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WHAT ACOUSTIC BASS??


jotabella

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Welcome to the forum!

Do a search, and you should come up with some good info just out of the last 2 or 3 weeks, as the question comes up often.

BTW, I have an MK5 fretted, and love it! Great to play unplugged and just messing around, but if there's more than 1 guitar, you'll need a little 30-watter or such, and that goes for any of them. Have also played several others, and like the tone of a number of the Fenders too.

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What are you gonna use it for?

 

I had a Michael Kelly, beautiful acoustic bass, but I sold mine. It just sat in its case. My thoughts were to use it for acoustic jams, but to my ears, it was very thin and fed back like an angry monkey that ate too much.

 

For recording I was dissapointed in the sound, I ended up re-recording my bass with a Fender P-bass, or whatever the producer had laying around.

 

So now, when I want to jam without an amp, I just pick up my Waterstone Brighton 64 or RSG bass (both semihollow), and I can hear the bass about as well as that acoustic bass.

 

If you are going to jam with others who have acoustic guitars, you'll still need a small amp, so what's the point? Just get a semi-hollowbody short scale bass (like my Waterstone Indra I) and plug into a small amp.

 

That's just my experience.

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Tacoma Thunderchief...best ABG imho by a mile


 

 

That Tacoma is a really nice acoustic/electric bass.

It's a bit overpriced IMO.

I used to have an Olympia OB3CE which is the Chinese made version of that. It sold for around $350 USD. Difficult to find them now days.

 

I bought a Takamine EG512 about a year ago.

It is made very well, and if you look around some of the dealers are selling them with the HS case.

It cost around $600

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The only ABGs I've ever played and really liked were a Tacoma Thunderchief and a Martin. Neither is cheap.

 

As much as I'd love to have an ABG, I can't justify spending money on a bass I know I'll play infrequently. They're not loud enough without amplification in most applications, so why bother?

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I say snag a Dean Playmate and rock the balls off of it until you've got Tacoma money.

 

I got a Dean Performer, and I can be heard over a couple of lighthanded guitarists without amplification, depending on the space.

 

I hear about that all the time, that "lack of volume". I've played ABGs that were quiet, but, in example, the Takamine I played was enough to be heard over several folks in the acoustic room at GC. The Micheal Kellys I played were good, but there are better options out there for the money, unless you just love the look and feel of them. I played two club basses side by side. One was amazing, cutty, and present. The other was dull and flat. They looked to have similarly aged strings, so maybe that says something about inconsistency?

 

Go with what you like. :)

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Why hasn't anyone built a ABG that captures the low end bass of the Mariachi bands? They seem to cut thru just fine.

 

 

That bass played in Mariachi bands is a guitarron, and has six strings. Not tuned like a guitar, it has a HUGE round back, a short neck with frets only up to the fifth fret or so. The strings are FAT and are plucked two at a time in octaves, using the thumb and index finger.

 

It takes finesse and strength, never mind carrying the thing! I have played one and my nephew is a master on the guitarron.

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i got an epiphnoe el segundo that i like pretty well. i shopped around for a while and didn't fall in love with anything. played the michael kellys, the vic bailey, fender bg-31, breedlove, and the martin whateveritwas. nothing really stood out i figured that if the martin didn't do it for me at $1200, i might as well just go for a cheapie that played well. i like it more and more every time i pick it up. admittedly i don't play a ton of acoustic bass, but... just my 2cents on the subject.

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That bass played in Mariachi bands is a guitarron, and has six strings. Not tuned like a guitar, it has a HUGE round back, a short neck with frets only up to the fifth fret or so. The strings are FAT and are plucked two at a time in octaves, using the thumb and index finger.


It takes finesse and strength, never mind carrying the thing! I have played one and my nephew is a master on the guitarron.

 

 

yeah, basically you can't reproduce REAL bass without a HUGE resonator. the problem with a lot of acoustic basses is that they have bodies that are the size of guitar bodies. my el segundo body is the same size as my washburn D-10. if you're looking for deep bass you'll need the instrument with the biggest body, but then you'll lose sustain. ever notice that the guitarron has very little sustain. i guess that if it were possible to have one's cake and eat it too, people'd'a figured it out by now.

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I say snag a Dean Playmate and rock the balls off of it until you've got Tacoma money.


I got a Dean Performer, and I can be heard over a couple of lighthanded guitarists without amplification, depending on the space.


I hear about that all the time, that "lack of volume". I've played ABGs that were quiet, but, in example, the Takamine I played was enough to be heard over several folks in the acoustic room at GC. The Micheal Kellys I played were good, but there are better options out there for the money, unless you just love the look and feel of them. I played two club basses side by side. One was amazing, cutty, and present. The other was dull and flat. They looked to have similarly aged strings, so maybe that says something about inconsistency?


Go with what you like.
:)

 

 

 

I've got one of the Playmates, and I can be heard with an acoustic guitar - it also compared quite favorably against the other name brand offerings in my local GC - but only set me back $150...

 

 

 

- georgestrings

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