it as a compact PA system with excellent bass response,” the company said, “an ideal solution for a broad range of instruments...
James Jamerson’s Isolated Bass on “Ain’t That Peculiar” (with Drums)
We’re closing out Isolated Bass Week III with the master, James Jamerson. This is the audio track for Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar”, with the bass and drums isolated from the original Motown master tape. (And some other instruments leaking through). I believe Uriel Jones is the drummer on the track. But this is mostly about the bass.
Tedeschi Trucks Band Plans to “Date a Bunch of Bass Players”
Oteil Burbridge has a long history with guitarist Derek Trucks, starting with the Allman Brothers and later with the Tedeschi Trucks Band. So when Burbridge announced he was taking a break TTB last October, it was a bit of a surprise. In a recent interview with Premier Guitar, Trucks shared that Burbridge had reached the point where he didn’t want...
A Different Way To Listen: Thoughts on Transcribing Bass Lines
Think about all of the ways we can hear music… we can listen to it in our car, hear it as we walk through a super market, be encompassed by it in a movie theater, experience a private listening session on our headphones, or hook a record player up to a great set of speakers. Clearly, there are many mediums...
The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence”: Paul McCartney’s Isolated Bass
Today we get a good listen to the bass line on the Beatles’ song, “Dear Prudence” from the 1968 album known as The White Album. Paul McCartney covered a lot more than just the bass on this one – including drums, piano, flügelhorn, tambourine, cowbell, handclaps, and backing vocals.
La Bella Announces RX Series Bass Strings
La Bella has introduced the RX-series of bass strings, available in Stainless Steel and Nickel-Plated Steel versions. The sets are built with a hard temper wire that’s produced from American wire mills. The strings unique round wound construction is based around a hexagonal core to prevent buzzing and offer better intonation. The company describes the strings as more flexible and...