Bass for acoustic oriented gigs?

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BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
Our band are trying out some acoustic setups for quieter venues.

We had a 3-up session last week (vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, and me on bass) and for this I had my Ibanez semi going straight into an old Marshall acoustic amp. Sounded pretty good. 

I'm thinking of various options tho, and wondered what others do/would do:

- Stick to an electric bass but use a small portable amp like a mark bass 801
- Acoustic Bass into acoustic amp
- Semi acoustic bass into a small amp
- Bass (electric or acoustic) into an FRFR or DI to desk and hope monitoring is good enough

Thoughts?
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Comments

  • Phil_aka_PipPhil_aka_Pip Frets: 9794
    FWIW I'd use a bass amp of suitable size & power/op irrespective of whether your bass instrument is solid, semi, or hollow. I wouldn't use an acoustic amp unless it was built for bass. I'd also assume that I'd have to monitor off it even if there was FoH PA, ie not rely on someone else's monitoring provision being up-to-scratch. That way you can do small gigs with only a vocal PA, and big gigs with a full range PA and you're still sorted for sound.
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    FWIW I'd use a bass amp of suitable size & power/op irrespective of whether your bass instrument is solid, semi, or hollow. I wouldn't use an acoustic amp unless it was built for bass. I'd also assume that I'd have to monitor off it even if there was FoH PA, ie not rely on someone else's monitoring provision being up-to-scratch. That way you can do small gigs with only a vocal PA, and big gigs with a full range PA and you're still sorted for sound.
    Yes, I think I was already there on the monitoring front. I'm tempted to look out for a cheapie sub-100w amp like the mark bass or something with DI out to use.

    As for the bass itself, well, I'm a bit torn. I might break my golden rule and get a short scale.
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  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    I'd stay away from an acoustic bass, they sound poor and can be difficult to play (ime). I'd stick with your regular bass into a small combo. If the look of the setup is important then go with the semi-acoustic.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    JezWynd said:
    I'd stay away from an acoustic bass, they sound poor and can be difficult to play (ime). I'd stick with your regular bass into a small combo. If the look of the setup is important then go with the semi-acoustic.
    One of the reasons for doing the alternate setup was to reduce on stage footprint - we played some minute stages last year (!) and the small combo certainly ticks that box. 

    I’m wondering if a smaller scale bass might be a good idea too
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  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    edited May 2018
    A short scale bass might be a good way to go. The short scale can give a double bass tone - something about the string length giving you the fundamental note? I noticed going to long scale from short there's more harmonic richness to the sound.

    For small bass combos, check out Phil Jones Bass. Costly but they sound excellent.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    JezWynd said:
    A short scale bass might be a good way to go. The short scale can give a double bass tone - something about the string length giving you the fundamental note? I noticed going to long scale from short there's more harmonic richness to the sound.
    Yeah and I’m pretty much exclusively a flats player as well as it suits our overall sound. 

    I might even try tapewounds. 
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    Rickenbacker 4001 and a small amp. No fuzz pedal.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • Phil_aka_PipPhil_aka_Pip Frets: 9794
    I played rehearsal-wise for an "acoustic" outfit last year but we never got around to gigging (partially a result of being messed around by "vocalists" who stuffed us up at the last minute). We had 1 electro-acoustic, my solid acoustic (Washburn SBF-80), both guitarists using Marshall AS50Ds, Mr Bass Player had a solid upright bass with (IIRC) a Peavey bass practice amp, and Mr Drummer had either a full kit or he sat on his cajon. We put vocals and cajon through the PA. When it worked (musically) it wasn't too bad to listen to. I felt Mr Bass Player's intonation was fairly suspect, that none of us could sing (which was why we needed a proper singer), and that some of the music required more strength/stamina at playing the acoustic than I was capable of at the time. Mr Bandleader got pissed off with trying to recruit singers who (i) could sing (ii) at least possessed a microphone (iii) could be arsed to meet the rest of the band for an audition.
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    ICBM said:
    Rickenbacker 4001 and a small amp. No fuzz pedal.
    #ignore




    ;)
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    I played rehearsal-wise for an "acoustic" outfit last year but we never got around to gigging (partially a result of being messed around by "vocalists" who stuffed us up at the last minute). We had 1 electro-acoustic, my solid acoustic (Washburn SBF-80), both guitarists using Marshall AS50Ds, Mr Bass Player had a solid upright bass with (IIRC) a Peavey bass practice amp, and Mr Drummer had either a full kit or he sat on his cajon. We put vocals and cajon through the PA. When it worked (musically) it wasn't too bad to listen to. I felt Mr Bass Player's intonation was fairly suspect, that none of us could sing (which was why we needed a proper singer), and that some of the music required more strength/stamina at playing the acoustic than I was capable of at the time. Mr Bandleader got pissed off with trying to recruit singers who (i) could sing (ii) at least possessed a microphone (iii) could be arsed to meet the rest of the band for an audition.
    For context, this is a cut down version of a band that has a fully rehearsed gigged and recorded set - and the lead singer/songwriter often takes them out on his own to solo night gigs too so we know the material works. 

    Not sure I could cope with upright. 
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  • martmart Frets: 5205
    Bridgehouse said:
    ...
    One of the reasons for doing the alternate setup was to reduce on stage footprint - we played some minute stages last year (!) and the small combo certainly ticks that box. 

    I’m wondering if a smaller scale bass might be a good idea too
    An acoustic bass can give a lovely sound (suitably amplified), but they’re not small. So if stage size is an issue I’d use some sort of electric, whether semi or solid.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    ICBM said:
    Rickenbacker 4001 and a small amp. No fuzz pedal.
    #ignore

    ;)
    You should try it :). A 4001 on the neck pickup with flatwound strings is very acoustic-sounding. Listen to Paul McCartney on any later Beatles recording for an illustration...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    ICBM said:
    ICBM said:
    Rickenbacker 4001 and a small amp. No fuzz pedal.
    #ignore

    ;)
    You should try it :). A 4001 on the neck pickup with flatwound strings is very acoustic-sounding. Listen to Paul McCartney on any later Beatles recording for an illustration...
    I don’t doubt it. In fact, I know so.. however, was ignoring you on principle given you said Ric bass ;)
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  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7731
    edited May 2018
    Since you asked: https://www.bassbags.co.uk/product-tag/eastman-double-basses/

    edit:
    or you could wuss out and get a fretless 4 :)
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    I nearly choked on me coffee at the prices ;)
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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    I tried the Taylor GS- Mini Acoustic Bass recently and loved both the acoustic and amplified tone but also the playability.

    It's downside is that it requires bespoke, Taylor strings and they cost over £40 a set!!!
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Kebabkid said:
    I tried the Taylor GS- Mini Acoustic Bass recently and loved both the acoustic and amplified tone but also the playability.

    It's downside is that it requires bespoke, Taylor strings and they cost over £40 a set!!!
    I’m used to bass string prices having an extra 0 on the end..

    GS mini looks good. Would need to try one tho
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    Kebabkid said:

    It's downside is that it requires bespoke, Taylor strings and they cost over £40 a set!!!
    Have you ever priced double bass strings?

    Some of the better ones start at over £40 *for the G string*...

    The full set is over £200 :-O.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    ICBM said:
    Kebabkid said:

    It's downside is that it requires bespoke, Taylor strings and they cost over £40 a set!!!
    Have you ever priced double bass strings?

    Some of the better ones start at over £40 *for the G string*...

    The full set is over £200 :-O.
    Heh. You know you’ve been playing bass too long when a £40 set of strings feels like a reasonable bargain ;)
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    Bridgehouse said:

    Heh. You know you’ve been playing bass too long when a £40 set of strings feels like a reasonable bargain ;)
    And the really good news is that - at least if you like an old-school bass sound - a set of strings will last several months, if not many years, so they're not really expensive compared to guitar strings, which only last days to months for comparable use/player preference.

    I would be surprised if those Taylor strings don't last well over a year unless you're playing it much more than just occasionally.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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