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ABGs - some experiences thoughts and questions.
- Thread starter Axstar
- Start date
Me versus the notifications telling me I've been quoted...
Thanks everybody so far for answering here! I'm sensing a couple of themes here:
How did I do??
- A decent ABG really is a ground-up specially designed instrument, not a bigger/longer acoustic guitar with fewer strings. And you pay for it!
- I won't get an upright sound out of an ABG.
- I will have to plug in!
- There are some cool upright solutions out there!
- Some sort of flats are the way to go; ditch the phosphor bronzers.
I'm guessing that basically ABG are a much of a muchness, so I might as well get one I like and ditch the pretense of playing plugged in.
My idea of an 'upright' sound is a bit of fretless 'mwah', but woodier than a fretless electric bass. A nice sort of boxy low-mids response as well. This is why I think defretting a bass is the way to go. I'm talking about absolutely faking it, rather than nailing the tone.
I tried a friend's Stagg electric upright and didn't enjoy it. I used to play viola as a kid, so I'm not against rightly radiused necks, but... through a Big Muff it was fun for five minutes.
So this guy plus pliers:
I tried the natural finish version of this and it was good enough, really. Pretty quiet, but it didn't feel a mile away from my Starfire in terms of size.
From the video, looks like you're getting hosed.
I play upright.
I’ve never really gelled with regular-scale ABGs.
I’ve actually preferred the sound of Uke Basses, but I haven’t played one yet that felt 100% “right” or had even string-to-string balance volume-wise.
This is what I’m interested in now: Parlour-size basses.
I’ve never really gelled with regular-scale ABGs.
I’ve actually preferred the sound of Uke Basses, but I haven’t played one yet that felt 100% “right” or had even string-to-string balance volume-wise.
This is what I’m interested in now: Parlour-size basses.
TI Jazz Flats have some similarities with TI Spirocore double bass strings - the Jazz Flats have a simple round steel core and Spirocores have a spiral braided steel core, but both have a silk layer in them and a similar outer winding. Though Spirocores are very much at the bright, growly sustaining end of double bass strings, not so much about old-school thump.
I have been using a $150 Ubass knock off from Rondo for a couple of years when I don’t want to drag the big girl. Amplification required, but the sound is big and thick and sounds more like a DB than any ABG is likely to get. I had that Dean and sold it, ‘cause it just didn’t sound very good.
this is the reason I started playing upright bass.
in the 90's I tired finding a decent ABG that I could use at beach parties, campouts, street jams, etc.
nothing, I mean NOTHING was loud enough or sounded very good.
finally, I bought a cheap UB, got used to it enough to jam with people, and that was it, never looked at ABG again.
I've upgraded to a semi-decent UB, but always looking for something better, because on UB, there are so many levels of quality.
AND, as a bonus, they sound like an upright! (and they look good)
in the 90's I tired finding a decent ABG that I could use at beach parties, campouts, street jams, etc.
nothing, I mean NOTHING was loud enough or sounded very good.
finally, I bought a cheap UB, got used to it enough to jam with people, and that was it, never looked at ABG again.
I've upgraded to a semi-decent UB, but always looking for something better, because on UB, there are so many levels of quality.
AND, as a bonus, they sound like an upright! (and they look good)
I had an older MIK Fender-32 ... installed black tapewounds ... sounded cool and thumpy thru an amp ... but the tape wounds made it fairly useless as an acoustic alone ... adjusted nut/bridge to improve and lower action ..
Too rich for my blood!
I've seen these for sale online. As they don't have a soundhole I guess you could install a floating magnetic pickup at the end of the neck?
Samick stuff is hard to find consistently in the UK.
....
A man can dream!
That is the thing I tried out. It felt oddly like my Mustang bass in terms of string tension and how much bark the strings have when you dig in. Good fun!
That is a big bad bass! Pretty cool, but it looks awkwardly big. This reinforces my thoughts that you need a pretty specially designed bit of kit to make it work.
I don't think so, the space between strings and soundboard is too narrow. The fretboard is different, not as smooth as you'd think, feels cheap yet it sounds pretty good (after a new saddle was installed and reseating the under saddle pickup. It's cheap enough though.
I might stick to defretting a Fender acoustic then. Thanks for the heads up! There was a cheap Aria for sale on Ebay UK, but it is cheap because it has pretty bad damage.
The Dean acoustic bass I tried was passive. Presumably it has a piezo transducer and some sort of step transformer, or it is all Low Z and sounds a bit thin into a regular amp?
The Aria should only be bought new and should be properly setup with new strings. The saddle on the one I bought was to low and badly shimmed, once replaced all was good.
I replaced the preamp/piezo system in my defretted Jasmine/Takamine (preamp probs) with the LR Baggs Elelment VTC. Sounds pretty good, has an HPF built in (40Hz) which helps make it less boomy.
I defretted this G series Takamine years ago. It's well built, sounds good plugged in, and can be heard around a fire with two finger picking/light strumming guitars and several adults singing. I gigged it regularly before picking up a B10.
Oh, and it has a string through bridge which accepts LaBella 760N tapes without needing any filing. I would advise enlarging the nut slots though - for any ABG that you may want to use the larger strings.
Since you mentioned the Bay...
eg512c | eBay
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