Weekly Top 10: New Bass Gear, Remembering Steve Lang and Elliott Rubinson, Victor Wooten Live, Making Time for Practice and More
This week, we remembered two bass legends, following the passing of Steve Lang and Elliott Rubinson.
We also covered more bass gear news from last month’s NAMM show, offered up a couple of great columns by Damian Erskine and Donovan stokes, and more.
Here are the top 10 most read stories of the week of February 4-10, 2017.
Thanks for reading, watching, commenting and sharing.
1. Ibanez Introduces the Ashula SRAS7 Hybrid Fretted/Fretless Bass
Ibanez shocked many bassists again this year by introducing a new Ashula bass. The SRAS7 is a seven-string model that has a unique hybrid fretted/fretless design with three strings over a fretless purpleheart fingerboard and four strings over a fretted rosewood fretboard…
2. Wing Instruments Introduces Two New Models
Wing Instruments expanded their product lineup at the NAMM show this year with the Wing Bass NT and Wing Bass 30. The company describes the new models as representing an evolution in their philosophy that “life is short scale.” Similar to the original Wing Bass, the NT measures up at just 21 inches…
3. Making the Time for Practice
A reader asked Damian for advice on how to make time for practicing – and fitting it into a busy schedule. Damian’s answer in this week’s “Ask” column is not just great that, but also focusing on getting things done in general…
Steve Lang, who played bass for the Canadian classic rock outfit April Wine, has died at the age of 67. No cause of death has been announced, though he had suffered from Parkinson’s Disease. The news of Lang’s passing was shared by April Wine bandleader Myles Goodwyn…
5. David Crosby Recruits Mai Agan for 2017 Tour
David Crosby has announced a North American tour for April and May. The trek will see the legendary rock icon performing songs from his album, Croz, as well as a track from his upcoming album, Sky Trails. Of course, he’ll also perform some of his greatest hits. Crosby enlisted bassist Mai Agan for the outing…
6. Spector Celebrates 40 Years with Euro4LE 1977 Limited Edition Bass
Spector is celebrating 40 years of bass building with the Euro4LE 1977 Limited Edition bass. Based on the company’s original bass from 1977, it’s built with neck-through construction with a fully carved body with solid American walnut body wings and a 3-piece maple neck…
7. Moving from Upright to Electric Bass
If you are an electric bassist looking to learn upright, getting your double bass skills up to snuff can be daunting. When deciding to become a “switcher,” most of us coming from the electric bass side of things approach the new, bigger instrument with some amount of trepidation…
8. Victor Wooten Trio: Funky D
Victor Wooten and his trio with drummer Dennis Chambers and saxophonist Bob Franceschini warmed up for their recent Blue Note Club residency with another gig: the halftime show at a Knicks game. The three musicians performed the song “Funky D”, blowing away the enormous crowd in Madison Square Garden…
9. In Memoriam: Elliott Rubinson
More sad news to report today: Elliott “Dean” Rubinson, bassist and CEO of Dean Guitars, has passed away after a battle with brain cancer…
10. Digitech Announces FreqOut Feedback Pedal
Digitech has unveiled the FreqOut, a pedal for bass and guitar that creates controlled feedback. The stompbox uses pitch-detection technology to identify the harmonic content of notes and chords then makes those frequencies feedback in a musical way with several settings…