Cheap but good Acoustic Basses?

[Riki323]

So I just got into a little acoustic band that plays mostly covers at local pubs and bars.I thought it would be a nice little way to earn some money on the side.The problem here is that i do not have an acoustic bass.Sure,I can play on the electric,but I feel that an acoustic would fit in better with the rest of the band.Can you guys recommend me some nice cheap acoustic basses? Thanks!

 

[bholder]

Plenty of relatively recent threads go through this in gory detail - short answer, no such thing if you want to play purely acoustically (they exist, but they ain't cheap). If you're willing to plug in, I understand some the Deans are pretty good and cheap bargains. But to be heard purely acoustically, that'll cost you big $s.

 

[bholder]

And a price range you're considering would help....

 

[Riki323]

I never meant to be heard unplugged,just a nice cheap acoustic bass...

 

[mesaplayer83]

Yeah, the Deans are probably the best cheap option - IMO, the best "bang for the buck" option are used Breedloves...

 

[shawn1288]

I think Taylor and guild have new offerings that are pretty awesome

Edit: Taylor's bass is called the Gs mini

 

[AB Nate]

My takamine 4 string has been fantastic. I don't play it plugged although it does sound great. It's more used for beaches and campfires and stuff. Great feel great sound and great projection.
I think new it was $400 CAD. Brand new.

Not to mention it always stays in tune. 4 months later.... yup. Still in tune. I maybe play it 10 times a year.

 

[jthisdell]

I have an Ibanez AEB10 that is nice (the AEB5 is less $$) but I either play my Fender P or an electric upright with my acoustic groups.

 

[two fingers]

Define "cheap". To me, a $600 bass is "cheap" (price wise). To someone else, a $600 bass might be incredibly expensive.

What's your actual budget?

This would look the part and be so much better than an actual "acoustic" bass.
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[Riki323]

Thanks for helping guys!OK I'm looking for something in the 100 to 350 dollar range.

 

[bholder]

You might be able to score an Epiphone el Capitan used off ebay or reverb for that. Otherwise, check out the Deans. Not sure which models, others on here can help.

 

[J_Bass]

I just bought a fender CB 60, sounds pretty good to me! But I never played an acoustic before, and I only play at home, so I don't know if it fits your needs.

I made a recording with the bass. Bass to amp, EQ off, just the "deep" button on. From the amp to the m-audio fast track and from there to GarageBand. No tweaks on garage band.

Three octaves, it's all the acoustic bass. Please pretend you don't notice all the bad playing and the off tempo notes.

 

[J_Bass]

 

[Riki323]

Nice bass!

 

[J_Bass]

Thanks!

Fender Unveils CB-60SCE Acoustic Bass Guitar

 

[Axstar]

I'm considering this Harley Benton as a rainy day purchase some time, 99% because of the cool looks:

Beyond that I've got nothing! Every acoustic bass I've tried has been a frustrating experience. They just won't go as loud or as bright as I would like, they are large to the point of being goofy, those bronze bass strings are disgusting under the fingers and the action is always stiff, high and generally horrendous. They sound like a bass with a head cold when unplugged, and you have to rely on the crappy quacky, shrill piezo pickup to get any tone out of it; which tends to be a brittle, biting and inconsistent tone that has nothing 'acoustic' about it. And if you have to plug the sodding thing in then what is the point? They aren't necessarily that light, you are tethered to outboard equipment for anybody to hear you, you risk feedback from the top getting all excitable... the worst potential elements of normal electric basses (unplayable action, poor weight and ergonomics) with the worst elements of acoustic guitars (cumbersome, fragile, ungainly, poor plugged-in performance, feedback risk, uneven string response from under-saddle pickups).

I detest piezo pickups anyway. Going out to the pub gets ruined about 50% of the time because it happens to be Open Mic Night. This always translates into some skinny jeans lad playing strummy campfire chords on a guitar with a cheap piezo pickup. It is like having a biro stabbed into your ear. All plasticky, nasal, with woofy unconstrained low end flab and shattering high end. Ironic when acoustic music is meant to be more relaxed and intimate in nature. If I ever went in for this sort of gig I would take my Telecaster and simply play it without any drive or distortion. It is a richer and more rewarding tone. Likewise where you might consider using an acoustic bass, just take along a P bass and lay off the drive!

In short I consider acoustic basses to be a cute idea, but porting the technology of one instrument straight over to another doesn't necessarily make the best sense. There are expensive acoustic basses out there that don't simply look like obese acoustic guitars, because some brains went into their design. These instruments reproduce the true fundamentals and proper harmonic overtones of the strings, at a reliable and consistent volume. They also cost a lot of money and look markedly different. The cheaper stuff simply has all of the novelty factor, but none of the execution or performance.

 

[Wicked G]

After checking out many acoustic basses, about 4 years ago, I found that I liked the Dean Exotica and Fender Kingman the best. From those 2 I purchased the Dean Exotica for about $350. It is really beautiful and luckily for me the loudest acoustic bass that I tried. I say luckily because again it is truly a beautiful bass. The Fender Kingman has a very nice neck as well and played great, but was not as beautiful nor as loud as the Dean. And when plugged in the Aphex Aural Enhancer circuitry on the Dean is really awesome. You can get such great tones out of it.

The only cons I see on it is the tuner isn't good, which shouldn't matter if you have another tuner, and the body is quite large which is why it is loud so that makes it both a con and a pro. The neck is also very comfortable and easy to play and I have used it with an acoustic guitarist and had no problems hearing myself and neither did he. I have also used it outdoors on stage plugged in opening for Sully Erna when he was doing an acoustic set without Godsmack. If it were to ever get stolen I would definitely be purchasing another one right away. Definitely a keeper bass IMHO and IME.

BTW did I mention that it is beautiful.

 

[jd56hawk]

Welcome to Talkbass where you'll find plenty of opinions about how acoustic basses are worthless, Fenders are for old men, Rickenbackers cost too much, and Sires are the best basses ever made.

Seriously though, no one loves acoustic basses more than I do, and since you're talking about plugging in, you won't find anything better for $400 or less than the Dean Exotica...the old model before the damned fools changed the preamp!
The old models have the Aphex System with Aural Exciter and Big Bottom Sound. The new models? Doesn't really matter what they use...the Aphex System can't be beat.
I get a plugged-in tone out of my Exotica that I can't even get out of my G&L L 2000.
Put on the proper strings...D'Adarrio black Tapewounds...and get a sound-hole plug and you'll forget all about every other acoustic bass. I certainly have.

The Exotica sells for $399 new but I got mine for $250 used with a molded ABS case from Guitar Center. When I gave it a test drive, I had a crowd in the bass room listening to me. Believe me, they're that good. There's usually a few on ebay or reverb for under $300 if you can't find a used one at GC online.

This is my second Exotica and if I find a black one, I'll probably buy it. I get more compliments about my Dean than I get about any bass I've ever owned.

By the way, I had the regular Dean acoustic, but the simple truth is, the electronics are somewhat lacking, to put it nicely.

One last thing, I have a Roland Micro Cube for barbecues, camping, or one last post apocalyptic gig. I believe in the MTV Unplugged school of thought...Plug In!

 

[Systolic]

I like my Aria. Especially for the price. Which is this guy here:

 

[Rayan]

I got a really nice acoustic bass for just $145. It plays well, sounds great, has reasonable action for an acoustic bass (though maybe a bit on the high side), and really holds its own unplugged with acoustic guitars (not louder obviously, but just loud enough). Also, this is hardly too important to me in an acoustic instrument, but the electronics on it are terrific. It was from an unknown brand called DeRosa, it was kind of an impulse buy I found on Amazon for cheap (even the seller's name was "Directly Cheap"). I got really lucky with it though, and I'm happy with it.

I'm not saying it's the best you will ever get, there are plenty of reasonably priced acoustic basses that are better quality than this one too. Dean makes a lot of really nice acoustic bass models (including the one @jd56hawk brought up) that are reasonably priced. You might want to go for one of those instead. But for $145, you really get great quality.