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Bradetich Foundation Announces 2nd International Double Bass Solo Competition
Attention double bassists: The Bradetich Foundation has announced its Second International Double Bass Solo Competition. Hosted at the University of North Texas in Denton, the event is set for September 1st through the 5th in 2017 and will have a first prize award valued at $30,000. “The finest solo performers in the world are invited to compete for the most...
Reader Spotlight: Christoph Miebach
Meet Christoph Miebach, who started out on guitar and keys until that one day the band needed a bassist. He made the switch – a moment he calls “love at first sight.” Christoph is this week’s reader in the spotlight. Here’s his story… Bio: I studied bass guitar in the Netherlands at the ArtEZ School of Music from 2005 to...
Fender Unveils American Professional Series Basses
Fender has unveiled the American Professional Series, which takes the place of their recently discontinued American Standard line. The new series will, of course, include Precision and Jazz bass models, but each will have new features. Updated specs include a new fret shape, new pickups, new electronics, new hardware, and new colors. Both the American Professional P-Bass and Jazz Bass...
YYNOT: 2112 (Overture/The Temples of Syrinx)
YYNOT’s latest virtual Rush cover brings back a lot of memories of spinning 2112 back in the day. Our good friend Tim Starace handles the bass and air drums on this one. And once again, they nail it.
Rex Brown Solo Debut Expected in May
After announcing he was working on a solo project back in August, former Pantera bassist Rex Brown has revealed his solo debut album is slated to be released in May 2017. Brown opened up on the process to Eddie Trunk on Trunk Nation this week. “I went to NAMM last year, and I have a really good friend, this songwriter,...
Bass of the Week: KD Basses Picasso
Andy Irvine of The Daily Funk Club shared some pictures of this bass on Facebook and it made me stop scrolling. The Picasso by KD Basses is a colorful, artistic take on the instrument made in Bulgaria. The bass’s body is built with an Elm core, but luthier Kostadin Dimitrov covered it with an irregularly-shaped piece of maple burl in...
Scale Exercise in Thumb Position
When double bassists put their thumb on top of the fingerboard, rather than behind it, and use it to depress the string (just like the other fingers), we call that “thumb position.” There are a plethora of etude books and exercises to help us solidify the use of the thumb to press the string, but I’ve found a few particularly...
Miki Santamaria and Anna Sentina: Dangerous
Miki Santamaria teamed up with bassist Anna Sentina and drummer COOP3RDRUMM3R to put together this cover of David Guetta’s “Dangerous.” Miki handled the arrangement on this, which features plenty of bass goodness.
Weekly Top 10: Remembering Greg Lake, Popular Bass Videos, New Gear, New Bass Technique Lessons and More
This week, we paid tribute to Greg Lake, who passed away at the age of 69. We also published two new technique lessons – one by Damian Erskine and another by Ariane Cap to help keep your chops up. Add to it a new transcription by Brian Wroten, some reader favorite videos, new gear and more, and you have this...
Trickfish Amplification Announces SM110 “Perch” Bass Cabinet
Trickfish Amplification has unveiled the SM110 “Perch” cabinet. Originally intended for acoustic bass or guitar, the 1×10? is described as a low profile light-to-medium duty electric bass speaker cab. It’s fitted with a 10-inch Eminence neodymium speaker rated at 300 watts as well as a 100-watt silk dome neodymium tweeter. The 8-ohm cab is built with baltic birch and covered...
Anthony Vitti & Jonathan Elyashiv: Forgotten Groove Yard #34
Man, we sure love Anthony Vitti’s “Forgotten Groove Yard”. In episode #34, Anthony sat down with Jonathan Elyashiv for what they simply describe as a “hip hop jam”. “John is one of our super talented Berklee students who you will be hearing from for years to come,” Anthony shared. “Check out his super cool groove on his Hofner bass!” Groove!
John Wetton Releases 6-CD Official Bootleg Set
Bassist/vocalist John Wetton has released a six-CD set of archive material called Official Bootleg Archive Vol 1: Deluxe Edition. The collection includes three of the former King Crimson member’s bootleg albums in remastered formats. It will also include new artwork fully approved by Wetton. The bootleg albums have been out of print for 10 years. They include live performances from...