i used to own a pre fender tacoma thunderchief 4 string fretted with a fishman prefix plus preamp and thought that as far as abgs it was the best i had played ( and i tried ehm all ) i think part of the problem with abgs is that they are for the most part built as acoustic guitars with long necks and the bass string vibrations just seem to die in them. that was why i loved the tacoma. it was as easy to play as any of my electrics ( having a thin neck profile ) and having a less sturdy construction seemed to enable the sound to jump out of them. but they were somewhat fragile as a result, nevertheless putting a microphone in front of the bass and running this and the preamp output through a mixer yielded some incredible and rich sounds.
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Acoustic bass guitar...a design that just doesn't work?
- Thread starter holllowbody
- Start date
I do like the Acousticores but they feel different. They have a nylon core so they work only with piezo p/u's and are very low tension so some find them squirmy under the fretting finger. I put them on for the low tension aspect; as with many older ABGs, the bridge and top of mine was lifting up a bit making for too high action. I haven't played Elixers so I can't give you a direct comparision.
I also have a Takamine with a fairly large body that (I think) came with T-I flats. The thinner bodied Hohner seems a bit louder with the Acousticores.
I have a couple of theories on this. The Takamine seems more heavily braced on the front (probably to prevent the bridge pullup) than the Hohner, so it doesn't vibrate as far as the Hohner. The other is the nature of the nylon core of the Acousticores; ukuleles and classical guitars are really loud with nylon strings.
Or, it could be something else completely!
Tonally, Acousticores are not too zingy, the flats are more thumpy.
=wr=
wave rider said:
Ahhhhh, that must be what my used fretless Dragonfly I bought showed up with. I discovered they were nylon cores, and felt soooo flimsy, buzzed all over the neck, and felt like they rolled out from under my fingers as I plucked them.
TI's....no wonder I hated them so much.
I can see what you're getting at but I don't think that's a fair analogy.
I don't find a lot of use for the ABG. I've yet to play or hear one that's impressed me in terms of projection, playability, or tone. And assuming amplification is a necessity, it just makes more sense to stick to the electric.
Of course some people I play with like them for aesthetic purposes (and sometimes tone) for unplugged shows, but I wouldn't use that to justify owning one.
I've used my ABG in a big band competing with 8 brass, 8 saxes and rythmn section (piano,guitar,drums), obviously i play through an amp but so would a double bassist too if you wanted to be heard. The ABG sounds nothing like a electric bass guitar, nothing like a double bass, it has its own sound and visual appearance. The ABG totally works, has a great fundamental once its dialed in correctly. In my experience with these threads, most ABG disclaimers have heard only poor quality ABG's with bright phospher metal strings which gives the ABG no justice and so formed opinions on what little experience they have had with them. To those of us who are in the know, the ABG adds a third reference point for bass playing. (double bass,slab bass, ABG) Incidentally i got a double bass on order, started a thread over in the double bass section which i know will be of interest to some of you in the UK.
I just glued it on, with white woodworking glue, held solid, but if I wanna take it off, it'll pop off easy, as my bass has a gloss finish that the glue didn't penetrate.
Nope, I manage just fine too.
Got tricky trying to play with two guitarists, a singer, a fiddle, and a harmonica, though. They all could hear me, but I couldn't hear myself. Then again, they were all near me.
Believe what you want, but a ThunderChief can bury a pair of acoustics when you play it with a felt pick. Most people that dis ABGs seem to have absolutely no experience with them. I've had them for years now and would never be without one.
IMO dumping the bronze strings is the first step - LaBella black tapes make them sound like a bass instead of an overgrown guitar.
IMO dumping the bronze strings is the first step - LaBella black tapes make them sound like a bass instead of an overgrown guitar.
Fair question: (never had experience with ABGs and ATM not appealling to me.)
Is it easy to play an ABG with a strap?
Do some guys do that here?
Is it easy to play an ABG with a strap?
Do some guys do that here?
I like mine for practicing. I'm not terribly likely to try to perform with it as it doesn't have the output, but it's great for playing around the house w/out having to be tethered to an amp or some kind of headset rig.
Thanks for the reply.
I had heard Acousticores were distinctly "slinky" and had a tendency to roll under the fingers.
My Hondo ABG is probably overbuilt to a fault, so I'm not really too worried about tension (the strings thread from inside the body through the bridge) so I'll probably go with either regular TI Jazz Flats or D'Addario Chromes on it next time just to see how I like it. Other than using it to practice at the house (which is pretty often) I always play it through an amp.
From my limited experience w/ classical acoustic guitars, I believe they are relatively loud because the low tension nylon strings they use allow them to be built quite a bit more "fragile" than Martin inspired dreadnoughts, using a fan bracing instead of X bracing. Because the wood has more movement (excursion) it is able to be louder.
By comparison, ABG's have to contend with tremendous tension and stress from bass strings and have to be built like a bank vault. And it's hard to make a bank vault vibrate.
I wonder if that is why Tacoma Thunderchiefs have been said to be both loud and somewhat fragile?
Perhaps some forward thinking luthier could experiment with making a "fragile" fan braced ABG so it would be really loud, and use really low tension strings, similar to those on an Ashbory so the thing wouldn't self-destruct.
Eh, that's enough armchair luthiering for now.
Peace.
My ABG is 34" scale, an of course that means when the body is taken into account the end of the neck is a few more inches away from me. And like a jumbo acoustic, the body is pretty thick, so there's an interesting wrist angle that becomes necessary.
With that said, my ABG is really light, and gives my back a nice break.
I installed a strap button on the bottom of the heel, and that works great.
My MK has the strap button on the bottom of the heel (on the flat spot at the back of the bass) and it does have a tendency to roll away from me. My forearm on the upper bout does the job of keeping it in place.
Find my shoulders get tired playing the ABG standing up, because I am reaching out and away from my body. But I have played gigs with the thing, on a strap.
It gets a lot of comments and compliments on the appearance and sound.
Ed
as i mentioned in my post they are fragile - even compared to an acoustic guitar, but i had no problems with them falling apart. the construction was first rate. by fragile i mean it wouldn't take much to really damage one, they just aren't built to be abused, even accidently. that being said i believe it is this, if you wanna call it , freer construction, that enables this bass to acoustically reproduce sound so well. i had been looking for an acoustic bass guitar for a few months and had just been to some shops in toronto playing some higher end abgs, 2500+ price range, and was disappointed as i found them all to be dull and listless sounding. i went into a local shop and saw the first ( and only so far ) tacoma thunderchief. with it hanging on the wall i ran my fingers over the strings and i was shocked at the sound that came out, deep, rich, warm and a really clarity. needless to say i pulled it down checked it out and bought it on the spot. they are worth checking out though i heard a story in another post on tb that fender was discontinuing the tacome line.
I'll join the "nope" section too. I cut through around a campfire with one or two guitars + singing with no problem.
Interesting... been gigging mine for years.
