Acoustic bass

[Johnnyguru]

Has anyone got acoustic bass experience? What makes are recommended. Been looking at the Fender cd60sce

Thanks

John.

 

[Geek99]

Drowned out by anything else 

[Cat Burrito]

I bought a massive bodied no brand acoustic bass last year. The bigger body means it keeps up with jamming in small groups. Anything more and you need to plug it in. They do sound better with flats but the volume is less audible without rounds. I used mine live at the HRH festival but to be fair I think I am better off with my Hofner or upright really. A desirable bass for a larger collection rather than essential. 

[AndyTravis]

Fender BG-32 - very good little instrument, too quiet acoustically.

Samick - sold to @lee650 I was drunk when I bought it, nice thing but quiet.

Redwood - sounded ok. A bit louder than the fender.

gear 4 music 5 - sounded nice. As loud as the redwood.

Breedlove 5 - fantastic instrument. Loud - even on the B.

sigma - ace instrument, louder (yet smaller) than the redwood and G4m

tacoma thindercheif - awesome, even though a courier had smashed the back off it. Gutted about that one.

Guild b30e - the only acoustic bass I’ve got need which had to be played lighter as so not to drown out the guitars. Bonkers that bass - sold it here and wish I hadn’t as I bought a bass with the money I thought I’d love but didn’t.

[itu]

I had a Kramer Ferrington. Bulky, small sound. Without piezo and amp, the sound was too faint with any other player. Because the amp was a must, I decided to sell the Kramer and use an electric instead. At home the sound was decent.

Setting the instrument up was a bit complicated, because there is no 3D bridge.

[Newfoundfreedom]

I've tried a few and always found them to be totally pointless. I love the idea of being able to join in with an acoustic jam, it would be great for barbeques and small parties etc. But they just don't work. They're totally inaudible if there's anything louder than a fly within a hundred yards. 

[FinnDave]

I've bought a semi acoustic (Epiphone Casady) for those times when it's necessary to 'fit in' with acoustic guitars. Just have a small amp and cab hidden in the background. Probably wouldn't work for impromptu jams around the fire at a festival or remote campsite, though!

I did buy a proper acoustic bass, but as most of the posts above have already said, too quiet to be heard with even one acoustic guitar.

[BreadBin]

I must be a freak of nature - I am quite a heavy hitter and when I used to play my acoustic with a folk outfit I got sent to the other end of the (long) room! Apparently I was too loud.

Tenson Jumbo, picked up for £50 on eBay and strung with Olympia Phosphor Bronze.

[Buzzy]

I had a Crafter Acoustic for a few months. Great build quality but the usual problem when playing with other acoustic instruments ( Guitar and a Cahon) it couldn't be heard.

Tried it through a small combo and had constant feedback problems.

 

[EdLib-3]

I can't disagree with the other posters so far, an acoustic bass guitar will always be the least useful bass you own if you have one, I love mine though - even in the light of its lack of practical application. They are however, useful to have around the house as a practice instrument you can quickly pick up and work through things on. My acoustic bass has the chunkiest neck I think I've ever played so it's a bit like bass gym for my hands and wrists (and I'm a dude with large hands). These are still being made and sold in large quantities by many bass companies despite the fact they're kind of useless, I've always wondered why. Probably because of mugs like me who buy them...😁

[4000]

I find my Warwick Alien quite useful, although I don’t play it much. It’s good for acoustic rehearsals (we’re an acoustic band so sometimes get together for acoustic run-through s before gigs) and good for working out ideas at home. The neck on it is as thin as a thin thing, kind of like an early Thumb, and it’s pretty nice to play.  Couldn’t use it unplugged for a gig though. 

[Dankology]

I've had a fretless Crafter for a couple of years and it definitely needs to be amplified, even when playing with a single small bodied acoustic guitar and unamplified vocals. It does tend to sound not massively different to an electric if you're not careful though.

When recording, I sometimes combine the direct output with a mic somewhere near the bottom of the neck - gives a nice, more natural sound but I guess it would be problematic to recreate this live.

Maybe a small DPA mic mounted on the body...

[casapete]

I agree with most of the above posts regarding using them purely acoustically. However, I’m struggling to think of any that are made without any provision to amplify them, so am guessing manufacturers believe they are designed to be / best used plugged in ,unless playing on your own for rehearsal etc.

There doesn’t seem to ever be a lot of love on here for electro / acoustic basses - ‘I’d rather just take my Precision with flats’ etc being the usual kind of comment. For me I do think they have a different enough sound from a solid body electric, and perhaps more importantly they look different too! I’ve had my Washburn AB20 for over 25 years and used it on many acoustic duo and band gigs. It always sounds great and often gets commented on by people in the audience. Also got a Fender Kingman too, which sounds fab. I use Fender 8060 acoustic bronzewound strings on both.

Edited May 31, 2020 by casapete

[4000]

3 hours ago, casapete said:

I agree with most of the above posts regarding using them purely acoustically. However, I’m struggling to think of any that are made without any provision to amplify them, so am guessing manufacturers believe they are designed to be / best used plugged in, unless playing with others.

There doesn’t seem to ever be a lot of love on here for electro / acoustic basses - ‘I’d rather just take my Precision with flats’ etc being the usual kind of comment. For me I do think they have a different enough sound from a solid body electric, and perhaps more importantly they look different too! I’ve had my Washburn AB20 for over 25 years and used it on many acoustic duo and band gigs. It always sounds great and often gets commented on by people in the audience. Also got a Fender Kingman too, which sounds fab. I use Fender 8060 acoustic bronzewound strings on both.

Yes, they definitely sound different and I have used mine plugged in for gigs. 

[Frank Blank]

I have had many acoustic basses over the years as I play in an acoustic duo, the loudest was a Fender Kingman which could hold its own when rehearsing with an acoustic guitar and vocals but really they all need amplifying.

[PaulWarning]

there's a reason double basses are so big, to get enough volume

[Johnnyguru]

Thanks for your replies👍
some nice bits of kit there although Some well out of my price range.

surprised to see a 5 string from gear4music, I get most of my stuff from them. Whats the thoughts on that, is it a good buy?

New to bass but want to something future proof got 300🥴

[Geek99]

I got a cheapo “spider” one that was much louder with fender phosphor bronze on it than the strings it came with. It had a basic preamp. Good for noodling around the house too. 

[dave moffat]

Taylor mini here 

Great for practice, noodling, working things out  &etc otherwise gets lost. Depends what you what you're looking for

[miles'tone]

I have an Epiphone El Capitan. Played with gusto it is loud enough to play with an acoustic guitar. The pre has nice features which help eliminate feedback when plugged in. 

[Reggaebass]

I’ve got a Lindo semi acoustic, which does have a nice sound both acoustically and when plugged in , but it’s pretty quiet, despite having a fairly big body 

[songofthewind]

I went to an evening of music and talk by Louis de Bernières. He played an absolutely enormous classical bass guitar to accompany his flautist.

At the end of the piece, he asked us if we could hear it! It was very quiet, and impossible to tune accurately. Interesting though but.

[Brook_fan]

I have a custom made acoustic bass, based on a Gibson J 200 body shape, so I guess very similar to a Guild.  It puts out plenty of volume for acoustic sessions.  I could comfortably hear it playing with a group of 3 or 4 mandolins for instance.  I think it is important to get an instrument with a big body, and then get the strings right.  Mine currently has la bella gold tape wounds- nice fundamental and midrange.  Phosphour bronze are sometimes the main issue with acoustic basses I have found- too many other harmonics and overtones that swamp out the fundamental.  Too much scraping noise as well. PB strings are also fairly useless playing with other acoustic instruments, again due to the overtones, noise, and a tonality that is too similar to instruments such as acoustic guitars and mandolins.  There is a reason why most acoustic groups such as folk bands make use of a double bass- you get a good solid fundamental and very little else!

I like playing acoustic bass because it suits the sort of music I play and compose.  I also like the physicality of it, the fact that I have to wrap myself around it.  When I want to record it I just put a microphone in front of it.  But I would agree that for playing live you really need to put it through an amp.  However, there is nothing negative about that, and those that say you might as well use an electric, well, electrics don't have the tonality that I am after for acoustic based music. The sound jumps out at you because it is obviously electric.  

Robbie

[Brook_fan]

20 hours ago, Johnnyguru said:

Thanks for your replies👍
some nice bits of kit there although Some well out of my price range.

surprised to see a 5 string from gear4music, I get most of my stuff from them. Whats the thoughts on that, is it a good buy?

New to bass but want to something future proof got 300🥴

Deleted

Edited June 1, 2020 by Brook_fan

[Lozz196]

I had a Fender Kingman acoustic bass, and pretty much as others have said even up against a single acoustic guitar it was virtually inaudible. But, plugged into a small practice amp it made a great sound and really complimented said acoustic guitar.