News

Using the latest video conferencing technology, we can conduct live, one-on-one video bass lessons from the most remote places on earth at an extremely affordable rate. Why waste transit time and money on gas while driving to and from lessons when you can study bass right from your home?

These live video bass lessons work perfectly to demonstrate various techniques including the proper mechanics of right and left hand technique as well as slapping and tapping techniques. Other subject areas that we may cover in our live video bass lessons include classical and jazz music theory, sight reading, ear training, bass line construction, soloing, jazz improvisation, chordal techniques, harmonics, fingerstyle funk, altered tunings, and concepts for solo bass playing.

In addition to the live video, you will also be e-mailed all of the exercises we cover during the lesson in standard notation and/or tablature along with any applicable play-alongs.

For more information, please visit: Cliff Engel's Live Video Bass Lessons.

Recorded in 2001, Cliff Engel performs "Purple Haze" and "Mr. Pastorius" on solo bass guitar. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE WINDOWS MEDIA VIDEOS!

Each month, the IIB gives its viewers the opportunity to participate in various monthly giveaways. To become eligible to win products including basses, amplifiers, speaker cabinets, combo amps, effects, strings, instrument cables, pickups, gig bags, straps, gift certificates, DVD's, CD's, books, lessons, t-shirts, and more, from giveaway sponsors including D'Addario, Planet Waves, Thunderfunk, AccuGroove, Line 6, Ibanez, SWR Sound, Fender, Evidence Audio, Nordstrand Pickups, Zon Guitars, Bass Specialties, and BassBooks.com, ENTER TO WIN TODAY!

If you purchase a group of 5 correspondence lessons, you will get an additional lesson for FREE! Along with a free lesson, correspondence students will also receive 10 essential listening tracks with each lesson, access to my streaming video library, and free technical phone support throughout the duration of your studies within my program.

To learn more about my bass lessons by correspondence, please go to:
Cliff Engel's Bass Lessons By Correspondence.

With each new correspondence lesson that I post for you to view/download, you will now receive 10 essential listening tracks which will demonstrate the potential of the bass guitar and the acoustic upright. These selected tracks will consist of historically significant recordings which feature some of the most influential and renowned bass virtuosos since the first half of the 20th century. I recently went through my entire audio library which includes over 1000 CD's, most of which are either bass player led or feature the bassist in a prominent fashion, and picked the best material. Many of these essential tracks are no longer in print, and some of these rare tracks were never officially released by their respective artists.

My new streaming video library which showcases many of today's premier bassists is now online and available to all current correspondence lessons students. This new streaming video library has been put together in order to demonstrate techniques such as slapping, tapping, chords, harmonics, and playing in altered tunings.

As a current student located within the continental United States, you now have the option of scheduling a live chat session with me in order to discuss any lesson-related questions on the phone through my toll-free number. Live chat sessions can be scheduled any time between the hours of 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM Central U.S. time from Monday through Saturday.

If you are a current or former correspondence lessons student and you refer a new student to me, I will give you a FREE lesson for each new student that begins my program based on your referral.

In 1995, Aguilar began as the manufacturer of a single bass preamp. Today, that same preamp is recognized as a contemporary classic and the industry standard in major recording studios found throughout the world. Along the way, Aguilar has become one of the fastest-growing manufacturers of high-end bass amplification with the addition of power amps, speaker cabinets, combo amps, onboard preamps, and a direct box to their product line.

Through an endorsing artist roster that includes bassists such as John Patitucci, Gary Willis, Gerald Veasley, Avishai Cohen, and Ray Riendeau to name just a few, the tones generated by Aguilar units resonate prominently throughout today's music. From the studio recordings of pop and country radio hits to live performances of timeless jazz standards in coffee houses and rock anthems on stages in arenas around the globe, "the Aguilar sound" has become synonymous with harmonically-rich and dynamically-diverse bass tone.

The GS 410 is my main speaker cabinet. It is capable of handling 700 watts and features four 10" cast frame woofers made by Eminence to Aguilar's specifications, top and bottom front ports, a phenolic tweeter, a variable tweeter level control, neutrik speakon and 1/4" inputs, seven-ply, void-free Philippine mahogany construction, a wide 40 Hz to 16 kHz frequency response, and removable caster wheels. Although it is a relatively heavy cabinet that weighs nearly 100 lbs., its compact design allows for easy transportation and storage. The GS 410 responds very quickly for a tight, articulate, and full-range sound which permits it to respond well to all of the contemporary bass playing techniques including fingerstyle, picking, slapping, and tapping in every live performance application. It works well for solo bass gigs as well as for playing within different band configurations in large venues at high volume levels where the bass is often muddied or lost in the mix. I've played through and owned dozens of speaker cabinets including 4x10's, 2x12's, 2x10's, 1x15's, and 8x8's, but I haven't found a better sounding cabinet than the GS 410.

With its full-bodied tone, the GS 212 can be utilized within a variety of musical styles from rock to jazz. As with all GS series cabinets, the GS 212 features cast frame woofers made by Eminence to Aguilar's specifications, a phenolic tweeter, a variable tweeter level control, neutrik speakon and 1/4" inputs, as well as seven-ply, void-free Philippine mahogany construction. For gigs that don't require my entire bass rig, the GS 212 operates as a versatile and portable 212 combo amp.

To learn more about Aguilar Amplification, CLICK HERE TO READ MY INTERVIEW WITH DAVE BOONSHOFT.

My new Zon Sonus Custom 5-string finally arrived on June 1. This new bass has a gallery-grade black redwood burl top, headstock laminate, and "Willis ramp." It also features Bartolini prototype pickups. This project actually began as a customized Zon VB fretted 4-string with a quilted walnut top in April 2004, but a couple months after submitting my downpayment, I located a bass that had the most unbelievable wood top I had ever seen. The wood was called "water-cured" or "black" redwood burl. It's an extremely rare type of wood because it doesn't exist naturally in forests.

There are several lumber companies in the United States that harvest highly-prized lumber such as black redwood and do so in an environmentally-conscious fashion without eroding the environment because their source isn't old-growth forests. Instead, they search the depths of America's lakes and rivers for these treasures.

Prior to railroads, waterways were used as the primary means of transportation to the mills. After trees were cut down, the logs were tied to rafts and floated to the mills for processing, and during transit, some logs became waterlogged and sank. Rather than try to recover the "sinkers," it was much easier for mills at that time to just cut additional logs.

Black redwood is harvested from redwood trees that fell into streams or lakes where they remained submerged in icy cold water for decades and in some cases for well over 100 years. While being immersed in water for such a long period of time, bacteria ate away at the substances in the wood, and that caused certain changes to take place on a cellular level. Most or all of the naturally-occurring resins in the wood were washed out and then replaced with dissolved water minerals. This piece of black redwood has a unique appearance and actually looks more like a highly-figured piece of quilted walnut because all of the "red" was washed out of the original redwood and replaced with water minerals.

This bass practically plays itself. The overall setup of Zon basses is the best in the business, and the fretwork is second-to-none.

To learn more about Zon Guitars, CLICK HERE TO READ MY INTERVIEW WITH JOE ZON.