Buzz
Andrew Seward Rejoins Against Me!
Five years after leaving Against Me!, bassist Andrew Seward is taking up his place in the band again. Inge Johansson, who has been the bassist since Seward’s departure, will step down. The news was broken by vocalist Laura Jane Grace on Instagram. “As some people may have noticed there’s been some change happening within Against Me! recently and the shows...
Zorg Effects Announces the Small Basstar Overdrive Pedal
France’s Zorg Effects has introduced a simplified version of their flagship Glorious Basstar pedal called the Small Basstar. Designed for bass and guitar, the multi-band overdrive splits your signal into bass and treble bands with a three-way switch to the frequency that separates them. Zorg says on bass it offers “precision, gnarl, huge gain, big sound and superb attack clarity.”...
Best of Ask Damian Erskine: 2018 (So Far)
Editors Note: Damian has been traveling extensively lately, performing and educating all over the place. So for this week’s column, we’re giving him a much-needed break. Damian’s columns are read by thousands of people every week, so we thought we’d do a recap of the most popular ones he’s published so far in 2018. Enjoy. 1. Is Rhythmic Tapping Okay...
Ralf Gauck: DiClemente
Ralf Gauck sent us this beautiful solo bass performance featuring his new Franz Bassguitars signature bass. “[I’m] playing the song ‘DiClemente’ solo, without a looper, without slap bass, without a voice… just ten fingers on four strings,” Ralf said. That’s just fine with us.
In Memoriam: Garry Lowe
Bassist Garry Lowe, who played in Canada’s rock/reggae band Big Sugar, has passed way after a two year battle with cancer. He was 65 years old. The new was shared by Gordie and Alex Johnson on the Big Sugar Facebook page. “We lost our dear brother and sweet friend Garry this morning,” they wrote. “He was my greatest musical collaborator,...
Reader Spotlight: John W Lauler
Meet John W Lauler, who has an interesting tale in his path to picking up the bass (more on that below). John stays busy in the Chicago music scene, performing a range of styles almost every night of the week. John is this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight. Here’s his story… Bio: I’m a bassist living in Chicago,...
Boss Introduces WL Series Wireless Systems
Boss has announced the WL Series of wireless systems for bass, guitar, and other electronic instruments. The line has three models – the WL-20, WL-20L, and WL-50 – that the company says offer “ultra-low latency and rock-solid stability.” Each unit has a built-in rechargeable battery in the transmitter that allows for up to 12 hours of continuous playing time. The...
Lake Street Dive with NEC Gospel Ensemble: What I’m Doing Here
The members of Lake Street Dive met in the early 2000’s at the New England Conservatory. NEC had the group visit the campus as part of the conservatory’s ongoing concert series, in support of the band’s new album, Free Yourself Up. Here’s the group – featuring once again the terrific bass lines and backing vocals of Bridget Kearney – performing...
Todd Strange Leaves Crowbar
After returning to the fold two years ago, Crowbar bassist Todd Strange is once again leaving the band. Crowbar made the announcement on social media. “Crowbar will be performing Odd Fellows Rest 20th anniversary show at Southport Music Hall August 4th,” they write. “We did it at Roadburn Fest in The Netherlands, and want to share this classic in our...
Hatchie Announces North American Tour Dates
Australian dream-pop bassist/vocalist Hatchie will be crossing the world to make her first North American tour. Beginning in Los Angeles in August, she’ll be focusing on the coastlines with a couple Canadian dates mixed in. In addition to the new tour dates, Hatchie released a music video for the song “Bad Guy” off of her latest EP, Sugar & Spice....
Bass of the Week: Devon Bass J5 Classic Fretless
This week we’re checking out a gorgeous J5 Classic Fretless from Devon Bass. It features a stunning chambered and scorched swamp ash body that has an almost caramel color in the grain. The warm color is accented with black hardware and an ebony fingerboard. Devon fitted the bass with a pair of Nordstrand Audio Big Blades matched to an Aguilar...
Stuart Clayton: Fingerstyle Funk Line with Double Stop Chords
Here’s Stuart Clayton’s 25th exercise in his “Bass Lick of the Week” series. In this lesson, Stuart explores a fingerstyle funk line that features double stop chords and some tricky open string passages. As always, Stuart is offering up the backing track and a PDF worksheet containing the notation/TAB and instructions on how to play the line on his Bassline...