Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I bought a Hohner acoustic bass about a 2 years ago. Buying it was mostly a whim but it turns out that I really like it. The Hohner is well made, plays nicely, and even sounds good but after seeing Rickenbacker acoustic guitars I am wondering how sweet a Rick acoustic bass would be. There is probably no chance in hell that one would ever be built but I am dreaming of the day.........

Sounds like a great idea Ted. I bet a Jazz-bo body would be sa-weet!

Is it too late to order one in BBR? :>)

I asked JH awhile back if he ever considered a Jazz-bo bass. He relied with something like good idea, we’ll save it for a rainy day.

He all know it doesn't rain in SoCal!

But it would be cool!

acoustic bass w/quilted maple please...

or flamed

This as a bass would be wonderful. What a gorgeous piece of work.

Yes...if RIC makes a bass version of the above, I hope the sunburst would not extend to the upper bouts. The current Les Paul Junior has the same sunburst shape, and it looks wayyyy cooler than a regular Les Paul sunburst, IMO.

How about something like this?

I got a strange hankerin' a while back to get an acoustic bass. Don't know why, I always thought they were kind of funny looking, but I read all the reviews and then went on a mini-quest to try every one I could get my hands on. There are a few brands I've yet to try, like the Martin and Takamine, but I've played a lot of them and so far I'm pretty disappointed. The low end (E string and sometimes also the A) are awfully weak and toneless when the thing isn't plugged in. Some are certainly better than others, but in just about every case, even with highly touted models like the big Tacoma, I end up avoiding the E string because it's such a dud. If you have to plug your acoustic bass into an amp to get decent tone out of all the strings, it seems like a waste of wood to me. Perhaps a big arch-top would do better, but I'll believe it when I hear it.

In the mean time, I figured out how to tweak the knobs on my amp and my bogus-bodied Ric 2030 to get what sounds to me like better "acoustic" bass sound than I've been able to achieve with any real acoustic bass - and it goes all the way to the bottom end so that I can use all the strings. Here is a sample I recorded while learning how to use my Korg recorder. It's just messing around and has a couple semi-flubs in it, but listen to the tone and how live and woody it sounds. If I have to plug a bass in to get tone on all the strings, I might as well be playing one that's comfortable to hold and until I hear one that sounds better, I'll just close my eyes and pretend that it has a big hollow body.

Check the MP3 labeled 'Ric bass test 2005" at this website:

http://webpages.charter.net/tbradshaw/

want more projection?


use a pie pan

Unless I happen to join a Mariachi band (which is highly unlikely) I'm not all that worried about projection. I just want nice even sound and tone all the way down the fingerboard, I've never really felt the need for five or six strings on a bass, but I'd at least like to have four that work. The Fenders, by the way, are consistently among the worst that I've tried. They made them look nice, but for sound quality I certainly haven't been very impressed. So far, the best of the mid-priced group that I've played was an Alvarez. The big Tacoma was twice that in street price and I didn't think it really sounded much if any better. It also wasn't bound and looked like the top edge would really take a beating in time. The jury is still out on the big-buck offerings as they're hard to get a hold of to try out, but so far if I need something that sounds acoustic the 2030 seems to work best.

the Tacoma "Chief" had the loudest E string I've ver not played, but the Martin had the best tone.

Have not tried a Taylor-but heard one played live. Not bad for $1K

I've got a Guild B30E and it sounds great acoustically or plugged in. It has pretty deep body--big bass all around.

I had at one time a Rogue ABass. It was not loud unplugged. However, the reason I bought just bottom price point was b/c I simply wanted something to noodle on while I was sitting in a chair w/o having to plug anything in and not annoy neighbors or wife too much. For that purpose, it was great.

That is exactly how I use mine.