Acoustic Bass

[Badger71]

Hya guys! What's the general consensus about acoustic bass guitars. I like the 'folky' sound you get from them. I'm in the market got one and I have around £400 to spend. What would you suggest?

Thanks

Jason

[JTE]

I suggest you read a few of the many threads already on here about acoustic bass guitars. This topic comes up so often, it's really pointless to open a new thread.

[FrednBass]

Will never sound as loud as an acoustic guitar.



Now, I'll just get me some popcorn...

[chadds]

Originally Posted by FrednBass

Will never sound as loud as an acoustic guitar.



Now, I'll just get me some popcorn...

At its loudest perhaps no. If that's your point particularly a Dreadnaught Martin I agree.

You can have volume wars or you can choose to play music together.

Despite all that I play them for their tone. I do okay with others and its quite fine. Yet if a djembe or conga player shows he through his listening, plays such that he complements the music.

I'll raise you two Raisinets!

[lustersilk]

Mine (Carvin C450T) has a super warm mellow sound that I love plugged in. It doesn't hang well with more than one other acoustic unplugged. It it prone to feedback issues when trying to get a lot of volume out of it plugged in.

In general, they make an awesome couch bass, they are great around the bon-fire and low volume gigs, that is my experience.

[pumpkinking39]

Originally Posted by FrednBass

Will never sound as loud as an acoustic guitar.



Now, I'll just get me some popcorn...

Tis true. My Dean Exotica is a beautiful sounding bass though, better than some martins i played on IMO. Sounds phenomenal when plugged in. Such a sweet sound when the EQ is set just right on the bass.

[CaptainLetsDanc]

The consensus here is that acoustic basses aren't loud enough for any serious playing. I want one for busking around town, but that means two acoustic guitars and a cajon. I refuse to believe that I am s.o.l. in this scenario. Can anyone speak to this?

[LakeEffect]

I can let you know, I should have a Boulder Creek fretless 5 to hang with me in my back yard in the next few weeks.

[LakeEffect]

And... I jam with a Cajon(ist?) quite frequently. I refuse to believe bassists have to stay inside or carry extension cords to enjoy their instruments audibly.

[hrodbert696]

I used to have a Michael Kelly Dragonfly fretless ABG, and really enjoyed playing it. As others have said, it does NOT keep up volume-wise with an acoustic guitar; playing with my wife, if I dug in hard with a heavy pick and she played lightly with a felt pick we could just about even it out. Otherwise it needs amplification. But I loved the sound of it, and you could do the couch/campfire thing with it. Like an idiot myself, I sold it to an idiot who put solidbody strings on it and promptly wrecked the thing.

[dvh]

Originally Posted by CaptainLetsDanc

The consensus here is that acoustic basses aren't loud enough for any serious playing. I want one for busking around town, but that means two acoustic guitars and a cajon. I refuse to believe that I am s.o.l. in this scenario. Can anyone speak to this?

Yes. I tried that very thing; busking with two guitars and a mandolin. I had an ABG and used a pick (which I do not prefer) to try and get as much volume as possible.

Wasn't much fun. Not nearly enough volume and didn't sound very bass-like....

[Hawkbone]

Originally Posted by LakeEffect

And... I jam with a Cajon(ist?) quite frequently. I refuse to believe bassists have to stay inside or carry extension cords to enjoy their instruments audibly.

Well you might enjoy it unplugged, but doubtful anyone not uncomfortably close to you will because they just won't hear it. Refuse to believe if you want but physics says an acoustic bass guitar will struggle volume wise with other instruments.

[pumpkinking39]

One of the problems, volume wise, is that with the acoustic basses ive played, the bodies are like guitar body sized. This creates a problem. Guitarrons (excuse me if i misspelled it) have such a huge body that you can hear it over the other mariachi instruments. An actual acoustic bass guitar that isnt a guitarron but has a huge body is the Ernie Ball Earthbound acoustics but good luck finding one.

Point being, physics of sound wont allow a normal sized acoustic bass to be louder than a normal acoustic guitar, sadly.

We've beaten this to death now.

[chadds]

This is funny this intense belief set about this. This is also about "you get what you pay for".

The dedicated guitarist often has a nice moderately expensive acoustic guitar. One designed for tone and projection.
As an after thought when gas sets in the bassist goes to the store and spends $150. on a cardboard sounding thing then can't keep up with other folks.
I've played those that you can talk over.

Spend $600 on up and things really start to change. Spend serious money and it gets glorious. But then are you taking your 2K Larrivee, Klein, Breedlove, or Maize camping or to a beach campfire?

The Tacoma was the loudest best value around. Now that they are rare and discontinued I wouldn't take one into the woods or sand.

Of course physics comes into play. If you care get an upright. Again the cheaper it is the less loud it will be. (The old Kays were an exception)

My last point is that not one of those guitarists can overcome horns, congas and djembes so give it up

If you are playing with musicians who want to play music together and will make space for all the contributors then an ABG can be a wonderful thing.

For small house concerts doing Dylan I bring a very tiny but excellent amp and a P.

[Landy67]

If your acoustic bass guitar isn't as loud as a cajone, you probably aren't hitting hard enough, or in the right spot! Just keep slapping it everywhere till you find the sweet spot!

My local guitar shop has a few, and I wanted one for playing around the campfire. The Fender T-Bucket is the loudest one I've tried, and it's not terribly expensive. The big problem with it is the direction of the sound. If you aren't directly in front of it you aren't going to hear it.

Like Chadds said, get a small amp, or a Fernandes Nomad bass. It's got a speaker built in.

[atticpenny]

About 10 years ago, I was playing a lot of coffee house / acoustic / open mic gigs. I wasn't overly impressed with the majority of the production line ABGs that were available then, as most were made of laminated Mahogany and I didn't think they projected very well, or sounded very good overall. I splurged and got a custom cutaway Martin ABG, with a solid Spruce top, solid Rosewood sides and back, Rosewood fretboard. Built - in Fishman preamp eq with notch and phase filters, and blend control for both a saddle pickup and internal microphone. This thing sounds beautiful, both plugged in and on its own. For outdoor use around campfires or busking with friends, I would run it through a Pignose Hog 30 rechargeable bass amp. That worked great; it was a fast, lightweight setup, and I didn't have to run any power extension cords. It projected well enough on its own for light rehearsals in the living room with other acoustic instruments, but I always plugged it in to a PA for gigs. Although I don't do any acoustic stuff like that these days, I still use it as my "couch practice" instrument to play along with tracks I'm learning for cover band stuff. I have never regretted the purchase.

[GBassNorth]

ABGs can be fun and rewarding in small intimate home settings or coffee shops as long as you aren't against plugging in a micro combo amp (i.e. a Phil Jones briefcase or a Roland micro cube or a battery powered 8" micro) there's plenty of options out there. Any acoustic band worth playing with understands the bass guitar has to be slightly amplified to keep up with the other instruments.
I have 3 ABGs - a Breedlove 5 string, a Mahogany Kala UBass and a Graphite Rainsong.
Of the three the Rainsong projects the loudest un amped, but good luck finding one, they made less than ten of them.
The Breedlove is fantastically built and sounds great, just stay with the 4 string version (the low B is useless without an amp).
The Kala is the real sleeper of the three. It is significantly louder (when plugged in) than the others and has the closest sound I've ever found to a DB. The only catch is that it's the size of a ukulele so from a looks standpoint it may be a bit odd, but it sure does play well (it sidelined my other ABGs). Check out this YouTube clip to see how good they can sound...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZwhRCOA_Yg

[lustersilk]

Originally Posted by CaptainLetsDanc

The consensus here is that acoustic basses aren't loud enough for any serious playing. I want one for busking around town, but that means two acoustic guitars and a cajon. I refuse to believe that I am s.o.l. in this scenario. Can anyone speak to this?

IMHO you won't be heard very well, if at all. I've played with this exact amount if instruments, except bongo's instead. Add a couple of people singing and I don't think so.

A Roland Micro Cube Bass amp would solve your problems better than buying an acoustic bass for busking, trust me.

[Badger71]

I ended up getting an Ibanez EWB20. Love it to bits. Sounds great. It is a bit quiet compared to my main guitar (lowden O12c) but not against a small cube amp to make myself heard.

Thanks for your input guys

[zon6c-f]

I f you notice, most A B G's have a piezo- transducer system for amplification.

In my opinion, without amplification...you probably won't be heard 'acoustically'.

As others have posted.. There is a quality jump; the more you pay..the better.

Less expensive A B G 's will probably have intonation problems that are not an easy fix as with electrics

Good luck and keep us posted..