acoustic for practice/backup

[PlayMoreBass]

I'm going to be spending a year without amplification while I study abroad, and I'm measuring my options for playing and practicing. I initially thought I would just pick up a nice headphone amp, and use it to practice on my electric bass. However, this makes it impossible to play so that others could hear me, which would be nice on occasion. I have recently begun to wonder if I could substitute an acoustic bass guitar for my electric, and solve the amplification issue. My remaining question is whether practicing on acoustic would improve my electric skills, or if the two instruments are substantially different enough that after a year of practicing acoustic, I'll not have improved much on electric. I have played an acoustic before, i.e. in guitar center, and I understand that it's different. I can anticipate some of the important differences with regard to my concerns, but I don't feel that I can really judge acoustic without spending months with one and having its strangeness wear off. Also, practicing does not really concern electric-specific techniques, i.e. no pop/slapping, no tapping, etc. I'm just taking fundamentals. What do you think?

 

[kencasino]

I gig with two electrics, a Peavey 5 and a douglas 6 string. Most all of my practicing is done on the crafter acoustic since it is so convenient to just pick up and play. Get an electro/acoustic so that you can do a gig or jam with amps. I don't think that playing acoustic for a year will necessarily change you, but watch out for the tendency to play on the higher strings since they are the loudest. I can hardly hear my B string acoustically, but I still hit it so that the practice is realistic