Wanting a cheap ABG...

At some point there's a trade-off between acceptable quality and price. From what I read around these parts, SX is about as good a balance between the two as it gets. I really don't think you're going to want something that costs less than $270 in an ABG, but I may be wrong.

 

I've toyed with the idea of getting one of the $69 Sky acoustic/electric basses off of Amazon or Ebay. Don't see how they could possibly be any crappier than some of the $150-300 ABGs I've owned/played.
Never considered one before buy my local pawn shop got one in used last week and it actually played surprisingly well. Certainly as well or better than the Dean I had.

 

Dean Playmate... Acoustically loud and made pretty well.

 

Hell, we're pretty much neighbors. If you end up in Cinci, you're more than welcome to try mine out.

 

This, definitely - IMO, it's the best AEB under $500 - and can be had for $200 or less...


- georgestrings

 

That $69 sky acoustic is horrific. I doubt it could survive any mods. The dean is ok but it's humongous. I like my Ibanez aeb5e. ~$200 and sounds great with tapewounds.

 

+1 on the Dean Playmate.... mine is pretty decent

 

I got a Dean from Musician's friend a couple years ago for really cheap. I don't remember what I paid for it, but I wish I had spent more and gotten a better instrument. The intonation is bad all over the neck, it doesn't stay in tune, and two of the strings don't really get picked up by the pickup when you plug it in. It was so cheap though, that I kept it, and only really use it for acoustic practice / jam sessions.

 

Variance... Mine intonates, stays in tune, and all the strings pick up fine.

 

This is the one I got:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/dean-eab-acoustic-electric-bass

Again, I still felt it was worth what I paid for it, but it definitely is not a professional instrument.

My post was in no way a counter to yours. I am just giving my experience. If you go too cheap, you may end up disappointed.

 

I didn't take it that way, man. Just doing the same.

This is the one I got...

http://www.samash.com/p/Dean_Playmate Cutaway 5 String Acoustic Electric Bass Natural_-49987857

 

The Dean EAB is about as good as any of them, louder than most, and not very expensive.

 

This is kind of an interesting idea, if you haven't seen it. I imagine it would help with feed back as well. If acoustic volume isn't a priority, you may find a slightly smaller ABG to be more comfortable than the Dean, which is quite large.

Scroll to bottom of page.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/acoustic-bass-fetish-club-part-2-a-665642/index30.html

 

I picked up a Dean EAB recently and I was quite pleasantly surprised by how well it played and sounded. I didn't have very high expectations, because after all it's one of the cheapest ABGs out there, but it exceeded those expectations in all regards. It is, as several people have said, a big instrument. But that's one reason I was attracted to it---it's big enough to actually be of some use as an acoustic bass, not just as an electric bass that looks like an acoustic guitar.

 

I have a Dean as well, and I think it's decent enough to convince me that an ABG really isn't a particularly useful instrument. In my experience, it still needs amplification to be heard over much of anything, and once you do that - might as well use an instrument that doesn't force the ergonomic compromises that an EAB does.

Yeah it sounds somewhat different than a "normal" electric bass, but for the most part nobody who is listening cares about that...

 

I grabbed a used Fender Kingman a few months ago for a great price, and I love it. Decent volume & tone unplugged, and beautiful tone when amplified.

 

Here ya go.... http://www.ebay.com/itm/fender-kingman-acoustic-bass-/140899680377?pt=Guitar&hash=item20ce468079

or go with the ibby.