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Acoustic Basses worth it?

#41
Esteban Garcia said:
I'm curious if any of y'all have tried a guitarrón. They're huge and unwieldy, and the tuning is a whole next level mind blower, but they can produce some volume.
Click to expand...
Played (there should be sarcastic air quotes there) one, my friend plays Mariachi. So I've played "at" one. It's really a cool instrument, not easy, heavy, big, but quite loud and a nice punch, takes some effort. It would be really fun to have one long enough to try to learn the basics.
 
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#42
jd56hawk said:
People will tell you there are several that can be easily heard in an acoustic setting, but unless you're sitting right in front of the crowd, and your bass has those horrible bronze-wounds and your ripping the hell out of them with a stone pick and whoever's playing the acoustic guitar is sitting twenty feet behind you, it's an uphill battle.
We're bassists, it's all about tone and there's only so much tonal variety you can get out of an unplugged acoustic bass.
Now, using a battery-powered amp, is an entirely different thing. The Roland Micro Cube will really get the job done...it's a good little practice amp, too, and the Joyo is small enough to wear strapped to your back. Then, you'll be able to put a nice set of D'Addario black tapewounds on your bass.
And you know what?
They both have volume knobs!

Camping out, bonfire on the beach, street-corner jam, whatever...just buy one of these.
I did and I'm more than pleased.
$59...you can't go wrong.
View attachment 3869703
As for the "If you have to plug in, why not just use a P bass?" arguement...
Seriously?
Again, we're bassists. It's all about tone.
Hell, I have a G&L L2000 but it can quite replicate the tone my Dean Exotica can produce.
Click to expand...
Man you keep plugging these so much I just gotta get one! :thumbsup:
 
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#45
I have one. I grab it quickly to run over a line or two or while listening to the radio or video. Other than that, they are not very useful. I do use it when I get called to play bluegrass or all-acoustic (even though I bring a micro-amp and small 12" cab).
 
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#46
jd56hawk said:
People will tell you there are several that can be easily heard in an acoustic setting, but unless you're sitting right in front of the crowd, and your bass has those horrible bronze-wounds and your ripping the hell out of them with a stone pick and whoever's playing the acoustic guitar is sitting twenty feet behind you, it's an uphill battle.
We're bassists, it's all about tone and there's only so much tonal variety you can get out of an unplugged acoustic bass.
Now, using a battery-powered amp, is an entirely different thing. The Roland Micro Cube will really get the job done...it's a good little practice amp, too, and the Joyo is small enough to wear strapped to your back. Then, you'll be able to put a nice set of D'Addario black tapewounds on your bass.
And you know what?
They both have volume knobs!

Camping out, bonfire on the beach, street-corner jam, whatever...just buy one of these.
I did and I'm more than pleased.
$59...you can't go wrong.
View attachment 3869703
As for the "If you have to plug in, why not just use a P bass?" arguement...
Seriously?
Again, we're bassists. It's all about tone.
Hell, I have a G&L L2000 but it can quite replicate the tone my Dean Exotica can produce.
Click to expand...
If you're going amplified and STILL want an acoustic, get the Kala U-Bass. Plugged in, it's the closest to upright I've ever heard (of course the amp is a factor). I own one, and a big ol'Guild B30. Guess which one hasn't seen daylight in years.
 
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#47
I have a Harley Benton acoustic bass. It works around the campfire just fine. I looked, Thomann UK sells it for £205:
Harley Benton CLB-10SCE NT [This invalid link has been removed]. Dont expect to gig it without plugging in, but they are nice for noodling in the parlour.
 
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#48
I've done quite a number of gigs using an acoustic bass guitar. These gigs are always amplified and usually involve my Martin BC-15E. (For plinking about the house I use a Michael Kelly Dragonfly 5 because it's louder; it doesn't play as well and the tone is, uh, what might be expected from an inexpensive instrument.) I doubt you'll have enough volume for playing around the campfire with most acoustic bass guitars; the sound of the fire is likely to cover the sound coming from the bass. With proper expectations, however, an acoustic bass guitar is a worthy tool for any working bassist's bag of tricks and can help one capture a completely different array of gigs.
 
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#49
Try to find a Dean Playmate. Inexpensive, audible. Spent a long time looking for one because I loved the idea. Tried a lot that I hated and was repeatedly saved because this that I felt like I could almost hear, or that sounded a little less than completely awful, cost more than I was willing to spend. Happened to find this one at a music festival, and one of the vendors was selling his own personal ABG. Very pleasantly surprised at the tone and volume. Well worth $175. The phosphor bronze is not as bad as some people let on.
 
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#50
jd56hawk said:
... and the Joyo is small enough to wear strapped to your back. Then, you'll be able to put a nice set of D'Addario black tapewounds on your bass.
And you know what?
They both have volume knobs!

Camping out, bonfire on the beach, street-corner jam, whatever...just buy one of these.
I did and I'm more than pleased.
$59...you can't go wrong.
View attachment 3869703
Click to expand...

How loud is it, REALLY, before distortion? Can it hang with 2 heavy-strummed acoustics? Fiddle (violin)?
I really like the guitar strap thing...

Diego
 
#51
I have tried them many times - never worth the effort. They don't sound like an acoustic bass, and they are not loud enough for anything but solo practice.

However, there IS the Earthwood. They are SO MUCH bigger that they do have a great, usable sound, but are very expensive and hard to find. This is a tall woman with one.

Earthwood Bass.jpg
 
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#52
Spector folks bought a Tacoma Thunderchief and measured it. Then designed the Timbre from it. It is loud when I bring it out to jams with a couple of acoustic guitars and harmonica and a couple of singers, and sometimes a Cajon player.
Spector Timbre Acoustic Bass

Timbre_Walnut.jpg


Currently she has a set of Elixir Acoustic 80/20 Bronze strings, and she is plenty loud enough.
bass-acoustic-14502-Front.jpg

BTW the Timbre are running new for about $750 on the web.
 
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#53
Bassamatic said:
I have tried them many times - never worth the effort. They don't sound like an acoustic bass, and they are not loud enough for anything but solo practice. However, there is the Earthwood. They are SO MUCH bigger that they do have a great, usable sound, but are very expensive and hard to find.
Click to expand...
Ones on Regurge for $3,500
 
#54
Eddie LeBlanc said:
Spector folks bought a Tacoma Thunderchief and measured it. Then designed the Timbre from it. It is loud when I bring it out to jams with a couple of acoustic guitars and harmonica and a couple of singers, and sometimes a Cajon player.
Spector Timbre Acoustic Bass

View attachment 3869931

Currently she has a set of Elixir Acoustic 80/20 Bronze strings, and she is plenty loud enough.
View attachment 3869932
BTW the Timbre are running new for about $750 on the web.
Click to expand...
One day I’m gonna get one of these.

A Big Martin too
 
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#58
#60
diegom said:
How loud is it, REALLY, before distortion?
Click to expand...

I bought one last year to use when I'm traveling. Really wanted to like it because it's inexpensive, small and battery powered. I returned it after a day or two. I couldn't get a clean sound out of it at a volume louder than a whisper; any louder and it went straight to distortion. It had a bad hum, too. My expectations going in were modest given the price, but I wouldn't use it even for free. I'm willing to consider that I got a defective unit, but my interest in it fell to zero or less.
 

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