tiny bass for open stage events

Höfner, definitely. Violin or Club. Short scale hollowbody has that thump that meshes with acoustic guitar, plus it looks the part, plus it's nice and compact on a potentially crowded stage.

Ultra cheap: At least a piece of foam on the bridge. Turn the tone knob all the way down.
Cheap: An Ibanez Mikro in walnut flat would look better.
Not so cheap: This might also work for the look and the sound.

I've been to a show where the bass player used an acoustic bass guitar: the worst bass tone I heard in my life.

Fretless with flats

BBB

I would try one of the ukelele basses. They are easy to play, sound great, and lots of fun! I wasn't a fretless player, but I bought a Kala fretless ubass and was playing it out the next day. I had no problem with staying in tune at all! To me at least it seems natural compared to a long scale bass. Your hands stay relaxed, you don't have to reach for notes at all or do shifting. The fretted ones work best when you fret right in the middle between frets and not against the fret like normal bass. I think it has a longer learning curve than fretless, at least for me. Another option is a short scale with flats or tape wounds. Here is a photo of my ubass and my homebuilt cigar box ukelele bass

iuserneim said:

the problem is, that i have to rely on what amp they have. often times, it could be just the pa. and this makes a precision, or lets say a "regular fretted bass" sound way too percussive and out of line, when there is an acoustic guitar and a cajon playing.


it's not about volume. it's about tone. at these events, the tone often times ends up too thin, like you'd play through a guitar amp.

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I'd be taking a small bass amp rather than a small bass.....or go big and play upright.

gmarcus said:

Check out a short scale semi hollow body. Like a guild starfire.

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That's what I use. But, I use it most of the time anyway.

Glarry mini bass, just around $100 USD. I got this one new for $50 on Craigslist because the original owner didn't know how to solder the wire back on the pickup. 26 inch scale.

I made it a piccolo bass but it could sound good as a bass with quality strings.


Here's my TB thread on it:
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/ne...lackstar-fly3-tiny-amp.1653949/#post-28519103

The standard guitar HSC shows how small the Glarry mini bass is.

Punches far above its weight for tone with proper strings, and the price is right.

iuserneim said:

Hi everyone. I've found a jazz or precision to sound way out of line when I jam with a singer/songwriter with their acoustic guitar at an open stage event. Now I was thinking to get something like an Ashbory or ukulele bass or something. Not only would the tone be nice, but also the small form factor. What would you recommend and why?

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The U-Bass sounds pretty darn good to me, and is extremely portable.

Cheapest one beside the blackstar travel bass, would be the Kala. Next up is the Tiny boy. The secret is the string. The Tiny Boy has the Dogal string which sounds just like the full size 34" scale bass.


This is my custom 5 string 23" scale it sounds just like the full size ones. The strings tested at the end of the video were normal strings.

iuserneim said:

the problem is, that i have to rely on what amp they have. often times, it could be just the pa. and this makes a precision, or lets say a "regular fretted bass" sound way too percussive and out of line, when there is an acoustic guitar and a cajon playing.

Click to expand...

There's no reason why a Pbass shouldn't sound good straight into the PA. If the vocal and acoustic guitar sound good then so should the bass...... you've just got to EQ it properly.
I've probably played more gigs with acoustic guitars and Cajon than in full band settings and I've never had a problem getting an acceptable sound.
You might want to take a preamp pedal or EQ pedal to your gigs in case the PA doesn't have enough adjustments, such as going into a channel on a cheap desk without EQ pots. Using a Pbass isn't the problem unless it also sounds crap through a bass amp.

Steinberger Spirit.

This:

Plus these:

= Match made in Heaven.

Tiny enuff
https://reverb.com/au/item/77166028-samick-corsair-mcr-1-mini-bass-guitar-w-bag-25-short-scale

Uke/Ashbory. They've got the right sound. You'll adapt very quickly.

Howz about a black Hofner shorty violin bass. 30" scale with a beefy neck but tiny body. Kind of look classy imho

iuserneim said:

Hi everyone. I've found a jazz or precision to sound way out of line when I jam with a singer/songwriter with their acoustic guitar at an open stage event. Now I was thinking to get something like an Ashbory or ukulele bass or something. Not only would the tone be nice, but also the small form factor. What would you recommend and why?

Click to expand...

Fender Mustang Bass with LaBella flatwound strings?

I gig occasionally with my Uke basses. All have metal flatwound strings and regular pickups. I would recommend a solid body Uke, like the new Kala or similar with the Galli flats. I think they work great, plenty of low end and it is like walking in with a mandolin but really sounds like a bass.

iuserneim said:

Hi everyone. I've found a jazz or precision to sound way out of line when I jam with a singer/songwriter with their acoustic guitar at an open stage event. Now I was thinking to get something like an Ashbory or ukulele bass or something. Not only would the tone be nice, but also the small form factor. What would you recommend and why?

Click to expand...

A ukulele bass will probably sound bassy enough even with the most clueless of sound guys at the board.
However, its characteristic string complement (polyurethane strings) can be a little high-maintenance: they take some time to settle because they stretch a lot, they can be fragile, they can be sticky, they need resetting (because of their continuous stretching) every once in a while.


So I would suggest either getting a cheap one (Harley Benton Kahuna CLU)
Harley Benton Kahuna CLU-Bass Ukulele
with a set of Galli nylon-core, nylon round-filament wound strings, the UXB810 (already recommended by another member in post #32 above)
Galli Strings UXB810 Ukulele Bass Str.
or, alternatively, with nylon-core, chrome-steel flatwound strings, the Kala KA-BASS-4FW, also known as Galli UXB910C (mentioned in the post above this one)
Galli Strings UXB910C Ukulele Bass Str.

or a still affordable guitar-scale acoustic bass guitar (Harley Benton GS-Travel-E Bass)
Harley Benton GS-Travel-E Bass Mahogany
with a set of nylon-core, chrome-nickel flatwounds, the Pyramid 639 100 (aka Pyramid 23.5" GS MiniSet)
Pyramid 23,5" Acoustic Bass GS MiniSet

Both would look the part, be compact and sound thumpy. The latter should require less adapting to the scale, with inter-fret distances being about the same as capoing a 35" 5-string at the 7th fret, tuned down a whole step (neck width/depth would of course be a lot narrower than that).



Nth edit -
GSAB type instruments, like the latter I linked to, come with nylon-core, phosphor bronze roundwound strings (D'Addario XTB3790GS); which type is also an option for uke basses (some sets are silver-plated copper instead of bronze wound: Kala/La Bella KA-BASS-4, Pyramid 508 201, Aquila Round Spirals, Gold Tone/La Bella MBLNS Silverbacks).
Basically, a scaled-up version of classical-guitar style wound strings.
The thing is, for *your* specific application, i.e. being fool-proof at festivals, I would avoid those: they can be made to sound thin with inadequate EQ.