My love hate relationship with acoustic basses

[Brook_fan]

First of all why I like them:

they sound right for the music I play (acoustic, folk)

you don’t need an amp to practice and play quietly with other musicians

They have a sound all of their own

the sheer size of them (ie depth) puts my right hand in the traditional “fingerpicking” position, and so  easier for an acoustic guitarist like me to adapt

 

Now- why I don’t like them

finding strings is difficult+ phosphor bronze just don’t work for me

they feedback at volume

you still need to amplify them (though not really to much of an issue)

difficult to find a good one without spending loads of money

awkward to carry

very awkward to wear on a strap

they come close, but still don’t sound like a double bass

 

Anybody else love or hate them?

Robbie

[paul_c2]

I think I'm going to bite the bullet and (eventually, when I can afford it) just go for an acoustic double bass. They seem reasonably affordable and available, say compared to acoustic bass guitars or EUBs. And you don't need to worry about "it sounds really like a double bass" because it IS a double bass and does sound like it! I know its a little vain too, but there's nothing quite like the look of it too, in certain scenarios.

[Raymondo]

I have never learned the double bass and although I think they do look quite cool I have never been tempted to buy one.

I bought an acoustic bass on a whim with the idea of playing it at my local's acoustic jam but haven't played it much.

I agree with a fair few of your reasons to not like them Robbie., but it is easier to have an impromptu get together without having to lug an amp around.

I hope you are still using it and that it is helping you  to get by.

Ray.

[Brook_fan]

12 hours ago, Raymondo said:

I have never learned the double bass and although I think they do look quite cool I have never been tempted to buy one.

I bought an acoustic bass on a whim with the idea of playing it at my local's acoustic jam but haven't played it much.

I agree with a fair few of your reasons to not like them Robbie., but it is easier to have an impromptu get together without having to lug an amp around.

I hope you are still using it and that it is helping you  to get by.

Ray.

Ray, very much so! Thank you. Looking long term, when you get yours back, I am wondering whether to try and get myself another acoustic bass, or to go down the solid route.  Have found a very nice 1992 Fender Jazz Bass (American) in need of some love and a good setup, so been working on that.  Got the neck straightened and the intonation sorted, just need to get the pickups at the right night.  But yeh, still loving playing acoustic.

Robbie

p.s meant to say found it at school, so not mine!

Edited December 17, 2018 by Brook_fan

[Frank Blank]

2 hours ago, Brook_fan said:

...they come close, but still don’t sound like a double bass.

I’m going to stick my neck out here and say my Rob Allen Mouse sounds about as close to a double bass as you can get (imho, obv.) I totally agree with the rest of your points.

[fiatcoupe432]

Also the my acoustic fretless  ibanez .... sound faboulus ! 

Ill try record something for yiu

[Pinball]

I'm with you Book_fan.

I bought a crafter a 5 a few years back. It didn't do the double bass thing and sufferred from feedback. I got as closer with with a solid frtetless and flats or nylons.

Having said that I do like them and fancy trying another for fun rather than serious use..

[pete.young]

Hate is a bit strong, but I've never been a fan. Perhaps I'm biased, having grown up with the double bass and then gone on to electric bass guitar.

Even in the pre-MTV Unplugged days, when the only choices you had were Eko (say no more) or Fylde's Sir Toby (beautifully made, but with the same issues of sound, volume and playability), they've never matched up in my mind to an acoustic double bass. Now the choice is better, Breedlove and the Tanglewood TB-10 are amazing instruments, but still not quite there for me.

Brook_fan I've seen your solo stuff on youtube and I have no doubt that you are going to be an absolutely superb folk double bass player, following in the footsteps of Danny Thompson and Ben Nicholls. Not much we can do about 'awkward to carry' , though a modified golf bag trolley comes close. The absolute worst moment for me was the revolving door in the Kings Hall, Herne Bay!

[josie]

3 hours ago, Brook_fan said:

Now- why I don’t like them

finding strings is difficult+ phosphor bronze just don’t work for me

they feedback at volume

...

awkward to carry

very awkward to wear on a strap

they come close, but still don’t sound like a double bass

Strings - I don't know why the phosphor bronze are standard, I've never heard anyone say they liked the feel or sound of them. I have D'Addario chrome flats on my fretless acoustic. 

Feedback - some pre-amps, certainly Fishman, have a notch control to cut this out, or you could find (or make) a soundhole cover

Mine just go on my back in a gig bag same as an electric

There's no place on the body you can put a strap button and get any sort of balance - I have a lace at the end of the strap and tie it around the headstock just above the nut, as you sometimes see guitar players do. 

Only a DB is really going to sound like a DB, but I've heard a good player get very close with a Michael Kelly fretless (same as mine) with tape-wound strings. 

 

[Chiliwailer]

Had my acoustic bass for 25 years now, strung with flatwounds and used with a soundhole pick up when I used to gig it.

Phospher bronze strings and under saddle pickups are things of evil  

[Pinball]

Hmm well I just bought one of these on ebay so will let you know how I get on. I have to say that this video s9old it to me...which is a totally rubish reason to buy a bass 😂

 

[Ricky 4000]

Always wanted to have one stood in a corner somewhere, to just pick up and play at any time. A bit like the bass equivalent of keeping a shotgun behind the back door. 😖

 So a few Xmases ago, the wife and I decided to buy instruments for eachother. She chose a keyboard, I picked a Fender CB-100CE.

It's been stood in a corner ever since - collecting dust.

Then about a month ago, I picked it up to dust it, and thought *why do I hate this thing?*

Well, the action was too high, that and the horrible bronze strings made the finger-noise utterly terrible, and when I did pick it up,  there was this weird feeling that I should only play something "acoustic".

So I straightened the neck by giving the truss rod some serious tightening - which made it a whole lot more playable. Since then I've shoved a standard damper (rectangular chunk of sponge foam) under the strings at the bridge end - which cured all the finger noise.

I quite like it now it's fit for the original intended purpose (instant noodling).... though it probably doesn't sound anything like an acoustic bass "should".

Maybe every bass player should have one, like all guitar players have an acoustic guitar?

Plus, Bootsy has one in his collection. 🤩

[Dad3353]

Bootsie played acoustic bass..? Who knew..? 

 

[3below]

In the same mob, Snudge played a 57 Telecaster with a Tweed bassman.  Awesome.Coincidently Bootsie's real name was Alfie Bass.

[kristo]

5 hours ago, Brook_fan said:

First of all why I like them:

they sound right for the music I play (acoustic, folk)

you don’t need an amp to practice and play quietly with other musicians

They have a sound all of their own

the sheer size of them (ie depth) puts my right hand in the traditional “fingerpicking” position, and so  easier for an acoustic guitarist like me to adapt

 

Now- why I don’t like them

finding strings is difficult+ phosphor bronze just don’t work for me

they feedback at volume

you still need to amplify them (though not really to much of an issue)

difficult to find a good one without spending loads of money

awkward to carry

very awkward to wear on a strap

they come close, but still don’t sound like a double bass

 

Anybody else love or hate them?

Robbie

You might need this:

🤗

[Ricky 4000]

2 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

Bootsie played acoustic bass..? Who knew..? 

 

 

2 hours ago, 3below said:

In the same mob, Snudge played a 57 Telecaster with a Tweed bassman.  Awesome.Coincidently Bootsie's real name was Alfie Bass.

Erm, I'm not sure we're talking about the same Bootsy up in here! 🤩 😛

[casapete]

Okay, looks like I’m the only person on BC who actually likes and uses phosphor bronze strings then! I have a Washburn AB20, bought it in the mid 90’s. It’s one of my favourite instruments, and having tried various designs of string I still think it sounds best with a set of Fender bronzes on it. Mine doesn’t sound like a DB, but it does sound different enough from an electric bass to justify having it, and has certainly earned it’s keep over the last 20+ years. It mainly gets used in my acoustic duo, where we play all sorts of stuff from old standards to recentish chart material, and I love it. Great neck, balances well on the strap ( neck button...!) and doesn’t have a problem with feedback unless I’m being really stupid with it. The body isn’t really deep so maybe that helps. Only thing I would change is the colour - it’s an okay sunburst but would prefer a natural one. Still a keeper though. 🙂

[BreadBin]

I use Phosphor Bronze on my acoustic - I like the challenge of trying to play cleanly with them, it's good for the technique. 

[bazzbass]

an acoustic bass needs an amp to be heard with two acoustic guitars and a cajon. Defeats the whole purpose, so if I need my amp, I take my P bass too.

[casapete]

2 hours ago, bazzbass said:

an acoustic bass needs an amp to be heard with two acoustic guitars and a cajon. Defeats the whole purpose, so if I need my amp, I take my P bass too.

I agree they need to be amplified, but a piezo powered acoustic bodied bass with phosphor bronze strings does sound different enough from my P bass to warrant using on the gig. Not forgetting the aesthetics that add to the acoustic vibe from the other players too of course 😄

[FinnDave]

I bought an acoustic bass earlier this year, but after it had sat in my room for six months and only been payed twice in the first week of ownership, I sold it on. It just didn't fit into what I need to do with a bass, unfortunately.

[phil.c60]

I bought a Warwick StarBass a little while ago, and it works for me with TI flats. Not expensive (a Chinese one) and no quality issues that I can find. I use it when we do the acoustic guitar/Cahon thing .

 

And I do have a Tanglewood acoustic bass but I find the body to awkward unless I'm sitting down so I only use it for noodling at home.

Edited December 17, 2018 by phil.c60

[Fionn]

I love the idea, but hate the reality.

I’m all over the concept, which is why I’ve persevered. I’ve had 4 of them now, fretted and fretless. I’ve experimented with flatwounds and tapewounds, and with lots of emphasis on technique ... yet I’ve been consistently underwhelmed and disappointed.

The basic physics of sound lays massive limitations on these things. I reckon they’re all pigs to play, and I’ve yet to hear one that sounded good acoustically.

I’ve since given up on the idea.

[Yukimajo]

I know I am new to this bassing malarkey, but I did play an Aria FEB Fretless acoustic and loved it. It felt comfortable to play and sounded really nice (in my opinion) plus I'm a bit of a sucker for F Holes (grew up as a Gretsch fan!). I do realise that they could be the worst basses on earth, but I liked it.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Yukimajo

[casapete]

3 minutes ago, Fionn said:

I love the idea, but hate the reality.

I’m all over the concept, which is why I’ve persevered. I’ve had 4 of them now, fretted and fretless. I’ve experimented with flatwounds and tapewounds, and with lots of emphasis on technique ... yet I’ve been consistently underwhelmed and disappointed.

The basic physics of sound lays massive limitations on these things. I reckon they’re all pigs to play, and I’ve yet to hear one that sounded good acoustically.

I’ve since given up on the idea.

I think by their very nature they are inevitably a compromise, but still believe there are some great ones out there. My Washburn is a delight to play, and in all the years I’ve had it I’ve never had to touch the truss rod once! Action is perfect - high enough to eliminate rattles but low enough to feel really comfortable.

Nearly all of the ABs I’ve seen contain a pickup, as they are undoubtedly best when amplified. However, do many people play a DB (unbowed ) in a band without amplifying it somehow? When I first played a DB I was amazed how relatively quiet it was for its size. Same goes for acoustic bass guitars IMHO.

If you’re after more of an upright sound, have you checked out the bass ukes? Virtually no acoustic level at all, yet (especially those with silicone strings) when amplified they can fake an uprighty tone quite well. Also the Taylor GS Mini bass does a good job with this too.