Buzz
NOFX Announces West Coast Tour Dates
Punk band NOFX will be ringing in the new year with a West Coast tour. Anchored by founder/bassist/vocalist Fat Mike, the group will kick things off with the New Year’s Heave! party in Las Vegas, Nevada before several two-day residencies throughout California, Arizona, Oregon and Washington. The tour comes in support of a recently released self-titled EP. Referred to as...
AC Guitars Introduces Tefano SS Short Scale Bass
AC Guitars has introduced the ACG Tefano SS, a new short scale bass with a single-cut design. The new model has a 31.5” scale with features modified to suit to the smaller size. As with other models in the ACG line, the bass is handcrafted by Scottish luthier Alan Cringean with a variety of options including woods and electronics. The...
Top 10: The Best New Releases of October 2011
Here are the top 10 most popular CD and DVD releases for October, 2011, based on reader views. Have you heard any of these yet? 1. Weather Report: Live in Cologne 1983 Continuing in their celebration of the 40th anniversary of the 1971 founding of Weather Report, the estate of Joe Zawinul is releasing their second of three new releases...
Frank Russell Releases “Circle Without End”
Bassist Frank Russell’s second solo album, Circle Without End, is now available for download. For his follow-up to 2005’s Covering All Basses, the Chicago native recruited a cast of high caliber musicians including bassists Daryl Jones (Rolling Stones) and Richard Patterson (Miles Davis, David Sanborn), renowned trumpeter Wallace Roney, pianist Robert Irving III and others. The idea for the album...
Barefaced Ltd Introduces Big Twin Bass Cab
Barefaced Ltd has released the Big Twin, a 1500-watt bass cabinet containing two 12″ woofers, a high-output midrange driver, and huge ports for maximum low end while keeping an “unusually” flat frequency response. The cab also boasts a full 2-way crossover with steep slopes, similar to that found in studio monitors, resulting in higher efficiency. Weighing in at 55 pounds,...
Blues Bass: Jump Blues, Two-Beat and “The Bump”
So far, we’ve examined different kinds of blues progressions, tips for playing on the bandstand, and two common blues feels: the shuffle and the slow blues. In this column, as well as the following one, I’d like to dig deeper and discuss other standard blues feels that you’ll be likely to play. I’ll try to reference certain songs so that...
Olivier Babaz: Midnight Caffeine
Talk about multi-tasking! French bassist Olivier Babaz shared this video with us in which he plays a reduced version of his piece “Midnight Caffeine” on his bass while simultaneously playing chords on his kalimba. The two instruments create a really cool texture while a prerecorded egg shaker keeps time.
Damian Erskine Releases “Live at Portland State University”
Damian Erskine has released Live at Portland State University, a new album featuring a performance of his band, The Damian Erskine Project. The quartet, made up of Erskine on bass, Reinhardt Melz on drums, Ben Darwish on piano and John Nastos on tenor sax, performed the set for students of the university, in what they classify as “Weird Jazz”. “This...
Bass of the Week: Ritter Royal Flora Aurum
Based out of Deidesheim, Germany, Jens Ritter is an electric bass luthier known for his artistic flair and luxurious basses. In addition to his exceptional line of basses is the Ritter Royal collection, which are set apart due to a “unique feature or an exceptional design history aspect of Jens Ritter’s career as a luthier.” In 2006 he outdid himself...
Steve Vai: “Now We Run”, Live with Bryan Beller
Hold on to your hats! Here’s Steve Vai and the String Theories band performing “Now We Run” live. Bryan Beller holds down the low end for the group, laying down some hard-hitting, driving bass and some great unison lines with Vai. This comes from the DVD .
Randall Kertz Releases New Edition of The Bassist’s Guide to Injury Management, Prevention and Better Health
Dr. Randall Kertz, DC has released an all-new, second edition of his popular book, The Bassist’s Guide to Injury Management, Prevention and Better Health. The second edition features expanded content and a new cover. The Bassist’s Guide is written specifically for bassists, dealing with the common, and not-so-common issues bass players encounter when practicing and performing, as well as every...
Fuzzrocious Pedals Introduces K-A-E-D-E-N Drive
Fuzzrocious Pedals have introduced a new stompbox: the K-A-E-D-E-N Drive, a versatile pedal with three stages to the circuit. Described as “not just a booster” and “not just an overdrive,” the K-A-E-D-E-N has pre-gain, gain, and tone knobs to dial in the right amount of drive. The pedal is built with your choice of tone stack, either a mid-hump, mid-scoop,...