No Treble Archive for June 5th

Unicornbass recently revealed the PureArt JM 6-30, a short-scale six-string that represents some of their best work. The fretless bass has a streamlined design to remove any obstacles to creating your sound.

Here’s a classic video from the early days of Youtube featuring monster bassists Marcus Miller and Tal Wilkenfeld. This one goes all the way back to NAMM 2007!

The last few years have put a lot of things in perspective. During this time, bassist Linda May Han Oh had her first child. All of it boiled down into a new album called “The Glass Hours,” which may be her most intimate album to date.

This week’s top 10 on No Treble includes some early NAMM news, our top 10 bass gear roundup, Tal Wilkenfeld joining Carlos Santana for Playing For Change, our podcast episode with Fat Mike, the final chapter of “Leftoverture”, and more.

EBS is on hand at NAMM 2022 to introduce a new bass amp called the Reidmar 752. The lightweight head delivers 750 watts at 2 ohms by way of a class-D amplifier. EBS says the amp offers solid tone with punch and clarity.

No Treble reader Vladimir Samardzic sent us this video of the title track from his new album. “Catching the Wind” starts out with Vladimir’s bass before the rest of the band joins in. I am digging their sound big time!

Steve Davis has released “Bluesthetic”, which features a dizzyingly great band. The trombonist is joined by guitarist Peter Bernstein, vibraphonist Steve Nelson, pianist Geoffrey Keezer, drummer Willie Jones III, and bassist Christian McBride.

Charles Berthoud is running a series of videos with this challenge posted to his fans: “If ____ was the hardest song in the world”. In this one, he takes on the Chili Peppers’ “Californication”, with a variety of impressive techniques.

Like every other band, Kansas had its tour cut short in 2020. However, they were able to get a year of their Point of Know Return Anniversary shows in before the pandemic. Now they’re sharing a live album, “Point of Know Return Live & Beyond”.

David Gross has expanded his list of instructional books by revisiting his earliest book with “Very Bassic Bass” and publishing the new method book Learning the “Fingerboard of the Six-String Bass”.

While I’ve been lately focused on his work with Ghost-Note, any time MonoNeon drops a new video, I’m watching. In this clip, he takes Madlib’s “Fallin” track and adds some seriously funky bass to it.

Although they formed in only 2008, the avant-garde extreme metal band Triptykon has released a new live album that’s been over 30 years in the making. Check out “Requiem (Live At Roadburn 2019)”

A reader sent Damian one of the most honest questions we've seen, focused on his lack of understanding theory and his desire to change that. Check out what Damian has to say on “Where To Start with Music Theory.”

Tal Wilkenfeld is currently on tour in support of her new album, “Love Remains.” Here’s a live performance of “Counterfeit,” the album’s second track.

With a European tour just ahead, CKY has announced that bassist Matt Deis has left the band. The group posted a statement from Deis on their Facebook page.

Meet Chris Davison, a bassist who got his start at the age of 10, thanks to his parents who bought him a Fender Precision for Christmas. Chris is a busy bassist (and cellist) working with a couple of bands and doing freelance work. He’s this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight. Here’s his story… Bio: I’m a bassist of...

Ibanez has launched two new compact acoustic basses with the AVNB1E and the AVNB1FE. The basses, which are fretted and fretless models respectively, feature a 634-millimeter scale with parlor shape body. “Our short-scale parlor basses offer players compact acoustic options which are better suited for small stages, make for easier trips, and do so without sacrificing low-end tone and presence,”...

Kung Fu is back with another track in their Ninja Cuts series. “Caught Up” is a track written by keyboardist Beau Sasser. “Caught Up is about your typical bad day,” he writes. “I was inspired by the movie ‘The Fifth Element,’ where the main character continually gets caught up in the drama of everyone he encounters…something we can all relate...

Who knew you could be so funky for so long? Tower of Power is celebrating 50 years of making music in 2018 with a new album called Soul Side of Town. While the band’s lineup has changed up through the years, the album includes original saxophonists Emilio Castillo and Stephen “Doc” Kupka as well as the epic rhythm section of...

Who doesn’t love a good P-bass? Moniker Guitars knows it only takes some simple elegance to create a tone monster, and they proved it with this version of their Dixie bass. The Dixie Double P-Bass is about simple, natural design with slick curves in all the right places. Its alder body has arm and rib contours for extra playing comfort...

Ready to apply all this hard work in a song? In part three of this mini-series on Talking Technique we are putting all this hard work to good use in a blues. If you haven’t been following along, be sure to check out the past two Talking Technique episodes! So far we’ve been working on using pivot permutations with their...

We last featured bassist Artie Sadtler with his band Planet MicroJam, and their tune “Drunken Longing.” He’s back with another band, STIG, and their very funky tune, “Downtown Tom.” We’re digging this!

Former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters is back with his fifth solo album, entitled Is This The Life We Really Want? It’s his first studio album since 1992’s Amused to Death. As one might expect from the songwriter’s past and present stances, the album is politically-charged. Although he regularly expresses his opinions on the current administration, Is This The Life...

I love sharing the weekly top 10 reader favorites with you each week. But something about this one feels extra special. Thanks for reading, watching, commenting and sharing. And a big thanks to all of the No Treble contributors and guests, who offer such amazing stuff in the world of bass. 1. MonoNeon on Playing with Prince When Prince died...

Morning Bound is one of my favorite trios. Anchored by bassist Panagiotis Andreou, the band has a very singular sound. It’s hard to pinpoint their genre, and I love that. Here’s a live clip from BAMCafe where the band, including vocalist extraordinaire Tammy Scheffer and drum guru Ronen Itzik, perform “Want for Nothing” from their self-titled EP. Andreou holds down...

Timothy Lefebvre has been having a busy year of album releases. He started 2016 with David Bowie’s epic final release Blackstar, quickly followed by the excellent Tedeschi Trucks Band album Let Me Get By. Now he’s venturing into his more experimental territory with the 19 Foot Trio, a group rounded out by guitarist Cameron Morgan and drummer Adam Gust. They’ve...

Name any genre of music and certain bass players immediately come to mind. Rock and roll? Paul McCartney. Blues? Willie Dixon. Funk? Larry Graham. They are the ones who stick out as paving the way, defining the roll of the instrument in that particular music, and creating those classic lines that we can’t help but listen to, learn, and hope...

Adam Stevens has shared a new solo bass video he calls “Sweet Lullaby”. Adam said the tune is “inspired by a traditional lullaby from the Solomon Islands and Toronto bassist, Rich Brown.” Sweet indeed.

Veteran metal band Armored Saint describes their new studio album, Win Hands Down, as “a vintage crush of classic power propelled by a cathartic blast of life.” Bassist Joey Vera holds down the low end with a gritty tone, but he also co-wrote the majority of the music with singer John Bush. “John and I wrote the majority of the...

Focusrite has introduced the iTrack Dock, a recording interface for the Apple iPad. The device is fitted with dual microphone inputs, two line inputs, an instrument DI, independent stereo monitor and headphone outputs, and a USB port for use with MIDI controllers. The iTrack Dock’s mic pres are the same found in their Scarlett range of USB interfaces and include...

I love instruments that get stylistically creative, and Tony Cochran has a knack for making them. Cochran, who is also the syndicated cartoonist of the comic strip Agnes, has a habit of taking neglected guitars and basses and giving them a new life. “I [find] them on Craigslist, at garage sales, and hidden in closets. The guitars remain fully functional....

I’m not as familiar with the music of Rage Against the Machine as many of you probably are. So for today’s isolated bass, I consulted with NT’s Managing Editor Kevin Johnson – our resident expert in everything I’m not an expert in. Kevin said RATM is known for their big groove and it’s neat to hear this isolated bass track.

Chicago-based bassist Mike Zabrin is feeling Funktastic. That’s the name of his , featuring R&B and jazz sounds, and of course, a heavy dose of funk. Zabrin, who tours with the Joe Moss Band, has enlisted some funk heavy-hitters to guest on the record, too. Vocalist Kendra Foster from Parliament Funkadelic makes an appearance, as do members of The Big...

Editor’s note: Damian wraps up his series on Getting Noticed Out There with some advice on connecting with your local music scene. Check out Part 1: Your Demo and Part 2: Social Media. Q: I’ve reached the point where I know I need to meet new people to get my career up to the next level, but I don’t know...

This is “Jerry Was a Racecar Driver” like you’ve never heard it. Filmed at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in October 2012, Les Claypool and guitarist Marc “Mirv” Haggard tackle the Primus song in a bluegrass fashion, but that doesn’t stop the bassist from unleashing his signature style. Claypool shouts, “Look at me, Mirv, I’m jamming it up!” before breaking...

Billy Cox will be paying tribute to Jimi Hendrix on a week-long tour of the northeastern U.S. in mid-June with his group The Band of Gypsys Experience. Cox, who anchored the original Band of Gyspys with Hendrix in the ’60s, will be performing the legendary guitarist’s classics including “Machine Gun” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” as well blues and roots...

Meet John Shaughnessy, a bassist living in Charlotte, NC who covers just about every form of bass he can. John makes his living in music, teaching and gigging. John has penned his own method book, on slap bass concepts, and he’s even had a Spinal Tap-like gig, opening for a puppet show. Cool! John is our player in the spotlight...

Mars Volta/Big Sir bassist Juan Alderete has launched PedalsAndEffects.com, a new website with which the bassist hopes to spread his knowledge of using effects. Alderete, whose genre-bending career spans over two decades, is known for making some of the most incredible sounds with his extensive pedal collection. “Because of my 25+ year obsession for pedals/stompboxes/effects, I wanted to share my...

It has been about a year since we first featured bassist Rebecca Johnson and her awesome live bass video. Rebecca just sent over a new one, saying “You guys have really helped my band get a lot of fans from all over the world :)” I think Rebecca had more to do with that than us. Check this out, and...

Backed by a ten-piece horn section and full orchestra string section, bassist Brian Bromberg has released his 20th solo effort, Compared To That. The new album is rooted in straight-ahead acoustic jazz, but in classic Bromberg style, there are many twists and turns along the way. “One thing I feel that makes Compared To That a unique project is that...

BOSS is once again holding a competition for looping artists with the kick off of the BOSS Loop Station World Championship 2. The contest runs from now until August 31, 2011 and is open to bassists and all other looping artists in the U.S. Entrants must submit a video performance and use one of BOSS’s RC-series looping devices. The company...

Mayones has unveiled the S-Cut Caledonius 5 Classic, a single-cut bass featuring neck-thru construction. The company explains that the single-cut design adds stability and sustain while the neck joint provides better access to the highest frets. More unique to the bass is the “Single Cut Handle,” where a portion of the upper horn is cut out. The bass is available...

This has always been one of my personal favorite Iron Maiden songs. This particular clip, taken from their “Live at Rainbow” concert tape, has Steve Harris and the gang in their youthful prime rocking out London. Harris said the song is “one of the best pieces I’ve ever written, and certainly one of the most enjoyable to play.” The build-up...

Bassist Mick Karn has been diagnosed with advanced stages of cancer, according to a post on his official web site. “Mick is currently in a positive mood and undergoing further tests and treatment,” the post continues. “His family and friends are close with him, supporting him in practical ways, and surrounding him with their love, friendship and care.” The family...

Here’s a great look at the new Jeff Beck band line-up with Rhonda Smith. This performance was filmed at the Tokyo International Hall in Tokyo on April 13, 2010. Narada Michael Walden is on drums and Jason Rebello is on keys.

Jeff Berlin and his Players School of Music has announced a “One Week Intensive Music Program” will take place in September. The event is open to bassists, guitarists, keyboardists and drummers of all skill levels. “I’ve said so many negative things about so much of music education, that my reputation is riding upon the very improvement that I promise to...

We previously reported that bassist Carlos D. left the band Interpol, and now the band has announced David Pajo will be stepping up as his replacement. Pajo previously played in the band Slint and was also part of Zwan with Billy Corgan. With the addition on Pajo released the news that their upcoming album in September will be self-titled Interpol....

Jambase has the scoop on Mike Stern’s new album, Big Neighborhood, coming out on August 11, 2009. Stern’s track record for assembling a great line up of musicians continues with this release, and Big Neighborhood hosts a big lineup: Bassists: Richard Bona, Esperanza Spalding, Chris Minh Doky and Lincoln Goines Guitarists: Steve Vai and Eric Johnson Drummers: Dave Weckl, Terri...

This is about the craziest bass duet we’ve ever seen. Did these guys even miss a beat?