Buzz

The top 10 features on No Treble for the week of July 4 – July 10, 2010: 1. Video: Bohemian Rhapsody, Arranged for Bass 2. Gear Watch: Music Man Reflex 3. Gear Watch: AweSome B-35 Bass Guitar 4. Ask Damian Erskine: Passive vs. Active Circuitry? 5. Contest: Stanley Clarke Band Contest 6. Concerts: Tal Wilkenfeld Breaks from New Album to...

Dunlop has released the DVP1 Volume pedal, featuring a Steel Band Drive that greatly reduces friction for smooth volume swells. The pedal is built ergonomically, with a durable high friction tread to prevent slipping. Made of a lightweight aluminum, the pedal also features high-quality low-noise components to keep your signal path as clean as possible. The DVP1 is available now...

Live looping videos are a favorite around No Treble HQ. We usually find videos featuring of a solo bassist working alone with a looper pedal. Not the case with bassist Cico Cicognani, who performs with a trio with Pier Foschi and Mattia Dallara. Check out Mesh Machine:

Barry Bales: A Solid Foundation To Acoustic Bass

Barry Bales, the Grammy award-winning bassist for Alison Krauss & Union Station, has released an instructional video, A Solid Foundation To Acoustic Bass. The two hour and 20 minute DVD features Bales sharing his thoughts on the role of the bass, demonstrations of his techniques in bluegrass and country, and interviews on topics including tone production, walking bass, percussive ‘ghost’...

Christian McBride: 2008 Detroit International Jazz Festival Artist-in-Residence Performance

Here’s a cool clip from the 2008 Detroit International Jazz Festival Artist-in-Residence program, with Christian McBride.

Michael Henderson is no stranger to having his music sampled. The bassist, who toured with Stevie Wonder and recorded with Miles Davis during his electric years, has had clips of his music used in songs by Jay-Z, Eminem, Notorious B.I.G., and more. He also knows, however, when his music is being used without his permission. Henderson has filed a lawsuit...

In a recent interview with RockPages.gr, ex-Whitesnake bassist Marco Mendoza spoke about the new Thin Lizzy lineup, which reformed in May. Thin Lizzy manager Adam Parsons called about joining the group. “I’ve always been a fan of Thin Lizzy and Phil Lynott and the boys, and so for me, when I get a call like that, I’m there because it’s...

Gear Watch: DDyna Music BASS10 Compressor Pedal

DDyna Music has announced the release of the BASS10 Compressor pedal. It’s the first in their new “GainShaper Series” of effects pedals, and features 4 Bandpass Filters for dialing entire bands of frequencies in or out. The EQ drives a Relaxed Squeeze Compressor with an auto-return to 0dB, giving a musically soothing response. It also includes a switchable overdrive that...

Always eclectic, Bill Laswell ventures into a very interesting musical place with the Bill Laswell Axiom Sound System Musical Freezone 06. In this performance, Laswell plays with Zakir Hussein (tablas), Ustad Sultan Khan (vocal, sarangui), DJ Disk, Karsh Kale (drums) and Nils Petter Molvaer (trumpet). This is part 4 of a 15-minute-jam.

Stanley Clarke‘s tour in support of his latest album, The Stanley Clarke Band, just wrapped up in North America and continues with stops in Russia, Turkey, Belgium, Holland, Czech Republic, England, Italy, France and Spain. The tour returns to the US in August. Don’t miss the Heads Up/No Treble contest: 10 lucky winners will receive a copy of The Stanley...

A new, longer edit of a 1984 interview with Metallica bassist Cliff Burton has been released. The interview, conducted by Ken Kitt of Metal Fanzine, took place a little over two years before Burton’s untimely death. The clip had been previously released, but was trimmed to just over six minutes long. The full interview, with Metallica songs played between dialogue,...

All in the Fingers?

I started playing bass when I was 14. My dad bought me a used ‘no-name’ bass from the local thrift shop; a Fender Precision copy made from plywood with a big, shiny, and very noisy, single-coil pickup. Once I was experienced enough to know good tone from bad, it became apparent that this bass sounded pretty awful. Yet I successfully...