There was a post about the original RebelHead450 in the NAMM 2009 – Bass News, but since then The folks at TC Electronic have been busy dreaming up new things, the latest being the TC Electronic Classic450. Bass amp technology has been bounding along over the last few years – You no longer need a team of roadies to just lug your bass gear around, at least as far as the power amp is concerned. Mind you, even speakers have got lighter with new magnet technology – TC Electronic have also introduced the RS410, a 4×10 cabinet that complements their amp range. [More...]

Oh yes! 25th July 2009. Mark it in your diary, or more importantly, click your browser on over to the bassquake site and sign up, if you can get there. If previous events are anything to go by, it will be amazing. The list of players includes:

• Andrew Gouche (Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan, The Jazz Crusaders, The Winans, Madonna, Destiny’s Child, Whitney Houston, George Duke)
• Byran Beller (Solo Artist, Bassist, Clinician, Composer, Freelance Writer)
• Sekou Bunch (Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, Anita Baker, Ray Charles, Tom Brown, The Tonight Show Band, Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart)
• Brian Bromberg (Solo Artist, Bob James, Bobby Lyle, Jeff Lorber, George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Joe Sample, Dianna Krall)

[More...]

While I’m on the road, here is a guest post by fellow bassist Steve Uccello. Steve is an Upright Bassist/Multi-Instrumentalist/Composer/Singer-Song-Writer and you can here his latest work Uccello Project, Symmetria on Last.FM. Add you thoughts to Steve’s post in the comments section… Over to Steve…

All right bass people! I’ve got a question for you: When you started playing music, did you decide to play bass first or did you arrive there though a ‘winding’ path? I wonder this because lately, as I’ve heard more and more bassists’ stories, I am beginning to notice a trend in how they began. It’s usually something like, “we started a band when we were younger and no one else wanted to play the bass so I…” or “I knew I could get more gigs if I also played bass and now it’s all I do…” [More...]

It’s been a while since we’ve had a fun post, so in the great tradition of the 2 string bass and the Bogdon box bass, I present for your delight this from Bass Guitar Blog reader Elmar!

The Klangbox is made of fruit boxes and was originally meant to be a gig case for one of the owner’s cigar box guitars. Well it still is -the neck is removable. The strings are made of clutch and brake cables from old motorcycles, I’m not sure of the origin of the pickups or the scale length (probably long!). The bridge is also a unique piece of engineering, providing a ‘headless’ design. [More...]

So, to the business of setting up a Bass Guitar. Tuning aside – do start with that first! – string height is the number one adjustment on a bass. There are all sorts of reasons that string height adjustment is needed, from changing string type and fret wear to changing weather conditions and playing style. [More...]

This will be a mini series of posts – although I may put everything under this one post too.

How do you set up your bass guitar?

Obviously the ideal is to have a professional do it for you – you can’t be a skilled hand and experience to get the perfect set up. However, sometimes just a minor tweak is required,  or getting a full set up isn’t affordable or practical. [More...]