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As one of the world’s most respected bass luthiers, Mike Lull’s work has been heard around the world. His Seattle, Washington-based shop has allowed Lull to work on nearly all of the instruments used by bands from the area known as “the grunge capital”, including Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and others. His story began as...

Facebook friend Jim Cana shared this video with us, featuring Francois Lamouche grooving and playing along to the Maceo Parker tune, “Shake Everything You’ve Got”. The original has Rodney Curtis holding down the low end, and Francois does a great job on the tune. (We only wish it was longer.) Francois shares, “I invite you...

For all you do-it-yourselfer’s out there, JackTight USA released the JackTight, a tool for fixing loose output jacks on basses and guitars. The JackTight works by gripping and stabilizing the jack from the inside, allowing for users to tighten the nut without the jack spinning. In addition to being handy on instruments the JackTight works...

Philosophy Amplifiers has entered the bass amplifier scene with the launch of their flagship Philosophy amp, a 200-watt all tube bass amp. The class AB amplifier utilizes three JJ 12ax7 preamp tubes and four JJ KT-88 power tubes for it’s all-tube signal path, which the company explains is capable of both clean and overdriven sounds...

Q: Just recently a drummer friend of mine offered me a gig. It’s a little local bar gig, with a fixed payout (around $150 for the night, for the band). My friend suggested we hire a great piano player for the gig, but to get him on this trio, he said we’d have to give...

Donovan Stokes (aka Dr. D and a regular contributor here) recorded his solo bass arrangement of “Gentle Rain” by Luiz Bonfá for the upcoming Shenandoah Conservatory Jazz Faculty Sampler CD. Luckily, Kevin Johnson was around to film it.

Bassist/composer Joseph Patrick Moore, well known for his contemporary jazz style, has just released a new experimental EP blending that very style with electronica. The result is a three song collection known as XYZ Factor. The three-track EP kicks off with “Yield” (video below), featuring an ambient electronic beat backed by Moore’s bass, with what...

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Headstock of a S101 bass guitar.

VGC except needs some work (shim neck, replace missing pickguard and knob insert, dress frets, clean electronics and hardware, setup, etc. - sold AS-IS), hollowbody violin shape bass, one f-hole, bolt on multi-laminate neck, rosewood fingerboard, pearloid block markers, 21 frets plus zero fret, bound body, neck and f-hole, 2 pickups, one volume and one tone control, 3-way switch, adjustable bridge, trapeze style tailpiece, 1-11/16" nut width, 30-1/2" scale, made in Japan, very like basses with Teisco and Silvertone logo from the period, with SSC (broken handle, blue lining) ($125.00)

EC-, natural finish, bolt-on birdseye maple neck, fretless pau ferro fingerboard, 1-3/4" nut width, 34" scale length, one Music Man humbucking pickup, active electronics (volume, 3-band EQ), chrome hardware, b-w-b pickguard, built in the USA by Ernie Ball, on consignment, with rectangular black thermoplastic OHSC (black lining) (SN:55141) ($1,000.00)

Meet Joaquina “Roqui” Lluma, a multi-instrumentalist who currently resides in Denver, Colorado and calls music her day job, night job, weekend job and holiday job. One of our favorite lines in this interview feature: Joaquina says she uses “a TC Helicon distortion/distresser for my backing vocals sometimes when I’m feeling frisky.” Bio: I was born...

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We featured several reader-submitted videos in November (one of our favorite things to do!), showcasing the awesome No Treble community of bassists, and the videos they love. This included a Bass Play-Along Week, where bassists play along to their favorite tracks and show off their transcribing and performance skills. Another week featured all-bass covers of...

George Lacson turns in this nice solo bass arrangement and performance of “Unthinkable”, written by Drake and originally produced and performed by Alicia Keys. George’s Warwick Streamer Stage 5-string is tuned B-D-G-D-G for this tune.

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COLOGNE, GERMANY - DECEMBER 12: Jim Baglino of Monster Magnet performs on stage at the Live Music Hall on December 12, 2011 in Cologne, Germany.

mp.eventphotography posted a photo:

COLOGNE, GERMANY - DECEMBER 12: Jim Baglino of Monster Magnet performs on stage at the Live Music Hall on December 12, 2011 in Cologne, Germany.

mp.eventphotography posted a photo:

COLOGNE, GERMANY - DECEMBER 12: Jim Baglino of Monster Magnet performs on stage at the Live Music Hall on December 12, 2011 in Cologne, Germany.