No Treble Archive for July 18th

Reverb has teamed up with many artists to help them sell their gear, but their upcoming collaboration will be one of the most epic. Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted will be selling off basses and guitars from throughout his career starting on July 24th.

Fuzzrocious pedals is diving deeper into the world of modulation circuits by introducing the Tyrannochorus. Heralded for their distortion and fuzz boxes, the company says a normal chorus would be boring, so they made it more “Fuzzrocious.”

Last month I discovered the multi-instrumentalist known as KNULP. Here’s her latest video, where she handles the guitars, bass, drums, and vocals on her cover of The Beatles’ “In My Life.”

Meet Ryan Griffiths, a musician who started on piano and cello before finding his calling on bass. These days, Ryan plays in the Prince tribute band EndorphinMachine and has a deep love for pedals.

Sad news to report as Happy Mondays bassist Paul Ryder has died of undisclosed causes. He was 58 years old. The new was shared by the band on Facebook.

This week, we’re checking out a stunning Falcon II Fretless five-string by Barlow Guitars. Luthier Ricky Barlow shared the new build with all the specs.

No Treble reader Vladimir Samardzic premiered a new video last night from his album, “Catching the Wind.” He shared it with us, saying, “For many people, this is their favorite tune from my album.” We can see why.

After much tumult and turmoil, Journey has returned with their fifteenth studio album, entitled “Freedom.” The album is the first to feature bassist Randy Jackson since 1986’s “Raised On Radio.”

Happy Sunday! As we close out another week, we look back at the top 10 reader favorites, including a great bass lesson, top videos, new gear, and stories.

Celestion has announced a collaboration with Bergantino Audio Systems to release a line of Impulse Responses based on the company’s NXT and NXV series bass cabinets.

It has been a while since we shared one of Leland Sklar’s videos. In this one, Lee plays along to one of his favorite tracks (“Everyday”) from James Taylor’s 1985 record, “That’s Why I’m Here”, and shares the story behind it.

Up the irons! For the first time in six years, Iron Maiden has released new music. The band has dropped a new single called “The Writing on the Wall”, along with an epic animated music video.

Squier has shrunk the P-bass to introduce the Mini Precision Bass. The reduced-size includes a 28.6-inch scale, which is even smaller than a regular 30-inch short scale.

I’m always stoked to see a new video from the Zildjian LIVE! series, and this one is amazing. In this clip, drummer JD Beck and keyboardist DOMi join Ghost-Note for a live performance. MonoNeon grooves on this one!

The Rock N’ Roll Fantasy Camp has expanded their online masterclasses with three more bass sessions with three amazing bass players: Stuart Hamm, Tony Franklin, and Mike Kroeger. Each of the virtual classes allows you to interact with the players directly.

Singular Sound has expanded its product lineup with a new looper pedal called The Aeros Loop Studio. The unit is a six-track stereo looper that has a touch-enabled screen, hands-free mixing, and simultaneous parallel and sequential looping.

Tim Fletcher is back with his seventh entry of the “Unsung U.S. Bassists” series. Check out his bass transcription and analysis for Ronnie Baker's line on "Bad Luck" by Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes

Usually when we share a video by Karl Clews, it is one of his excellent all-bass covers. Karl is changing things up with this collaboration with Maciek Zaworonek on harmonica. The duo takes on Steve Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely.”

Sublime with Rome is back with their third album, entitled “Blessings.” It’s the first album to feature drummer Carlos Verdugo. The band, which began ten years ago with original Sublime drummer Bud Gaugh, is still anchored by original bassist Eric Wilson.

Keeley Electronics has expanded their pedal lineup with the Aria Compressor and Overdrive, a pedal that brings together their Keeley Compressor with their classic Red Dirt Overdrive pedals. Each side of the pedal allows for flexible routing and different setup situations. A switch allows for changing the order of the effects in the pedal’s signal path, plus the pedal comes...

Q: Do You have any advice for those bassists aspiring to become session musicians? Not so much how to get exposure but how to handle yourself, gear, getting lines on the first take, being solid, etc… A: I’ve always found the studio to be very satisfying. I’m one of those players who wouldn’t mind being solely a session bassist. Invisible...

Here’s a great clip from North Sea Jazz a few days ago with Marcus Miller and Michael League. The focus of this video is in response to the host’s question, “how do you develop a groove?” Michael immediately pushed the question over to Marcus, who decided it was better to show than tell. Then the two got into a great...

Brian Bromberg is back with a new solo album called Thicker Than Water, which features the bassist on eleven different electric and upright basses. As such, the record is a display of his insane talents on both instruments. “Thicker Than Water is a record I’ve been wanting to make for a very long time,” Bromberg says. “I love the upright...

Meet Ricardo Ferrari, a guitarist-turned-bassist who said was thanks to “the absence of one more lower octave on the standard guitar.” Ricardo is this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight. Here’s his story… Bio: I began playing nylon guitar at 16. First, pop Brazilian music and then classical. I graduated from Berklee in 1985. I took up bass guitar...

I was sad to learn of the news of Allan Holdsworth’s passing. He left a great legacy to all guitarists and musicians in general, and his playing in the 70’s had a great impact on guitarists such as Frank Gambale, Bill Connors, Scott Henderson and even Eddie Van Halen. His way of playing the guitar was revolutionary, his legato style,...

Dave Weckl shared this video on Facebook and it knocked us out. “Here’s an amazing tune that [I] collaborated on with Abhijith P S Nair (violin, electric violin), Sandeep Mohan (electric guitar), and Mohini Dey (bass guitar),” he shared. “Great musicians/songwriters!” Mohini is tearing it up! The tune is available on .

This week we’re checking out an ?ber-Groove 4 Single Cut by Maurizio ?ber Basses called The Promise. The bass features a stunning Monkeypod top over an Asian mahogany body. “The Promise was built for a client who, among other gigs, plays regularly at church,” M?B explains. “Being a religious man, he wanted his bass to be inspired to a verse...

Triads are three note chords that serve as the building blocks of functional harmony. As bass players, it’s important for us to recognize triads by ear and to know how to play them starting on each string in all keys and in all registers of the bass. We’ll focus on the major triad in this lesson to get your ears...

Dmitry Lisenko shared his latest video with us – a bass and vocal duo he’s a part of with vocalist Mara. The duo is known as Karmafree. In this video, they perform “Friend Offline”, which once again showcases Dmitry’s unique percussive-enhanced playing. The single is available on Bandcamp.

Twenty-one-year-old Londoner Jacob Collier is a true one-man band. He’s become known for the YouTube videos he’s produced from the music room in his home, in which he sings every part and plays every instrument on his songs, utilizing a mosaic of screens, which makes the title of his debut album, In My Room, quite apt. Collier also performed, arranged,...

Wampler Pedals has released the Low Blow, an overdrive/distortion pedal designed specifically for bass. The Low Blow features two clipping modes – Smooth and Jagged – for dialing in your dirt as well as a 3-band EQ for further tonal tweaking. Additionally, the pedal has a Notch Filter switch to tighten up “common cabinet ‘woof’ without having to turn down.”...

I’ve been revisiting some of Mike Watt‘s music recently after listening to his incredible interview on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, and this clip floored me. The punk legend toured in 1995 with a superstar band to back him up including Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Foo Fighters members Dave Grohl and Pat Smear. Here’s the group on the Jon Stewart...

There comes a point in every bassist’s life when it’s time to play the blues. Perhaps it’s in a garage, where you’re jamming with some friends for the first time and with rudimentary technical skill and limited song knowledge, someone suggests playing a “Blues in E.” Or perhaps it’s during a lesson, where your teacher writes out the 12 bar...

This video has been making the rounds, and for good reason. Bassist Davie504 made this incredible medley of 100 of the most popular bass lines of all time. “I chose and played 100 Great and Famous Bass Lines which, in my opinion, every bass player should know!” the bassist writes. “These bass lines helped me during those years to improve...

One of the first things you notice about the title track from Big Wreck’s fourth album, , is the bass line laid down by Canadian bassist Dave McMillan. McMillan, known for previous work with a variety of artists, from Justin Beiber to Fefe Dobson, was part of a more than six-month long recording process at Revolution and Vespa studios in...

Scottish luthier Alan Cringean makes some fine instruments, and this AC Guitars Recurve Classic 6 is a beautiful example. Topped with a stunning Tasmanian Myrtle Burl, the 6-string bass as much a piece of art as it is a workhorse instrument. Equally stunning to the bass’s top is its back, which shows off the natural wood grain of its swamp...

Michael Manring’s “Come With Me, My Love”, which appeared on Soliloquy, is one of the great solo bass compositions and performances. So it was a thrill to hear bassist Jesús Rico Pérez perform his take – so much so, that I asked Michael to share his thoughts on the performance. Here’s what he said: “Many thanks to Jesús for his...

Seems hard to believe this group started out simply to perform a show at the 2011 Winter NAMM show. The Aristocrats, formed by bassist Bryan Beller, drummer Marco Minnemann and guitarist Guthrie Govan have come a long way since then. This week, the trio released Culture Clash, their second studio album and third overall. Based on the reaction of our...

Hartke is releasing their newest combo amp, the David Ellefson Signature Combo A70 bass amp. The limited edition combo features Ellefson’s signature badge and a custom chrome grill in addition to all the features of the pre-existing A70. Built with a 12-inch aluminum bass driver, the combo is rated at 70 watts and is designed for small venues or home...

Q: I can’t get the same swing feel on electric as upright. Any advice? A: While I don’t play upright, this does present an opportunity to share a broader concept that may help you. Patience, padawan… patience (and focused practice). I’ve found with a vast majority of my students that whenever something is not “clicking”, you can break down the...

We first featured bassist Samuel Haynes back in January, thanks to our Facebook friend Charles Hoernemann. Here’s Samuel once again with an impressive solo bass performance of a tune he wrote named “Lucid”. For the tune, Samuel tuned his bass BEAD and uses a capo.

Luminlay has introduced the Vintage Series of their luminescent position markers. Designed for on top of the fingerboard, the new inlays have a subtler color tone similar to maple and blend in better with vintage-style fingerboards, rather than most fluorescent materials that have a greenish tint. The inlays take place of your existing markers, and when activated, the dots shine...

Jeff Coffin has released a new live album with his Mu’tet, available for download and streaming. The tracks are taken from the band’s 2010/2011 tour stops at Space in Chicago, Illinois and Momo’s in Austin, Texas. The group is anchored by bassist Felix Pastorius, son of the late great Jaco Pastorius, whose funky and free-spirited playing propels the double-disc release....

A while back, someone asked me to discuss the concept of “Chops vs. Groove.” The reader didn’t elaborate very much, but the impression I got was they felt having, or perhaps displaying, “chops” and the ability to groove were somehow mutually exclusive. Although someone can groove pretty hard with only a moderate level of technique, it doesn’t take much investigation...

Victor Wooten took the stage with during Summer Camp 10 with his band and performed “Hali Baba”. As Vic says in the intro, he wrote this tune for his wife, though they haven’t recorded it yet.

Here are the most read, most popular stories and features on No Treble for the week of July 10 – 16, 2011. 1. Top 10: The Best Bass Videos (June 2011) This week, we’re taking a look back at the top 10 most popular bass videos from June, 2011, based on the number of views by No Treble readers. 1....

The Bad Plus has announced that they will be releasing a new album, Never Stop, on September 14. Never Stop will be the group’s first CD to feature all original tunes. It will also be strictly instrumental, as opposed to 2009’s For All I Care, in which the trio were joined by vocalist Wendy Lewis. The group has gained notoriety...

Originally recorded on the Tony Williams Lifetime release , here’s a live tribute performance featuring the Lifetime Tribute Band, with Jack Bruce. The tune, “One Word”, was later broken up and recorded as two tunes on Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Birds of Fire album. The first part (where Jack sings) became “Resolution” and the second part kept the “One Word” name. The...

Muse has announced they will be beginning work on new album early next year. The band, which has put out five CDs so far, will begin after finishing their current tour schedule and after a break. Bassist Chris Wolstenholme explains, “We’ll definitely start working on a new album next year. I think the most time we’ve had off is about...

Ex-Smashing Pumpkins bassist D’arcy Wretzky randomly dialed in to Q101 in Chicago. The “unprompted and unplanned” phone conversation between D’arcy and DJ Ryan Manno can be heard unedited on Manno’s blog. D’arcy left the Smashing Pumpkins 10 years ago and has not done many interviews since. When Manno asked “What are you doing with your life?” she talked about living...

Modest Mouse is releasing a new album No One’s First, and You’re Next available on August 4th. The band includes singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy, and has gained a strong following in the music scene since their formation in 1993 from outside Seattle. The track list for No One’s First, and You’re Next includes: 1....

Nexus, the new coated bass strings from Rotosound, are now available worldwide. The bass strings have a black polymer coat set over a Type 52 pure nickel alloy wrap and are available in two gauges: 40, 60, 80 and 100, and 45, 65, 85 and 105. A single Low B (130) is available for 5-string basses. For acoustic players, the...