Bassweek #5: Bass guitar EBG-5 Jigsaw Fretless, Beetronics Seabee Harmochorus, Fender ACB 50 amp
From this episode you will learn what the new bass from EBG Instruments is made of, what is unusual about the new Bettronics FX chorus, what free VST compressors can be used to process slap bass, where to find the drum track from the album “St. Anger", how many tubes are in the new Fender bass amp, and what kind of music Limp Bizkit’s guitarist plays when he’s not at work. Get comfortable, put likes, let’s go.
- EBG-5 Jigsaw Fretless Bass Guitar
- Beetronics Seabee Harmochorus Chorus Effect Pedal
- Free VST compressor plugins from Klanghelm: MJUC JR. variable-tube compressor and DC1A
- Isolated Tracks posted a breakdown of Metallica’s “St. Anger” tracks
- Fender Adam Clayton ACB 50 Bass Amplifier
- Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit) released a new solo album “Mutiny on the Starbarge”
EBG Instruments have unveiled their new EBG-5 Jigsaw Fretless bass guitar. This instrument is a development of the previous models of the company. It features an aluminum center block with a creative flame maple iroko body and a full carbon neck. The bass guitar is equipped with a pair of passive Häussel Noiseless Jazz pickups, passive tone block, EBG Fatsus bridge, brass nut, Graphtech Ratio tuners, and EBG inlay on the fingerboard. Jigsaw Fretless bass is available to order for about $4575.
Beetronics Seabee Harmochorus is a fresh and deep take on the chorus effect, designed and assembled by the mad geniuses at Bettronics FX. “Seabee” is positioned as a multi-chorus, offering both classic analog effects and a completely new modulation effect based on pitch shift. The effects pedal has 3 “conventional chorus” modes and 3 " harmonichorus" modes controlled by the left Ramp/Rate footswitch. Chorus mode gives a classic sound with 3 modulations Roto, Depth and Sting. Harmonichorus is based on the principle of digital delay control, implemented in 3 modes of operation called Dual, Arp and Mad. The Seabee Harmochorus comes with 16 presets, Tap Tempo, MIDI integration, expression pedal input and instrument jack input with selectable impedance. Any instrument can be connected to the chorus. Effect pedal price is $349.
Klanghelm offers free VST compressors: MJUC JR. and DCIA. A good compressor is needed in the household of any musician. On the Klanghelm website, two high-quality and free VST compressor plugins are available for download.
DC1A is a universal compressor from the “nothing more” category. This compressor is based on DC8C. It has a fast attack, release and pleasant saturation that is suitable for drums and slap bass. The Relax button puts the compressor in a slower mode, allowing to use it for strings or wind instruments.
MJUC JR. is the younger brother of MJUC. The compressor is able to provide both smooth leveling and fast compression effect. By simulating a transformer between stages, it endows the sound with saturation. A three-position switch controls the attack, release and transition speed of the transformers, in the best tradition of compressors from the early 1960s. If you were looking for free compressors with saturation or just want to spin the device without reading kilotons of waste paper - Klanghelm compressors are definitely your choice!
Have you ever heard of track isolation? The idea is to take a studio recording of a song and break it down into separate tracks, highlighting the drums, bass, guitars and vocals. This is a long and painstaking work that requires good hearing and great patience. Turkish musician, sound technician and DJ Fatih Güneş takes apart the songs of popular heavy bands and uploads isolated tracks to YouTube. His YouTube channel Isolated Tracks recently posted a breakdown of Metallica’s “St. Anger”. Now anyone can learn the nuances of playing Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and … Bob Rock, who played bass parts on the album. The channel contains a lot of unique material that allows to conduct a detailed analysis of the playing of your favorite musicians, and use drum tracks as backing tracks for solo sessions.
Years later, Fender once again released the all-tube bass combo amp for U2 bassist Adam Clayton. The amplifier has 50 watts of power and consists of three 12AX7 and one 12AT7 tubes in the preamplifier and two 6L6 tubes in the power amplifier. The amp has two separate sound channels - one for classic Fender tube sound, the other for a more modern, flat frequency response. Each channel has its own separate equalizer. On the rear panel of the amplifier there are an output for an external speaker, a balanced Jack 1/4 line output and an XLR output with ground. The amplifier uses a 15" Eminence Neo speaker that delivers powerful sound. The price of the Fender ACB 50 Bass Amp is $2,200.
Wes Borland, guitarist from Limp Bizkit, released a new solo album “Mutiny on the Starbarge”. The album is far from the nu metal that Limp Bizkit play, and resembles a Sci fi soundtrack with elements of space rock. This is Borland’s third album based on elements of post-rock, noise and shoegaze. The new album includes arrangements for cello and strings by Borland’s brother. “Mutiny on the StarBarge” is an experimental album that demonstrates that Borland is not a stereotypical musician, and he is able to play and think outside of his genre. The album is available on all popular streaming platforms in excellent quality.
That’s all the news for today, but I want to tell you a last mystery story. In an old house by the lake there lived a boy who loved to play the bass guitar. The boy was very good, he studied a lot, but he was not subscribed to our channel, so his bass was eaten by clothes moths. Think about it.