Seems to be harder to get the same kind of tonal fatness from the bass strings at the 1st fret versus (say) 4th or 5th fret on the bass strings.

Any suggestions?

The sweet spot on those notes is a narrow target just far enough behind the fret for a clean tone but clear of the damper. It calls for clean technique, a fairly strong tap and an amp capable of reproducing bass tones that deep. Railboards have a lot more room behind the first fret so this is almost a non-issue.

I had the same issue with my Railboard.
I switched to RMR tuning and a bit of EQ.
I'm now a happy camper.

Assuming your setup is good, then the best thing for consistent tone and volume on the bass strings,regardless of what fret you are playing at, is to use hand movement to support the fingers.

This approach is laid out very specifically in my DVD, Basic Free Hands Technique

http://www.stick.com/method/dvd/bfht/



Here is another example of how good things can sound at fret #1... the specific section starts at 0:38

I guess he's talking about 1st fret for non x-fret stick which is kind of hard..

All of the above and practice, practice, practice.

Thanks. I’ll try varying a bit more and see what I can suss

Thanks Greg. I’d actually like to book some sessions with you, but couldn’t see a schedule of available times, as I’m in the UK so wanted to check diary compatibility. Can you let me know how best to do this?

My schedule is pretty flexible these days as far as your ebvenings go.

send me an email to stickist@aol.com, and we can find a day and time that suits. Cheers!

Done! Look forward to working with you.