Everyone is talking about extended range basses these days, but I spotted this custom made 2 string bass on eBay – because sometimes more strings is just confusing ;).

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A rather nice announcement for bassists who want to keep the traditional sound of their Jazz Bass, but not that hum :- the Apollo Jazz Bass Linear Humbucker from the good folks at Seymour Duncan.

Hear’s a demo, and video interview with Kevin Beller (Vice President of Engineering / Head of R&D at Seymour Duncan – and a bass player since almost before I was born!)

As the ‘Humbucker’ in the name suggests, these are humbucking pickups, meaning they are free from the noise and hum associated with single coil pick ups. On traditional Jazz Basses you could combine both single coil pickups to cancel the noise (by cranking both us), but obviously that limits the range of sounds you can get. The Apollo Jazz Bass set up means you can get a noise free sound from a single pickup. They are also designed with a focus on getting an even volume between the strings – another issue with some traditional Jazz Bass pickups.

They are available in matched sets or individually, as bridge and neck models for 4 and 5 string bass. The 5 string has two size options (67/70mm or 70/74mm). They look rather nice – crisp, but retro to my eye! Click to see them in hires, or read more here.

From the ever talented Norm Stockton, a  solo bass arrangement of the beloved Christmas classic, recorded on his MTD 535, using an API A2D and Pro Tools.  It is available on iTunes and CDBaby!

Recorded on November 27, 2013, in Orange County, CA

We were pointed to this via Twitter (you can follow me there if you like: @BassGuitarBlog). This video on YouTube, staring Michael Thurber,is a rather fantastic history of bass playing the Viola Da Gamba in the 1500’s, to the present day, via Wellman Braud, Nathan Watts, Larry Graham, Flea, and many others. Well worth the 8 minutes to watch!

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Quality solo bass albums are a rare beast, and there are markedly few artists with a good one under their belt, let alone alone  a whole back catalogue. Steve Lawson, AKA @solobasssteve on Twitter, is an exception to, well, almost every rule! Over the last few decades he has amassed a back catalogue of almost a dozen solo albums, and nearly the same number of collaborative albums.

His latest album was recorded at the March 2014 London Bass Guitar Show, and is a 21 minute, 2 song (yes, two song!) collaboration with Lamb Bassist Jon Thorne. It is a thing of genuine beauty, right from the opening moments, through to the final resonating harmonics of the ending.

As with all of Steve Lawson’s recordings, it is a “pay what you think it is worth” deal, as he continues to disrupt the music industry with his methods as well as his music. Diversion has become so popular that it is being advertised everywhere, with road workers around the world getting in on the act ;).

“Diversion” is a great way to loose yourself in the sounds of double bass , and fretless bass with a sprinkling of electronics. Ambient and enveloping, you own it to your ears (and to your playing) to give it a listen.

So, Ned has been at it again. NS Design have just announced a 4 string sibling to sell along side their recently introduced CR5. The new CR4 RADIUS bass guitar by Ned Steinberger is produced in in the Czech Republic. Hot features are:

• Fusion™ neck
• Diradial™ body shape
• NS tuning system
• NS/EMG pickup system.

It is a headless bass (it is a Ned Steinberger design after all!) with a very distinctive NS Design head stock. The controls are deceptively powerful, those four knobs and two switches give you:  Master Volume, active Treble cut/boost, active Bass cut/boost, rotary magnetic/piezo pickup blend, 3-position magnetic pickup selector switch and a 3-position piezo EQ switch. That is a fair amount to fiddle with! The body shape is curved front and back, and looks to be very comfortable.