The LOUDEST guitar shaped accoustic bass.

[miles'tone]

Ernie Ball Earthwood.

But they're rare as rocking horse plop and expensive now.

Get a cheap double bass, some Innovation Silver Slaps strings and away you go. Bluegrass city.

(That's what I did when I walked this path)

[Mykesbass]

May just about keep up with an Ozark resonator bass but don't expect to play it standing up!!

[Annoying Twit]

The recommendation of a guitarron is an interesting one. I've had a look around, and they are available at various price points, but generally 'to order'. E.g. this is the cheapest I've found (but I've heard that GAK's cheaper specialty instruments can be ... variable). [url="http://www.gak.co.uk/en/lucida-mariachi-guitarron-big-bad-mexican-bass/35563"]http://www.gak.co.uk...ican-bass/35563[/url] Here's one in context. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs1CKU0jb8c"]https://www.youtube....h?v=Zs1CKU0jb8c[/url]

On youtube, the guitarron has a nice round sound, but not quite as deep as I hoped. The playing style seems to include a lot of double stops. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cECWL5fIqoI"]https://www.youtube....h?v=cECWL5fIqoI[/url] I would guess it would be possible to tune it in all fourths tuning, if it's not tuned that way by default.

The necks appear to be fretless, and very short in comparison to the body. But, if they have a good, loud, sound, then it's plausible that I may get interested in one someday. Not now as my next purchase is going to be a regular fretless. I did consider the Harley Benton fretless acoustic, but have found that acoustic basses just don't have the volume, and often have a too twangy sound for me. I did try a Rockbass Alien, but while the sound was very nice, it was quiet, and the instrument itself played poorly. (Possibly slipped through QC)

I think that with acoustic bass, many people want the sound of a double bass in a smaller, cheaper, package. So many reviews of acoustic basses wish they were louder, and talk of playing styles that best mimic a double bass sound.

Edit: http://www.talkbass.com/threads/guitarron-anyone.285638/ "The guitarron was very loud, probably louder than an unamplified DB". Hmmm.... interesting. They are typically tuned A D G C E A, so in all fourths apart from the C-E third. I would imagine they could be retuned to A D G C F Bb.

Edited July 12, 2014 by Annoying Twit

[stingrayPete1977]

I use a stagg electric upright and a very small 1x10 cab and shuttle 3.0 amp for my local acoustic jam, it goes down very well compared to just using a jazz bass or similar.

Edited July 12, 2014 by stingrayPete1977

[Clarky]

I've been through all of this, trying to find a portable alternative to my DB in my band. The nearest I got was a Takamine TB10 (which uses piezo pickups) but it was quite heavy for my knackered shoulder (although it can be played on a pin) and its very expensive.

I now use a downsized DB (Kolstein Travel Bass) or Ampeg Baby Bass or - last night in the tiny Green Note in Camden - a good old Fender Precision

[Nodd]

I own a relatively loud Eko BA4fl,
but it doesn't compete with other acoustic instruments outside of the living room.
Its also a bit uncomfortable due to the body size.
Might I suggest, if DB isn't a workable solution,
using an ABG or Kala U-bass
thro one of those cheapish battery powered Karaoke/PA cabs?
They are loud,sound OK, also cheap, especially secondhand, and can be used for other instruments too.

[LeftyJ]

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1405088692' post='2498763']
"The LOUDEST guitar shaped ACOUSTIC BASS"....its an oxymoron, the qualities you ask for don't go hand in hand unless, as it has been said, you go to Double Bass size.
[/quote]



[size=8]Que?[/size]

[size=4]Those can even be had fairly cheap if you can find one. But that's the hard part, unless you're in Mexico...[/size]
But they're a monster to play, and fretless. And I believe those are nylon strings.

Edited July 12, 2014 by LeftyJ

[Annoying Twit]

I wonder if it would be possible to build a super-guitarron. With a body so big that the body has a hole through the sides in which the player stands, so that s/he is close enough to the front of the instrument to play.

Edited July 12, 2014 by Annoying Twit

[stingrayPete1977]

Its got 6 strings so you know he will be doing loads of jazzy stuff and chords etc

[LeftyJ]

This is a creation of Olavi Linden from Finland. The guy is actually a violinist and designer of garden scissors, but he also has a small acoustic guitar and bass company and makes some unique acoustic bass guitars and upright basses with a carbon fibre horn inside the body and multi soundhole technology that produces tremendous volume and bottom end. The one in the pictures is some sort of prototype

http://www.lindeninstruments.com/history.html
http://www.lindeninstruments.com/instrument.html Edited July 12, 2014 by LeftyJ

[Bolo]

Maybe a Dobro/resonator type. There is no escaping a side by side comparison to hear the differences yourself though.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='LeftyJ' timestamp='1405206170' post='2499774']








This is a creation of Olavi Linden from Finland. The guy is actually a violinist and designer of garden scissors, but he also has a small acoustic guitar and bass company and makes some unique acoustic bass guitars and upright basses with a carbon fibre horn inside the body and multi soundhole technology that produces tremendous volume and bottom end. The one in the pictures is some sort of prototype

[url="http://www.lindeninstruments.com/history.html"]http://www.lindenins...om/history.html[/url]
[url="http://www.lindeninstruments.com/instrument.html"]http://www.lindenins...instrument.html[/url]
[/quote]

They would love me turning up with that at the Dog and Duck!

[Maude]

Thomann used to sell that Lucida Guitarron for a hundred pounds less than GAK but it looks like they've stopped selling it as well.
I was quite tempted once but have no real use.

[Reversebird]

I've got a very rare Tanglewood Resonator bass circa 2002 I think they were only sold for less than a year and I have never seen another one.
The body is wood not metal like the Ozaks and quite a nice thickness and size and apart from the resonator it has an additional pickup near the neck.
I put Ernie Ball Earthwound strings on it and it sounds very nice. The resonator gives it something different to a normal acoustic bass thud BUT it doesn't
really make it any louder than a over large bodied acoustic bass. Plugged in you have a volume pot for the humbucking pickup and volume pot for the piezo that sits
under the resonator bridge. Third pot is so you can blend the two. The resonator sounds awful pugged in really really nasty tinny thin unusable sound. The Humbucker sounds really sweet adding to the warmth and depth of the acoustic unamplified body. Blended together doesn't work either because the resonator part just over powers everything even with the volume low.
As previously mentioned above Acoustics are great basses to have around the house for the occasional pickup and practice, maybe could be used with an amp or DI on stage?
One thing is for certain is this Resonator bass turns heads.
Good luck with your search but I think an acoustic and small amp is the only way forward. (The larger Pignose 30 watt runs rechargeable batteries and is suitable for bass)
Paul

Edited July 16, 2014 by Reversebird

[Ghost_Bass]

I think one of the loudest ever made was the Ernie Ball Earthwood Bass but they're not available anymore and the ones found second hand go for insane prices.

[Roland Rock]

Here's me busking with an Epiphone El Capitan. I seem to be wearing a rubber pig nose too, but don't remember why.

The Epiphone was a nice enough bass, but when playing in the street, I remember having to use a plectrum and pluck hard to get any sort of projection. Saying that, it was perfect for accompanying the acoustic guitar in a chilled out jam round a campfire or beach etc.

[Annoying Twit]

There's a guy in Leicester who sometimes busks singing and playing a double bass, that I'd say was 3/4 size. Maybe. It sounds really good and projects well. Roland, if you had to use a pick and pluck hard for projection, that still makes me think that for acoustic bass sound a DB is what is really needed.

Edited July 18, 2014 by Annoying Twit

[Mottlefeeder]

I bought a 5-string acoustic about a year ago, and it is now my main bass. At home, I don't need to plug it in, and at the venues I play, an acoustic fits where a solid body would not, and I like the sound it produces.

Having said that, it is always amplified when out of the house - I have a battery rig for rehearsals and outdoor gigs, and a mains powered amp for the others. Also, based on past experience, if I am not controlling the PA, I would probably fall back on the solid bodied bass. Some PA operators have no idea what to do when an acoustic bass starts to feed back.

David

[tom1946]

If the OP likes gigs on the beach with the family band, a lot of the suggestions are moot because where does a DB go in the family car? or even a Guitarron.

Need a truck.....

[stingrayPete1977]

[URL=http://s997.photobucket.com/user/stingraypete/media/8725664175_5154aca47d_z_zpstj8t1hef.jpg.html][IMG]http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af100/stingraypete/8725664175_5154aca47d_z_zpstj8t1hef.jpg[/IMG][/URL]