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Reader Spotlight: Nick Castledine
Nick Castledine lives an interesting life, working as a mechanical engineer (and on his Ph.D. in robotics) while balancing a healthy gigging schedule. He started on saxophone until an opportunity in a metal band came up, which is when he made the switch to bass. Nick is this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight (you could be next!) Here’s...
Cort Guitars Unveils the GB75JH Bass Guitar
After introducing a JJ model earlier this year, Cort has once again added to their GB7 series with the GB75JH bass. The new bass takes a “proven body and bridge design” and adds a new pickup configuration – in this case a single coil pickup with a humbucker in the bridge position. “This model is equipped with two-band EQ with...
Mark Lettieri with Wes Stephenson: Montreal
We’re big fans of bassist Wes Stephenson. Here he is performing with guitarist Mark Lettieri on the tune, “Montreal,” which appears on Lettieri’s 2016 album, . Wes always seems to find the perfect line to serve the song. Plus, he offers up a terrific solo on this one.
Living Colour Returns With “Shade”
It’s been eight years since the last Living Colour album, but the wait has been worth it. The band has just released Shade, a 13-song record that brings their unique blend of rock, blues, and funk to 2017. This time, it focuses particularly on the blues. The spark for the album came from performing a spiritually charged version of pioneer...
Bass of the Week: Brooks EB-RBL
Hans Grimm shared his fantastic bass on the No Treble Facebook group, and it got lots of us excited. “This beauty was built for me by very talented amateur luthier Rob van den Broek, under his Brooks brand,” the bassist wrote. “The model is based on a classic Gibson, and also sports Hamer-ish looks.” The old school influenced axe sports...
Karl Clews: Josie
We were all devastated by the news of the passing of Walter Becker earlier this month. Karl Clews decided to pay tribute to Mr. Becker, with a bass arrangement of Steely Dan’s “Josie.”
Electro-Harmonix Now Shipping the Hot Wax Dual Overdrive Pedal
Electro-Harmonix has combined their Hot Tubes and Crayon overdrive pedals to create the Hot Wax Dual Overdrive. Each side of the pedal can be used independently with their own footswitches or stacked for extra dirt. Both circuits have their own Volume and Drive knobs while a master EQ controls tone for the whole output. A Blend knob allows you to...
Stuart Clayton: Bass Lick of the Week #1 – Funk Groove
Our friend Stuart Clayton recently made the exciting announcement that he’s kicking off a year-long series entitled “Bass Lick of the Week.” Here’s the first entry in the series, focused on playing a funk groove with a pick. “Each week I’ll be uploading a new video where I demonstrate an original bass groove – with on-screen notation – then talk...
Copeland, Cosma, King, and Belew Team Up for Gizmodrome
Earlier this year, we found out about a new project started up by The Police’s Stewart Copeland and keyboardist Vittorio Cosma. As if that duo wasn’t cool enough, they brought in Level 42 bassist Mark King and guitar legend Adrian Belew. Now the quartet has released an album that came together in a burst of inspiration under the name Gizmodrome....
Nordstrand Audio Unveils the Big SplitMan Pickup
Nordstrand Audio has expanded their pickup line once again with a new creation called the Big SplitMan. It takes two of their Big Splits and puts them into the MM-style BigMan cover. “In essence, this pickup is a quad-coil BigMan with a cutthroat vendetta against hum and a raw energy slightly superseding the BigMan’s iconic aggression,” Nordstrand writes. “Its composition...
Zander Zon: Interstellar Medley
Zander Zon recently released another incredible arrangement. This time around, Zander plays two basses, electric cello and utilizes loopers to create a rich texture on Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar soundtrack. “There’s so many things I loved about this film. Time is a big theme throughout and a lot of the music is at 60 beats per minute (referencing seconds in a...
Dean Markley Unveils Blue Steel Cables
Dean Markley’s Blue Steel cryogenic treatment has been used on their Blue Steel strings for years. Now they’re applying that to instrument and speaker cables. “Using our unique process, we cryo treat Blue Steel instrument cables with a quick blast of liquid nitrogen, changing their molecular structure with marvelous results,” the company explains. “We’re talking brighter, more alive, transparent tonal...