tiny bass for open stage events

[Pep]

Something fairly inexpensive, short-scale and sounds warm which should fit perfectly in the mix.
Epiphone EBO. Only $289 new.
Problem solved!

 

[Andy Marshman]

I own an acoustic-electric ukulele and a solid body. Each has the rubbery strings. The one that shines for me, and is the same small size is the Kala U-Bass. It has proper metal strings and a P style split pickup. It's passive and any size of bass amp will do the trick for you.

 

[el murdoque]

Hi everyone. I've found a jazz or precision to sound way out of line when I jam with a singer/songwriter with their acoustic guitar at an open stage event. Now I was thinking to get something like an Ashbory or ukulele bass or something. Not only would the tone be nice, but also the small form factor. What would you recommend and why?

I have a Kala Journeyman for that kind of application. Mine came with rounds, but I did set it up with flatwounds.
Opposed to the rubber strings, you get a sound that leans a bit more towards electric bass, but it still has big and boomy acoustic qualities of a double bass, but none of that weird feeling of strings that roll under your fingers instead of bending.
It's tiny, it's light, it looks acoustic and it sounds acoustic.

 

[MrLenny1]

Taylor Baby bass. Small, sounds great.
You need to tame feedback issues though.

 

[Texican]

If it's mainly a tone thing, you should definitely check out a short scale (semi) hollow bass, like a Höfner, or the Guild that has been mentioned. With flat- or tapewound strings, you'll get a nice fundamental, thuddy/thumpy tone, almost like an upright bass.

But you can actually get pretty close to that by using flatwounds on your P bass, putting a piece of foam under the strings near the bridge, as a mute, and by picking the strings near me end of the fretboard. A Precision should work very well with acoustic guitars that way, if it's still too thin, turn down the tone pot quite a bit.

Oh, and if you have to plug directly in the PA often, I would invest in a bass preamp/DI, that will improve the tone a lot!

I was going to say the exact same thing, but you pretty much nailed it for the OP! If he's plugging in direct and is worried about not having control over his tone, he should be using preamp DI. Flat wounds are a huge step in the right direction as well. One thing I would add though is to possibly adjust pickup height… Especially if he is using a hotter precision pickup like a quarter pounder or something overwound.

 

[Stingray5]

You mention:

"it's not about volume. it's about tone. at these events, the tone often times ends up too thin, like you'd play through a guitar amp."

Maybe before considering changing basses, you look to change your tone and technique for this gig. You should at least have a preamp if not a small pedalboard you are feeding into the provided amp or PA so you can have more control over your tone then just the passive bass controls.

From a technique perspective, for example I play in a full cover band but then we also do a stripped down acoustic trio, with a lot of crossover in song selection. When I play the same songs 'acoustically', I use the same active electric bass, but I strip down the parts and play a lot with the thumb plucking technique (ala Sting) and this gives a completely different tone and feel that fits well with the acoustic setting. Just another perspective to consider here!

 

[Ostie]

I play in a couple acoustic trios with guitar, bass and cajon. What works best for me is my Jack Casady, Hofner Club, or my G2220 with flats. I haven't played a Guild Starfire but I want to try one out.

 

[klyph]

A nice preamp. and a set of flatwound strings will probably get you closer to what you want out of a community amp/pa. You could also just bring a small amp and REALLY take control of your sound.
I have a Kala uke bass just for goofing around at home. It's a really nice instrument but it doesn't even come close to its potential until you ditch the rubber strings and put some nice wound strings on it. Now that I've made the switch it's a perfectly fine instrument for gigs. I got the copper wound type- I forget the brand…

 

[macmanlou]

Kala solid body fretless with the flatwound strings that they also sell.

 

[Slevage]

Any bass can work. Even if PA is provided, play through a small combo 1-10 or 1-12 so you have control over your stage tone.

If you can't make a P work in that situation there's something else going on.

 

[Savage_Dreams]

so you cant get a jazz or a P, the two most common instruments on the planet since the beginning of electric bass, which have seamlessly blended with all instruments over that time, including acoustic guitars..... to blend in at an acoustic gig? I'm not sure buying more stuff is what you need to look at.

 

[pingvuiini]

If you decide to go the uke bass route I found that the Road Toad Pahoehoe (now owned by Kala) rubber strings have a really big 'blooming' upright bass sound over any steel string (rounds, flats or tapes). There is also less electrical buzzing interference noise with the piezo pickups. The only drag is the rubber strings themselves which, as someone pointed out earlier, can be sticky and a major PITA to install. But the ultra low tension makes them very easy to play. The Gold Tone uke bass second from left has rubber strings.

As of late, the increased proliferation of steel uke bass strings have allowed for magnetic pickups and more traditional electric bass tones in a small uke sized package. The right four basses all have magnetic pickups and steel rounds and tapes. The kala solidbody is very well made for its price.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

HPF to roll off the lowend so you're not muddying up the mix.

 

[brianrost]

If you can adapt to playing a Kala u-bass, they do sound great. Get a fretted one unless you are already comfortable playing fretless bass. The super short scale makes intonation even more difficult.

Personally I wouldn't bother getting a different bass. I'd just play a bass I already own in a suitable way.

 

[iuserneim]

I gig occasionally with my Uke basses. All have metal flatwound strings and regular pickups. I would recommend a solid body Uke, like the new Kala or similar with the Galli flats. I think they work great, plenty of low end and it is like walking in with a mandolin but really sounds like a bass.

solid body really makes sense. the "acoustic" ones dont really get volume if unplugged.

A ukulele bass will probably sound bassy enough even with the most clueless of sound guys at the board.
However, its characteristic string complement (polyurethane strings) can be a little high-maintenance: they take some time to settle because they stretch a lot, they can be fragile, they can be sticky, they need resetting (because of their continuous stretching) every once in a while.

good point about the rubber strings. maybe really flat wounds would be the way to go

 

[antfarm]

The Jazz Bass tone fits very nice in this one, probably with flatwounds:

 

[macmanlou]

The kala solidbody is very well made for its price.

Agreed. I especially like the fretless with flatwounds Kala sells for it. The heavier gauges work really well on the 23.5" scale.

See the demo I posted above (use headphones).

 

[Michedelic]

Hi everyone. I've found a jazz or precision to sound way out of line when I jam with a singer/songwriter with their acoustic guitar at an open stage event. Now I was thinking to get something like an Ashbory or ukulele bass or something. Not only would the tone be nice, but also the small form factor. What would you recommend and why?

Plenty of acoustic acts employ some sort of standard electric bass. You're overthinking this. When you say "open stage", I'm guessing you mean an open mic situation. Nobody in the audience cares, and as others have pointed out, just keep your volume under control.

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

Flats on a Hofner.

 

[Wyrdlow]

The Jazz Bass tone fits very nice in this one, probably with flatwounds:

Doesn't it just? I love the bass playing on Tapestry -the tone, the note choices, where it sits in the mix. Absolute bliss to the ears!