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Leonid & Friends: I’m A Man
Last December, we featured bassist Leonid Vorobyev and his band Leonid & Friends doing an excellent cover of Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4.” They’re back with another excellent Chicago cover, “I’m A Man.” Nailed it.
Sandberg Announces Steamed Oak Fingerboards
To keep up with the new CITES regulations on rosewood, Sandberg Guitars has turned to a new fingerboard option: steamed oak. The innovation was first shown at NAMM this year as a prototype. “Oak is a very eco-friendly and sustainable wood with very desirable sonic qualities and dynamic response,” the company wrote in a press release. “Sandberg has adopted a...
Bass Players To Know: Berry Oakley
After the recent passing of Gregg Allman, it was only fitting to binge listen to some Allman Brothers records. Swept away by the lengthy jams, slide guitar solos, and beautifully in-sync double drummers, this band helped define Southern Rock and usher in a new era of blues. The man keeping it all together was Berry Oakley, whose bass lines to...
Video Premiere: Petros Klampanis’s “Shades of Magenta”
Today we’re proud to premiere a video for the song “Shades of Magenta” by bassist Petros Klampanis. This beautiful piece of music is a live recording from his latest album, , out now on Motema Music. “‘Shades of Magenta’ is about happiness,” the bassist writes. “We tend to forget how to appreciate small everyday things and this state of mind...
Old School: 1964 Egmond Princess Bass
Steve Leggett reached out to me with the story of a special bass: his 1964 Egmond Princess. Steve shares the history of this bass, including some great details on the company behind it. Make/Model/Year? It’s an Egmond Princess bass from 1964. How long have you owned it? Just over nine years now. How did you come across it? I was...
Dominic “Forest” Lapointe: First Fragment’s “Gula” Playthrough
I hope you’re sitting down for this one. Dominic “Forest” Lapointe’s playthrough for his band First Fragment’s song “Gula” is killer. Originally recorded by Vincent Savary, the song kicks off with a monster fretless tapping line before jumping into a supportive role. Lapointe’s left hand technique and musicality are just incredible.
Mark King Joins Stewart Copeland’s Gizmodrome
Former Police drummer Stewart Copeland has put together a new group called Gizmodrome, and he picked some heavy hitters to join him. The band is rounded out by Italian keyboardist Vittorio Cosma, guitarist Adrian Belew, and Level 42 bassist Mark King. The project will release their self-titled debut album on September 15th, 2017. Gizmodrome started with Copeland and Cosma, expanding...
Bassics BPA-1 Preamp Now Shipping
Diffusion Audio is now shipping the Bassics BPA-1 analog bass preamp. Designed by studio equipment designer Malcolm Toft, the BPA-1 packs a preamp, tone controls, and compression into a floor unit with footswitches for each section. It has two inputs with two low-noise pickup amplifiers with individual level controls. The three-band EQ has Low Bass, Mid Bass, and High Bass...
Should I Quit the Bass? A Discussion on Burn Out (and More)
Q: I’m a semi-pro bassist of 15 years and have been playing for about 25 now, I’ve been with my current band for nearly six years and are about to release our second album. For the past two years, I’ve not been very happy playing, and it is a real conflict because of how much time I’ve invested into music,...
Whose Hat Is This?: Untitled
The musicians in the Tedeschi Trucks Band can throw down on some southern soul grooves, but they also have a love for free improv. Four members of the group – including Tim Lefebvre, Kebbi Williams, J.J. Johnson, Tyler Greenwell – formed a project called Whose Hat Is This? to let their creativity run wild. Here they are performing an untitled...
James Jamerson Bass Sold at Auction
If you’ve been online recently, you’ll know the most talked about story in the bass community in the last month has been the auction for a bass previously owned by James Jamerson. Owned by the Motown genius from 1962 until approximately 1968, the 1961 Fender Precision was reportedly given to fellow Detroit bassist Billy Hayes around that time. Hayes used...
Cort Introduces the GB74JJ Bass
Cort has expanded their GB7 series of guitars and basses with the GB74JJ, a jazz-style bass that they describe as integrating both modern and classic aspects. That blend is centered in its pair of VTB-ST pickups that are fitted into a swamp ash body. “Crafted with winding materials that maximize high and low frequencies, the refined design of these pickups...