Buzz

Michael Manring has a number of local (San Francisco Bay area) shows scheduled through July, including three performances with acoustic guitarists Alex DeGrassi and Jeff Titus. On July 29th, Manring will be playing a special benefit concert in San Rafael for the victims of the war in Darfur. Complete tour dates and information: Thursday, July 16 at 7:30pm Solo, also...

If you’ve been keeping up with this lesson series and having focused practice you should be getting pretty comfortable with the fretboard layout. Remember that the drills in Part 1 and Part 2 should be practiced regularly to get the full benefit. In this lesson we’ll work on something really fun: the blues! As a note to those who are...

Electro-Harmonix has announced the release of their first analog filter designed specifically for bass: the Enigma Q-balls. The Enigma has a frequency range of 40 Hz to 3 kHz able to define tight sweeps through the entire harmonic range. The Engima includes analog distrotion with controls to give let you shape the growl any way you want. The feature list...

We admit it… if you post a video of multi-bass bands, we’re likely to feature it here. This video was filmed at Fender Mexico’s theater in 2008, featuring Motown bass legend Bob Babbitt, Bobby Vega, Christopher Maloney and Ivan Barrera on bass, Jeff Kollman on guitar and Nick DVirgilio on drums. This one starts slow, but starts cooking once the...

Bassist George Porter Jr. from the Funky Meters has taken the time to share some of his insight on the origins of funk and what it was like at the beginning. Porter first played with Art Neville as a guitarist, “I was a rhythm player and Art was expecting a lead player. I took some solos and he looked at...

Q: How do you approach writing a harmony once a melody has been composed? And how do you make sure the harmonic progression works in the way you like it? I assume it’s not just trial and error! A: Admittedly, I’m a newbie when it comes to real composition and yes, it had largely been trial and error. Half of...

Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton has been forced to sit out for part of the bands current tour due to recovery from non-invasive surgery. Hamilton, 57 years old and a cancer survivor, has been a part of Aerosmith since their beginning in 1970. The tour “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Presents Aerosmith” kicked off June 10th and has been plagued with postponed dates...

ToneGear, winner of “Best in Show” at NAMM 2008, is releasing a new product: The String Cleaner for Bass Guitar. The string cleaner utilizes a patented 360 degree cleansing technique to remove the oils and deposits from your fingers while playing. Untreated these deposits cause oxidative damage to your strings over time and will affect your tone. ToneGear claims that...

Here at No Treble, we are dedicated to bringing you news about bassists you know and love and introducing those you may not know. If you have not already heard his music, it is worth your time to check out Living These Times by bassist Fernando Huergo. Huergo is an instructor at the Berklee College of Music and has been...

Bunny Brunel‘s Ivanhoe, originally released in 1983, has been reissued by Planet Blue label today. The CD features eight original compositions by Brunel, with appearances by Chick Corea on Mini-Moog and Fender Rhodes, Herbie Hancock on piano, Stanley Clarke on bass, Tony Williams on drums, Joe Farrell on saxophone, Bill Watrous on trombone, Tom Brechtlein on drums and Don Alias...

Check out Alain Caron with “Le Band”, Alain’s project from the mid-90’s. This tune, “Slam The Clown” is from the album Rhythm ‘N Jazz. If you’re interested, Alain also has a Rhythm ‘n Jazz Ultimate Play-Along for Bass instruction book and CD to help you figure it all out.

Singer and bassist Jack Bruce was made a Doctor of Letters by Glasgow Caledonian University. Bruce is 66 years old and a founding member of the band Cream with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. Bruce was quoted saying: “I dropped out and became a professional musician when I was very young, I just wanted to get on with it really...