Thinking of buying a Fender Kingman Bass SCE ?

[Nostromo]

Hi,

I've been toying with buying a Kingman Bass SCE acoustic for some time as I think it might work well in an Americana project I'm involved with.

Couple of questions really, has anyone used one of these live, as I'd be interested to know how much different it sounds to a solid body fender bass, how it behaves regarding acoustic feedback issues and with regard to both, whether users have got best results playing it through a backline bass amp or just by running it into the PA ? ?

Final question . . . probably only a bit of pub gossip, but, I've been told that these have been discontined by Fender so that only the "in shop" stock now exists and once they're gone they are gone so to speak . . . would be good to know if this rumour is true or just another rumour rustled up to boost new year sales ?

Any info much appreciated and a very Happy and Prosperous New Year to all you bass players out there,

Regards,

Edited January 2, 2015 by Nostromo

[Lozz196]

I had one, really nice bass. Only played it through a small Ampeg practice amp though, all eq set flat sounded very good, needed the amp in a big room to compete with acoustic guitars. I`d recommend them, it looks like you`re Fender nuts like me, so keep the acoustic stuff in the family so to speak. The necks are a very nice Jazz width too.

[fretlessguy]

I have played them in stores. Really nice bass. It is an acoustic that feels like playing a Jazz. They are no longer listed on Fender's American website.Might better grab it and the case while you can.

[Ed_S]

I used to have one - originally bought it to play in my acoustic duo, but it was still kicking about when my metal band lost its drummer for a few weeks due to a motorbiking accident and decided to give unplugged metal a blast rather than bow out of the gig we had lined up, so I gave it a fair shot in a couple of quite different settings. It was well made and felt very nice to play, but sadly, the short version of the story is that it wasn't loud enough unplugged to be of any real use to me.

In a living-room jam, with only the other half of my duo (playing unplugged acoustic guitar and singing un-mic'd) to contend with, it could just about manage, but still needed help from a small amp to sit absolutely right in the mix. That, in itself, wasn't a major issue as the amp was only offering a bit of reinforcement and the acoustic sound of the bass was still there, sounding nice. However, as soon as we were in a proper rehearsal room and the acoustic guitar and vocals were in the PA alongside the bass, there was enough sound in the room to stop anyone hearing the acoustic bass itself, and all I was left with was a sound I could easily have produced with a P or J and a DI box.

In the acousti-metal setting, there were two acoustic guitarists but still only one vocalist. The extra acoustic guitar meant that even unplugged I was totally lost and the small amp had to do pretty much all the work. In the rehearsal room, things didn't get any better through the PA as even at moderate volume and with no drums there was occasional feedback. I bought a sound-hole-bung type anti-feedback device at the same time as the bass as I suspected it might come in handy, and this did indeed stop the feedback but the sound was, again, no different to a P or J through a DI box into the PA.

I was half thinking I might still keep it because I enjoyed picking it up and mindlessly noodling on it as I sat on the sofa and, of course, it would look right for certain live settings, but the more I ferried it round in its gigbag, the more I came to feel that it was just a big, unwieldy and unnecessarily fragile item which offered me very little I didn't already have in a more sturdy, easier to transport and more familiar / comfortable to play package. Sense kicked in and I moved it on... and I haven't actually once regretted doing so since.

All that might sound like a damning review, but the truth is I actually really liked the bass - the problem was that given what it offered me, sadly I couldn't justify it.

[Telebass]

Let's be clear - there are few ABGs that can cope acoustically at all, no matter the price. The Tacoma Thunderchief was probably best of the reasonably sized ones.

As to the Kingman - use a small backline amp. I use an old Bassman 25, more than sufficient for acoustic gigs. I also use a feedback buster soundhole plug to ensure no feedback.

I don't use it that often. I've strung it with 50-105 Fender flats, and it sounds fine. The neck is superb, if you like slim Jazz necks.

[Nostromo]

Thanks guys,

Advice much appreciated, and yes it does look like it's no longer listed on the Fender web site, I gave them a ring but coudn't get any sence out of them (nothing new there !) so fender UK dont seem to know whether it's discontinued or not ??? . . so, now might be the right time to get one.

Thanks again all.