If you liked Aguilar Amplification's Tone Hammer 500, you might like the amp's more compact cousin. The Tone Hammer 350 boasts the same big sound as the Tone Hammer 500, but in a much more compact and lightweight package.  

Veillette Guitars introduced the Veillette Cutaway Acoustic Bass, the same modern bass with the same acoustic body shape, but with a treble-side cutaway for easier reach for upper-register passages, fills, and solo playing.  

Now you can get a Reverend Thundergun bass in not just black or clear, but Wine Red as well. Also known as the monster of the low-end, the Thundergun sports a set-neck design with Joe Naylor-designed pickups, a Korina body, a string-thru bridge with a top-load option, and much more.  

Practice, perform, and record with the Fender Bronco 40 bass amp, now shipping. The 40W, 1-channel Bronco 40 boasts 24 presets and built-in FX, plus unlimited preset storage when the amp is connected via USB to a computer running the Fender FUSE software interface, which comes included.  

If you will be attending Summer NAMM this week, be sure to stop by Source Audio's booth on the 23rd, as the company will be giving away a free pedal each hour, on the hour, to a lucky booth visitor. This giveaway goes hand in hand with the Hot Hand-ready Soundblox Pro Bass Envelope Filter to be released this week.  

Fender released the heftier, more powerful versions of the Precision Bass and the Jazz Bass: the Blacktop Precision Bass and Blacktop Jazz Bass. These new instruments in the Blacktop Series offer high-gain humbucking pickups that deliver all that booming bass tone that players need.  

Add a touch of European flair to your playing with the new Arona Bass from Cort Guitars and Sandberg Guitars. Now available, the bass -- in four- and five-string varieties -- features a three-piece, bolt-on maple neck shaped with the Sandberg "C" shape, a rosewood fingerboard, and much more.  

Jimmy Sutton runs HiStyle Records in Chicago. The label also has an analog studio. Thats a nice bonus for a label. He also worked with J.D. McPherson on his latest. Signs And Signifiers. He used his Kay C-1  

They thought the Jaguar would sound de-clawed when they ported it to the more domesticated Squier brand. Boy were they wrong. Just listen to this video demo of the Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass Special and hear how convincingly a $200 import can growl.  

Three new bass amps are coming your way, courtesy of Roland's Cube-XL Bass Amplifier Series, which includes the Cube-20XL Bass, Cube-60XL Bass, and Cube-120XL. Choose the power output and size to best suit your needs.  

Mike Chiavaro has several bass amps but the one he uses most is his Aguilar AG500. He says it is the most versatile and that, well, it rocks.  

The Sweden-based company, EBS Professional Bass Equipment, introduced new Titanium Nickel and Stainless Steel strings for bass. To be available in four gauges (Medium Light, Medium, Classic Medium, Heavy), these new strings are based on cores of fine Swedish steel or American steel.  

With Swing Bass 45-100 gauge nickel strings, Rotosound is giving bass players an alternative to its Swing Bass Stainless Steel sets. The new 45-100 gauge strings offer the same specs as the stainless steel sets, though the 45-100 gauge strings are smoother and easier on the fingers.  

Rock the stage like Gene Simmons with the Cort Guitars GS Punisher-2 bass, which joins the GS Axe-2 in the Gene Simmons series of instruments.  

It's a stompbox! No, it's a preamp! No, it's a D.I.! Stop, you're all three of you correct! The Hartke VXL Bass Attack is a deceptively simple little tool that wears many hats and fills many roles and mixes several metaphors.  

The instrument that started it all gets yet another update with the 2010 Fender American Standard Precision Bass. Gearwire staffer Owen O'Malley scrutinizes the recent additions and determines whether they're welcome or un-.  

Man, do your feet stink or are you stomping on the funky MXR M82 Bass Envelope Filter? Oh dang, it's both! Now I feel conflicted about our friendship!  

John Cooper of Skillet isn't afraid to admit that one reason he loves his Traben Phoenix Bass is that it looks cool. You want gear to sound good but looks count too.  

If Barbie played bass, she would likely rock out on Daisy Rock's new Rebel Rockit Bass in Atomic Pink. Now shipping, the very pink and sparkly bass features the company's signature "Slim & Narrow" neck design, which makes it easier for girls with smaller hands to play.  

Bay Area punk bassist Matt Freeman has made quite a name for himself, and now Squier is borrowing Freeman's name and his bass specs for the Matt Freeman Signature Precision Bass. The new signature model was modeled after Freeman's '77 Precision Bass.  

Ampeg's new Portaflex Series offers powerful, portable flip-top heads and cabs for bassists. This series includes the compact PF-350 and PF-500 heads and the vintage-styled PF-115HE and PF-210HE cabinets.  

Heads up, beginning bassists -- Ampeg introduced the BA-108 and Ampeg BA-110, two compact combo practice amps for the BA Series. Designed specifically for entry-level bassists, these amps offer classic Ampeg tone in a portable package.  

TC Electronic introduced the RH750, a compact bass head that builds upon the feature set of the previously released RH450. The new bass head boasts 750W power, a new TweeterTone knob, SpectraComp compression, a built-in chromatic tuner, three presets, and more.  

Bassists can expect to be blown away by the TC Electronic Blacksmith bass amp's in-your-face 1,600W power. The Blacksmith, first announced during January's Winter NAMM show, is now shipping.  

First up in the Gearwire Friday video demo freakshow! It's a Fender with the neck of a Jazz Bass, and the body of an acoustic guitar! O! What cruel god hath wrought the Fender Kingman Bass SCE?  

As a producer, Justin Meldal-Johnsen has had to learn how to do some spur-of-the-moment effects pedal triage. Because, hey, your clients don't pay you to waffle on decisions, and you can't use every stompbox you've got on every song. . . can you?  

Co-authors George Gruhn and Walter Carter have a pair of photo-rich tomes dedicated to the history of electric guitars and basses that'll turn any vintage-hound into Pavlov's dog. Gino Robair reviews Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars (3rd edition) and Electric Guitars and Basses: A Photographic History.  

For a guy who's ideals are so rooted in pragmatism — play short-scale basses live, jot down song ideas in Pro Tools, jam econo — Mike Watt sure employed a strange production process for his latest solo album, Hyphenated-Man. We spoke with him about that process and the inspiration behind the concept for this, his third punk-rock opera.

 

Daisy Rock Girl Guitars added the Rebel Rockit Bass to its growing line of full-scale guitars and basses for female players. The new Rebel Rockit sports Daisy Rock's signature "Slim & Narrow" neck and a lightweight contoured body that makes it easier and more comfortable for girls to play.  

Birdsong At Morning have a new box set coming out, Annals of My Glass House,and they are doing shows in support. Bassist, Greg Porter talked to Gearwire about his "small" amp, the Ampeg V4-B.