lemmywinks

Ugh....

The OP put in his initial post that he intends to plug in.

Drummer's fault, glare at them until everybody is back on track.

If they were going to get rid of one member you'd think it'd have been the noncey one.

It is always a bit weird when these threads come up, there's usually a few inevitable comments telling the OP how bad all acoustic basses are and how you might as well just use an electric bass. This is itself is odd because there's a ton of times I've seen an "acoustic" performance where the bassist is using an electric and I've wished they'd brought a more appropriate instrument. ABGs are their own thing; they sound different, feel different, respond differently to technique, have different ways of capturing your playing for amplification etc. The above is one of the reasons why I always post those Ibanez videos and also usually this one: It's also a good thing that manufacturers are starting to put more appropriate strings on new instruments at all price levels now, those 'orrible phosphor bronze things will have put legions of bass players off ABGs.

Oh no, she was lovely. Awful news, RIP Sam.

I don't think there's many options at that scale tbh, those D'addario strings do a great job of getting a solid unamplified bass tone at a decent volume out of such a short length of string, almost physics defying! They just seem to fit right in with other acoustic instruments tonally and occupy a nice space. I did try the Thomastik AB34 on a 34" scale piezo equipped bass (Aria Sinsonido travel bass) but they sounded nothing like the D'addarios.

Sound like this:

Did it come with the nylon core, bronze coated ones like upscaled classical guitar strings? They're usually standard on that size of acoustic bass now. D'addario make a set for the Taylor Baby Bass and Ibanez use them.

I have the older Artwood Parlour bass which is fantastic, they only do the cheaper PNB14E in that size now. Very well made, nice acoustic tone and sounds great plugged in. Some of them include a Fishman Sonicore piezo element but tbh the near identical in house version sounds the same. Preamp is universal on pretty much all of their acoustics, it sounds good but is geared more towards guitar so doesn't really let you add thump or cut booming bass, fortunately it's quite a controlled sound already. Like all budget acoustic instruments they are rather heavily built but IMO this isn't a concern with bass, especially if you're plugging in and playing with other musicians. Probably preferable tbh and string choice will be your main consideration, some of the Ibanez models come with coated strings which will help subdue that annoying bronze clank acoustic basses are known for. I use nylon coated flats on my full size fretless acoustic. Honestly I'd look at a used acoustic bass, depreciation on them is pretty severe so you can get bargains. A decent outboard preamp is also a bonus if you're playing at volume, I use the Fishman Platinum Pro and Stage models, can use the limited onboard pre as a buffer then do all your eq on a more flexible unit then.

Ah see but this thread proves you should never throw things away!

It's just me hoarding things really! Just tested it and all adjustment screws are turning

Right Mr @Dood here's that bridge, I've given it a quick clean as it's been sat in a drawer for years! I've no use for it so if you want it for a tenner or something just let me know, it has screws.

I think that's what the bridge I have is a clone of, no roller saddles but it has the one piece rear block (I think) like the original bridge. Will grab a pic tonight when I'm back home if you're interested.

You can install Linux on that old Macbook Air, still perfectly capable of running a modern OS (Mint Mate works out of the box) if you need it to. I have an old Sandy Bridge Elitebook from 2011 with dual SSDs, one with Windows 11 and the other with Kubuntu.

For hardware which needs an occasional connection to an obsolete OS or I/O to be configured then it might be an idea to keep an old laptop with firewire etc to one side. Not a huge inconvenience to keep using something you love. This is twice as fun if you're an old PC nerd as you can play Half Life on it as our lord intended. If it's just a modern OS thing then a VM might be a more convenient (but less fun) way of doing things. ASIO4All drivers are also a potential lifesaver for old audio interfaces - a while back I sold an ancient M-Audio Quattro (genuinely forgot i had it and found it in a box) which isn't even on the legacy support section of their website and the last drivers were for Windows 98 IIRC. Worked fine (well as fine as USB 1.1 can be) in Audacity with ASIO4All which amazed me.

Rowland Custom Shop that is, however Mr Rowland has slapped the Fender CS logo on this old beater and called it a custom built road worn bass: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266579356696 Check out the neck pocket, always handy to have somewhere within easy reach to store your mid-gig custard creams:

I'm a worryingly short distance down the coast in Cleveleys, just have rogue mobility scooters and the resident seagull gangs to deal with here.

Well it's quite near Merseyside, if you own a boat or can swim with your bass strapped to your back it might be doable. But yeah, although folk from Lytham don't like the fact it is just down the road from Blackpool.

Pretty sure I have an extremely similar one tucked away at home, will have a root tomorrow and see how good my memory is.

Had a dep gig in a tiny ale house in Chorley, was going through an amp for a change which I've not done in years, enjoyed it even though I made a couple of mistakes (they play every song in a wildly different key from the original) and the TC BH800 and PJB C8L sounded great on stage. Was thinking about swapping out the preamp in my Cort GB Modern 5 but after tonight I'll leave it in and tweak my Fishman DI a bit more for IEM gigs.

Try this with a regular set, prob best with a cheap/used set first just so you don't ruin an expensive pack!

Guyker also do some open frame tuners for around £30 per set, basically Ultralite copies on the cheap. Would be interesting to see how they work on a budget bass: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004645339944.html According to the comments they're 67g including the bushing.