Strictly Acoustic???

[Spinal Tapper]

So I took my Geddy into the shop for a setup. The guy said it'd be a couple days to get it back. My band practices twice a week. I have no electric backup bass, so for practice I brought my Acoustic/Electric Dean Playmate that I picked up for around $90 on Craigslist a month ago. Besides sitting on a chair all night and DESPERATELY needing new strings put on, I thought it was still pretty rocking during the practice. Of course, my band was cracking up the whole time because I looked goofy as hell jammin on that thing (they have oversized bodies if you've never seen one), but it seemed to work out and practice resumed.

Made me think: Just wondering if there's any players/TBers that use Strictly Acoustic/Electric bass in their bands? Or any famous bands out there that do this???

 

[Spinal Tapper]

Bump - Anyone?

 

[Sammy_L_D]

Soon I will be! My Victor Bailey signature is on order, and my other basses are on their way out.

You probably won't find many "popular" bassists who use acoustic bass guitars exclusively, but many use them quite often.

 

[MarkusBass]

I thought the Violent Femmes bass play plays an acoustic, not positive though. Been a while

 

[ezstep]

My band does about 12-18 semi-acoustic gigs a year, mostly in small, small clubs and restaurants. Two acoustic guitars with pickups and me on bass, acoustic with pickup. That means (for us) three lead singers and three-part harmony on nearly every song. I also work a few gigs with a bluegrass band with the same bass. But I don't know anyone famous who plays only ac/el.

 

[Baird6869]

I have an amazing Morgan Monroe ABG that I just love but I only play it around the campfire.

My band is thinking about changing our format a bit and gigging 4 or 5 sets with the first one being completely acoustic. We shall see.

In any case, I can't see myself ever just using an ABG.

 

[jambassist]

I got rid of all my electric gear and have gone strictly acoustic. I work with an acoustic guitarist and the sound we have is the sound we're looking for. I play a Martin acoustic which I like so much that I'm having a custom one built.

There's no rule that says you can't play just acoustic, but realistically, it depends on what kind of music you play. It obviously fits better with some styles more than others. I'm into acoustic rock, bluegrass, and Irish music so the ABG fits well with those styles. When you restring your bass, consider putting a set of lite gauge flatwounds on it. To me, they sound much better than phosphor bronze strings.