Attention Acoustic (Bass Guitar) Avengers!!!

[DanOwens]

Hey guys,

I've been playing about with my acoustic Ibanez bass in my Nick Cave/Tom Waits-esque band along with the DarkStar Precision.

The Precision's got nickel strings on at the mo, so it's a bit too bright and lively so I was considering a few mods and maybe buying a fretless neck for it but in the meantime I've been playing the acoustic.

Thing is, I ran the idea of new purchases by the band and they all said that the acoustic looks great in the context and sounds good too. Problem is, I'm dialling out ALL the mid and treble from the onboard-pre coz the sound is even brighter than the P.

So you acoustic users, what you using to get 'your' sound? I have a set of Trubass 88s but there are some times when I need a long sustain, I just don't need all the top-end. Are you using electric strings? I also rarely play it unplugged other than in my room, so volume isn't necessarily important.

Thanks!!!

Dan

[TheRev]

I'm using the Thomastik acoustic posphor bronze strings. They're nylon core with a phosphor bronze winding so they're nice and mellow with a decent sustain. They're not cheap but they seem to last forever.

[DanOwens]

They sound like a good idea Rev.

I'm after something with a bit of sustain and maybe [i]some[/i] top-end. I know that I want the sound of the Trubass strings but not all of the time, which makes me think about flats.

I also palm-mute a lot of the time. I was thinking of fitting a bass-mute (like the ones Ped has) but since I'm using a piezo in the bridge I thought maybe it would kill the level. Any thoughts my fellow chatters.

Also, my threads only seem to get one or two replies. Am I that boring??

Dan

[BassBod]

Nothing boring, just a fairly specialist question. I ended up putting Thomastik flats on the Martin, everything else was too zingy. Couldn't get on with the Thomastik acoustic strings, they were too light and flexible - would've needed a completely different setup. They did sound nice, but acoustically very soft.

I also put in a K&K pickup (stuck under the bridge plate - wired straight to the jack, no preamp) and this is a much more woody sound than any under-saddle pickup I've heard. I run that into a an active DI (flat) or an LR Baggs DI if a want some eq.

I'm happy!

But I'd love to try a Dark Star P bass with Thomastik flats.....

BB

[StanRobinson]

I've gone even further down the road of thud. For few years I've used a set of Trubass on my Fender BG29, for the last couple I've experimented with various amounts of sponge shoved under the strings. No zing, no sustain - whatsoever. mind she does need to be cranked up with the aid a feedback buster in the hole. With the Workingman's 12, horn in, it sounds sweet. With the ABM 15, valves at 1 o'clock, it's all wrong but has a sort of a big compressed sub-frequency quality.

SR

Edited April 18, 2008 by StanRobinson

[DanOwens]

BB - What K&K did you use? And did you install it yourself? Also, do you mean you put the TI Jazz flats (as in electric bass strings) on?

SR - I have tried foam with my DSP but there are some moments in this band that I use my Wooly Mammoth for a full-on wall-of-sound bass tone - totally not possible with a wedge of foam killing sustain.

Thanks guys!! I'm at a loss what to do with it, if anything at all!

Dan

[BassBod]

Yep - Thomastik flats, as used on the plank. They're much lighter tension than most flats, so no worries about them being hard on the neck etc. The K&K was the "pure" pickup that Bob Gollihur sells. Its two small plates that superglue under the bridge - a local (banjo/mandolin) luthier did it for me, although I could've done it. I was just a bit nervous 'cause the Martin is in very good condition...and I don't normally work on acoustics, so they feel very fragile to me.

BB