Acoustic Basses?

[Session1969]

I put some flatwounds that I had laying around on my Thunderchief and I sure do like how it sounds compared to the coppers that it came.Very much like an upright and very cool.

 

[jd56hawk]

I've tried a few different ABGs, and the one that I'm using currently is a Dean Exotica with built in Aphex Aural Exciter (which I rarely use). The wound bronze strings were just too noisy, so I sanded down the saddle a tad and put on D'Addario tapewounds, which made a huge difference.

Someone else here was saying that the Dean/Aphex preamp was loud. Well, it is. I usually keep things around half volume on the slider, which is plenty. On the instrument EQ, I run the lows flat, the mids cut about halfway below flat, and the highs out completely. I still have some string detail, but not so much that you hear every squeak and creak.

For an amp, I'm using an old Ibanez SWX35 (the one with the flip-out front foot, not the angled tilt-back cabinet) that I've modified with a 10" Faital speaker. That was an improvement over the old speaker many times over, but the sealed cab sounded a bit too dead. Out came the hole saw, and I installed a port in the back of the cabinet. That made a world of difference -- about the same SPLs with the master half open after the mods than all the way open before the mods, and plenty of low end. Suddenly 35 watts sounds more like 80, and the tone is perfect for what I do. It's a nice, compact amp that will go most anywhere and do what's needed with a minimum of fuss.

Finally, someone else who has an Exotica! Here are my four basses. Guess which one sounds best.

I put in one of those Planet Waves soundhole covers and not only does it kill the feedback, it actually improves the plugged-in tone...I keep the enhance switch on, out of phase, bass boost full, mid at half way, slight treble boost...D'addario tapewounds.

 

[bholder]

Referencing the Bassoguitar and not the Tacoma: More expensive and much harder to find because now people know about them. A decade ago, not so. Played upright, these could do with a slightly longer endpin. Played in a chair, they are surprisingly ergonomic. But how are you managing the strap? I've got some nice wide fabric straps and even figured ways to put extenders on them, but how do you attach them? I'm guessing one end attaches near the endpin, but how do you anchor the other? And what strings are you using?
one attachment point is near the endpin socket, but where does the other end attach?

I worked up a gizmo to secure the other end of the strap to the neck/body joint, holding as much from underneath as anything else.

 

[GretschWretch]

I worked up a gizmo to secure the other end of the strap to the neck/body joint, holding as much from underneath as anything else.

Any chance of pics?

 

[bholder]

Any chance of pics?

Well, to be honest, the gizmo I used before was just a piece of vinyl coated wire run under the neck on the front and then around the heel of the neck in back to make a loop, but I was basically figuring out how a real one might be made, I figure a properly cut and bent piece of sheet steel, lined with leather or felt, would be the ticket - the weight would ride on the bottom side (when standing) of the neck/body joint. Made tracings, but haven't made the "real" one yet.

 

[SlugShellBass]

other than those cheap ebay basses, what about 6 string acoustics? Ive only seen Warwicks and the old ??Michael Kelly?? acoustic that Steve Bailey uses in a youtube video

 

[bnolsen]

Finally, someone else who has an Exotica! Here are my four basses. Guess which one sounds best.

I put in one of those Planet Waves soundhole covers and not only does it kill the feedback, it actually improves the plugged-in tone...I keep the enhance switch on, out of phase, bass boost full, mid at half way, slight treble boost...D'addario tapewounds.

obviously the pink one!

 

[Kevin Christianson]

Does anyone know where I might be able to find a tuner for a Regal Bassoguitar? I'm missing one and the others are made of metal plate / gears and ebony post / decorative knob. I also need a "spike" or foot for the bottom along with a bridge. What size strings do you recommend? I cannot believe that strings for a double-bass would fit through the tailpiece holes. Maybe a 3/4 bass or even a cello??? Thanks!

 

[HaphAsSard]

What size strings do you recommend?

Recommend is a strong word, I have never so much as seen a Regal except in pics; still, here goes nothing:

My '37 Regal Bassoguitar has them all beat on internal physical volume, but it's in somewhat of a different category - at 41.5" scale, it's really more of an ABG shaped upright. It has good acoustic volume, but doesn't beat the Earthwood as it is, because it's strung with upright strings. What it needs are really heavy gauge metal core bronze wrapped ABG strings, which is what is was designed for, but nobody seems to make them 78 years later.

Have you considered mando-bass strings?
D'Addario EJ79 Mandobass Copper Coated Steel Wound 4-string jetzt online kaufen bei SchneiderMusik.de
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(Sorry for the eurolinks but I bet you can easily find a US vendor for at least two of the sets if your interest has been piqued.)
The D'Ads are copper plated steel (hmm, I'd turn them green in no time), the La Bellas phosphor bronze (same as the above or worse IME, YMMV), the Pyramid are silver plated copper (I get a lot more mileage out of like-wound strings), on a steel core (just like the other two I guess).

Of course do your homework as to required length. Also, watch out for strainage of the top, it's old wood after all.

 

[GretschWretch]

Does anyone know where I might be able to find a tuner for a Regal Bassoguitar? I'm missing one and the others are made of metal plate / gears and ebony post / decorative knob. I also need a "spike" or foot for the bottom along with a bridge. What size strings do you recommend? I cannot believe that strings for a double-bass would fit through the tailpiece holes. Maybe a 3/4 bass or even a cello??? Thanks!

1) Double bass strings will fit through the tailpiece holes. Alternatively, D'Addarrio and LaBella make sets of mandobass strings; but unless you are some young Galahad whose strength is as the strength of
ten, I suggest the DB strings. LaBella nylon tapewounds would be a good option.

2) Even if you had it, the factory bridge is too tall. Options would be a 3/4 DB bridge, a 1/4 DB bridge, or a viol bridge, any of which you still would have to cut to size and fit. A cello bridge likely is too small.

3) The standard endpin is too short for most people. Take your Regal to the hardware store and amaze the locals, and pore through the steel rod bins and also the wooden dowels. If you want to go stylish,
re-purpose an old pool cue, cut to length.

4) Which tuner do you need? Pics? Every so often hat-peg tuners show up in the upright bass section of eBay, but I have a box of 'em at home (no screws, though). But those wooden shafts have as
many subtle variations as metal bass guitar tuners. I would need pics to match styles.

Regal Bassoguitars with their original bridges and endpins are as rare as a Yugo automobile that does not have a tow-truck attached to the front of it. And if it hasn't got a headstock break then it's not a real Bassoguitar. It's a spurious copy.

 

[bearfoot]

I have one of these

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and prefer phosphour bronze on it. This bass can hang unamped with acoustic guitars, and I didn't realize how well it projects until I heard someone else play it from across a room.

Mine doesn't have the signature on it, must've been a b-stock, though I've no idea why. It seems like a very rare bird in the USA and it's one I'd be loathe to ever sell.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I've been looking at cheaper acoustic options here and there lately, it kinda on the back burner because right now finding a new fretless is taking priority. But id probably go with a micheal kelly dragonfly or warwick alien 5, or go with a downtuned 4 string. The Ovation in this video is downtuned and I think it sounds good enough.