AndyTravis Posted May 20, 2021 Share Posted May 20, 2021 Saw this, liked it - doubt Iād use itā¦ Darenāt look for a price. Like the modern look though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted May 20, 2021 Share Posted May 20, 2021 I never got the whole ramp thing - it always looked like a crutch for players who havenāt sorted their finger-style technique. š 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted May 20, 2021 Share Posted May 20, 2021 Just now, JapanAxe said: I never got the whole ramp thing - it always looked like a crutch for players who havenāt sorted their finger-style technique. š I see what you mean but thatās like saying low action is a crutchĀ for those with bad fretting technique.Ā 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverBlackman Posted May 20, 2021 Share Posted May 20, 2021 (edited) 52 minutes ago, ped said: I see what you mean but thatās like saying low action is a crutchĀ for those with bad fretting technique.Ā I once tried a pre ownedĀ MTD at the gallery and the action was set so low I could barely play it. Sounded thin and nasallyĀ Ā too. Probably was perfect for someone else. Edit: itās a no from me on the Fodera. Looks like a ChineseĀ copy of a Monarch that went wrong in the machine. Edited May 20, 2021 by OliverBlackman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted May 20, 2021 Author Share Posted May 20, 2021 I just donāt like the amount of switchesĀ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 (edited) At least it's different(ish) It'll also be atĀ least Ā£60,000...Ā š Edited May 21, 2021 by Lfalex v1.1 Edit- Which is expensive for something likely to be mistaken for a Strandberg or an Ibanez with a bite taken out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 Also.. "Ramp on, Ramp off, Daniel-San" 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 8 hours ago, JapanAxe said: I never got the whole ramp thing - it always looked like a crutch for players who havenāt sorted their finger-style technique. š Yes. Just like all those DB players playing over the fingerboard. Clearly a crutch. 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munurmunuh Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 9 hours ago, JapanAxe said: I never got the whole ramp thing I never got the whole being anxious about technique thing. The bass got invented by a non-musician trying to be helpful, and bassists found that it wanted to be played differently. Some people found one way worked for them, some people found another way worked for them, and another group decided that their way was the "correct" way, and managed to persuadeĀ huge swathes of bassists to believe them, possibly because it looks so fastidious and artificial.Ā If a classical singer has an incorrect technique, you can literally hear it interfering with theirĀ tone. If someone is playing a bass with a ramp, what's the negative impact on the tone? If you've anxiety in need of something to do, take up the piano and worry about over-using the sustain pedal, the greatest crutch there is š Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverBlackman Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 48 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said: If someone is playing a bass with a ramp, what's the negative impact on the tone? If you've anxiety in need of something to do, take up the piano and worry about over-using the sustain pedal, the greatest crutch there is š Just to be pedantic, if you use the ramp for your thumbĀ it is limiting where you pluck on the bass slightly as you have the gap between neck pickup and neck and bridge pickup and bridge. With the floating technique you can pluck anywhere hassle free. And yes I am trying to get away from the sustain pedal š 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 21 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said: Just to be pedantic, if you use the ramp for your thumbĀ it is limiting where you pluck on the bass slightly as you have the gap between neck pickup and neck and bridge pickup and bridge. With the floating technique you can pluck anywhere hassle free. And yes I am trying to get away from the sustain pedal š Itās actually more about the feel under the fingers rather than a thumb rest.Ā 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 I like them. I don't have them at the moment, and I don't need them, I just find them very comfortable. And I'm not convinced that Gary Willis or Billy Sheehan could be accused of having poor finger technique and needing a crutch. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 All of which moot in the case of this bass; If you don't like ramps- Ramp Off. If you like ramps- Ramp On. š 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 Surely the important issue is the amount of wood remo.... sorry, I almost forgot... the amount ofĀ tonewood removed from the core path of the strings? It's almost as if they don't care š¢ 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 The way the ramp is radiusedĀ and the pickups are not is not befitting a bass with a price tag like that. The amount of work which went into this and to mismatch like that is, quite frankly, wack, cuz. George Michael never sangĀ "If you're gonna do it, do it wrong!" for a bloody good reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloke_zero Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 When you watch Jaco play sometimes he is moving his right hand along the strings to get different tones - surely something like this would faciliate that?Ā a lot of what I do is trying to remove the difference between notes and I'd have thought having a solid base for the thumb would also help that? I don't want one but if someone else does then cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverBlackman Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 1 hour ago, ped said: Itās actually more about the feel under the fingers rather than a thumb rest.Ā Ok now Iām intrigued. Why would you want your fingers to hit something? Surely that will have an impact on how much pressure you put on the string? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 1 hour ago, Doctor J said: The way the ramp is radiusedĀ and the pickups are not is not befitting a bass with a price tag like that. The amount of work which went into this and to mismatch like that is, quite frankly, wack, cuz. George Michael never sangĀ "If you're gonna do it, do it wrong!" for a bloody good reason. something like this makes more sense Ā Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 Probably time for me to clarify! Why I never āgotā ramps - because I never found myself thinking, āIt would really help if there was a surface a small distance under the strings beneath my picking fingers.ā Why I thought it looked like a crutch for technique - I assumed it was to ensure that the player is always contacting the string with the same part of the picking finger;Ā and to aid fast playing by preventingĀ the fingers from going too far below the strings. I hadnāt considered the fact that it would make the playing area feel more like that of a double bass. My anti-gear-snobbery mantra (to myself principally!) is: Use what works for you.Ā So my bad for casting aspersions on ramps in general, crack on and ignore my ill-judged comment. Ā Ā Ā 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belka Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 2 hours ago, OliverBlackman said: Just to be pedantic, if you use the ramp for your thumbĀ it is limiting where you pluck on the bass slightly as you have the gap between neck pickup and neck and bridge pickup and bridge. With the floating technique you can pluck anywhere hassle free. And yes I am trying to get away from the sustain pedal š Floating thumb technique is perfectly applicable to basses with ramps, it doesn't hinder it in any way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverBlackman Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 9 minutes ago, Belka said: Floating thumb technique is perfectly applicable to basses with ramps, it doesn't hinder it in any way. I wrongly assumedĀ the ramp was there to rest the thumb. @pedĀ has corrected me.l although Iām now more confused about its relevance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 (edited) 12 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said: I wrongly assumedĀ the ramp was there to rest the thumb. @pedĀ has corrected me.l although Iām now more confused about its relevance. It restricts how much you dig in on the strings. Works REALLY well for that actually. I had an adjustable ramp on a Shuker 6 I ordered years ago. My current ACGs have pretty large pickup enclosures so don't really need a ramp. 13 hours ago, JapanAxe said: I never got the whole ramp thing - it always looked like a crutch for players who havenāt sorted their finger-style technique. š Tell that to Billy Sheehan who's been using his P pickups as ramps for YEARS... Or maybe Gary Willis who's a fan of them... But different strokes for different folks! Edit: I see somebody beat me to the Sheehan/Willis comment, but I think it bears repeating... Edited May 21, 2021 by Bigwan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 I'll just leave this here: 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munurmunuh Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 58 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said: I wrongly assumedĀ the ramp was there to rest the thumb. @pedĀ has corrected me.l although Iām now more confused about its relevance. I presumed that it was to give players who like to rest their thumb on the pickups a wide range of places they could do that, to give them more tonal variety, so I'm nicely confused now, too š As my relatively-oversized thumb likes to rest flat on the body, relaxingĀ alongside the E string,Ā there's no danger of my ever wanting one, so my ignorance isn't a problem. But, still, curiosity is curiosity...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 2 hours ago, OliverBlackman said: Ok now Iām intrigued. Why would you want your fingers to hit something? Surely that will have an impact on how much pressure you put on the string? Not really. When I play without a ramp my finger hits the string at about 45 degrees. So not flat with the board like a plectrum would, and not a vertical impact like slap. A ramp changes the angle of attack - it's like pulling your finger across a flat surface and there just happens to be a string in the way. It's very much a horizontal interaction with the string. If you look at different players fingers, without a ramp the plucking finger comes to rest against the next string, sometimes causing a bit of a thump and the joints are all are gently bent. Ā With a ramp the next string doesn't need to be touched at all and the finger geometry is a bit different (for me anyway) in that the proximal phalanx stays straighter with the main part of the hand, and the middle phalanx bends down more to allow that more horizontal movement. Ā It does need a bit of technique adjustment - just hammering away like Steve Harris won't work with a ramp - the angle of approach to the string is different. Ā It's easy to try - bit of old smooth wood and double sided tape. Don't worry about curving the top, just get the idea. It's definitely not for everyone, but I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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