Acoustic bass guitars
 

Although I knew these exist, I'd never really seen one until the other day I was in GuitarGuitar Glasgow and they had quite a range - maybe a dozen or so.

I'm not a bass player - although I own one and plan to learn - but they struck me as really beautiful instruments. Are they enjoying a surge in popularity, or have always been more popular than I realised, or is it just that particular store happened to have a good selection?

How does an acoustic bass guitar sound, or differ, from either an electric bass or a traditional double bass? What is its raison d'etre so to speak? Is it tuned and played like an electric bass guitar - I'm assuming it would always be played amplified so the hollow body is for resonance/tone rather than allowing you to play unplugged?

Yes, tuned like an electric bass (EADG). Unless you get to the huge body-size models (like you'll see in an unplugged Mexican mariachi band), there's not a lot of volume from them. Plugged in, I've never found them that spectacular - feedback can be an issue.

You might not get many responses because a lot of people on this forum are going to file this under "Asked and answered." If you search acoustic bass guitars you will get many, many threads. That being said, I don't mind answering questions more than once. Heck, if we only answered unique questions, there wouldn't be much to talk about. Still, a search would probably be useful to you.

That out of the way, my thoughts on ABGs are that they are mostly bought for aesthetic reasons. A lot of people think a P Bass jacked into a 100 watt amp looks sort of "out of place" at an acoustic gig. They aren't wrong. The problem with ABGs is that they aren't loud enough. I have had several, and not one of them could hold its own unamplified against even a single dread, much less a couple of acoustic guitars.

It is a simple physics problem. The bodies of ABGs are just to small to push enough air. They simply don't make enough noise to be heard in even the most intimate settings. You pretty much have to amplify an ABG for it to be heard, and if you are going to amplify anyway, you might as well use a standard bass guitar, it will have better tone and not feed back.

Don't get me wrong, the idea of an ABG is very, very appealing. No one likes to carry around an amplifier and a slab bass to play with their acoustic buddies, and very few people want to huck around a double bass, so the idea of an ABG is, as I said, very appealing. But they just aren't loud enough.

It doesn't matter what you have, Dean. Fender, Martin, even the Tacoma Thunderchief... none are loud enough to compete with even 1 acoustic guitar. The only ABGs that are loud enough are absolutely enormous. The Ernie Ball Earthwood Bass made in the 1970s and popularized by The Violent Femmes is pretty loud, but it is the size of a cello.

I currently have (or used to have) both acoustic and electric bass guitars. Acoustically they are pretty anemic for anything beyond living room practice. Even a fairly small acoustic-only indoor jam will overpower them, so plugged-in is essentially mandatory. The only thing that has any power at all acoustically is an upright doghouse bass. My Tacoma Thunderchief acoustic bass was sold off a long time ago. While it was one of the best of the genre, it's main utility was practicing on a full long-scale instrument without needing an amp.

I actually prefer my Kala U-bass over all of the things I've played. With those big urethane strings, it sounds very much like an upright bass when plugged in and is very easy on the fingers. Plus it is highly portable, unlike a double bass. A U-bass even with a battery powered amp is much more portable than a doghouse bass. It is also tuned EADG like electric bass. Since I got the U-bass a couple of years ago, the only time I play anything else is if that is what happens to be available at a jam. You can buy a U-bass and a good amp for far less than $$$ than a cheapo imported plywood upright.

It was particularly satisfying to have someone come up to me after walking off stage at a bluegrass festival asking where the bass was - he heard it but could not see it on stage. I simply held out my little U-bass and watched his jaw drop. ;)

I always thought of the acoustic bass guitars as more of a marketing move than a solution to a problem. Unplugged they just don't sound like much and plugged in . . . . well, I prefer one of my solid body basses. Now, the U-bass, that is something that has some appeal because of it's size and it's plugged in sound. If I had a current bass gig I would definitely buy one.

As for asking a question that has been asked in the past - doesn't matter, that's why we're here.

I never heard of the Kala U-bass; it's hard to tell from the pictures but is it essentially a bass Uke?!

Sorry if ABGs are well-discussed, I wasn't sure how common they were.
Sounds like they have more utility as a practice guitar than a real bass guitar?

I think it might be summed up by saying that a Uke Bass looks like a toy, but it is actually a serious musical instrument while an ABG looks like a musical instrument, but is really more of a toy.

Ha! It looks really sweet. If the price was closer to a typical Uke price I'd be tempted :)

Might want to check out Rob Allen basses. They are not acoustic in the sense of playing them without an amp. But they are designed to get close to the sound of an upright bass. Most are fretless, although he makes fretted basses as well.

I've never tried one myself, but I'm intrigued by the Rigel. The Bullfrog is another option. Again I've never played one. Turns out if you want to get the sound of an upright you've got to go a lot bigger than a dreadnaught guitar body.

I have a Tacoma Thunderchief CB10e and a Guild B-50. They are not supposed to be loud enough to stand up to an acoustic trio of guitar and banjo. I use an ABG because I can no longer play four hour gigs on the upright (and yes, even an upright needs an amp on stage with a band) and the ABG's give me the most upright-ish tone and still allow me to play another gig tomorrow night. They record well. It's not only the guitar, but the strings (tape wound), and most importantly, the player's technique. As for amplification, I use a GK MB200 to a Genz-Benz Shuttle STL-8 cab. Total weight with cables is 13 lbs. Hardly a hardship.

Some are too big to be very practical (thinking of the Rigel and Earthwoods) but they sound louder due to their size. Then others are too small to be comfortable to play (thinking U-bass). But some folks have 'em and like 'em.

If you don't know how you'd use an ABG, then you don't need one. But if you do, you'll want the best you can afford. There are many at less than $500 I wouldn't touch.

So are they predominantly used as an upright replacement or is that just your use-case; if so where else do they make sense (other than looking cool)?

No, and yes. How or why someone else uses an ABG isn't something I can answer.

Ah I was hoping you might've met other enthusiasts. Thanks for sharing your experience anyway - coming from a "proper" bass is a bit different to many (most?) on this forum I'd imagine.

i've tried recording with acoustic basses that friend's on mine had. they wanted to keep their sound acoustic but we were never able to get any of them to sound good, so we went with electric bass. it fit in right away. i won't waste my time nor others anymore with acoustic.

play music!