Acoustic Basses

[Geek99]

I had a cheapo “spider” brand. I used fender phosphor bronze and it had a lovely “steel string” tone but I must admit I never thought of using flats 

[Bassfinger]

Im sure this has been asked before, but can anyone recommend flats that work well on an acoustic?

[Paul S]

Just now, Bassfinger said:

Im sure this has been asked before, but can anyone recommend flats that work well on an acoustic?

 

21 hours ago, Paul S said:

I have a mid-range Sigma strung with La Bella white nylon flats.  There was a lot of love for these strings a couple of years back so I got some to try - not cheap! - and they are, for me, perfect and every bit as good as folks were saying.  Pretty bright, by nylon standards, and with a really nice feel to them.  

 

[Mottlefeeder]

45 minutes ago, Bassfinger said:

Im sure this has been asked before, but can anyone recommend flats that work well on an acoustic?

I'm using D'Addario Chromes and I can recommend them. Also, although it may be a minority interest, I'm using a 5-string acoustic, an Ibanez from their 'Exotic woods' series.

[MS93]

13 minutes ago, Mottlefeeder said:

I'm using D'Addario Chromes and I can recommend them. Also, although it may be a minority interest, I'm using a 5-string acoustic, an Ibanez from their 'Exotic woods' series.

That looks sweet man, love the colour. Again I am getting the general idea now of try some strings and if I want any volume play through the amp

[gafbass02]

1 hour ago, Mottlefeeder said:

I'm using D'Addario Chromes and I can recommend them. Also, although it may be a minority interest, I'm using a 5-string acoustic, an Ibanez from their 'Exotic woods' series.

Love that! 

[bazzbass]

I paid $600 for a Takamine acoustic bass. Sold it and bought a edrum kit.

They are only good for noodling on the couch,and uncomfortable at that. I get a better vibe from my fretless Jazz with rounds, just turn your amp volume down to 1 at acoustic gigs.

[meterman]

I was given a cheapie fretless 30" scale acoustic bass as a swap for a mic stand some years ago. The brand on the headstock said 'Swift' and the previous owner had put a little sticker above it saying 'Taylor' so yeah, I had a Taylor Swift acoustic bass. Corny as heck, but I'm ok with corny.

It had an under saddle pickup which was crude but it recorded a lot better than I expected it to. I put a set of flats on it and it was a great wee thing to play around with at home and record with. At least, until the top bowed. Then the bridge lifted off. Then the neck heel separated from the body and it more or less folded in two. 

But for the 18 months it was playable I loved it. Would be tempted to get another fretless acoustic again. Just not a Taylor Swift one.

[NickA]

On 14/12/2020 at 14:15, Rich said:

My ABG is a Tanglewood TRB-CE 'Rosewood Reserve'

Me too.  Of everything I could find to try in shops, this was the best. 

The fenders only worked well plugged in.

I'd have had an ovation if I could have found one ... the sort with the round hole very good acoustically and the b768 style great plugged in.

The tanglewood is a big beast, so comparatively loud, but still too quiet to be heard against even a couple of guitars and a fiddle.

Interested to hear I could use electric bass strings on it.  Might try an old set of nyxls.

[epoxyjazzbass]

I have had, and still have, numbers of good ABG.

A lot of them are ok but to be a really good sounding instrument you have to go on higher quality : Martin, Tacoma, Taylor, Guild... .

I use ABG for practice (it is so great to move these guitars everywhere and don' t have to plug in) or for acoustic/amplified situation; I mix the inside piezo with a condenser mic for a beautifull sound.

My opinion about strings is not so common I guess, I prefer the bronze strings !! They are the more powerfull strings in terms of volume. Yes they also gives lot of zing to the sound and not that much of fundamental (totally different to an upright) but I take it as a challenge to improve my technique/mutting. When I practice on acoustic, it helps me when I go back to pure electric bass. I think the bronze on acoustic is the transposition of steel/nickel rounds on electric bass.

[nige1968]

What do we reckon to these, hive minders?

http://lamontguitars.net

[NickA]

1 hour ago, nige1968 said:

What do we reckon to these, hive minders?

http://lamontguitars.net

Look good. Bigger usually being louder. 6" or 8" depth! ( my tanglewood is only 4" at the top and 5" at the bottom. bet they're quite pricey. 

[Lfalex v1.1]

2 hours ago, nige1968 said:

What do we reckon to these, hive minders?

http://lamontguitars.net

Keep it on a stand and use the case as a house?

[epoxyjazzbass]

The body size is not the principal key to get a good acoustic bass sound.

My Martin is not the biggest one but one of the loudest (but still quiet to play with other guitars etc...).

The Earthwood can be loud with round wounds or bronze strings played with a pick. But the sound will be... Well not for everyone.

The 34inches/86cm fender scale is perfect for a bass guitar in general but is the real limitation that makes an acoustic bass always limited in volume. An Upright bass means a big body but at the same time around 105cm for the scale lengh; more tension and potential power acoustically. It' s a totally different bass. The Only one that have some good fundamental at a decent volume to my opinion.

[flaviusm]

I have a Takamine TB240SC, made in Japan, 34" scale. Strung with nickel Elixirs, now BEAD (125, 105, 85, 65) without any modification, sounds better than EADG. I love this type of bridge without pins, and his tube onboard preamp. Not cheap, but it deserves every cent, it's a perfect craftmanship.

[jazzyvee]

Michael Kelly Dragonfly 5 string strung with labella nylon deep talking flats. I'm not keen on flats but these seem to work well on this bass without the clatter I experienced with the phosphor bronze strings that came as standard.

[NickA]

On 16/12/2020 at 17:11, epoxyjazzbass said:

An Upright bass means a big body but at the same time around 105cm for the scale lengh; more tension and potential power acoustically.

Regarding double basses.. also not very loud.  I think they have to be that big not so much to get the scale length as to get a body big enough to couple such low frequencies into the air and project them away from the instrument .. and THAT determines the long scale.  Same reason a 1x15" cab will generally project better bass than a 1x 8" and why my not that loud pjb rig needs 10x 5" speakers.   it's about impedance matching and diffraction to be technical. 

So yes I agree, depth probably isn't a major factor, but size of the table surely is.  Hence a shortish scale but big bodied Mexican guitarra is louder than an abg and a double bass louder still.

...doesnt explain, though, how my mate's barritone sax has a bottom note lower than my double bass, yet is much louder, despite a bell diameter of less than 6"..

[jrixn1]

36 minutes ago, NickA said:

...doesnt explain, though, how my mate's barritone sax has a bottom note lower than my double bass,

Double bass goes lower than a bari.

[NickA]

7 minutes ago, jrixn1 said:

Double bass goes lower than a bari.

True. I stand corrected.  Looked it up.  His Eflat Bari goes down to A, which is really a C , so my double bass goes a whole sixth lower and the 5-string ebass a whole 10th.  Proportionately, that's a lot of Hz difference.

[Lfalex v1.1]

There's a subcontrabass sax that can hit Ab(0), 25.95Hz,  3 semitones below a standard-tuned 5.

Slight problem is that it's 2.8m tall. The bell looks like it's about 30cm diameter. I should imagine it's probably louder than an ABG, though. As with so many concepts,  there's no such thing as a free lunch.

[uk_lefty]

What is everyone's feeling in using sine kind of f hole fitted semi acoustic bass, or even a Hofner, as an alternative? I'm very reluctant to buy an acoustic bass for all the reasons covered in thus list but a Warwick Star bass, a Jack Casady or similar seems a best of both? 

[BigRedX]

23 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

What is everyone's feeling in using sine kind of f hole fitted semi acoustic bass, or even a Hofner, as an alternative? I'm very reluctant to buy an acoustic bass for all the reasons covered in thus list but a Warwick Star bass, a Jack Casady or similar seems a best of both? 

What do you want to use it for?

[kristo]

27 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

What is everyone's feeling in using sine kind of f hole fitted semi acoustic bass, or even a Hofner, as an alternative? I'm very reluctant to buy an acoustic bass for all the reasons covered in thus list but a Warwick Star bass, a Jack Casady or similar seems a best of both? 

I have an Epiphone Rivoli as my main gigging bass and love it. The Guild acoustic is just for picking up around the house or taking places I don't want to use the Rivoli, like fields etc.

[Cato]

2 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

What is everyone's feeling in using sine kind of f hole fitted semi acoustic bass, or even a Hofner, as an alternative? I'm very reluctant to buy an acoustic bass for all the reasons covered in thus list but a Warwick Star bass, a Jack Casady or similar seems a best of both? 

In my experience with skinny string guitars semi acoustic electrics with f holes they generally aren't noticeably any louder than solid body guitars when played 'unplugged'.

I'd guess it's similar with basses, so if the idea is to have semi-acoustic bass around for unplugged practice it probably won't be any better than whatever you have at the moment.

The skinny stringers don't sound particularly 'acoustic' when plugged in either, I'd guess that's why 'proper' electro acoustics tend to use piezos and/or internal mics rather than standard magnetic pickups.

Edited December 22, 2020 by Cato

[Stub Mandrel]

My Tanglewood was just £70 off eBay, but it was pure acoustic. I had to fit a cheap piezo pickup and preamp and to be honest it sounds great. Like all the Tanglewoods I had previously tried out the nut needed filing and the bridge needed dropping by about 3-4mm as the action was so high Daley Thompson was practising hurdling it.