Bass Cadet

[Dusty Chalk]

Hi, I'm a newbie, both to these forums, and to bass in general. I'm mostly a keyboardist, but have screwed around with guitar some. As a result, I find myself tapping a lot, and am considering getting into either a NS/Stick (is that considered a bass?) or a Chapman Stick. I also love the sound of an active bass, so am considering that, too. I also tend to really like the sound of Hartke amps and cabs for some reason -- I don't know why. It's just that every time I'm at a small enough gig to be able to see what gear the bassist is using, and I like the sound enough to try to find out, it's always been Hartke.

Am currently in a "vaporware" band (I.E. we've never played out and are still in the writing stages of our mostly original music) without a bassist, and I tend to write basslines into my music, so am thinking of learning mostly for purposes of writing and recording. Kind of music == a more electronic and darker Garbage, maybe some Gary Numan (with femme vox). I'll be playing mostly keys, and when playing live, we're going to try to minimize playing with prerecorded accompaniment.

My heroes are Tony Levin, Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, and Alexander Hacke. I don't ever expect to get to any of their levels, but just thought I'd mention whom I admire. I've also personally met Greg Howard once and he's a great guy. I especially love his disk, Water on the Moon -- 60 minutes of pure Stick!

I'll probably mostly lurk, as there seems to be quite a bit of information on this board already, so I'll just say thanks in advance for all the welcomes.