i played an acoustic bass the other day and it was sweet. anybody else play them? and no im not talking about an upright bass.
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anybody out there play acoustic basses?
- Thread starter thebassics123
- Start date
Acoustic bass guitar?
Yes, I had a nice one - Victor Bailey - for a while. Great action, nice build, not a whole lot of volume.
I decided that it was fun to have to pick up around the house and play.
But it couldn't be heard when I played unplugged with other musicians, and if I wanted to plug in I preferred my electric basses.
I play fretted and fretless electric as well as upright, so I decided that the ABG was basically redundant and kind of useless.
Others love them, though.
Yes, I had a nice one - Victor Bailey - for a while. Great action, nice build, not a whole lot of volume.
I decided that it was fun to have to pick up around the house and play.
But it couldn't be heard when I played unplugged with other musicians, and if I wanted to plug in I preferred my electric basses.
I play fretted and fretless electric as well as upright, so I decided that the ABG was basically redundant and kind of useless.
Others love them, though.
yeah it is a little quiet unplugged but once i plugged in it wasnt too bad. but yeah id like something to goof around on around the house or even take places in my car if im bored lol.
They are great for low volume practice, but they really don't project enough to play with other acoustic instruments unless they are amplified. I picked up a Dean fretless, not the really cheap Playmate, but still not very expensive and it sounds and plays great. I use mine playing acoustic gigs, wineries, etc. My guitar player always comments how much he likes the tone and the vibrato of the fretless. Definitely worth having one around.
yeah i was looking at the dean cutaway, just for starters. ive watched some youtube videos and they sound great, especially the fretless ones
by "acoustic gigs" you mean plugged in, right?
I'm curious: Do you feel like the sound of the fretless ABG, plugged in, beats the sound of a fretless electric? Or is it very different from the sound of a fretless electric? I'm asking because I've never played a fretless ABG.
Yes, I am sorry- plugged in/amplified "acoustic gigs". On these gigs I play through a Sans Amp -Bass Driver DI and go directly into the PA. I think that the sound of the Acoustic Electric fretless sounds better when playing with other acoustic instruments. It is a nice warm tone. I used to play upright, so I try to dial in a nice upright-ish tone with a little bit of fretless "mwhaaa". The Deans really are great basses for the money.
Yes. I used to sit in the park with a guitarist friend of mine and just jam on an ABG all the way through summer. It was nice. Can highly recommend one for campfire-type situations. Great fun.
I don't have one, but I have played some nice ones and eventually I'll add one to the stable.
I scored a cheapo Playmate for $70. It is perfect for practicing when other people are in the house. I really want to grind off the stupid logo every time I see it, though.
Oh-I also want to mention that I really recommend using flatwounds on the acoustic fretless. In my humble opinion, you can get much better tones for bass with them. While the phosphor bronze strings most of them come with are louder than the flats, the tone is somewhat harsh and the truth is, even with the phospor bronze strings on, the basses aren't loud enough to play with an acoustic guitar unless you are really hammering the strings which make them sound even worse.
Yea, I owned one for about a year. Honestly I hated it, I have played a lot of different acoustic basses at the store and never really found one that was worth the money. I know the victor bailey acoustic is a cool looking bass with a reliatively good feel for an acoustic model, but I just don't get it.
Mine was an acoustic electric and I played out with it on a few occasions and it never provided me with that full flavored sound even in an unplugged setting. My vote is to always use an electic bass for playing unplugged shows. I just set my EQ with barely no treble or high mids, primarily low mids and lows. I find that low warm tone to compliment acoustic instruments the best.
Outside of using them for jammin around the house, I personally think they are worthless for bass tone. Low frequencies are really difficult to amplify from an acoustic shell.
Mine was an acoustic electric and I played out with it on a few occasions and it never provided me with that full flavored sound even in an unplugged setting. My vote is to always use an electic bass for playing unplugged shows. I just set my EQ with barely no treble or high mids, primarily low mids and lows. I find that low warm tone to compliment acoustic instruments the best.
Outside of using them for jammin around the house, I personally think they are worthless for bass tone. Low frequencies are really difficult to amplify from an acoustic shell.
I have an Ibanez that I love. I do use it quite a bit around the house but it doesn't have the same unplugged volime as an acoustic guitar. It would still need to be plugged into a small amp to compete.
There's not much of a chance of an ABG competing with an acoustic guitar, that being said, are there any brands that are "louder" than others?
Yeah, that's what I meant by redundant/useless, outside of playing by yourself around the house. It's not loud enough to be heard when played acoustically with more than one acoustic guitarist (and barely even that). I took it with me to a bluegrass jam thing one weekend, and it just could not be heard above other instruments. Sad, but true (good thing I had my upright with me).
And if you're going to plug it in anyway, you can get the same sound with a standard electric bass.
