Buzz
Columbia Releases Weather Report: The Columbia Albums 1976-1982
In 1976, a relatively unknown bassist by the name of Jaco Pastorius joined Weather Report as a full-time member – an event that brought unprecedented commercial success to the six year old band. Jaco’s impact wasn’t limited to Weather Report either. It was during this same year his solo album debuted – an album which redefined the electric bass in...
Duran Duran’s “Rio”: John Taylor’s Isolated Bass Line
John Taylor really brought it in the Duran Duran tune “Rio”. His active bass line locks in with the drums and drives the song forward. Luckily, we have a video of Taylor’s isolated bass line to scope out his groove and tone.
PocketLabworks Releases PocketHz Tuning and Song Training App
PocketLabworks has launched the PocketHz for iOS, an app that brings together a tuner and a song trainer. The tuner utilizes the company’s WarpSpeed pitch detection technology, which engineer Kevin Robertson explains warps the frequencies for even measurement across all octaves. It covers 8-octaves to reach down to a low B-string, high C-string and beyond. The song training half of...
Mono Announces “The Tick” Accessory Gig Bag
Mono Cases has introduced the Guitar Tick, a new accessory bag that attaches to your M80 bass or guitar case. The new case adds extra space and easily clips onto newer Mono cases equipped with D-rings to allow full access to your instrument. The Tick can hold lots of extra gear with a cable strap and mesh pocket for organization....
Nick Schendzielos To Sit Out Summer Slaughter Tour Performances
Job For a Cowboy bassist Nick Schendzielos has announced he will be sitting out part of the band’s upcoming performances on the Summer Slaughter Tour, which runs July through August. The Red Chord guitarist Mike “Gunface” McKenzie will be filling in. “On June 28, immediately after landing in Boston to rehearse for Puerto Rico/Summer Slaughter, my girlfriend was in a...
Victor Wooten: “Isn’t She Lovely”, Live Solo Bass Performance
In April, Victor Wooten held a music clinic at a music school in Mechanicsville, Virginia. One of the songs he performed was his solo bass take on Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely”. The folks who shared this video said that this was recorded “at 8am on a Sunday morning, and during a torrential downpour. Victor showed up, picked up the...
Funk Bass Fills
Berklee bass professor Anthony Vitti has released his latest method book, this time focusing on funk bass. Funk Bass Fills offers up bass fills spanning funk, soul, R&B and hip-hop styles, playing fills in different positions and keys, funk rhythms and rhythmic patterns and more. The 72-page book comes with a companion play-along CD, including the recorded bass lines –...
Nordstrand Pickups Introduces NP4V Vintage P Pickup
Nordstand Pickups has expanded their NP4 line with the NP4V, a P-style pickup designed to deliver old school tone. The new pickup is “made to exacting early 60’s specs”, including its vintage correct size traditional Alnico V magnets. The NP4V acts as a direct replacement and fits into nearly all P-style basses. Its split coil hum-canceling configuration offers noise-free operation,...
Bass of the Week: Zakrzewski Exclusive
Polish luthier Piotr Zakrzewski has some pretty great bass designs, including his Exclusive model. The mid-range of his three basic basses, the Exclusive is a double-cut bass with the lower horn being significantly deeper to provide easy access to the very end of the fingerboard. The Exclusive EX1 01 really caught my eye with its faux f-hole, which provides more...
Adam Ben Ezra: Can’t Stop Running
Our Facebook friend Guy Dayan shared this video with us, and we are happy to pay it forward (we’re huge Adam Ben Ezra fans here.) This is Adam’s latest video, featuring his original composition, “Can’t Stop Running”. Adam says, “One take, no loops or layers.” Amazing. The track is available for purchase via Adam’s BandCamp page: Can’t Stop Running by...
Tom Tom Club to Release First New Material in 12 Years
New Wave band Tom Tom Club has announced Downtown Rockers, their first new release in 12 years. Available digitally on September 4th with a vinyl edition coming September 11th, the EP will pay homage to now defunct nightclub CBGB, where the musicians got their start. “It was our incubator,” bassist/vocalist Tina Weymouth told Rolling Stone. “It was very intimidating to...
TC Electronic Unveils BH250 Bass Amplifier for Summer NAMM
With Summer NAMM just around the corner, TC Electronic has unveiled their most compact bass amplifier to date: the BH250. Weighing in at just four pounds, the Class D amplifier boasts 250-watts while packing in the company’s intelligently contoured tone controls and TonePrint among other features. The BH250’s tone controls are tailored specifically for bass. Instead of single frequency bands...