If you can believe it, Rolling Stone magazine called Rush’s Signals album “mostly a wasted effort“. Crazy, but true. Well, aside from what Rolling Stone thought, some of Geddy’s bass lines were absolutely incredible on this album. One such song that shines is Digital Man. Here’s an isolated bass version (with drums): And since we … Read more
See the business listing for this bass builder here The feature bass this week is a successful attempt at building a smaller double bass that has the sound of a full-size. Builder Roberto Franceschini writes: Various luthiers around the world have been trying for years to find solutions for building less bulky double basses without … Read more
In a recent article we featured an Ibanez fretted/fretless hybrid where the fretless part of the bass has a piezo pickup. We also mentioned that we carry piezo bass bridges. Is the piezo pickup the “secret” to the upright bass sound? The best way to answer that is to say first that nothing sounds like … Read more
New from Ibanez (video demo is below) is the 7-string Ibanez SR “ASHULA”. What’s interesting about this bass – other than the fact it’s a fretted/fretless hybrid – is that the fretted strings are set up like a standard 4-string in E-A-D-G tuning, and the fretless is tuned A-D-G (no low E). So while it … Read more
See Jeff’s business listing here The feature bass this week comes from a builder that was inspired by videos from Carl Thompson. Builder Jeff Keverline writes: Ever since I became a Les Claypool fan back in high school, I have wanted a Carl Thompson bass. I love the way they look and sound. Carl took … Read more
Since most of us will never be able to get our hands on an Alembic bass, it’s nice whenever someone demonstrates one. It’s especially nice when a Mark King model is demonstrated, as you’ll see below. From a builder’s perspective, this particular King model is quite a treat for the eyes as there is buckeye … Read more
In all honesty, this is not a build we recommend doing for one simple reason that can be summed up in one word: Unstable. While it’s genuinely appreciated that someone went through the time and effort to show how to make an electric bass out of a shovel (see video below), it is known to … Read more
Fresh from the NAMM show, MXR showed off the Sub Octave Bass Fuzz pedal. This fuzz pedal features two circuits, meaning it’s not the typical “one trick pony” type of fuzz. It also features separate bass and treble EQ controls, an octave control (of course), dry volume control (totally necessary for bass), has mid-frequency boost, … Read more
We get a good amount of dads emailing and/or calling us up for assistance with father-son or father-daughter bass build projects. Many of these dads are musicians themselves that help their kids out when learning their instruments, and if there’s one thing these dads possess more than anything else, it’s patience and lots of it. … Read more
See Steven’s business listing here The feature bass this week concentrates on ergonomics to make for a great bass to play sitting or standing. Bass builder Steven Yanofsky writes: This is my first fretless build, the body is based on a previous build I made, with some modifications, the shape was design considering ergonomics, trying … Read more
