From the look of the pictures on Taylor's website, the Koa version comes without a pickguard.
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Is an Acoustic bass worth it
- Thread starter Kalsarikannit
- Start date
From the look of the pictures on Taylor's website, the Koa version comes without a pickguard.
That's nice to know but it may not necessarily have to tone I'd want; however, as that comes without a PG, perhaps the other wood combinations can be had that way as well.
String-wise, it turns out that the "proprietary" Taylor/D'Addario string set is just a rehash of the contrabass strings that have been around amongst classical guitar players for decades.
I prefer La Bella CB40-BE's on my mini's. They have a hair more tension, a nice mid-focused growl, sound better as they get older, finger noise is reasonable, and they're much less expensive than the overpriced D'Addarios. The only downside I can find with them, is that they're silver-plated (like most classical contrabass strings), so they occasionally blacken my fretting fingers. This is easily solved with a quick wipedown.
Savarez also make a suitable string at a reasonable price, and Hannabach does at a higher price point. Because they're made for tie-on bridges, you have to tie a small bead or a dice on the bottom, which only takes a few seconds.
All three sets are well-established in classical circles, and available from multiple mail-order firms. I like Strings By Mail for their service, pricing, and reasonable shipping.
During my back-to-back testing, the Taylor came a distant third. The construction is typical Taylor, in that every line is very crisp, and the finish shows it off well. The included gig bag is a nice touch, as well. Definitely the most expensive-looking, but disappointing sound-wise. These were my beefs with it, independent of price:
- Disappointingly thin amplified tone.
- Low acoustic output.
- Limited flexibility.
- Intonation wasn't great past the 12th fret.
The first one I bought, was the now-discontinued Ibanez AVN1BE. The "vintage" finish and all-mahogany body made it look more grown up, at least to my eye. The electronics package was better, thanks to the onboard tuner, built-in XLR output, and strong 2-band EQ. The intonation was good, and got better when I switched to the La Bella strings. Given the sort of grab-and-go gigs that these basses are well-suited for, being able to plug in without a DI came in handy a couple of times in the first 6 months. The price was a bit stiff, but still better than the Taylor. There is also an all-laminated version that is still around, and an absolute steal for $280 at Sweetwater.
The EQ on the Ibanez was rather touchy, but gave it the widest tonal range of the three basses I considered. You can get it to sound surprisingly close to a regular electric bass, and boosting the bass some more makes for huge, booming Reggae tones. Like a Hofner Beatle bass, as you ramp up the stage volume, the low end gets bigger and more satisfying, at least up to the point of feedback.
I only had two concerns about the Ibanez:
- One was the unbound mahogany body. I realize that it's vintage-correct given the "old bluesman" image that Ibanez was going for, but it's stupid at that price point, especially on a lightly-built, stage-ready instrument.
- The other was the 12th fret neck joint. It forced me to play simpler, less embellished lines, and that was good in a way. However, the tone was so sweet that i found myself often wanting to play upper-register fills.
TBH, I found it very hard to choose between the Ibby and the Guild. Both instruments sound great. They both sustain surprisingly well, having more "staying power" at slow tempos than most ABG's, regardless of scale length. The extra onboard EQ control was handy on the Ibanez, but I've got a ton of other EQ options at my disposal.
In the end, I kept the Guild because of the nice included gig bag, extra couple of frets, lower price, nicer cosmetics, and the extra durability.
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Thanks much for this detailed analysis, Steve! If I were ever to get any ABG it would be only for couch potato kind of playing; any gigging would be with one of my other basses (Rick, Martin Keith, or Guild) really, so pickup/electronics don't matter in my case.
The Elfin Hollowbody Bass looks nice, and is relevant to this thread! I recommend you buy one of those!
My fretless Elfin 5 has a really nice spruce top just like most acoustics!
The top has some superb silking to it.
Say hi to Martin for me when you call him, thanks.
BTW, to get you up to speed a bit on him, he is the son of Bill Keith.
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Wow...that's quite a list of equipment you have posted there. You seem "well enabled" already! Good on you.
To discerning ears it is still going to sound very different from a traditional ABG. Traditional ABG's are built with lightweight un-muted tops, with soundholes, deeper bodies, and acoustic guitar type bracing. A traditional hollowbody EBG has a stiff hardwood top that is heavily muted by pickups, electronics, knobs, and heavy steel bridges. They obviously don't have soundholes (f-holes maybe), and they rarely mimic lightweight, braced, acoustic guitar type construction.
I've got a Yamaha BEX-4 which is a thinline semi-hollowbody with f-holes and an acoustic piezo bridge. While it does sound different from a solidbody, it's not quite the ABG sound. I also have a Fender Power Jazz Bass with a piezo bridge and a fretless neck - strung with flats it actually sounds surprisingly somewhere between a hollowbody and an ABG.
I've also tried the Ibanez SRF500, which has an excellent piezo bridge, and I'd be interested to hear that with phosphor bronze strings.
