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Acoustic Basses

S

skateandbass

Aug 15, 2013
10
0
#1
Heyy,
Was thinking about buying a fairly low budget acoustic bass. A friend of mine who I am beginning a new band with has mentioned doing a few chilled out songs, rather than always doing rock and the likes.
I'm currently looking at brands such as Vintage cause its cheap and cheerful but really not sure what model. I'm not brilliant at knowing the ins and outs of things like this, but I need to know its a good buy.
If you could reccomend a few to me I would be very grateful.
Thnkyou for your time.

PS . By low budget I mean 100-200 Pounds.
 
#3
I'm selling a Dean acoustic bass right now. I bought it because I thought I'd be able to get more "acoustic type" sounds. I ended up never using the bass, for live or studio work.

If you want to play a bass with no amplification, an acoustic bass will put out less sound than a six string guitar. For un-amplified bass work, an upright bass is a better bet, just because it has a bigger box.

If you amplify the acoustic bass, it doesn't sound like an upright bass. It sounds like an anemic electric bass. My Dean has both piezo pickup and internal microphone. The microphone is useless for live work because of feedback. The piezo is ok, but there's nothing about the sound that makes it worth the effort of hauling the thing around.

My opinion is that an acoustic bass might be cool for looks on stage (if that's what you want), but it's not a great sound and it's not a replacement for an upright.

Wanna buy my Dean? :cool:

Dave
 
#5
I just 2 6 string acoustic bass guitars from Ebay with gigbags for under 300 dollars.

The are quite good, I am going to customize them but I will still be ahead of the game at this price.

I would say go for the Ibanez instead of the Dean. I have both and the Dean has horrible electronics and is not as loud as the Ibanez unplugged.
 
#6
I have a Michael Kelly Dragonfly Fretless and a Takamine Fretted AEB. I love jamming acoustic in the back yard with band members rather than plugging in. We regularly have 2 acoustic guitars, my bass, a uke and sometimes some Roland electronic drums played through a tiny guitar amp. I've also played around campfires with 1 and 2 acoustic guitars. It may not be as loud, but it is good enough for casual playing.

Live, they feed back like crazy.. just wild crazy feedback. Back yard and campfires it's really nice to be able to play. If you are playing gigs in coffee shops etc, probably need a small combo amp.

I have my Dragonfly by my kitchen sliding door and take it outside to play nearly every day for a break mid day or evening. I love not needing to plug in.
 
#7
skateandbass said:
Heyy,
Was thinking about buying a fairly low budget acoustic bass. A friend of mine who I am beginning a new band with has mentioned doing a few chilled out songs, rather than always doing rock and the likes.
I'm currently looking at brands such as Vintage cause its cheap and cheerful but really not sure what model. I'm not brilliant at knowing the ins and outs of things like this, but I need to know its a good buy.
If you could reccomend a few to me I would be very grateful.
Thnkyou for your time.

PS . By low budget I mean 100-200 Pounds.
Click to expand...

Use an electric bass with flatwound strings and some foam under the strings at the bridge. It won't sound exactly like an upright, but it'll get a lot closer to that sound than an acoustic bass guitar (which invariably will come with bronze roundwound strings and anemic acoustic guitar sound). With a small combo amp you should fit in the mix pretty well.
 
#9
I agree with the volume issues. My acoustic ibanez bass could not hold a candle to a guitar acoustically. The pickup is a joke and feedback is always an issue when plugged in anything other than a small practice amp. I use it a lot strangely but only for solo practicing of new material for the cover band. It's nice not having to plug in next to the computer while wearing headphones and practicing.

That being said, why not look into a semi or hollow body bass in a natural finish to make it look more the part. They aren't as common as you'd think but a few manufacturers make them.
 
#12
Low budget ABGs generally suck at both 1) being loud enough unplugged, and 2) sounding good when plugged in. As others have noted, they're prone to feedback when amplified at high volumes, and -- I'd add that they're often uncomfortable to play for extended periods of time due to big body and high action. Some folks seem to have found cheapies that they like, and I suppose if you look long enough you can find some exceptions.

The topic of ABG unplugged volume has been done to death here (do a search), but from reading the OP, it sounds like the intended use is amplified but for only a few songs. In that case, I'd look for a used semi-hollowbody... but those are not abundant and I don't know of any cheap ones to recommend.

If you spend more money you can get a decent ABG, but they have limited uses due to the shortcomings enumerated above.

Having said all that, I love mine and use it in a similar manner to what Scottkarch posted above.
 
#14
Hollow or semi-hollow body electrics are generally more expensive than similar quality solids. I'd go with a natural or sunburst finish solid body and spend a little more for a good set of flatwound or tapewound strings, a decent setup job and a good case.

I had a Martin AEB that I could never get to sound as complementary to acoustic guitars as I could with my electric solid body with flatwounds. Even with flatwounds, the Martin's tone (while good) was that of a lower-voiced steel string guitar. Of course, if that's what the OP is looking for it's fine, but I strongly recommend he try some out first (playing along with his guitarist). Either way, he's probably going to need a small amp in any venue larger than a living room.
 
#15
I use a fretless Godin w/nylon tapewounds for acoustic performances, but of course I need to plug it in. I also just got a Kala U-bass for the same thing, just with less stretching, LOL! IMO, roundwound ABG strings sound really grating. Couple that with the low build/electronic quality of most inexpensive ABGs, and the road to tone disappointment lies before you.
 
#16
I agree with the majority. I went through this last year and at the end of the day decided to shelve the whole idea. There just isn't enough volume out of them for accoustic use. If I'm going to plug it in, I can get the sounds I want out of my other basses. I just couldn't justify the expense.
 
#17
MD said:
I must have gotten a defective model, it's been totally useful for what I wanted it for. And, it hangs just fine with an acoustic guitar.
Click to expand...

Same here. I've owned three, a Takaminie Jasmine, Michael Kelly Dragonfly (both sold when money got tight) and my Dean EABC. All have sounded fantastic unplugged. Even against acoustic guitars (Alverez / Yari, Dean, Fender, Dean, etc.).

But it could just be us.
 
#18
skateandbass said:
Heyy,
Was thinking about buying a fairly low budget acoustic bass. A friend of mine who I am beginning a new band with has mentioned doing a few chilled out songs, rather than always doing rock and the likes.
I'm currently looking at brands such as Vintage cause its cheap and cheerful but really not sure what model. I'm not brilliant at knowing the ins and outs of things like this, but I need to know its a good buy.
If you could reccomend a few to me I would be very grateful.
Thnkyou for your time.

PS . By low budget I mean 100-200 Pounds.
Click to expand...

I'll suggest to mod one of the basses you already have, since if you buy an ABG you'll likely need to plug in anyway.

Graphtech's Ghost Saddles or Invalid Link Removed would be the ticket to electric/acoustic-like nirvana in the same ol' familiar axe.

Or get a U-bass or similar.

:bassist:
 
#19
As someone who has literally played them all. you have two choices.

An Ernie Ball Earth Wood if you can find it, or a Tacoma Thunder Chief.

Those are the only ones that can hang in a purely acoustic setting.
 
#20
I have an entry level Ibanez. I like the sound for working out new melodies on the couch, but for most songs I play the piezo picks up way too much clack. No feedback problems as long as I don't face the amp. It might be better if I miced the soundhole but then I'd be really anchored on stage.
 

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