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good acoustic basses? a myth?

#24
The Washburn deep bodied ABGs sound and feel okay, but don't have as much acoustic volume as the Michael Kelly. And face it, a thinbody will project even less volume. I'd say drop the Washburn aspirations.
The Ibanez AEB10 is in the same ballpark as the Washburn, and might possibly be rolling off the same assembly line.
 
#26
I have three. Tacoma 5, Tacoma 4 fretless, Olympia 4. Voiced kind of like cello. Strings make a large difference in volume. I have TI flats on the 5, acousticore on the fretless and D'addarios on the Olympia. The Olympia is loudest (go figure), followed by the fretless and last is the 5 with the TIs. As above, good for a couple of acoustic guitars and voices without mikes. More than that, you'll have to plug it in. I have had 2 Washburns. Almost no acoustic volume in comparison to the others listed here. ABGs are great practice bases; don't need an amp, the action is a bit higher, and there is no pickup for a thumb anchor, so it really puts our technique through the paces.
 
#27
I think that ABGs are the one thing where you just can't get a decent cheap axe... I've played a TON of them looking, and the only ones I found playable at all were at least $1200... And I'm not really a gear snob - if an SX does the trick, FINE - - but acoustic instruments are *not* electrics - - it takes real workmanship to make a good acoustic instrument, and real workmanship costs money.

Think of this as looking for a good acoustic guitar - - So think Martin, Laravee, Taylor... maybe Guild & Tacoma...
 
#36
basstotheface said:
I'm in the market for an acoustic bass. want a good sound, acoustic/electric would be nice but not a necessity, $0-$1000, doesn't have to be too loud not gonna play in gigs just loud enough for when i'm playing with friends that are using acoustic guitars so that i'm heard. if you need more detail just ask questions, free to answer.
Click to expand...

The absolute best ABG I've played is the Breedlove. The Tacoma Thunderchief was a close second. And then an Alvarez 3/4 size ABG was surprisingly loud and sounded great. I tried a Taylor a long time ago but I don't remember a whole lot about it. Michael Kelly's are "ok" but I wasn't absolutely thrilled with them. Washburn, Applause, Galveston, Dean, Ibanez, and Fender...well, expect to get what you pay for really.

I spent a lot of time researching these and playing them at stores since I was GAS'ing for one pretty bad. But the only thing I would ever buy if I had to is the Breedlove. It's only like $700 bucks new but it was the best playing and sounding of all of them.
 
#39
I've got an Ibanez EWB205, and I really like the tone and playability. But it can't keep up with a loud acoustic guitar. From what I hear, none of these really do, altho some of the beefier boxes (like Dean) put out a bit more sound. But those are tougher to play, due to their size. If you want to play around the campfire and be heard, bring a battery amp.
 

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