US: Midwest Chicago Get Together. LowDown Basses. Music Garage.

I knew something like this was happening sometime toward the end of the month, but didn't know when 'til last night. I'm a few hours away (more than that at the moment), but it would be cool to meet some Chicago cats... can't say for sure that I'll be there, but will explore the possibility.

For those who are not super-familiar with getting around Chicago (and might be coming in from out of town), any suggestions on where to park/how to approach the place?

EDIT: Duh. Says "street parking." Was thinking I might have to park a long way away and negotiate the public transport.

 

90/94 To downtown,exit Lake street. Proceed west on Lake to Loomis( between Racine and Ashland Ave.about 3/4 mile from expressway) Chicago parking sucks-bring $ quarters or credit card for the meter.(some areas are free on Sunday, not sure about that one).

 

Thank you, gentlemen. Appreciate the insight. While I've got a steady hand -- nerves of steel and all that -- some of my few adventures with Chicago driving (and parking) have left me... almost tense. I'd rather fight off a pack wolverines with a chicken drumstick than negotiate some of the traffic I've encountered there.

 

It shouldn't be too bad once you get off the highway. Music Garage is in an industrial section that's pretty quiet on the weekends. And on that note, my recollection (it's been a few years) is that they have a parking lot, and that street parking is fairly easy to come by around there on a Sunday.

I plan to be there, probably a little after 4.

 

Greg, are you the Greg I met there yesterday? If so, you and I could both use less obvious Talkbass code names. Er... I mean my real name is Phillip.

Thanks to Mike and Tim for putting this on. I arrived more than halfway through the GTG -- later than I'd intended. Between that and my slightly piggy urge to play everything, I failed to take full social advantage of the event, but still got to meet several neat people and to play around with the Tantra amp (which I barely scratched the surface of) and several of Tim's basses (all of which were pretty cool).

It was interesting to hear different people's playing styles and how they could make the same equipment sound completely different. One guy, Shawn, played with his Lakland jazz bass and I was like, "Wow, what tone that guy has." Really full and organic. I could recognize that he was a good player, but wondered about the bass, too. He mentioned that he tuned down a whole step. Then he picked up another bass -- the same one I'd just played, with different woods, different pickups, and in standard tuning -- and the same tone was there. Obviously, he'd flipped some switch or something that I'd missed.

 

Darn, I just saw this!
I grew up in Chicago and live just north of the city.

Oh well ......

Next time!

 

Not sure, but I think there was talk of maybe doing something like this again at some point. The weather was nuts the day of the GTG -- 100+ degree heat, followed by rain, followed by various severe weather alerts, so the turnout was only so-so. Maybe drop Tim or Mike Arnopol a line?

 

The 2017 Chicago GTG is coming up!
Chicago Spring GTG is a Go! Sunday April 30th, 1:30-6PM
Forgive the Thread necromancy, but I'm reaching out to those who may have sub'd to earlier Chicago GTG threads.

 

I appreciate this -- I'm interested, and wouldn't have seen it otherwise.