Acoustic bass?

[voodoorat]

We pretty regularly have like acoustic jams where we might have a couple of guys singing and playing guitar. One of the guys has recently started playing more bass (a very good thing) and I'm wondering what the utility of those relatively small-bodied acoustic/electric basses are--if they are loud enough to be heard unplugged with a polite acoustic guitar and singing. A little googling suggested maybe not, but there's conflicting information. Has anybody tried to do this? If I do get one it'll for sure be a cheap bass, at least to start--there are some super-cheap rogue-like "Best Choice" ones which are super cheap and I occasionally see like an Ibanez or Fender or something pop up on the local markets. Is it worth getting into one if i'm looking to cap the cost at maybe $200 (used) or so?

Also, why are there like 40 models of bass ukulele on Rondo now? Are these things actually that popular?

[voodoorat]

this sort of thing is what i'm talkinga bout:

[Mossman]

I've been playing bass since I was 15, and I've never met an acoustic bass that I liked. In my experience, acoustic basses still need to be amplified in order to be heard. In which case, you might as well use an electric bass (unless you really want that acoustic tone). I think acoustic basses are mostly meant for quiet practice.

[Mossman]

And I have no idea why Rondo's got so many bass ukes. I've been asking that question for months now.

[glasshand]

I have no direct experience with them, but the guys over at TalkBass have very little good to say about them (even the guys who own one). The general feeling seems to be that they are easily drowned out by just about anything else, and they mostly exist so that manufacturers can say "look, we have acoustic basses too". People point out that there's a reason that acoustic bass instruments are generally the size of the double bass, or at best the guitarrón.

[nomadh]

I have a decent ibanez I got with a crazy deal for about $90 in credit I would have lost anyway. That said, it was a decent deal. I dont hate it and I like the tone but it is both too big to be very comfortable and also way too small to be heard. Its also harder to play. It works nice with a singer and guitar if you add a little 3 or 5 watt amp to the bass and you get a very acoustic tone. I say don't bother unless you get a killer deal and you really need the optics of something acoustic. Maybe the best to get would be a beatle bass. Can you add in a piezo pickup on something like that?

[voodoorat]

he actually has a beatle bass (well, a rogue knock-off). we were thinking it would be nice to be able to jam with acoustic guitar and acoustic bass with no electronics, but yeah i was kinda skeptical since double bass is about a billion times bigger than these things (which look to be pretty much guitar sized). for what we'd use it for smoothness of play isn't a huge deal but loudness is--i saw someone post that they're much more audible when picked instead of fingered, can you comment [mention]nomadh[/mention] ?

[LancerTheGreat]

Any good deals around for an upright bass? That's probably the best option for bass without electronics being involved.

[nomadh]

he actually has a beatle bass (well, a rogue knock-off). we were thinking it would be nice to be able to jam with acoustic guitar and acoustic bass with no electronics, but yeah i was kinda skeptical since double bass is about a billion times bigger than these things (which look to be pretty much guitar sized). for what we'd use it for smoothness of play isn't a huge deal but loudness is--i saw someone post that they're much more audible when picked instead of fingered, can you comment @nomadh ?

yea, i use a pick. Fingers maybe if you're slapping otherwise it'll be pretty quiet.

[Open G]

They are not loud. Likely better suited to home playing on a sofa.

[Gear_Junky]

I've been through this exercise (my opinion on this dates back 8 years and more, I've been out of the loop). But back then my conclusions are as follows: unplugged most of them are worthless when playing with a guitar. Very few exceptions are LARGE. On the high $ end: Tacoma Thunderchief (and plywood version called Olympia). For me, on the low $ end of the spectrum I found the Dean Playmate EAB (yes, it stands for "electric acoustic bass", get the cheapest no-cutaway version if you care about unplugged volume), yes, it's plywood, but it is VERY large (you're unlikely to find a case, but I did have a gig bag that fits it). It won't do miracles, but you can tell it's there, especially with good bass lines. And it has a passive pickup, meaning you can run a cheap preamp like Behringer BDI21 (SansAmp Bass DI copy, shh, it sounds very good). You can either put acoustic bronze strings for an "acoustic bass guitar" sound or get flatwounds to approximate upright bass sound. Experiment with picks, a thick leather or shoe sole pick can give a nice thump without buzzy attack.

But no reason why you couldn't all use a single decent acoustic amp as your PA - plug in the bass, the acoustics, a microphone. Non-pickup acoustics can be mic'ed. I just got the Acoustic A1000 - it has 2 channels but allows 4 inputs altogether, i.e. 2 vocal mics and 2 instruments. Digital effects. Dual/stereo 8" speakers, good wattage. That's just a thought, I agree that you want to be able to run unplugged, jam by the bonfire, etc. I hope this helps.

Definitely go for the largest body size. And pay attention to scale length, you want full (long) scale (I think it's 34"). You can get more volume and better tone.

There are also baritone acoustics... or even 7-strings (which would give you same low end as baritone, while still being able to play without transposing at the higher strings).

[voodoorat]

thanks guys. i will keep my eye out for one of those deans cheap--i don't want to spend much bank on this. i have a couple of (not great) acoustic amps that are fine for most of the time but do want to ideally want, yeah, the by-the-fire-jam set (we have a cajon already that can do the drums good enough).

[RayStankewitz]

I had a Kala(?) all mahogany Uku-bass that went "Boing-boing-boing" with those silly rubber strings. Actually, any brand of those silly rubber band strings. Gave to a friend, since he really liked it. I now have a Dean acoustic with the figured ash body/top. Looks real pretty but it has no good volume unplugged. Nice tone, though with phosphor bronze strings. In hindsight, I should have held out for an acoustic bass with mahogany, rosewood or maple sides/back and a solid spruce top just so there was some volume coming out of it. Would still need to be plugged in for performances. BTW, Roadrunner makes a case where the Dean EAB models will fit into it perfectly.

[tlarson58]

Cheap bass + battery-powered small amp.