Acoustic Bass Guitar

[teb]

I've had a fretless U-Bass for a couple of years now, and it is pretty cool. The super-short scale didn't really bother me, but all my fretless basses have different scale lengths, so I'm kind of used to that. It does take a few minutes to get used to where you are on the neck when you first pick it up because it is so short, but it's not too bad. It also takes a few minutes to get used to the timing. The rubber strings tend to release more slowly from your fingers than typical bass strings and you need to stay on top of it. It also takes quite a while for the strings to stretch to the point where they're pretty stable from day to day. Once it's tuned you're OK, but two days later it will probably have faded flat. After a month or two, I ended up cutting off about 1" of my strings, because the tuner posts were full and I still needed to wind more. Since then, it's been pretty stable and though not loud enough to be suitable for playing without an amp, it does have pretty nice, semi-string bass tone. It's the first clip in these samples:

http://webpages.charter.net/tbradshaw/M ... amples.mp3

One thing about the big acoustic basses with long scales is that the neck is really out there once you tack it onto such a big body. That might take some getting used to. I have never had a chance to play the Martin or Guild, but I have played just about everything else (Gib/Epi, Fenders, Takamines, Tacomas, Deans, Alvarez, and anything else I could find) and so far, the cheap Deans like the Playmate seem to play as well and sound as good as or better than anything I've tried. Also understand that the acoustic basses in general often tend to be about as poorly set up and adjusted as anything in the whole store. Expect about 40% of those you pull off the wall to be basically unplayable for one reason or another. With proper set-up they would probably be fine, but they often don't seem to get much attention from the staff.

[rickenbrother]

LOL! Full review to come later, but people sure do seem to like them.

Are you getting an acoustic or solid body model?

I'm just not sure I really want to go to such a short scale, I've never liked normal short scale basses, but who knows, maybe. I'd REALLY have to try one of those before I'd consider it.

I've never liked short scale bass guitars very much either, but after trying out several of the Kala U-Bass models at the NAMM show and hearing the sound they put out, I can deal with it. Especially convenient if traveling.

[sloop_john_b]

The Kala is fun, addictive, surprisingly full unplugged, VERY full amplified, great for traveling with, and comes with a beautiful gig bag.

That all being said, the tone is reminiscent of an upright, or James Jamerson's tone, and you won't get another tone from it. If this isn't useful to you, then look elsewhere. But wow - I love it! I wanna bring it everywhere!

[woodyng]

I just bought a Carvin ac40 semi acoustic fretless,it has very little actual acoustic volume,but sounds great amped. They are about $1k new,but i've seen several used ones for half that,including the one i bought. An extremely well made instrument for that price,i am really happy with it.

[T.A.R.]

I've been playing the hell out of the Fender Kingman I picked up. I like it for the reason you state, though to keep up with a 6string acoustic you might want a pick. I got it used for $400. It has a Jazz neck if that helps scale wise.

[rickenbrother]

I just bought a Carvin ac40 semi acoustic fretless,it has very little actual acoustic volume,but sounds great amped. They are about $1k new,but i've seen several used ones for half that,including the one i bought. An extremely well made instrument for that price,i am really happy with it.

I've been tempted to get one of those in the fretless version several times. I figure they would be pretty good being fretless.

[cjj]

So John, did you ever make it to GC?

[woodyng]

I just bought a Carvin ac40 semi acoustic fretless,it has very little actual acoustic volume,but sounds great amped. They are about $1k new,but i've seen several used ones for half that,including the one i bought. An extremely well made instrument for that price,i am really happy with it.

I've been tempted to get one of those in the fretless version several times. I figure they would be pretty good being fretless.

Joey-the neck on the Ac40 is very similar feeling to my '74 4000,and the piezo,fretless,and labella tapewounds all contribute to a very URB sound. And the fact that it weighs about 6 pounds doesn't hurt,either.

[marc61]

I've heard great things about the Kala U.

One I'm curious about lately is this:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/fen ... ctric-bass

Good reviews, inexpensive but I'd like to see one in person

[marc61]

No sound clips but this might be interesting info for some

[abluesky]

Glad someone threw out the UBass as suggestion. I have a custom one, built buy the guy who created Kala version, that really has a nice deep tone. It's very portable and standup sounding. All in all, a very good instrument for acoustic style music.

http://www.bassuke.com/images/032BB_complete_090806.JPG


Good luck.

Chris

[marc61]

tis most beautiful Chris

[cjj]

Well, I didn't make it up to Missoula this week so I couldn't check out anything that might be there. I did stop in at the "local" guitar shops (only 30 miles away), just like I remembered, 5 or 6 P/J-ish type basses (I think one actually was a Fender ) and that's it. Nothing even semi-acoustic.

Anyway, I figured it might help to explain just a bit more about what I'm looking for. In reality, the volume probably doesn't matter a whole lot, I just want something to play along with the stereo (with it set at a level where normal conversation is possible) and be loud enough that I can hear what I'm playing. A 4001/4003/4004 just doesn't have it, I can't hear 'em.

Now, if some sort of semi-hollow will have enough volume, I'd go for that before a "real" acoustic, mostly because I'm not really sure I want the relatively huge body size that an acoustic needs to get whatever volume they get. But if a semi-hollow is just to quiet for that sort of use, then it'll have to be an acoustic.

Yeah, it would be best to try a few of them out before deciding, but given where I live, with the nearest "decent" music store around 75 miles away (and it's doubtful they would even have an acoustic or semi acoustic, just more P/J-ish stuff), that's a bit difficult to do...

[teb]

The thin-bodied models that I've tried don't seem to make much more noise than a solid. The real acoustics would probably work, though an awful lot of them are OK on the higher strings and very low on volume for the low E - and it never seemed to make much difference what the price tag said.

[marc61]

I forgot about these...although rare to find for sale. I'm surprised it hasn't been reissued in some shape or form