Bass Question
I'm looking at getting an electro-acoustic bass.
I've got about £400 to spend.
Anyone got any advice on what to avoid, or recommendations?
( Cawl, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 10:45, 35 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

What do you mean by an electro-acoustic bass?
It's a term used differently by a lot of people!

Do you mean a hollow/semi-hollow body electric bass, or an acoustic bass (i.e. looks like an acoustic guitar, but obviously with four strings) with pickups??
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 10:56, Reply)

*really wants one*
I have no idea what to look out for, but I really want an electro-acoustic bass.

I'll be checking back later for hints and tips (not that I can afford one at the moment).
( Moey, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 10:57, Reply)

I mean the
Ones that look like a big acoustic guitar, with four strings.

I want to be able to play it "unplugged", and actually be able to hear it.
And also to be able to plug it into an amp when I want :)
( Cawl, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:00, Reply)

ahah :)
Then you want an accoustic with an in inbuilt pickup. because external pickups on accoustic guitars (in my experience) suck donkey dick.

Other than that I have no idea about guitars :p
(darras jeg har en grevling i hodet. Grevling, grevlang, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:03, Reply)

Well
My no-holds-barred recommendation would be a Fylde Magician (absolutely beautiful instruments), but you wouldn't get near one of those with your budget!

I've had a quick Google and Ibanez make some cheap ones starting at under £200 that will probably be alright, but stepping up a bit in price there's Tanglewoods and Washburns available. I haven't had my hands on a Tanglewood or Washburn acoustic bass, but the price/performance ratio of their other guitars suggests they'll be good.

No substitute for going to Denmark Street or somewhere and having a look/play though. Bigger (volume) bodies will give you a bigger and deeper sound, but don't expect them to keep up with acoustic guitars playing just acoustically - they're not usually loud enough. Pickup quality is something important to consider as well, since I guess you'll be spending most of your time playing through an amp. Piezo pickups are fine here although I wouldn't typically recommend them on an acoustic guitar.

Playing wise it will be something akin to transferring from electric to acoustic guitar, or bass guitar to double bass - the strings will be a hell of a lot stiffer and will knacker your fingers til you get used to it!

I've also just read a website which offers the excellent tip to try and find one with a hard case chucked in, as finding a suitably sized one separately can be an arse!

PS - I'd say what you are looking for would be called an 'acoustic bass guitar'.

@ darras - there's many sorts of pickups, and they all perform differently depending on what sort of guitar you put them on, and particularly how much stage noise there is. I'm not a huge fan of the Takamine style soundhole pickups, and on a quiet enough stage (solo artist etc) would definitely use a microphone. Recently, for more band style setups, I've been gravitating towards a Fishmann Rare Earth/Aura system which works bloody well, considering I'm not usually a fan of DSP trickery on acoustic instruments.
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:11, Reply)

Some good advice there, SoS-i-a
I think what I'm after is slightly different. Something along the lines of an Ibanez AGB200, which is more of a semi acoustic, but would really need to be plugged in to get any decent sound level.

Should give a nice warm edge sound, but, as with anything like this, you get what you pay for.
( Moey, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:27, Reply)

bass
For a cheap starter theres not a lot wrong with aa Ibanez AGB200 Artcore. You should be able to pick one up on the good side of £250, leaving enough left for a hard case and, a little practice amp and a set of decent strings if your lucky.

A friend had one of these for a while and it played well and sounded suprisingly good.

If you want to stretch your budget out a bit have a looksee at a Godin A4 semi, top bit of kit, I had one for a while and still regret selling it. If you shop around you might get one for about £700
( RadG Drinking Mojitos in the sun, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:33, Reply)

Yeah that's what I'd call a semi-acoustic or a hollow bodied bass Moey
They'll usually have magnetic coil pickups like a normal electric bass, rather than the more acoustic guitar style pickups in the ones I was talking about above.

Ibanez are bloody good at that end of the market, if you just want something to mess about with.

Should give you a nice soft edged sound. Watch out for feedback on a loud stage though, a decent external EQ is a must for any hollow bodied guitar on a rock stage.

A friend of mine plays a cheapy Epiphone semi with the frets removed through an ancient Vox valve bass amp, sounds amazing. Almost like a double bass!
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:38, Reply)

Sam,
That info is all great, thank you :)

That one that RadG linked to looks lovely, but I dunno how good it'd be for my purposes.

I write my songs on bass, so I'm looking for something I can just pick up, have a play with (unplugged) when I have ideas.

Then I work out the guitar parts with my guitarist, again, acoustically.

Playing basslines on a battered old classical guitar isn't quite right, you see...
( Cawl, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:46, Reply)

I currently have a GSR200,
which I find to be a lovely bass for the price. Really nice action, with decent enough electrics to give me a reasonable sound.
( Moey, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:47, Reply)

My electric bass
Is an Aria Magna, which I love dearly.
I got it from my parents for my 18th, and it's never let me down :D
( Cawl, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:53, Reply)

well
You could buy me a really nice bottle of Whisky for £400
(Halfy By light alone, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:54, Reply)

I could
But that's not gonna get my songs written, is it...
I'll get you a bottle of gut-rot for a tenner :p
( Cawl, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:55, Reply)

The Godin is nice (although it looks pretty gay)
but it's a semi rather than a full acoustic like you requested.

There's a fair few here that would fit your budget, but as stated above you really need to go and have a play, and buy the actual guitar you play as well - there's a lot of variation even between guitars of the same make/model, particularly so with acoustic guitars and particularly at the cheaper end of the market. So finding one you like then internet shopping to scalp a few quid off probably ain't a good idea.

I'm not familiar with any of the particular guitars I linked to on GAK, but I'd have a look at the Takamine, the Washburn in particular, on the strength of their other instruments. That seems bloody cheap for anything with Takamine written on it actually!

Edit: Aria are nice guitars. Extra kudos if it's a 70s one though!
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:56, Reply)

no
I could get drunk on the nice whisky, and be a drunken muse, spewing forth lyrics and tunes to wow the world.

or just be outside having a smoke
(Halfy By light alone, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:57, Reply)

Nice, I'll have a look through, thanks :)
I'm off to Denmark street with a friend next Saturday, so I thought I'd do a bit of pre-research, which I knew b3ta-folk would be great for!

EDIT: My Aria was a new one, so not a 70's one, no! It's odd, I've never seen one in a shop before or since, so I always assumed it was some random thing. But it isn't.
My first bass was a Hohner Baron, which was a shit-heap, haha!
( Cawl, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:58, Reply)

I think
I should get the nice whisky, as I've actually contributed something to the thread...

I'll have a bottle of Laphroaig 27 or 30 year old, should be able to find that for your budget.

Edit: Yeah Aria are a pretty well respected make. Mate of mine has a 3/4 size acoustic guitar (she's tiny!) with a really really nice tone, was pretty cheap as well.

Hohner = school band instruments FTW! They do make some good stuff though...
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 12:01, Reply)

Ooooh!
www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/ab-10-b-acoustic-bass/66587
That one's pretty damn nice!
I'm a sucker for any guitar that's black or red, haha!
Er, obviously the proof's in the playing though.
( Cawl, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 12:09, Reply)

Haha
Like the typical female answer to the question 'What car do you drive?'

Bloody musicians.... :P

It will in all likelihood be a pretty decent bass though, and I do like the metal-esque cutout!
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 12:17, Reply)

*nods*
The only downside to that one that I can see so far is that it's over-budget already, plus I'd need a case...
*shakes fist*

At least I've already got cables and a practice amp :)
( Cawl, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 12:42, Reply)

Speak to GAK on the phone
They're very nice people to deal with, and they can't be shifting as many guitars as they want to at the moment, so you might be able to haggle a reduction, or get them to chuck in a case.
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 12:44, Reply)

They've always seemed nice
I like the shop in Brighton a lot.
In fact, I like Brighton a lot, it's a fantastic town!

I think I'll see how Denmark Street goes, and then decide what to do from there.
Your help has been much appreciated, thank you!
( Cawl, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 12:58, Reply)

*clears the way*
I've played an Aria. Not bad, cheap, but not all that loud.

Tanglewood stuff is generally great for the price. I've played one of their acoustic basses some time ago and it was nice.

however, you'd be better off with a double bass. My bass player got his for £400 ;-)

his electric bass is a Stingray *drools*
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 13:25, Reply)

Stingrays are well nice
I'd advise against a double bass for £400 though, that's pretty bargain basement. Also very different to play to a bass guitar and would probably require lessons, as I understand it there's a lot of technique involving leaning the weight of the bass about.

Also fitting pickups/mics to a double bass, particularly in a rock band environment, can be a complete nightmare!

You could probably get an electric 'stick' type double bass for £400, but that wouldn't satisfy Kaol's need to be able to hear it acoustically.
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 13:35, Reply)

Mr. V,
I've never had any volume issues with my Aria, as it has a pre-amp :)

A double bass would be cool, but remember that I've gotta sing at the same time...
( Cawl, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 13:39, Reply)

despite being cheap and chinese
our bass player's double bass isn't too bad, and the pickup he has for it works perfectly well for rock, using a headphone amp as a DI box.

you can hear how it recorded on the tracks here:
www.myspace.com/dumberthantheaveragebear

that's with his pickup, the DI and a mic. possibly an SM57

A mate of my brother has made himself a double bass. he was advised to insure it for £22k...

leaning the weight of the double bass isn't too bad, but it is hugely demanding on shoulders, arms and fingers to play the thing!

Kaol: the aria I was referring to was an acoustic bass. sounded fine plugged in, but really quiet unplugged. it had quite a small body though.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 13:40, Reply)

Ah, I see!
Double basses are so fuckin' cool!
When I came to you gig I spent a lot of time watching your bass player, I loved the fact that he looked like he was having such a great time!
As Sam said further up the thread, best thing for me to do is gonna be try out a load, and see what feels right :)
( Cawl, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 13:46, Reply)

What pickup does he have for it, out of interest?
The best solutions I've come across usually involve a piezo under the bridge combined with a small condensor microphone. Not cheap, and requires some pretty nifty work on an EQ if the bassist wants rock band level monitors!

Cheaper pickups are usually just the piezo, which IMO almost completely defeats the object of having a double bass - you get the notes being played and a big bassy woofle, but lose a lot of the warmth and quality of it being an acoustic instrument.

YMMV, and I have very geekishly high standards when it comes to this sort of thing, I mix FOH for quite a few folk & acoustic acts!
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 13:47, Reply)

I'll definitely check out your recordings later btw Vipros
Since you've been pimping them so much, and I haven't got round to listening yet!

Will wait til I get home so I can listen on my monitors though.
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 13:48, Reply)

I don't know what he has to be honest
I think it is just a piezo, but it does get the sound across nicely so it might be both.

the reason for the pimping is because I'm actually kind of proud of them, which makes a nice change!

the mp3s probably aren't the best quality which you might notice with your monitors! the mix could be a little better too, but we were running out of time to get the demo mix done, so hopefully in a couple of months we'll have better mixes and more tracks!

Kaol: I'm not surprised you spent a lot of time watching the bass player, it is fascinating to watch the double bass. saying that, we got him to play electric bass at our last practice. He's seriously good. gave a couple of songs a totally different feel and it improved my metal song no end!
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 13:52, Reply)

*shakes fist*
You talented bastards!
Haha!
( Cawl, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 14:06, Reply)

Gotta love the double bass
uk.youtube.com/watch?v=D44pyeEvhcQ
( RadG Drinking Mojitos in the sun, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 14:19, Reply)

The only experience
I've had with an electro-acoustic bass is one that's mounted on the wall and when you press a button it sings "Take Me to the River"

£9.99 from any cheap plastic tat shop - provides hours of amusement for dim-witted colleagues and drunk people.

When you say 'bass' you do mean the fish right?
(oneinthepink is at your cervix m'lady, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 15:57, Reply)

Damn it Kaol.
You've reawakened my desire to buy a semi-acoustic bass. I had managed to suppress my yearning for one, but now find myself searching the internet for one that I could possibly afford.







I can't possibly afford any.
( Moey, Mon 15 Dec 2008, 17:04, Reply)

Easy enough...
...just inform the music store that All Your Bass Are Belong To Us and then take your pick...

/coat
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Mon 15 Dec 2008, 17:46, Reply)