Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Hi,
Yeah, yeah, I know.
There are perfectionists, purists, discerning ears, who have the coin to spring for the boutique stuff. That's great, more power to them. I'm happy for them, really. But most of us blue-collar working stiff weekend warriors need to compromise. "Good enough" usually is. You and I can tell the difference between GK and PJB, but nobody on the dance floor, or in the park, or in the back yard, will be able to tell the difference. 
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
Why, yes, of course. What were you thinking in spewing such drivel?
Yeah, yeah, I know.
There are perfectionists, purists, discerning ears, who have the coin to spring for the boutique stuff. That's great, more power to them. I'm happy for them, really. But most of us blue-collar working stiff weekend warriors need to compromise. "Good enough" usually is. You and I can tell the difference between GK and PJB, but nobody on the dance floor, or in the park, or in the back yard, will be able to tell the difference. Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
How far out in the year are ya planning on jamming? I'd go Roland Micro Bass Cube RX if you yearn for wireless, or my personal fave if you can plug in, the Markbass Minimark 801 combo. Well-built, a clean tone, and very versatile. Have fun deciding over all these great choices!
Genz Benz Shuttle 8 or 10 should do the trick. I saw a Shuttle 8 at GC a couple weeks ago. Might still be there on the used site.
I use a small combo designed for keyboards with my ABG. I prefer the fuller range and the EQ centerpoints on that over your average bass combo for my El Capitan ABG.
My amp is the sadly discontinued Yorkville BLOC40K which you can find used for about the price of two passenger car tanks of gas if you shop around. It also has headphones and a line out jack but no separate line in. However, there is a high and low input jack. I've put an MP3 player into the high jack and my bass into the low with no problems since I leave the amp flat and do all my tone settings on the bass's built-in preamp.
Really nice sound, plenty of bottom end, and very affordable. Highly recommended..
My amp is the sadly discontinued Yorkville BLOC40K which you can find used for about the price of two passenger car tanks of gas if you shop around. It also has headphones and a line out jack but no separate line in. However, there is a high and low input jack. I've put an MP3 player into the high jack and my bass into the low with no problems since I leave the amp flat and do all my tone settings on the bass's built-in preamp.
Really nice sound, plenty of bottom end, and very affordable. Highly recommended..
I used an SWR Baby Blue ( original version) for many years with fantastic results. Now I use an Alembic FX-1 preamp into the PA for better results. I love using an ABG on gigs with just an acoustic guitar ( or two) and vocals.
I totally agree with the need for an amp with ABGs when playing with unamped acoustic guitars or records even. Other than practicing solo I found every one I’ve played to be lacking in usable volume. For me , since I need an amp anyway, I prefer to just use one of my electrics. Upright acoustic bass another story.
No, not for bass specifically. What's your point?
-> I have one of those that I've used for nearly 4 years now with a band (3 guitars, drummer, 1-3 piece horns, 1-2 vocals) playing on street/park/beach settings. It does amplify my bass very nicely (and sometimes other instruments) and it sounds good as a band. No, it will not win any awards in the "best bass tone competition" on its own... but it does a superb job for very little cash.
Because an ABG does not sound like an electric bass... so if that's the sound you want, that's what you've got to play.
I use an Ampeg BA108 for this exact purpose. Dirt cheap and sounds good.
Last edited:
The correct buffering in the pre of said combo can make for an excellent sound. If it’s not correct the sound will be meh. You’ll think you can eq it but it’s never right. When it’s right it’s all there. It sounds like your ABG. I’ve learned from experience. Sticking some made for acoustics pedal in there becomes another nightmare because they often don’t mate with your amp. Then you have more money in the project.
Another reason these amps designed for it are the ticket.
If you really care and can do this, bypass the pre in the bass. See if you can go pickup to endpin jack then to properly buffered acoustic amp. Voila! The sound of your bass. Wilkerson from Alembic spoke of how cheap the pres are in basses. They offer convience and selling points because you can adjust eq but they are a couple of dollars worth of electronics and interfere with the good sound of your bass. But hey this may be beyond the scope of the OP’s need to explore.
Another reason these amps designed for it are the ticket.
If you really care and can do this, bypass the pre in the bass. See if you can go pickup to endpin jack then to properly buffered acoustic amp. Voila! The sound of your bass. Wilkerson from Alembic spoke of how cheap the pres are in basses. They offer convience and selling points because you can adjust eq but they are a couple of dollars worth of electronics and interfere with the good sound of your bass. But hey this may be beyond the scope of the OP’s need to explore.
Last edited:
Im really not sure I know what you're talking about it. Im all about getting the best sound possible but it all sounds like a lot more effort than i want to put in.
Fender Rumble was something I was considering, but actually the PJB double four sounds exactly like what I am looking for. Small, light...battery powered. If this video is in any way accurate it also lets a bass sound like a bass. Its also the only one ive heard where the bass didn't sound tinny or thin.
Mine work really well with one of these, and it's proven itself to be very handy for a working musician:
Invalid Link Removed
Invalid Link Removed
He is playing an electric bass. This doesn’t tell you it will work for you. If it says it’s also designed for acoustic instrument pickups hopefully it’s not just advertising. It may have a separate input. An ABG doesn’t provide signal the same way. Piezo pickup through battery powered preamp. Can sound good can sound so so. If the preamp in the combo/amp head isn’t buffering the signal from your ABG properly you will not have the sound you desire. If in doubt plug an ABG into many amps at your local GC. They will sound not so good. Plug in an electric bass and boom, good.
An amp designed for acoustic instruments will accept the impedance (not speaker ohms) and voltage and give you the accurate signal from your ABG. Upright bassists struggled for decades with this.
Acoustic guitarists did as well. Throw a Fishman under the saddle and plug into a PA or guitar amp and it sounded really bad. A decade + ago Fishman began buffering their own piezo pickups for acoustic guitars so no additional pedals were needed.
An amp designed for acoustic instruments will accept the impedance (not speaker ohms) and voltage and give you the accurate signal from your ABG. Upright bassists struggled for decades with this.
Acoustic guitarists did as well. Throw a Fishman under the saddle and plug into a PA or guitar amp and it sounded really bad. A decade + ago Fishman began buffering their own piezo pickups for acoustic guitars so no additional pedals were needed.
That's why the two "ABG"s I owned were both Rick Turner Renaissance basses, 4 and 5 string.
WICKERSHAM
Thanks and it could have been Turner not Wickersham doing this analysis and repair.
Personally my ABGs I play acoustically. Washburn AB-45s the originals are fantastic for plugging in. All the wood sound none of the feedback or plugging in interface issues. So years ago this use specific design existed. Turner, Rob Allen figured it out! An actual electric bass can sound very proper in an acoustic setting if you do your touch right and hear the timbres it can do.
I did bypass the pre in a Taylor, it’s indeed budget, and put the two piezo K&K under the top. Whoa that sounds like the body. One prob with bridge piezos is they are biased toward bridge sound which is not what we hear in a room. We hear a body excited by the transmission after bridge sends it.
Personally my ABGs I play acoustically. Washburn AB-45s the originals are fantastic for plugging in. All the wood sound none of the feedback or plugging in interface issues. So years ago this use specific design existed. Turner, Rob Allen figured it out! An actual electric bass can sound very proper in an acoustic setting if you do your touch right and hear the timbres it can do.
I did bypass the pre in a Taylor, it’s indeed budget, and put the two piezo K&K under the top. Whoa that sounds like the body. One prob with bridge piezos is they are biased toward bridge sound which is not what we hear in a room. We hear a body excited by the transmission after bridge sends it.
Last edited:
