No Treble Archive for August 6th

This Bach-inspired neoclassical warm-up in G major is designed to build left-hand stamina, precision, and tone for bass players.

At Golden Gate Park, Dezron Douglas powered Trey’s band with a Skjold bass and Markbass rig, shaping the set without breaking a sweat.

Noah Garabedian’s new album, Quartets and Solos, reflects on connection, creativity, and solitude through deeply personal compositions.

Gamechanger Audio has launched a new line of effects pedals called the AUTO Series that includes a Reverb unit, a Chorus, and a Delay model. The three pedals are said to introduce a new layer of parameter automation that responds to the player’s touch, dynamics, and note choices.

Our friend Tony Senatore sent us his latest video, covering “Won’t Let You Down” by BLT (Jack Bruce, Bill Lordan, Robin Trower). The group also includes Alan Lo Presti on slide guitar, Andy Rothstein on guitar, Tom Cottone on drums, and Joe Deninzon on violin.

After releasing the epic album “Cometh The Storm” earlier this year, High On Fire has announced a 23-city tour to celebrate the record as well as their 25th anniversary.

Eminence has added a second model to their CannaBass line of speakers for bass guitars. As part of the series, the new speaker utilizes “cutting-edge speaker technology, a hemp dust cap, and a proprietary CBD coating.”

The dynamic duo of Evan Marien and Dana Hawkins is back with a new video. Filmed live at Nublu 151 in NYC on July 24, 2023, here’s their performance of Marien’s “Bouncin’.”

Time to take a look at what’s been trending in the world of bass this week. Here is your weekly top 10 list of reader favorite stories, including a bonus top 10 list inside.

Caveman Audio’s BP1 bass preamp has been shrunk down to create the new BP1 Compact. The new pedal offers the same tone as its 1073-inspired predecessor while saving space by paring down on some features.

Victor Wooten surprised everyone yesterday when he dropped a new Bass Extremes video with Steve Bailey. The duo is joined in this clip by Tool’s Justin Chancellor on “Just-in Time,” from the upcoming album, “S’Low Down.”

Jazz Is Dead announced a new set of tour dates that will begin a celebration of the Grateful Dead tribute act’s 25th anniversary. The current lineup of the band includes Steve Kimock, Bobby Lee Rodgers, Pete Lavezzoli, and Alphonso Johnson.

Phil Jones Bass is rolling out a new product called the BP-200, which they bill as the “ultimate affordable bass head.” Rated at up to 200 watts, the compact head unit weighs just 2.5 pounds and can fit into a backpack.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a video by the Martin Miller Session Band, but this one is worth sharing. This clip of the band performing “Black Magic Woman” includes guest Kirk Fletcher, and once again features Benni Jud on bass and vocals.

After joining last year, Brandon Bruce has left Havok. The bassist made the announcement via Instagram.

Enjoy this month’s conversation with The Tragically Hip’s bassist, Gord Sinclair, who released his first solo effort earlier this year.

Nashville-based player Amos Heller is back with another solo bass creation. Entitled “Fortune,” the hard-rocking piece came from a popular gear pairing for heavy music. Heller gets a monstrous tone and puts it to use across the span of the fretboard.

NOFX and Frank Turner have teamed up to release a new split LP called “West Coast vs. Wessex”, which sees the two camps covering five of each other’s songs.

Meet Ronnie Brannan, who started out on tuba before spotting a bass in his school’s jazz band. “I was drawn to everything about it as soon as it came into my consciousness,” he said. Since then, he’s been doing his thing on the bass. Here’s his story...

Ibanez has expanded their BTB line with two new fretless basses: the five-string BTB845F and the six-string BTB846F.

Cory Wong is putting out a lot of great music lately, thanks to his new album, “Motivational Music for the Syncopated Soul.” In this clip, Sonny Thompson (aka Sonny T) tears it up – including some incredible solos – on the track “Lunchtime.”

Volbeat has returned with their seventh album, called “Rewind, Replay, Rebound.” It’s the first studio release from the Danish rock band to feature their new lineup with Kaspar Boye Larsen on bass, who officially joined the group in 2016.

We’ve featured a couple of instruments by AJR Guitarmods over the past couple years, and now we’re checking out their lightest bass yet: the Swift Lite 34-inch four-string bass. The inspiration came to luthier Andy Rogers while thinking of the first time he picked up a bass. “One of the things that surprised me the very first time I took...

In what promises to be one of the best books of the year, Harper Collins has announced they will be publishing Geddy Lee’s Big Book of Beautiful Bass this December. The Rush bassist will chronicle his personal collection of basses that range from the 1950s to the 1980s with commentary on each piece. “It’s not surprising that sooner or later...

No Treble reader Kevin Floyd sent us this video, and we were impressed not only with the performance but also the story behind it. “My drummer friend, Jon, suggested I try this song. I’m always up for a challenge. In between my day job and gigs with my main band, Sexy Monster, it took me about six months of spare...

Primus fans rejoice! Les Claypool and the gang have announced a new album, entitled The Desaturating Seven, will be released on September 29th. It’s their first studio album of original material since 2011’s Green Naugahyde and will feature the band’s classic lineup of Claypool, guitarist Larry “Ler” LaLonde, and drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander. The bass guru broke the news to...

Ibanez is celebrating the 30th anniversary of their SR Series with some limited edition basses. After announcing Premium and Standard versions earlier this year, they have now announced three new 2nd Edition SR Anniversary basses. The second round of basses includes four- and five-string versions of the SR30TH with Flamed Ash tops as well as a Premium five-string model with...

Back in July, a tribute concert for the late Allan Holdsworth took place at The Iridium in New York. Here’s a clip from the show featuring Holdsworth’s tune, “Water On The Brain Pt. II,” which featured some excellent solos by bassist Evan Marien and drummer Virgil Donati.

Former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and his new band Giants in the Trees have released their first single, called “Sasquatch.” The band formed last year after a jam session and has played a handful of dates in their home state of Washington. “Giants in the Trees are a Rock Band hailing from Wahkiakum County, Washington,” the band’s bio states. “The...

Fender has revamped their Deluxe series of instruments into a more cohesive lineup with a shared set of upgrades. The series includes new versions of the Deluxe Active Precision Bass Special, the Deluxe Active Jazz Bass, and the Deluxe Active Dimension Bass. Each of the basses now has a 12-inch fingerboard radius, active/passive electronics, a hi-mass bridge, and vintage noiseless...

Emile Nelson shared this video with us saying “I just uploaded a live video from my album launch and thought it might be fun to share. It’s an original song with a 6/8 afro cuban groove. It’s quite a challenge to sing and play this one and make it feel good.” We dig the tune and that tone!

The Tedeschi Trucks Band, featuring bassist Timothy Lefebvre (David Bowie), has added eight fall/winter dates to its touring schedule, which had previously ended in October. The new dates start on Nov. 11, with a show with Amy Helm and the Handsome Strangers at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They’ll retain the same support act through Nov. 19. On Dec....

Singular Sound is expanding the BeatBuddy series of pedal-controlled drum machines with the BeatBuddy Mini. The new compact pedal is described by the company as a smaller version with much of the same functionality at half the price. The BeatBuddy Mini allows for creating comprehensive drum loops with fills, transitions, accent hits, and drum breaks. It includes 100 built-in songs...

If we’re going to refer to the late/great John Entwistle as “The Ox,” we should probably start referring to Steve Lawson as “The Octopus.” When you listen to his music (and yes, this is music… not just someone playing the bass), it seems unreasonable that what comes out of his instrument is the work of two hands on a bass...

Prepare to geek out. Our friend Christopher Buttner got a special tour of Geddy Lee‘s gear during the Tampa, Florida show of Rush’s R40 tour. Lucky for the rest of us, he recorded it. From the plethora of basses to the amps and even the signal chain, Buttner got the scoop on the whole rig. Take a peek behind the...

Emerging blues teen titans The Peterson Brothers have released their first, self-titled, album on Blue Point Records. The pair, who hail from near Austin, Texas, have been making a name for themselves on the blues circuit for five years, after really being discovered at Pinetop Perkins’ 97th birthday celebration at Antone’s in Austin. The younger brother, Alex, 16, plays a...

Gerald Marleaux is a world-class bass luthier based in Clauthal-Zellerfeld, Germany. His designs bring together the highest degrees of form and function into 4-, 5-, and 6-string basses. Today we check out Marleaux’s Consat Signature, the luxury version of his flagship Consat model. Standard features include a 3- or 5-piece birdseye maple neck with wenge strips, an ebony fretboard with...

Q: My cover band is about to start learning new material of tunes released over the last couple of years. We’re a 5-piece (vocals, guitar, bass, drums, keys) and a lot of the songs have synth parts – more than one keyboard player can play – and brass parts that I feel are important to the sound of the song....

Wonderlush has been dubbed the “UK’s very own P-Funk group”, which is saying a lot. But they’re backing it up. Wonderlush is supporting George Clinton’s & Parliament’s UK tour and Reading Festival appearance. Their bassist is Punkpappa, who lays down some killer bass on this track and is a huge part of the group living up to their funky reputation....

Gerald Albright is well-known as a jazz saxophonist, but on his latest album, , he’s also revealing to the world his abilities as a bassist. “A lot of people don’t know that I play bass, flute and some of the other instruments… so we decided to make it – no pun intended – a slam dunk project, and bring all...

Meet Eric Thompson, a bassist who goes by the nickname “Pedals”, who keeps busy with a life devoted to music… including owning and operating a store dedicated to (as you may have guessed) effects pedals. One of our favorite parts of Eric’s profile here is the description for one of his bands, quoted by an “old man” who said “it’s...

Ampeg has reintroduce the V-4B, a 100-watt all-tube bass amp. Based on the company’s classic amp from the ’70s, the new head is described as offering the tone of an SVT while weighing half as much. The new V-4B’s preamp includes a pair of 12AX7 tubes while the driver has a 12AX7 and one 12AU7, and its power amp contains...

Yes, I’m a huge Vulfpeck fan. It starts with bassist Joe Dart, who always seems to find the right bass line and then do something quite unexpected, but it just fits. But truth is, the whole band is just stellar. And fun. From their new release, My First Car, here’s the opening track “Wait for the Moment”, featuring guest vocalist...

Regular No Treble readers will instantly recognize the name “Vulfpeck”, thanks in large part to bassist Joe Dart, who first wowed us with the first video we shared of the group. The studio musicians-turned-band has just released their third album, My First Car. As we mentioned in our exclusive track preview last week, the album’s name was inspired by Dart’s...

Columbia is putting together some terrific “Collection” box sets for bassists and bass enthusiasts. Among those is Charles Mingus – the Complete Columbia & RCA Albums Collection, a 10-disc set spanning seven titles by the late bassist and composer. The set starts with Tijuana Moods, the lone RCA release in the collection, recorded in 1957 and released in 1962 as...

Zsolt Váradi sent us this wonderful story (and video) of his equally wonderful 1964 Höfner 185 “Artist Bass.” Höfner’s “Vintage” site has this to say about the Artist Bass: Introduced in late 1962 as the main two pickup bass for the UK market, it replaced the Hofner “Solid Bass” which was actually the European market Hofner 182 model. The Artist...

Incognito has got it all: groove, soul, and killer bass lines. Here’s the music video for “Goodbye to Yesterday” from their latest album, Surreal. The video features bassist Ernie McKone laying down the low end where it counts with a perfect groove and fills in all the right places. I bet you’ll hit replay a couple times on this one.

Our second isolated bass week generated a lot of views and comments. Like you, we had a ball watching and listening to all the bass greatness over the week. So it is no surprise that our weekly top 10 list is dominated by isolated bass tracks. Our brand new transcription column by Stuart Clayton debuted last week too – with...

In preparation for their next album, Dream Theater have announced a run of North American tour dates starting September 24th at the Warfield in San Francisco. This will be the group’s first venture without drummer Mike Portnoy, who left the band in September 2010 and subsequently replaced by Mike Mangini. The new album, A Dramatic Turn of Events, is due...

Recording double bass can be a real hassle. As anyone who has tried it can tell you, it takes time to find the right balance of definition and depth. Luckily, Steve Bailey spent tons of time figuring out what works for him, and made this video to share his techniques. Bailey not only explains his mic placement, but also goes...

Hal Leonard’s newest in their Bass Play-Along series focuses on the music of Aerosmith and bassist Tom Hamilton. Aerosmith Bass Play-Along Volume 36 is a 72 page book, presented in the standard Play-Along format, with tab and an accompanying CD. The CD is formatted in both standard audio, playable in any CD player, as well as enhanced for use on...

Avenged Sevenfold recently released “Nightmare” (July 27th) and have since topped the Billboard charts. In an interview with MTV, bassist Johnny Christ shared his reaction. “I got the call from my manager last night. Unfortunately, Matt [Sanders, better known as M. Shadows] and Zack [a.k.a. Zacky Vengeance] were doing press in L.A., but me and Brian [a.k.a. Synyster Gates] went...

Prawn Song’s latest newsletter announced a plethora of Primus updates, including the free release of a four-track EP featuring takes of the band’s songs from a June 2010 rehearsal. The EP can be downloaded from the Primus website or by completing this form: The band also added a new tour blog to their website, which they will be updating every...

Here is a cool, spacey, and dramatic solo from Yes’ Chris Squire, from their 1991 Union Tour. The tune is “The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)”.

Hal Leonard’s Bass Play-Along series gets a new entry this month, with The 1970s: Bass Play-Along Volume 31. The book/CD combo includes the bass notation/tab, lyrics and vocal melody notation. The audio CD is playable in any standard player and enhanced for PC or Mac users, allowing players to adjust tempo without changing the pitch of the tune. The 1970s:...

We already rule the low end, but why not take it down another notch? The Octamizer, a new bass effects pedal created by Aguilar, designed to create a wide range of musical sounds an octave below your original note and give you a “deep organic tone.” The Octamizer features two discreet signal paths for the clean and octamized sounds, each...

Bassist John Goldsby is releasing Space for the Bass on August 11th, and No Treble got an early preview. Actually, I should say multiple previews… I’ve listened to it countless times already. You don’t want to miss this one. Space for the Bass is John’s third CD project produced by his own label, Bass Lion and follows his previous releases,...

Alex Stevens, the bassist for country singer Billy Currington, spent half an hour trapped under wreckage while rescuers tried to save him. Stevens was admitted for immediate surgery to repair a severed artery and nerves in his left arm. He is in Nashville receiving the treatment. Stage collapses on country bassist Alex Stevens According to CBS News, the accident occurred...

One of the most tricky pieces for bass to execute perfectly is Jeff Berlin‘s incredibly intricate version of Dixie. This great execution by Joe Britton is by far the one that comes the closest. Check out Joe’s Youtube channel.