Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I may try to pick up a 4 string acoustic bass, just for playing around with in the house. Does anybody have any good recommendations for these?

How does the active EQ work on these? Some models better than others in this area?

The Michael Kelly acoustics are nice, but I'd like to keep it under $200 if possible.

Thanks

The Michael Kelly is VERY nice!


But the Tacoma has better projection.

This Fender is 'twangy'

Mmmm. I want one! That's kind of a dream at the moment, but who knows?..
I was thinking this one...

Not an acoustic but these are fun to play, sound decent enough, and look very cool.

http://www.ibanez.com/guitars/guitar.asp?model=AGB140&z=y

I've been looking for one for a long time and so far have tried just about everything except the Martins and old Guilds, which I haven't found yet. Unplugged, the low E string is nearly always a real disappointment. If I had to go out today and pick one from the typical retail store offerings that I've tried (Tacoma, Epiphone, Fender Takamine, Alvarez, Washburn, Kelly, Dean, etc.) the two that seemed to stand out in terms of playability, decent unplugged sound and at least somewhat respectable low E tone were the Alvarez at about $400 and surprisingly, the Dean "Playmate" which is in the stores around $300, but often sells on eBay in good shape for as little as $150. In my opinion, it both sounds and plays as well or better than some models costing $800-$1,000. I have a little bit of a problem with something that says "Playmate" on the headstock, but it's an awfully good value for the money.

It almost seems like the manufacturers are more interested in how they look than how they sound, or how they sound amplified more than how they sound unamplified. I haven't plugged any of these in, just tried them acoustically. If I wanted to plug one in, I'd just use my Ric 2030, which has better acoustic bass tone than any of them.

http://webpages.charter.net/tbradshaw/Ric%20Bass%20test%202005.mp3

Wow! Great tone.

That is a great sound Todd. Beautiful.

Roundwounds, Todd?

Definitley roundwounds, you can hear the "squaking" when his finger slides.

That was done with Pedulla nickel roundwounds. I bought a set for my Pedulla and hated the sound of them on it, so I tried them on the 2030. I ran the bass into my Traynor YBA 200 head and a line out from the head to the recorder. No effects, recording EQ adjustments, etc. It was all done with just the tone controls on the bass and amp.

I've since switched the 2030 to half-rounds, which give pretty similar clean tone, but are considerably smoother. I found that if I'm playing a lot with regular roundwounds I tend to really build up big callouses fast, and then I have more trouble fitting my fingers on my 12 string.

Playing with bright, squeeky-clean tone on an acoustic bass or an electric dialed-in this way is pretty interesting. I think it would be tough to work into a typical bass playing role in a band, but solo it's almost like playing classical guitar stuff. The range of possible tones on the 2030 is really spectacular.

I just sold a Tacoma Thunderchief on the 'bay. It was a FANTASTIC bass, but I bought it under the pretense that my band was going to be doing more small , intimate settings....which never happened. I don't like having instruments laying around that I never play, so I sold it. The Tacoma is a fine instrument that sounds better acoustically than plugged in, imho.....feedback is a problem though...

Greg,

Here is my repeated two cents about acoustic basses:

For just playing around the house, they’re fine. A good instrument to practice with late at night and not wake up the wife and kids. For that, they’re perfect.

But forget about the MTV Unplugged image of twenty years ago. There is no way to play an acoustic bass unplugged with some other guitars, drums and singers and expect to be heard. It ain’t gonna happen.

And Chris mentions one of my constant points about acoustic basses – feedback problems.

Scott,

I don’t have that particular Ibanez. But I do have a different one and two Ibanez guitars. I’ve said this before and I will say it again. Ibanez is the best secret out there in guitars and basses and THE best value for the money. Bar none.

Thanks all. I appreciate the responses. I just want one for around the house. I'll keep an eye out for some of these models.

If you are going to gig with one, this is what you need:

does this count?