Buzz

Victor Wooten and Felix Pastorius In Studio

Here’s a great studio session clip of bassists Victor Wooten and Felix Pastorius, taken during the recording of Jeff Coffin’s 2008 release Mutopia. The guys are trading solos on “Al’s Greens”.

Gear Watch: The Vee Strap

The new Vee Strap is an innovative solution to the problem of finding the right way to hold a heavy or uncomfortable bass. It features a dual-shoulder strap design that evenly distributes weight and stabilizes your instrument. Essentially, it is two straps built into one, coming together in a “V” on your back and buttoning onto your bass like any...

Gear Watch: Gold Tone PBB and BB-400+

While checking out all the great new gear at NAMM, the Gold Tone booth really caught our eye with some great twists on the bass. New for 2010 is their PBB model, a resonator bass with an extending aluminum endpin allowing it to sit in an upright position. The bass has a 32″ scale, with a mahogany body and maple...

Q: Can you help me get away from the standard root position chords that I already know? A: Hopefully, yes! The following will presume an intermediate level of understanding of chords and basic theory. But, if you’re working on this stuff, you’ve probably already got at least enough of a grip on it to follow along. Give this a shot!...

I don’t know who “Rainy” is but I do know that it’s someone that Youtuber Ninefingerbass wrote this nice solo bass tune about. Some nice harmonics and tapping work going on here.

Sublime with Rome have announced an extensive tour as a follow-up to their debut 6-date trek in April and May. The group continues to perform popular songs from Sublime’s self-titled album, which was released just after original singer Brad Nowell’s death. Bassist Eric Wilson explained earlier this year, “Many of our songs have never been performed live, most notably our...

Reader Spotlight: Justin Williams

Meet Justin Williams, our bass player in the spotlight. We had the chance to meet up with Justin at the Warwick booth during Summer NAMM. Bio: Justin Williams is one of NYC’s upcoming bassists in the Underground Hip-Hop/R&B, Electronic scene. For six years he’s been supporting some today’s hottest acts (Joya Bravo, KalaeAllDay, C. Devone) holding down the low end...

An Interview with Thomas Risell, the Man Behind MarloweDK

If you’re a bassist who spends any time on Youtube, there’s no doubt you’ve run into at least one video by MarloweDK. After watching all his great playalongs and lessons for over a year, we decided it was time to find out more about the man himself, Thomas Risell. Here’s our interview… We know you attended the Copenhagen Music Conservatory....

Shawn Moran, aka Fingersmoran, titled this tune “Bass In Yo Face”, and appropriately so because that’s exactly what it is!

Herbie Hancock: The Imagine Project

Herbie Hancock’s latest album, The Imagine Project, is a project that in many ways mirrors Hancock’s 2005 mega-hit, Possibilities. The album blends pop and jazz together with the help of a large and all-star cast of musicians such as Dave Matthews, Pink, John Legend, Seal, Jeff Beck and many others. Several bassists contributed to the project, including Marcus Miller (tracks...

Gear Watch: EMG X Series Pickup Sets for Jazz Bass

EMG has released Jazz bass versions of their X series pickups: the JX, JAX, and JVX sets. The brand’s X-Series is made to provide increased headroom, giving the voicing an organic and open tone while keeping great clarity and response. EMG describes them as “bridging the gap between passive and active tone.” The JX retains the jazz bass tone while...

I’m an ear player… By that I mean I’m good at hearing something and responding intuitively to it on my bass, without necessarily knowing exactly what I’m doing. This has been both advantageous AND a disability to me. Below I’ve listed some of the pros and cons of being this kind of a player. See if you identify with any...