Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"

[alaskaleftybass]

Ummmm....guys.............what's a ramp?

 

[alaskaleftybass]

View attachment 3745260

Note the Ampeg Baby Bass.

Man! I'll bet they're worth a pretty penny nowadays. Sweet...

 

[Passinwind]

Ummmm....guys.............what's a ramp?

Bass Ramps: The How and Why

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Bass Ramps: The How and Why

Thanks Charlie!

 

[Passinwind]

Thanks Charlie!

Seeing Damian use one on a show I mixed years ago was what originally piqued my interest. But I think he's gone back to a passive four string with no ramp for the most part these days, FWIW.

One big reason I took the ramp off my older fretless is that I wanted to start using it with a slide too, now that I've dialed in smaller and lighter slides. The position between the two pickups is a sweet spot and the ramp just interfered with using it.

 

[GonePlaid]

Saturday was scary. Everything was depleted like I’ve never seen. One big store had a limit of 2 of the same items. No TP, no sanitizers, no alcohol in the pharmacies. Sunday there was TP at least but still a lot of empty shelves. I spent most of the day hunting from store to store. What makes it worse in my area is a lot of people eat out all the time. So couple the hoarders with a lot of people buying groceries that normally never do, it put a strain on the stores.

One concern is stock from Italy. Cans of stewed tomatoes and paste, pizza sauce, and pasta are in short supply. Who knows when it will be available again.

There was a cartoon wherein Floridians were looking at the rest of the country 'stocking up' and saying "First time?", since that happens here every hurricane threat.

 

[GonePlaid]

I guess you've never looked into the whole phenomenon of bass ramps then? One major bullet point is to make digging in excessively physically impossible.

?

 

[Passinwind]

?

Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"

 

[GonePlaid]

Gut or nylon strings help but the action is high. See time 2:15.

IDK if you can tell it from the clip, but the bass man is always playing octaves, thumb and a finger with the right hand, usually index and 'ring' with the left. I spoke with the bassist in the Mariachi Band at EPCOT once. I don't remember the tunings, but you'll see the thing has 6 strings-the top 3 tuned in octaves with the bottom 3. It's also pretty heavy and with that big body projects very well.

 

[GonePlaid]

Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"

My "?" was a shorter version of Will's "What's a ramp?" Never heard of them. Looked it up b4 seeing your post of how and why. Still leaves me wondering.

 

[Passinwind]

My "?" was a shorter version of Will's "What's a ramp?" Never heard of them. Looked it up b4 seeing your post of how and why. Still leaves me wondering.

There are zillions of TB threads on them, and lots of people who don't get it for one reason or another. IME it's mostly a jazz fusion thing for guys who play lots of solos and/or chordal stuff. Since I've always played with a very light touch and often play over the neck rather than the body, it's really not a big deal one way or the other for me.

 

[GonePlaid]

There are zillions of TB threads on them, and lots of people who don't get it for one reason or another. IME it's mostly a jazz fusion thing for guys who play lots of solos and/or chordal stuff. Since I've always played with a very light touch and often play over the neck rather than the body, it's really not a big deal one way or the other for me.

I generally don't go 'wandering' on TB. I spend too much time in the clubs I'm in as is. My main bass(1967 THUNDERBIRD NR)has a hand rest over the neck pup and I play mostly fingers just behind it or sometimes in front for a bassier tone.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

IDK if you can tell it from the clip, but the bass man is always playing octaves, thumb and a finger with the right hand, usually index and 'ring' with the left. I spoke with the bassist in the Mariachi Band at EPCOT once. I don't remember the tunings, but you'll see the thing has 6 strings-the top 3 tuned in octaves with the bottom 3. It's also pretty heavy and with that big body projects very well.

I played a lot of years in the 70's into the 80's with a successful trio. Guitar, bass and drums. Over those years I developed my own style of 'octave playing' to help fill the holes when the guitarist took off on a solo. I still use that occasionally when appropriate, and it sounds really nice when used appropriately.

I'll never forget when we got called into our agent's office. He said, "boys, you've done a great job as a trio. But I want you to get a female singer/guitarist. We were living in Seattle and thankfully there were a lot of ladies to audition. We found an excellent lady singer/guitarist. She was one of the guys and easy to work with. We never had time to resent her addition because our worth went up immediately and we started playing much nicer rooms like hotels with nice lounges and restaurants. Fun times.

 

[beans-on-toast]

My "?" was a shorter version of Will's "What's a ramp?" Never heard of them. Looked it up b4 seeing your post of how and why. Still leaves me wondering.

I’ve seen them on a couple on five and six string basses and they were a bit different from one another. A block of wood with a radius that matches the fingerboard is placed between the two pickups. It serves as a rest, allowing you to pluck while positioning your hand close to or over the pickups.

Here is a demo.

Charlie knows way more about this than I ever will. I can see it as being very useful on instruments with wide fingerboards.

 

[GwenOnBass]

That lady who sang with you back then is an old lady now, Will Let's hear it for Blues Monday.

​

 

[GwenOnBass]

I’ve seen a couple on five and six string basses and they were a bit different from one another. A block of wood with a radius that matches the fingerboard is placed between the two pickups. It serves as a rest, allowing you to pluck while positioning your hand close to or over the pickups.

Here is a demo.

I pluck so many ways, and only now really beginning to pay super close attention to my that hand. Whichever you call yours, left or right me no care. Most of my "digging in" habits come from the handy thumb rest on the MM pickup. And I believe that is very much a part of the Stingray sound.

Began playing closer to the neck, and even on the neck, but mostly play at the harmonic below the fret/fingerboard. It's just where the Thunder'Tron-style pickup's magnets are, and "up there" mostly use a combination of floating thumb and left hand muting. Who knew how much there is to be conscious of?

 

[the harp unstrung]

It’s Blues Monday, mama!

 

[the harp unstrung]

Did I miss a chance to introduce my Old-Blues-Man name?!

I’m thinking of:
Stale Bread Tommy...

 

[GwenOnBass]

We called it construction bread.

 

[beans-on-toast]

IDK if you can tell it from the clip, but the bass man is always playing octaves, thumb and a finger with the right hand, usually index and 'ring' with the left. I spoke with the bassist in the Mariachi Band at EPCOT once. I don't remember the tunings, but you'll see the thing has 6 strings-the top 3 tuned in octaves with the bottom 3. It's also pretty heavy and with that big body projects very well.

It’s an interesting instrument. The octaves add a fuller sound, almost like a rhythm guitar. As Will said, it fills in a guitar sound. I was looking at how he was plucking the strings. It appears that he was pulling pairs in unison as opposed to strumming them up or down. But it was fast.

Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick plays a 12 string bass. Four bass strings, each with a pair of octave strings. He uses a bass amp and a guitar amp. The sound is full, like the combination of a guitar and a bass. Often the lead guitar player stops playing and you hear what sounds like a guitar in the background. People accuse them of playing to pre-recorded tracks, but it’s all from the bass. It must be hard to play well.