Buzz
Gear Watch: Aguilar Amplification Tone Hammer 500
Aguilar Amplification’s latest addition to the world of lightweight amplifiers is the Tone Hammer 500, a 500 watt bass amp weighing in at just four pounds. The amp utilizes the same preamp found in Aguilar’s Tone Hammer D.I./preamp pedal, with bass, treble and sweepable midrange controls. The Drive control uses the company’s proprietary AGS circuit, which adds subtle distortion and...
NHØP: 1960’s Sessions
This gem of a video showcases the brilliance of Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen as much as any we’ve seen. If anyone knows where this clip is from, please drop a note in the comments. We’d love to see more.
Alfred Expands Jazz Play-Along Series
Alfred has expanded on their Jazz Play-Along Series to include new volumes with books and play-along CDs tailored for bass clef instruments, and the entire rhythm section. The rhythm section editions contain written parts for bass, piano, and drums, and offers solo opportunities for those instruments. The publisher has also included an easy play-along series crafted for the novice improviser....
Victor Wooten: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Christmas Song Bass Solo
Here’s a nice fan shot video of Victor Wooten performing a Christmas-inspired solo during a Bela Fleck & The Flecktones concert last year. The performance took place at the Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Music Festival at the Congress Theater.
Solo Bass Santa: Silent Night
We’re not saying this is the Santa, but we’re not saying he isn’t either. (We’re trying to avoid coal in our stockings tomorrow). Regardless, here’s a dude that looks like Santa doing his solo bass rendition of “Silent Night”.
Rufus Reid Debuting New Orchestral Work In 2011
Over the summer, Rufus Reid attended a workshop at Columbia University called the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute, which he later recalled the highlight of his year that far. After proving time and again his mastery of writing for the small ensemble, Reid decided it was time to build his large ensemble composition chops. The workshop was so successful for him...
Gear Watch: LeCompte Chewy Linton Signature Bass
LeCompte Basses has introduced their first signature model bass, the “Chewy Linton.” Chewy Linton is the bassist for the Austin, Texas-based band, Ember, who released their major label debut earlier this year. Linton describes the bass as somewhat of a mix of a Spector NS and the Warwick Thumb, explaining there were features of each he loved but when combined...
Happy Holidays from No Treble
As we get set to start our third year covering the greatest instrument on the planet, we’ve been reflecting on the first two. When you start something like this because you love it, you’re biggest hope is that you’ll find other people who love it just the same, and that you produce something worth viewing and sharing. Thanks to you,...
Jingle Bells: Bass Style
Here’s a little something to get you in the holiday mood. From Youtuber taolikuenjing comes his rock bass version of Jingle Bells. The fun starts around the 30-second mark.
Gear Watch: M Basses Mj-4 and Mj-5
M Basses has officially released their Mj-4 and Mj-5 models, which are 4 and 5-string versions of a “vintage-inspired” bass with customizable features. The M bass body comes standard with a choice of either a swamp ash or alder body, maple neck and an Indian rosewood fingerboard. The Mj-4 carries 20 frets while the 5-string has 21, though both have...
Bass Chords: Going Beyond the Root
Q: Lately I’ve been trying to expand my knowledge of basic chords on bass. Any advice! A: This seems a good time to expand on a previous column about developing chords on the bass. Previously, we had really just focused on root position chord shapes. Now let’s look at some ways to get beyond that. Really, the key is being...
Reader Spotlight: Charles “Chuck” Hoffman
Meet Chuck Hoffman, a bassist from Des Moines, Iowa and our player in the spotlight for December 21, 2010. Bio: I started out playing trumpet in elementary school in Waterloo, IA, got interested in indie rock, jazz, and 20th century music in high school. I went to college with the idea of becoming a composer, but took up playing bass...