Well look what just arrived! I’m calling the bassbuds Earphones rather than Headphones, a) because they go in your ears, rather than round your head and b) because, quite frankly, I’m very confused about what we call these gadgets these days, as you’ll see there’s a lot more to them than tiny speakers and wire.

The first thing I noticed – appart from the name, which is obviosuly a heart warmer for any bass player – was the very attractive packaging. The really nice presentation box makes them a great as a gift, which is handy for this time of year. Opening the box up revealed a generous range of buds to go with these in-ear phones. There are multiple  silicone and memory foam ear buds, with three sizes of each – so you should be able to get a good fit, whatever size your ears are, which is key to getting a good sound. I found the memory foam inserts particularly good.

The connector doesn’t look like a normal headphone connector. That’s because it isn’t! Don’t worry, it’ll work fine in a normal headphone socket on any of your audio gear, but it is also a mic built in. If you have a smartphone (iPhone, Nokia, etc..) or even a mac, then you can do hand’s free calls as well as listening to rehersal material, or even recording. There is also a control button built in where the cables meet, so you can click to answer a call, or pause, or whatever your device does!

Being able to plug the bassbuds in to the Mac and use them as a Skype headset was a very nice bonus – I seem to use Skype more than the phone for talking to other musicians these days. Also, having hands free on the phone for calls, when not listening to music, is quite liberating. Speaking of listening… The bassbuds have a pretty solid and warm low end response, clear midrange, and a top end that isn’t too sharp. An annoyance with a number of other earphones I’ve tried recently is that they were overly bright. The bassbuds don’t fall into that trap. Another nice touch is the gold-plated metal jack plug

There’s a HUGE range of colours available. The ones in my hands are are ‘platinum‘ and the ones above are (quite clearly!) red – I’m pretty sure you can find a set that match your outfit or your bass! There’s also a hand carry pouch. Yes, it says “bass bag” on it, but it’s for the ear-phones, you’re not going to fit your actual bass guitar in there, ok?

Anyway, thanks to the folks at bassbuds, here’s an offer for readers of  The Bass Guitar Blog, get five pounds off. Just use this code when you check out: BB38463 – enjoy: http://www.bassbuds.co.uk/

This is a rather lovely and melodic solo bass piece (via Steve Lawson and the Solo Bassists Facebook page). Matt Bissonette (bassist for artists including Elton John, Joe Satriani, Steve Via and may others!) plays through his Markbass rig (and tells us why he loves it!) – Thank you Mark Bass for the video – check out the Markbass YouTube Channel!

or click to watch the video.

Saw this via Twitter (and here), which apparently was posted (and removed from) Craigslist, and it struck a chord, as it were. I know a number of readers who are solo players, but it’s just as true for bands:

Craigslist Ad :We are a small & casual restaurant in downtown Vancouver and we are looking for solo musicians to play in our restaurant to promote their work and sell their CD. This is not a daily job, but only for special events which will eventually turn into a nightly event if we get positive response. More Jazz, Rock, & smooth type music, around the world and mixed cultural music. Are you interested to promote your work? Please reply back ASAP.

Musician’s Reply: Happy new year! I am a musician with a big house looking for a restauranteur to promote their restaurant and come to my house to make dinner for my friends and I. This is not a daily job, but only for special events which will eventually turn into a nightly event if we get positive response. More fine dining & exotic meals and mixed Ethnic Fusion cuisine. Are you interested to promote your restaurant? Please reply back ASAP.

Got to value our art – oh, and never ask for more than you are prepared to give

The folks over at TC Electronic have been busy again. I’m still enjoying playing through the TC Electronic RG450 rig, but things have moved on in that range, with the custom Staccato’51 model, created for Rocco Prestia, and the BG250 bass combo. TC Electronic have added to this 1×15” ultra-light bass combo, with additional TonePrints from bassists including Roscoe Beck, Chris Minh Doky , Marlowe DK and Henrik Linder. The TonePrint effects include Chorus, Flanger, Vibrato, Sub’n’Up Octaver, SpectraComp and BassDrive , and the updates can be downloaded online. It all sounds pretty impressive in the video!

Check out the video with Uriah Duffy:

You’ll need to be fast on this one – just a few days left to win a Fender Jazz Bass, thanks to Rockschool, the well known rock and pop exams folks. They are giving the opportunity to win one of the three instruments used on their 2012 Syllabus Book covers (see, now you know they have a new 2012 Syllabus Book too ).

To get the chance to win, head to the Rockschool Site and answer the simple questions. The 2012-2018 Rockschool Guitar, Bass and Drums Syllabus is available to buy from Music Room.

While you’re here, do check out some of the recent comment threads on the blog and join in!

Ah, this via Twitter from @FretZeroMusic and @martyschwartz – a great video review of the Hofner Bass. Made famous my Beatles Bassist, Paul McCartney, this hollow bodied bass has a sound all of it’s own! Not to all tastes, but definitely hightly distinctive and still produced today: