Acoustic Bass Dilemma..

[OldSchoolBass]

Sorry to be a PIA over this, but I am indeed in a quandry.

Funny, country is in upheval, gas is a fortune, economy is a mess, and this is what we worry about.

Anyway, I have this Dean Performer CE NS. I like it, but there are two issues:

1) action is a tad high, but it's to be expected from an acoustic.

2) The body is huge, and when you are sitting and playing. it's like reaching over the Great Wall to play. After a while, you'd think your arms were ready to drop off. (How would that be for an encore?!?!)

Sounds great, projects well, strings rock, etc.

I posted two picks for added help.

Now, I have discovered an Ibanez AEB10E bass. Black, on board tuner, body is a little smaller, and I believe the neck is a little shorter, being a medium scale.

Am I making a mistake here? Should I overlook these silly issues with the Dean? Am I upgrading? Downgrading? Overthinking??

If anyone can help, that would be great, so I could move onto my next trivial issue to lose sleep over.

Thanks in advance.

 

[RickenBoogie]

I had the Ibanez, it's a good bass, but the larger body on yours is why it projects the sound. The Ibanez will be very quiet in comparison. The onboard tuner rocks.

 

[OldSchoolBass]

acoustic bump.

 

[Tom Howland]

I had the Ibanez, it's a good bass, but the larger body on yours is why it projects the sound. The Ibanez will be very quiet in comparison. The onboard tuner rocks.

I had to do a gig last night.
Acoustic only, no P.A. or amps.
Two acoustic guitars , a singer, playing conga's. ( And Bass)

I used a Ibanez AB10E. (a friends)
32" scale, small body= no volume, projection.
Would not get the job done.

 

[Fretless1!]

Big body and high action = volume and tone. That's the price to be paid.

 

[OldSchoolBass]

I had to do a gig last night.
Acoustic only, no P.A. or amps.
Two acoustic guitars , a singer, playing conga's. ( And Bass)

I used a Ibanez AB10E. (a friends)
32" scale, small body= no volume, projection.
Would not get the job done.

Makes sense. I would imagine plugged in, there is a loss in richness and tone as well with the smaller body? In comparison I mean.

 

[Pilgrim]

Yup. You trade body size for projection. Smaller body, less projection. That's why upright basses are much louder.

If you'll play amplified except when you practice, it doesn't matter - the amp will make up for lack of projection. If you want to play with others and stay acoustic, keep the big body bass.

Comment about body size on an acoustic bass:
"It's not a bug, it's a feature."

 

[Philbiker]

You can get small body and great acoustic tone as long as you're willing to plug in all the time. The Godin A4 series is amazing, as were many of the acoustic-electric basses at the International GTG last weekend.

 

[OldSchoolBass]

Big body and high action = volume and tone. That's the price to be paid.

I am getting that the Ibanez is a nice practice/studio bass, and the Dean is more flexible regarding gigs. It is a damn nice bass. I guess I need to fix my skirt and deal with the issues.

Scratch that - plugged in, not plugged in is the difference. FOr our acoustic shows, we always go through the board. So maybe comfort with the Ibanez does take precedence.

 

[Creservoir]

I have an ibanez AEB10E, and it's surely is a nice bass
the volume is enough to practice at home or with some other acoustic instruments
and it's surely have a nice tone when u plugged it, so if u'r playing in a plugged gig, it's surely have the work done