Options for a different feel for acoustic gig

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1409144816' post='2536778']
Yeah.
Nothing wrong with playing a stripped down set or whatever...but it's not acoustic is it?
[/quote]

You could analyse it that way but - thanks to MTV in the 1990s - it's become a handy, generally recognised term for acoustic guitars and no drums.

[razze06]

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1409144816' post='2536778']
Yeah.

Nothing wrong with playing a stripped down set or whatever...but it's not acoustic is it?
My point is, when did the word acoustic become a substitute for playing stripped back and without drums,rather than playing
acoustically? Hence, if you're playing acoustically you need a acoustic bass, if you're not playing acoustically but just want
a different sound then there are a ton of technique and eq options on an electric bass as has already been stated.
[/quote]

Fair enough, I'd much rather play acoustically in the more appropriate interpretation of the word: not electrically, and with some kind of percussion instrument.

I am using the term in the MTV Unplugged sense (which is anything but unplugged), but i'm not against some insistent tapping of guitars or tambourines to keep us going.

As many other people experienced, many smaller venues are very interested in booking small "acoustic" bands/duos/trios etc, but pale and baulk at the mention of "drums". The stripped down and re-arranged set could be a way of getting more gigs, and getting ourselves into venues we wouldn't otherwise be asked to play.

All this in theory.

Plus I would really like to try something a bit different for a bit, and learn something completely new

[thisnameistaken]

Ah, MTV unplugged, where none of the basses were ever unplugged. The only act I ever saw do it properly was Bjork. If you didn't see her unplugged set go look it up, it's bound to be on Youtube.

[Len_derby]

My little advice is, don't just try the 'flat wounds/thump' string route. There are alternatives.
I play in a duo of acoustic guitar and electric bass (sometimes with the addition of a cajon player).
Himself plays a standard steel strung 6 string or a resonator and we've found that what works best for our sound is me playing a passive Jazz with light gauge round wounds. The combination of sounds seems to work best for us.
I can recommend searching out a couple of master duos to listen to.
Eric Bibb with Dave Bronze on bass. They did a live cd/DVD called 'an evening with Eric Bibb'. It's a master class in acoustic guitar/electric bass duo work.
Secondly, anything you can get to hear of Alexis Korner with Colin Hodgkinson on electric bass.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1409175313' post='2537236']
Ah, MTV unplugged, where none of the basses were ever unplugged. The only act I ever saw do it properly was Bjork. If you didn't see her unplugged set go look it up, it's bound to be on Youtube.
[/quote]
I think you are being overly pedantic about it, where do you draw the line, if no one plugged in or used a mic we would not hear them in America! Nirvana used an acoustic bass I think but he plugged it in as it probably had a preamp, does using a Fishman full circle on DB then make it an electric bass?

[Marc S]

[quote name='razze06' timestamp='1409148220' post='2536828']

....As many other people experienced, many smaller venues are very interested in booking small "acoustic" bands/duos/trios etc, but pale and baulk at the mention of "drums". The stripped down and re-arranged set could be a way of getting more gigs, and getting ourselves into venues we wouldn't otherwise be asked to play.

All this in theory.

Plus I would really like to try something a bit different for a bit, and learn something completely new
[/quote]

Good to have the sort of flexibility that allows you to play very different venues and very different gigs
It would make the whole set up much more interesting for all the band members too
I wonder many bands can truly do this effectively?

I tend not to like Rigid constraints to define the music, let the music and the musicians do that
I like Bluegrass for instance, but I don't like the mantra that "If it has drums, It' can't be Bluegrass"

If there are mostly acoustic instruments, then I'd say it was acoustic music
At home, my double bass is loud when unplugged - but at a gig, you wouldn't hear it if I didn't plug it into an amp
- via a pickup of course - but that doesn't mean it's no longer an acoustic instrument....

Good luck with your new approach
I really hope it works

Perhaps, to venue owners, the added bonus of acoustic bands
Is there's less perceived loading & unloading of drums / gear
and smaller acoustic bands will probably charge less than a big rock band, with loads of gear? Maybe?

Audiences in pubs also seem to have warmed to acoustic musicians lately too....