News - Page 427

The Deftones are hitting the road starting in August, for a US tour in support of their latest album, Diamond Eyes. One dollar from each ticket sold will go to the fund in support of bassist Chi Cheng, who continues remains in a semi-conscious state after a 2008 car accident. The band is fitting in this tour before they again...

During our Summer NAMM adventure, we stopped in at the Better Audio Technologies booth to check out their new custom SMB-series of bass cabinets. The cabinets, which are available in a variety of finishes, utilize innovative 6″ long-throw woofers that give a –3dB cutoff frequency of 37Hz for great low-end extension. That’s lower than many manufacturers’ bass cabs, which generally...

Will Lee, bassist for the Late Show with David Letterman, and his band The Fab Faux have been confirmed for a special event celebrating John Lennon’s 70th birthday. The show, entitled “A Night in the Life- A John Lennon 70th Birthday Celebration,” will include two sets of the songwriter’s greatest music, ranging from The Beatles through his solo career. The...

After recently naming Geddy Lee as an endorsing artist, Orange Amps was proudly showing off their newest bass goodies at Summer NAMM. Orange expanded their Tiny Terror line to the low end, with the Terror Bass 500 and 1000. A compact head weighing in at 5kg (11.02 lbs), the Terror bass is a hybrid amp with a Class D solid-state...

Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus has revealed that the band is working on a new album. From a post on his blog himynameismark.com: “…we’ll be in the studio recording the new blink-182 album. Until it is finished. I cannot be more clear on this: new Blink-182 music is on the way… All of us have ideas from before and after the...

Bassist/Stickist Tony Levin, along with Stickist Michael Bernier and King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto, have released their latest album, Soup. The album consists of material developed over two years of touring, including “the unusual rap/rock title piece (about supercolliders!), a three part epic, ‘Hands’ and four movements from Stravinsky’s ‘Firebird Suite’, and much more.” Preview and download Soup: Amazon.com Widgets

The new Vee Strap is an innovative solution to the problem of finding the right way to hold a heavy or uncomfortable bass. It features a dual-shoulder strap design that evenly distributes weight and stabilizes your instrument. Essentially, it is two straps built into one, coming together in a “V” on your back and buttoning onto your bass like any...

While checking out all the great new gear at NAMM, the Gold Tone booth really caught our eye with some great twists on the bass. New for 2010 is their PBB model, a resonator bass with an extending aluminum endpin allowing it to sit in an upright position. The bass has a 32″ scale, with a mahogany body and maple...

Sublime with Rome have announced an extensive tour as a follow-up to their debut 6-date trek in April and May. The group continues to perform popular songs from Sublime’s self-titled album, which was released just after original singer Brad Nowell’s death. Bassist Eric Wilson explained earlier this year, “Many of our songs have never been performed live, most notably our...

Herbie Hancock’s latest album, The Imagine Project, is a project that in many ways mirrors Hancock’s 2005 mega-hit, Possibilities. The album blends pop and jazz together with the help of a large and all-star cast of musicians such as Dave Matthews, Pink, John Legend, Seal, Jeff Beck and many others. Several bassists contributed to the project, including Marcus Miller (tracks...

EMG has released Jazz bass versions of their X series pickups: the JX, JAX, and JVX sets. The brand’s X-Series is made to provide increased headroom, giving the voicing an organic and open tone while keeping great clarity and response. EMG describes them as “bridging the gap between passive and active tone.” The JX retains the jazz bass tone while...

Digitech released the new BP90 Bass Multi-Effects Processor as part of their appearance at the 2010 Summer NAMM Show. Powered by the AudioDNA 2 processor, the BP90 is built to digitally represent equipment including stompboxes, amplifiers, cabinets, and tons of effects. In all, it features 27 effects, 11 amps, five cabinets, and five stompboxes to choose from. Along with 50...