Flea has recently announced a new line of basses called the FLEABASS that he is going to be putting out this year, with the goal being to create a solid line of guitars for both the entry-level student and the professional.

Describing his inspiration for FLEABASS, Flea said “FLEABASS is born of my love of music education as a studier and a teacher of music, and a lover and a romanticizer of the tradition of it. I wanted students to have an instrument they could fall in love with, and I wanted them to be able to do it with the limited means that most of them have for acquiring one.”

The inspiration for the new basses came from Flea’s involvement in a non-profit called the Silverlake Conservatory of Music that he created to help teach music to school-age children. He saw that the instruments being made for students were low quality, so he saw an opportunity to step in and create a high-quality product for a low price. He’s planning on putting his money where his mouth is, too. In a recent Bass Player magazine interview, he said he’s planning to take these out with him for the new Red Hot Chili Peppers tour.

Both 3/4 and full-size FLEABASS models will be available. Full-size models will have a retail price of $499, and 3/4 models will have a retail price of $399. The basses will be available in four different finishes: Sunny Bass” (orange with yellow), “Water Bass” (blue with orange), “Punk Bass” (green with pink), and the “Wild One” (black with white). See photos and get more information at the FLEABASS Web site or on the FLEABASS MySpace page.

Bassist Tal Wilkenfeld has been featured in Gibson’s Lifestyle section in a piece by Jerry McCulley titled “Meet Tal Wilkenfeld, Jeff Beck’s Young Aussie Bass Prodigy.” The piece covers a brief history of Tal’s career to date, including her stints with Chick Corea, the Allman Brothers, and of course Jeff Beck:

By 20 she’d become variously a band leader and in-demand session/live player who’d gigged with the Allman Brothers and recorded Transformation, a well-received debut solo album she cut in two days of hectic NYC sessions, recordings which she also composed and arranged. At 21 she was touring Australia with Chick Corea, who she says “had heard about me and was looking for a bass player and so I sent them some of my stuff. Then I got this call from his people and they said: ‘Hey, do you want to do these gigs in Australia?’ And I was like, ‘Yes, sir!’”

I think we’ll see some great things from Tal in the future!

* Photo credit: Gibson.com

Twenty years ago on September 21, 1987 the world of music lost bass legend Jaco Pastorius. His death was a tragic result of a violent confrontation that occurred outside a Florida club on September 11, 1987, during which Jaco sustained critical injuries. Although Jaco had suffered health problems later in his life, he made a tremendous impact on the world of bass guitar, both as a solo musician and as a member of Weather Report.

I must confess that I’d never heard any of Jaco’s music until last week. I finally picked up and listened to a bit from his solo album, Jaco Pastorius, and Heavy Weather by Weather Report. I’m amazed at how good he really was. I see why he was called The World’s Greatest Bass Player. In addition to his solo work and his work with Weather Report, Pastorius played on many other albums, including albums by Joni Mitchell, Al Di Meola and Mike Stern.

Jaco was well known for playing Fender Jazz Basses. On one Fender Jazz Bass, he removed the frets in order to make a fretless bass. According to Wikipedia, he felt that frets were “speed bumps” that got in the way.

I encourage you to add Jaco Pastorius to your musical playlist this week in remembrance of one of the greatest bass players to ever play the instrument. Below is a video of Jaco Pastorius playing “The Chicken.”

* Photo credit: JacoPastorius.com

I realized recently that although I’ve been playing guitar for over 15 years now I’ve actually played the bass more in concert than the guitar. This is mainly because I’ve rarely played in concert and each time that I have played in public it’s been to fill in for someone else or for a band that didn’t have a bassist. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this realization is that, until recently, I’d never actually owned a bass guitar. I decided earlier this year to finally purchase a bass, and not needing anything more than a fun practice instrument, I purchased the Fender Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Bass. In researching basses, I found this positive review of each of the Vintage Modified Series basses in the November issue of Bass Player magazine. I’ve had the bass now for several weeks, and I’ve been pretty impressed with it so far. It’s an excellent value for the money. Additionally, I purchased a Fender Rumble 15 bass amplifier, and have been pretty impressed with it, as well, although I must admit I have my eye on the Fender B-DEC 30 bass amplifier.