As you can probably guess from the title, Elrick has joined the ranks of MTD and Lakland with a higher-volume, lower-priced bass. The range has its own dedicated website: www.expatnjs.com. I’ve been a long term Elrick user, so I was particularly eager to check out where Rob Elrick is headed with this range.

Elrick have been in production since 1993, and are probably best known for the “Classic” and “e-volution” ranges. The Elrick Expat New Jazz Standard (NJS) model, announced during the NAMM Show, is more traditional in appearance that the wilder extremes of some of the single-cut thru-necks like mine in the rage. Rob oversees the production:

“These basses are not alternatives to my U.S.-made NJS 4- and 5- strings—they are respectable substitutes on par with their U.S. counterparts. That being said, they do have one value-added feature I cannot economically offer on my U.S. basses that is desirable to many electric bass consumers: a paint job.” Says Elrick.

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It is pretty rare for me to stumble across a bass manufacture of note that I haven’t see before, but yesterday was one of those days… I ran into a very nice chap by the name of Mark Graham, and he was playing a Wood&Tronics Chronos.

I was immediately struck by the sound (I heard it before I saw it). It had the kind of articulation I’d associate with a Ken Smith or a Fodera. Then I saw it. A very striking single cut bass, with at least a nod and a wink to a Fodera – at least in my view. [More…]

This YouTube Video from Bassguitar mag caught my eye if for no other reason than the fact one of the pedals is called the “Blogger” – a Bass Blogger – how about that? I love watching Ed Friedland goofing around too! The first half is the Electro Harmonix Bass Micro Synth, then the bass blogger pedal: [More…]

I like stories that have a happy ending – they aren’t as plentiful as I’d like though. So, here’s one for you… [More…]

So, Victor Wooten gets to open Wooten Woods Retreat! Thanks to notreble for the heads up. [More…]

The micro-blogging service Twitter has been getting a huge amount of visibility recently. For those that have missed the storm, it is a web service that lets you publish short messages (of up to 140 characters) to the world… It’s a lot more than that, but the only way to find out is to dive in. I can be hard to get going, so I thought I’d provide a jump start for bassists wanting to connect with other bassists. Starting with a friendly community helps you get going on the service even quicker! [More…]