Indice dei contenuti per January 2020 in Bass Player

Welcome back, bassists! In this issue I will be tackling a subject that our live performance students at BIMM Birmingham UK have recently been getting to grips with—performance anxiety! It’s a bit of an underlying concern that many musicians face, and if you happen to be one of them, you’re certainly not alone. Despite the projection of confidence that many live performers give off, the behind-the-scenes reality can sometimes be the complete opposite. Of course, not everyone is affected by pre-show nerves, but here are some coping mechanisms for those who are. PPPPP (PROPER PREPARATION PREVENTS POOR PERFORMANCE) Preparation is everything! Not only is it a testament to a musician’s professional approach to their work, but it also helps to negate feelings of anxiety. When I asked my students what…

Suzi Quatro’s career is an object lesson in badass rock’n’roll. Born Susan Kay Quatro in 1950, her first steps into the world of music came when she played percussion in her dad’s jazz band before becoming Suzi Soul in the mid-60s group the Pleasure Seekers, alongside her sisters, Patti and Arlene. They released a couple of singles before Quatro decamped to the UK in 1971, working with Mickie Most and touring with the likes of Thin Lizzy and Slade. The multi-instrumentalist and singer scored huge hits with ‘Can The Can’ and ‘Devil Gate Drive’, and by the mid-70s was a bona fide rock star. Quatro has never stopped touring and recording, and also enjoys forays into theatre, radio and TV. Her Leather Tuscadero character in Happy Days cemented her image…

“MY HEROES ARE THE BASSISTS WHO PLAY IN UNDERGROUND SCENES” Coltsblood formed in 2010 when my wife Jemma and I decided to start writing together. We were joined in our early days by Paul Burnett on drums and recorded a few demos and splits, before recording our first album Into The Unfathomable Abyss in 2014, which was released via Candlelight Records. After a number of shows and tours, Jay Austin—who I’d previously played with in Black Magician—joined on drums and we recorded our second album, Ascending Into Shimmering Darkness, released in 2017. We’ve toured the UK and Europe extensively over the past few years, and at the start of 2019, we released a two-song split with Seattle’s UN on Translation Loss Records. We each contributed a 20-plus-minute song: Our addition…

Price | $299.99 Made In | Indonesia Body | Poplar Neck | Three-piece maple Neck Joint | Maple, 34” scale, graphite-reinforced Fingerboard | Laurel, 24 frets Pickups | 2 x passive medium-output humbuckers Electronics | Active preamp Controls | Volume (push/pull for active/passive option), blend, 3-band EQ (active only), coil-tap selector Hardware | Jackson tuners and hi-mass bridge Case/gig bag included | No Left-hand option available | Yes WHAT WE THINK Plus | A great range of features for the price Minus | Tone range can’t compete with high-end basses Overall | An excellent, affordable bass that holds its head high BP RATING…

Malien Contact 4B Price | $2,500 Made In | UK Color | Natural, Tru Oil finish Body | Zebrano and ebony, five-piece laminate body Neck | Zebrano, 34” scale Neck Joint | Through-neck Nut Width | 42mm Fingerboard | Wenge Frets | 24 Pickups | Passive Bare Knuckle 58 split-coil and 60HF single-coil pickups Electronics | Passive Controls | Stacked volume/tone for each pickup, three-way pickup selector Hardware | Black hardware, Schaller BM lightweight machine-heads, Hipshot A-style bridge Weight | 7.7 lbs Case/gig bag included | Gigbag Left-hand option available | Yes, custom order WHAT WE THINK Plus | Organic looks, sound craftsmanship Minus | Balance could be improved a little Overall | Warm powerful passive tones in a fine-looking bass BP RATING…

We’ve reviewed Stonefield basses favorably on several occasions, so we’re keen to get our hands on these cabinets, a new venture for the company’s big cheese Tomm Stanley. A man well versed in the joys of portable equipment and getting gear from A to B, Tomm has designed these cabinets to relieve the burden of the modern bassist when transporting them to and from gigs, rehearsals, and so on. Available in an assortment of colors and in three specific models—the Mighty Mini, the Sub Mini and the Mini Plus—these cabinets are designed to address issues that bass players complain about most often when dealing with amplification. Has Tomm hit the spot? There’s only one way to find out. Build Quality The dimensions of each cabinet are such that portability is…

Making you a better bass player Welcome to our lesson section, in which Bass Player collates the wit and wisdom of the crème de la crème of the electric and upright bass world. We’re fortunate enough to have some serious talent on the team, from world-class music educators to experienced touring musicians, who between them have laid down the low notes in every studio, club, and arena in the civilized world. Note that we’ve divided the columns according to Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced level for easy reference. Whether you’re looking to improve your playing technique, expand your awareness of theory, set up your rig to sound like your particular bass hero, or simply get on a bus and tour, we provide the answers you need here. What are you waiting…

NO TREBLE KEVIN JOHNSON Winter wonders abound in bass world As the weather turns colder, things tend to also freeze up on the new gear front. This time of year falls between the trade shows that larger companies use to launch their new products, but smaller boutique outfits continue to churn out basses that make us drool. This past month had No Treble readers fawning over one-of-a-kind instruments by two of the most decadent builders in the world. First off was the latest addition to Fodera’s Masterbuilt Series, which is an outlet for their builder to get creative with design themes. The ‘Gothic Stained Glass’ bass got its moniker from its inspiration: An old Gothic church in Massachusetts. Fodera utilized their Monarch body design as a canvas for an array…

Right then, groovers! In my last Theory Of The Month column, we took a further look at applying pentatonic scales over various chord types. Pentatonic scales give us access to large intervals and can provide a relatively simple opportunity to establish lyricism in our lines. This month we’re looking at ‘voice-leading’, which is applying a resolution by a semitone or tone, explaining the fundamentals of how functional chord progressions work. Conceptually, this one isn’t difficult: Voice-leading describes the technique of a chord tone (or allowable extension) either ascending or descending in order to become a chord tone or allowable extension of the chord which follows it. For example, a G7 resolving to become a C major chord provides some fairly obvious voice-leading opportunities. The 3rd (B) can resolve up by…

“Man, we’ve made so many albums, I can’t keep up any more. This October was 25 years since the first album came out. Back then, you think you’re unstoppable!” These are the words of Reggie ‘Fieldy’ Arvizu, bassist with Korn, the first nu-metal band—if that term means anything anymore. The quintet from Bakersfield, California, who are now accurately regarded as pioneers in their field after a quarter of a century and over 40 million album sales, have just released The Nothing, their thirteenth studio album since their debut record appeared in 1994. Reminded of these facts, Fieldy displays a refreshing refusal to take his band’s success for granted, marveling: “It’s surreal. The chances of us making it this far must be almost a one in a million. We’re in disbelief.…

Walk The Sky is quite a departure, with how we’ve gone about writing the record, and also its overall sound is something new for the band. The way that the record came together was a different process this time. With our singer Myles Kennedy playing with Slash, and doing his solo project, our guitarist Mark Tremonti also doing solo work, and us all being in different parts of the world, we used technology to bounce ideas off of each other, specifically the Dropbox system. Myles was on the road and writing in hotel rooms, and Mark was doing the same, whether it be in hotels or at home. They would upload material, and from there, Flip [drummer Scott Phillips] and I would get used to the ideas. I would try…

Behold our world-beating bass gear review section, where we bring you the crop of each month’s new, interesting, or otherwise relevant bass guitars, bass amplifiers, bass cabs, and bass effects. Occasionally we’ll review a guitar effect if it’s useful for bassists, but generally speaking, this zone is reserved for bass-specific gear. We take our reviews seriously. BP has readers all over the world, so we’re responsible about our conclusions. If a product is worth your time, we’ll say so; if it’s flawed, we’ll make that clear. We’re not beholden to advertisers in any way, and our tests are independent of the views of manufacturers and distributors. When you read about a product here, you’re getting a balanced review from an experienced bass tester. Value for money is at the top…

We’re always keen to review bass products from new companies entering the marketplace for the first time, so we’re pleased to welcome London-based luthiers Malien to the front line. As a custom builder, the company is looking to work alongside customers to realize the instrument of their dreams, so we requested these two examples for delivery to us at our hidden command bunker. How do they stack up? Read on! Build Quality The shape of the Contact 4B has a touch of the BC Rich Mockingbird about it, although the upper horn is more extended than that of the venerable headbanger’s favorite. The richly colored body lumbers—zebrano and ebony—form a five-piece laminate, and the exquisite horizontal grain of the former lumber adds much to the visual. The instrument feels very…

Price | $325, $375, $425 Made In | New Zealand Power | 200 watts (120W MS) / 450 watts (225W MS) / 250 watts (125W MS) Impedance | 8 ohms Frequency Response | 55Hz to 5kHz / 32Hz to 1kHz / 45Hz to 8kHz Speakers | 6.5” Mighty Mini driver / 6.5” Mighty Mini driver with high frequency horn / Fourth order bandpass design Dimensions | Mighty Mini 325 (H) x 255 (W) x 195mm (D), Sub Mini 395 (H) x 295 (W) x 405mm (D), Mini Plus 370 (H) x 300 (W) x 250mm (D) / 13” (H) x 10” (W) x 8” (D), 15.5” (H) x 11.5” (W) x 16” (D), 14.5” (H) x 12” (W) x 10” (D) Connections | Two parallel Speakon/1/4” combo input sockets /Series/Parallel…

Welcome back! I hope that our improv adventures have given you all some tools for making up new lines for your music. This month we are going to have another look at ‘swing feel’, as used in a lot of jazz. I appreciate that jazz may not really seem like a beginner concept, and certainly if we were to dig too deeply into the harmonic side of playing music from the genre, we’d get way out of the remit of this column pretty quickly. But the ‘jazz feel’ is one that crops up in a lot of pop songs, and is really useful to understand and be able to employ, whether we’re playing covers or creating our own music. From ‘Moondance’ and ‘Riders On The Storm’ to hip-hop tracks like…

Hello again, and welcome back to my long-running series on the two-handed tapping technique. This month we’re continuing to look at some longer study pieces that will likely require weeks or months of practice, rather than hours or days. Approach with caution, then, but also with optimism—you already play better than you think you do! Jazz is the theme of this month’s pieces, and we’ll be looking at two styles that sit within the genre. The first is a straightahead swing based on the chord changes to Gershwin’s ‘I Got Rhythm’, well-known among jazzers as ‘rhythm changes’. This piece will require you to play a continuous walking bass-line, while tapping out chordal parts with your picking hand. The second piece is a bossa nova, based on the changes of Kenny…

NEW ALBUM Avery Sharpe, 400: An African American Portrait (2019) The long-time upright and electric jazz composer stunned us with the scope of his latest album, out now. OLD ALBUM The Roots, Things Fall Apart (1999) The hip-hop classic that turned 20 in February. Massive, chunky bass, and drums that will level any crowd. REALLY OLD ALBUM Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath (1970) Two words and three letters: Geezer Butler, ‘N.I.B.’ Blues bass solo greatness. An album so classic we shouldn’t need to print the title.…

Can it really be a whole year since we last put this list together? Well, 2019 has certainly seen swathes of new gear released to the market for us to drool over—and despite being told that young people aren’t taking up musical instruments these days, if what we saw at Winter and Summer NAMM and the London Bass Guitar Show in the UK was any indication, kids are showing a huge amount of interest in guitars—and definitely those in the lower register! Maybe it’s just the natural cycle of things. Innovation and technological advances continue apace, and value for money has never been better—depending on where you live, and how much geopolitical turmoil is in the news this week—which is why all of our reviews dig deep into the build…

Malien Contact 4C Price | $2,500 Made In | UK Color | Natural, Tru Oil finish Body | Maple and zebrano, five-piece laminate body Neck | Maple, 34” scale Neck Joint | Through-neck Nut Width | 42mm Fingerboard | Gabon ebony Frets | 24 Pickups | Passive Rickenbacker 4003 (00001/3) pickups Electronics | Passive Controls | Stacked volume/tone for each pickup, three-way pickup selector Hardware | Chrome hardware, Schaller BM lightweight machine heads, Rickenbacker 4003 bridge Weight | 8 lbs Case/gig bag included | Gigbag Left-hand option available | Yes, custom order WHAT WE THINK Plus | Very playable bass; nice Rickenbacker clank Minus | The Rickenbacker bridge isn’t the best Overall | An impressive bass—but with competition at this price BP RATING…

Price | $999 Made In | Italy Power | 800W RMS @ 4ohms Features | Two channels plus mix, overdrive, tuner, four-band EQ, six selectable mid frequencies, deep and bright filters, footswitch included Connections 2 x Speakon combo jacks, FX send and return, aux in, headphone input with dedicated volume control, 2 x pre and post DI, USB charging, 9V power supply for pedals, footswitch Dimensions | 31cm x 26cm x 9cm / 12” x 10” x 3.5” Weight | 2.95kg / 6.5lbs WHAT WE THINK Plus | Lots of tone-shaping options Minus | Many controls to contend with, some difficult to get to quickly Overall | A very impressive feature set BGM RATING…

Welcome back! As advancing musicians, there will always be external elements that influence us. ‘Exploration’ and ‘necessity’ are two such components that shape and manipulate our musical prowess. Comprehending ‘exploration’ is relatively straightforward; you are today what you practised yesterday. If your study is constrained to a small group of subject areas, then your musical ability will mirror this and may result in being restricted. ‘Necessity’, however, is an entirely different animal, as a third party generally sets its parameters. We never know which gig is around the corner, which means that preparing for every eventuality is almost impossible. Only when we’re confronted with a requirement can we respond and develop the appropriate skill sets. Take the study of time signatures, for example, which generally resides near the bottom of…

Welcome to The Last Note! Picture this: A pedalboard chock-full of effects under your feet. Each month I’ll be dissecting that virtual pedalboard to help you craft your sound more quickly and efficiently. Today, we’re looking at the humble compressor. What does it do, how do I use it—and why the heck can’t I hear anything happening when I turn it on? WHAT IS COMPRESSION? In simple terms, the change in volume from our quietest notes all the way up to the loudest transients we can produce is known as the dynamic range. Compression, whether it’s in the form of a small pedal, a professional rack unit or a software plug-in on a computer, takes that dynamic range and reduces it. WHY DO WE DO THAT? Well, limiting the output…