Bilbothebassplayer

I'm not sure if it's been said already but Steve Lawson is actually playing the Saturday at 2pm on the lark music live stage and not the Sunday

Yeah the street parking looks alright but I don't know what it will be like on the day haha. Do people tend to bring their own basses to try amps out and things or would I look a muppet? haha My mate Aaron is on the Ortega stand and he has told me they have a new Solid Body U-bass out, so I'm looking forward to seeing that, Re-chargeable electronics apparently 🧐

That is a lovely looking bass. Having it built as part of the design is a great idea, I guess you can tilt it to give the lower strings room to breathe? or did you find that you play with a lighter touch because of the reduced distance below the string? I find when I play a bass with a ramp that I move through the string easier and can return my finger to a striking position quicker. because of the reduced distance underneath the string.

I will indeed be at the Bass show! I am looking forward to it, I haven't been to one before. Steve's a legend, so I will deffo be going along to that.

I don't tend to change my action a lot but I sometimes I will set it a little higher when I'm playing more rock or metal stuff, so that I can dig in more without it flapping out at me. but I guess the ramp would hit the strings too, so really my thoughts of an adjustable finger ramp are falling to bits here haha

I thought that was the case haha

I have been using finger ramps on my basses for about 6 years, but every time I have used one, I have had to build my own. As it's only been recently that I have seen them start to become popular. I know Gary Willis has used one for a very long time and seeing some of his stuff on YouTube gave me the inspiration to start using one myself. <- Cort A5 SC <- Fender American 2019 I love how it makes my right hand (plucking hand) feel and how easy it is to float over the strings. Since I started using finger ramps I moved from anchoring my thumb to floating thumb instead, similar to how Gary and a few other of the fusion players do. This has allowed me to start using my thumb for plucking along with the index and middle and it makes string jumping a breeze. There is a reason for this post and not just an excuse to show off my dodgy woodwork. I have a question for anyone who uses one and or builds them. Currently the only way to attach a finger ramp I have found, is with double sided tape. For my basses this has worked fine but I wonder if there is a way to adjust the height after installation? similar to how the Gibson bridges on guitar are. I don't really want to drill into my bass haha. I have recently been to a guitar luthier who is currently building me a new on for my Cort bass, the new ramp will follow the radius of the fretboard and is Ebony, which will look nicer than my black painted bit of cheap B&Q wood haha. Saying that a drum tech friend of mine had a go at me for using cheap wood as he believed that the type of wood would change the sound. Is he right or wrong? I have no clue haha. For anyone who wants to build a finger ramp to try on their bass, this is the video from Gary that I learnt how to do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKffNbWXRfQ Apologies if there is already a topic about this subject, I couldn't seem to find it. I have only been on this site for about a week, so I'm still wet behind the ears.

When I was at college my bass teacher Steve Lawson set the class the challenge of learning a song all the way through, instead of just the good bits. I picked this tune to learn and you are totally right, the main riff gets praised for being a tongue twister but the real challenge is the transitions and form.

I have been using the MarkBass Alain Caron Combo 121 Lite for around 10 years now. It's a ridiculously loud amp (500 watt) for the size and weight but it certainly has its faults. From day 1 it has this hissing sound in the tweeter (seems to be a common problem with the model) but isn't noticeable when playing in a band. The D.I Sound on it is lovely and because it's Bi-Amp, I have played 6 string Basses and Bass VI's through it and it's never struggled with the frequency range but it is getting tired and beat up and It may be time to find me a younger model. I have been thinking about Phil Jones (oooh matron) but I just can't believe it would keep up with a drummer. Need to see one out in the wild I think.

I will be there on the Saturday, it'll be my first bass event. Any tips on how to plan my day?

really nice looking basses! Welcome

Hello everyone! This forum looks so interesting, I am looking forward to chatting with like minded bass people! I started playing bass because my friend on the estate I lived on played guitar and when I said to him "I am thinking of learning guitar" he said "don't play guitar, play bass instead. Then we can jam". Who knows if he was saying that because he wanted a bass player or just didn't want the competition, but I am very glad he did because the past 15 years of playing has been amazing. Just like most people, life hasn't been a straight line but I am glad that the bass guitar has always been a constant. when I start playing I was 15 years and my favourite band was Mr. Big and now that I am 30, I would say my music taste has journeyed all over but if you asked me to give you a rough overview of the kind of stuff I like to listen too, I would say; Jazz fusion Stuff (Tribal Tech, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Hiromi etc.) Prog (Zappa, Steven Wilson, Gong) and IDM (Jojo Mayer, Squarepusher, Evan Marien). However! for the past 15 years most my gigs have been classic rock and function band stuff, it is only recently over the past 5 years where I have moved into musical theatre and more original stuff. My influences as a player would be: Steve Lawson Hadrien faraud Squarepusher Steve Jenkins Rufus Philpot Andres Rot Janek Gwizdała and many many more (included Jaco of course) but hopefully this list will give you an idea of the type of stuff I like to play. I am really looking forward to seeing what comes of my time here in this space and I hope to have some good chats with you all. My dog is now begging me for his dinner as it's 2 minutes past tea time, so I shall end my post here haha. All the best