Bass for acoustic rock?

[Wez Yo Bice]

I'm an old fool.(No fool like an old fool) I still shop for a DB. I know damb well I couldn't play it for longer than an hour at a stretch. Throwing my arm over a typical dreadnought pulls my arm out of it's socket, or at least it feels that way. If I had the cash I might go for a u-bass, but I'd still have to plug it into my Roland microcube, for small rooms. I'm just getting my Pbass tone where I like it. Better is the sworn enemy of good enough.

 

[Jens Telemark]

I spent several years in an acoustic folk rock band and I played my Precision. Everyone was happy with that, even when we recorded. Most of the similar bands on the circuit had the same line up, acoustic guitars, vocalists and a Precision bass.

I also played with an acoustic guitarist in a duo for many years and my Lakland 55-94 worked very well. Then I upgraded and bought a fretless Rob Alan MB2 cos I thought it would fit in better. The guitarist said, out of all my basses, he preferred the Mike Lull PJ5. So Rob Alan out, Mike Lull in.

The majority of the bass on what most people would consider “acoustic rock” recordings is probably a P Bass.

I'm an old fool.(No fool like an old fool) I still shop for a DB.

The double bass does not accept a casual approach. When you factor in the setup a cheap one inevitably needs, new strings and a pickup a halfway playable instrument will cost at least $2k and $3-5k is more realistic. Then you need lessons and several thousand hours of daily practice to build the technique and stamina to play in tune for a whole set.

 

[Bob_Ross]

View attachment 5385533

When I first started playing bass with The Roosevelts they were an unplugged acoustic duo. To best blend with the two steel-string flattop guitars I found that my Rob Allen MB-2 (fretless chambered bass w/ nylon tapewound strings) into the SMALLEST AMP POSSIBLE worked like a charm. Just turned the amp up loud enough to be audible.

[edit: pic is from after one guitarist started playing electric…only thing I changed was to turn the tiny amp up just slightly to compensate.]

 

[ryco]

For strictly acoustic [looking anyway] sets I use an old Ibanez AEB10E a guitar player gave me. Kinda quiet, but sounds OK. Has what looks and feels like brass rounds [look like piano strings] that came with the bass. Price was right and doesn't get much use - but there if needed. Fun to take to the beach or up river.

 

[H Nighttrain]

For that type of gig I pull out my Johnson:

It's a cheap old resonator guitar body with a 30" scale bass neck. Sounds relatively loud, although it really beams its sound. Relatively loud means it might keep up with a single nylon string guitar. The unplugged sound is horriblly tinny, the lipstick pickup is muddy, but if you balance the acoustic and amplified volume the tone can be mediocre. The neck is chunky, it's a bear to play, and the ergonomics are horrible.

But of course Fernando taught me that "it's better to look good than to feel good!"

 

[-Asdfgh-]

What you describe here is the reason why I find an ABG completely useless.

It's useless as a solo, unamplified instrument in 95% of band settings, but then often acoustic guitars are too. They can be recorded acoustically, have a different sound but can be appropriate visually. They are definitely lighter.

 

[vacuumchild]

P basses, Jazz basses, Stingrays, Rics, etc, don't sound too good unplugged, either.

This should have been obvious from the start, but as the thread has grown, I realize it needed saying. Thank you!

 

[Wez Yo Bice]

. . . . Then you need lessons and several thousand hours of daily practice to build the technique and stamina to play in tune for a whole set.

Seriously? I may be an old fool, but don't pee on my boots, then tell me it's raining.

 

[Jens Telemark]

Seriously? I may be an old fool, but don't pee on my boots, then tell me it's raining.

Ha! Nothing with the double bass comes easy, quickly or cheap.

Just talking about prices right now Robertson and Sons in Albuquerque has around 85 basses for sale from under $5k to over $200k. Only 6 are under $5k. The majority are $20k-$50k. This is completely indicative of what double basses cost.

Do your research before buying (or suggesting lol) a DB. A trap many dabblers fall into is buying a crappy bass for $1000+ that needs $2000+ of work to be playable and is then worth $1200. Not only is this no exaggeration it’s not even worst case scenario.

 

[porkynuggets]

The majority of the bass on what most people would consider “acoustic rock” recordings is probably a P Bass.


The double bass does not accept a casual approach. When you factor in the setup a cheap one inevitably needs, new strings and a pickup a halfway playable instrument will cost at least $2k and $3-5k is more realistic. Then you need lessons and several thousand hours of daily practice to build the technique and stamina to play in tune for a whole set.

Completely worth it. There's nothing more enjoyable than playing double bass imo.

 

[AlleghenyBlend]

I have a Guild B-140E I got as a B-stock which I have kept around. Haven't played it live, though.