Buzz
Phil Lesh and Bob Weir Announce Duo Tour
Grateful Dead fans have one more reason to be grateful: bassist Phil Lesh and guitarist Bob Weir have announced a duo tour. The trek, which will be their first ever duo run, will take place with multiple night engagements in New York City, Boston, and Chicago during March. “I guess it was last summer, Phil and I played a little...
CruzTools Updates GrooveTech Multi-Tool
CruzTools has updated their GrooveTech Guitar and Bass Multi-tool just in time for the holidays. The second generation of the gadget has the original features: both metric and inch hex wrench sizes, ball-end for the truss rod sizes, and S2 steel tools with a polished chrome finish. New features include a 5/16” socket that fits Gibson and other truss rod...
The Lightbulb Moment: Setting The Stage
I’m standing in front of my amp. I’m sure of it. It’s two feet behind me, the light is on, and there’s definitely sound coming out of it – well, at least I’m pretty sure that there’s sound coming out of it. There comes a time in every musician’s life when you realize that a sound check can be an...
Zander Zon: Star Wars – The Last Jedi
We don’t just geek out over the bass, we also geek out about Star Wars. So today is an exciting day where we get to see the combination of both. In celebration of The Last Jedi, Zander Zon has put together his solo bass arrangement of the film’s theme song.
Raymond Elgar’s Books On Double Bass Republished
If you’re interested in the history of the double bass, you may want to check out Stephen Street’s new republished editions of three books by Raymond Elgar: Introduction to the Double Bass, More About the Double Bass, and Looking At The Double Bass. Originally published in the 1960s, the books chronicle the double bass in three aspects. Introduction covers the...
Thin The Herd Guitars and Birdsong Guitars Announce the CBG 30.5 T-Bass
Thin The Herd Guitars recently collaborated with Scott Beckwith of Birdsong Guitars to create the CBG 30.5 T-Bass. The bass takes elements from each of the companies’ instruments. “Scott started with our familiar Model T body, then applied his signature ‘recipe’ for quality tone and ease-of-playability into the design. Loaded with EMG-sized, custom-wound PUNCHBUCKER Pickups – specified by Scott Beckwith....
Alex Canion: Bass Playthrough of Voyager’s “Ghost Mile”
Voyager’s Alex Canion gives us a closeup look at the bass line to the title track from the band’s 2017 album, Ghost Mile. Armed with a tone that will bite your face off, the bassist tears through the bass line with slapped notes for punctuation. “This song is deceptively hard to play live and it features a few different techniques;...
Top 10: The Most Watched Bass Videos (November 2017)
Time for one of our favorite top 10 lists of the month: the reader favorite videos. Here are the 10 most watched videos we shared in November, 2017. Thanks for watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Tim Akers & The Smoking Section: Uptown Funk Tim Akers & The Smoking Section is a group of stellar musicians in Nashville, anchored by bassist...
Dyslexia and Music
Q: I’m 28 and I have played bass since I was 18. I’ve always been a hard-working student but always had trouble in reading music, no matter how I hard I tried. Now I’m a bass student at the Palermo Conservatory in Sicily, and despite my very good grades in all other subjects, I keep having a hard time in...
Karl Clews: Run For Cover
Karl Clews recently sent us this video of his ambitious all-bass arrangement of Marcus Miller’s “Run for Cover.” Karl shared: “I imagine a lot of folks have a go at Marcus Miller’s iconic bass part for ‘Run For Cover’, but there probably aren’t many foolish enough to try playing the melody at the same time! Hope you like it!”
“On Air” Compiles Early Rolling Stones Recordings
Listen up, Rolling Stones fans: the legendary rock band has put out a new compilation album called On Air. The 18-song collection brings together live and studio performances from various BBC shows between 1963 and 1965, during which time Bill Wyman was starting to produce some of his most iconic bass lines. Tracks include takes of their classics “Come On”...
Fodera Reveals Masterbuilt Yin Yang Hybrid Bass
Fodera revealed their fourth and final Masterbuilt bass for the year, and it’s incredible. The Masterbuilt Yin Yang Hybrid combines two signature instruments to pay tribute to their respective owners: Victor Wooten and Anthony Jackson. “Not only are these two artists pioneers in their craft, but also in instrument design through our collaborative relationship,” the company writes. “It was because...