I've begun to think about adding an acoustic bass guitar to my heap of instruments. Why? Because in many settings I'd love to be able to add some bass lines when I have musical visitors, or just recording myself. I have an impression that the acoustic bass guitar is sort of a compromise, not delivering a full acoustic bass tone like a double bass will, and on the other hand feeding back easily when cranked up through an amplifier, but yet the format seems appealing and I believe it would be nice for living room jamming.
I've come across this Olympia, which is rather cheap, but have some decent reviews on Harmony Central. Do anybody have experienced this one, or have other recommendations, or other advice/opinons on the subject (preferably cheap) acoustic bass guitars? :wink:
I can't comment on the Olympia you reference, but I play a Michael Kelly acoustic bass and I love it (fretless too).
I don't know your definition of cheap (and I can't translate that website to figure out the price), but mine was on sale with an extra discount and I paid under $400.
For my playing style, the MK has become my main bass - my Fender electric is just kind of hanging out in the corner watching the world go by.
-PD
A fretless acoustic bass guitar will be to quiet in my opinion, however an acoustic bass guitar can be loud enough to be audible in a small room setting and nice for recording with. The body dimensions are however critical if you intend to use it in an unplugged setting. Small acoustic bass guitars are fine if you use them with a small amp but unplugged you will require a bass guitar with pretty large dimensions. The guitar will need to be at least 5-6 inches deep and the body length and width the bigger the better. Tacoma's recieve favourable reviews, i had a Tacoma USA Thunderchief, that was a very nicely built ABG. Bear in mind whilst these can be played unplugged don't expect it to be audible with more than 2-3 other acoustic instruments....drums forget it.
The only one I've played much is the Godin A5 fretless- it comes fretted too. I don't own one, but I've played one and I'm thinking of purchasing one this summer. It's excellent, has a very upright tone. It's not strictly acoustic though, it's semi-acoustic/electric, so it's about the size of a solidbody.
May or may not be what you're looking for, but so it goes.
I don't know your definition of cheap (and I can't translate that website to figure out the price), but mine was on sale with an extra discount and I paid under $400.
Kr 2390 works out to about 464.28 in US$$
I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep
Having been interested in these in the past, I've spent a little time comparing acoustic bass guitars in GC. Many look the roughly the same and appear quite nicely appointed, but they definitely sound very different. The Tacoma Thunderchief sounds very good -- nice and deep and clear. Some of the others were clearly inferior sounding -- even when not compared side-by-side with the Tacoma. I recall thinking there was a very strong correlation between price and sound quality. The less expensive models just didn't "have it." Get into a store and play them.
-=tension & release=-
My son plays bass and is interested in acoustic bass guitars, but all the reviews I have read concur. Low end acoustic bass guitars tend to not sound good compared to the higher end ones. He would want one for variety, certainly not his main instrument so the cost of a quality sounding bass is beyond what he wants to spend for an instrument that would see limited use.
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
I've begun to think about adding an acoustic bass guitar to my heap of instruments.
How big a heap that is ? Oh, do you mean you keep your instruments piled up in a heap ? :shock:
