See Nicholas’s business listing here Once again, this bass was sent to our featureme@bestbassgear.com inbox with a story and photos, but no title for the bass, so for this one I call it “Scrap Exotica” and you’ll understand why in a moment. Nicholas writes: The aim here was to challenge the idea of using rare, … Read more
Fender with its Squier line of guitars recently introduced some new color options, and above is one of them, “Metallic Red” with black pick guard and chromed (or at least looks like chromed) control knob treatment. Guitar companies like Fender choose their colors very carefully so they can sell the most guitars. You don’t have … Read more
See Roger Sadowsky’s business listing here Roger Sadowsky is one of the most highly respected instrument manufacturers in the world. Sadowsky instruments have been played by guitarists Jim Hall, John Abercrombie, Pat Metheny, Lee Ritenour, Earl Klugh and dozens of others. The list of bassists who play Sadowsky includes everyone from Marcus Miller, Roscoe Beck, … Read more
You already know that photos on or around train tracks is a bad idea. But this time around I’m going to concentrate on the dumb things bands do with their internet presence. “Internet presence” defined: Any presence a band has on the internet, such as a dot-com web site, a blog (e.g. WordPress, Tumblr), a … Read more
Stellartone’s ToneStyler for bass is something that at first glance may confuse you as to why anyone would want one. But once you understand the principles of how it works, you’ll understand quickly why many bass players swear by it. First and foremost, a ToneStyler is for all intents and purposes a passive EQ knob … Read more
See Ian’s business listing here This week’s BotW arrived in the featureme@bestbassgear.com inbox as just a description but with no title. The headstock says “Graham” (the last name of the person who sent it in,) and since the color was inspired by a Detroit diesel 71 Series, it seemed only appropriate to name the bass … Read more
While the very name “bass guitar” would strongly indicate that a bass guitar is all about bass frequencies, in a mix the bass guitar is actually better mixed as a midrange instrument. But before I get into that, a smiley-face curve of an EQ does in fact look like a happy face: Sometimes this is … Read more
You may have noticed lately that a few model names for strings from the D’Addario brand have “BT” at the end of it, such as EXL160BT. What does BT mean? It means Balanced Tension. In a nutshell, what this is supposed to do is provide greater control and better playing comfort. And what does that … Read more
Off and on there is debate on whether or not you should play free gigs or not. I think this question can be easily answered just based on the convenience factor. The convenience factor is simply this: If the gig for whatever it may be is something local to you (meaning no extensive travel required) … Read more
Above: Chris shows us how to install a Mike Pope preamp system along with Delano pickups on a Fender 4-string Jazz Bass. Yes, this is a long video, but well worth the watch. And yes, you get to hear it when the job is done!
