Hi, my name is Jamie Floate and i am a lefty bass player from the South-East of England.

I started playing bass about 12 years ago when i had the opportunity to join a signed British alternative metal band called earthtone9, so i switched to bass from guitar (which i had been playing for about 8 years before that).

I still play guitar in another band although i am most busy playing bass in my current band Liquid Jacket. We are a covers band and we play all kinds of music from Van Halen to Stevie Wonder, Ted Nugent to Jamiroquai, basically we are a party rock band, so imagine a jukebox at a party, those are the songs we like to play! I play with a pick (ex-guitarist syndrome!!) but am currently learning fingerstyle and slap. Until recently i have been mainly playing a 6 string bass, although i started on a 4 string, but this week my new 5 string arrived and i love it!

My bass setup is pretty simple, i use the KISS method (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) so i run into my Zoom B3 in the front end, into a cheap Behringer dual compressor, i have one channel on slow release feeding into the second channel on a faster release, which then feeds my old Trace Elliot AH300 amp head and my Trace 4x10 cab. I only use the Zoom for tuning and FX on a couple of songs (like the synth-bass intro to Deeper Underground by Jamiroquai), and i generally don't touch my sound at gigs, only the volume. Once i find a sound i like i tend to stick with it and just alter my picking dynamic to get different tones for different songs (like a more gentle approach for James Brown's 'It's a man's man's world').

I upgraded the pickups in 2 of my basses, i like to do this sort of job myself, although wiring isn't my favourite hobby! It is amazing how good a cheap bass with good pickups can sound!!!
I would say i am influenced by Tony Levin, Nathan East, Bernard Edwards, Geezer Butler, Jason Newsted, Larry Graham and Juan Alderete although i can't play like those guys!!!
Please feel free to check out my band's Youtube channel (just search Liquid Jacket).
Keep rocking it up fellow leftys!!!

Yamaha TRB1005L

Yamaha BBN4L (x2!)

Brice HXB406L (6 strings upgraded with EMG DC bridge position

EMG CS neck position)

SX 5 string fretless

Vintage Stingray copy (upgraded with Seymour Duncan Alnico classic MM pickup)

Trace Elliot AH300 (rackmounted)

Trace Elliot 4x10 cab (both original '80s models)

Outboard: Behringer MDX1200 compressor, Zoom B3 multi effects