lksmks792

That's actually a great idea, I might just try that! Anyway, yesterday it was announced stores here in Belgium will be closed again starting on saturday for about four weeks, so I'll have some time to think. Thanks to all of you for the advice!

I own a P7. The battery died about two months ago and I haven't replaced it yet, just been using passive mode. At least for home practice/playing along to tracks I haven't really missed the eq. It's got PJ pickups mind so there's a lot of tonal difference already in there.

Hi Thanks for taking the time to reply. Looking at pictures of both of those brands I don't think it was either of those. It did look most like a Palatino though, with its slimmed down 'classical' styling. Biggest difference with the Palatino I could find was it having control knobs on the back instead of on the side. There might be or have been a Palatino with controls on the back of course, but I only find information about one model on the internet. The bass looked as if it could be about 20 years old though, so it might just as well have been made by a manufacterer that has long been gone. Any way I've decided to think about it for a week or so and then maybe ask for more information and make an offer. Thanks to all of you for replying!

Hi - thanks for your reply. I thought of it to late and anyway I doubt the salesman would allow me to take a picture in the store. I hoped there'd be some general advice anyway. But of course I do understand it's difficult to assess without pictures. If I had to guess I'd say the scale length was longer than a bass guitar's. I 'played' it for a bit and the experience was definitely different. The fingerboard did have a curve to it so I guess that's a good thing. There's also a piezo in it (I asked) but the man from the store said something about '2 pickups', I wouldn't really know what the second one would be though (neither did he anyway). There wasn't a magnetic pickup in sight anyway. I'd think if there's a piezo it would be underneath the bridge, but I wouldn't know where a second one would be. Thanks for your reply!

I completely agree. Iirc there's also a mic picking up any tapping etc one the body, to allow for percussive elements in loops etc.

The acoustasonic guitars aren't really meant to be played acoustically, I think the 'acoustic styling' is mostly there because the modelling is based on acoustic guitars. If fender would produce an 'acoustasonic' bass, I think the modelling would rather be focused on different styles of bass (upright, fretless, P/J, short scale, ...). It wouldn't have to be semi-hollow. Imho semi hollow electric guitars (like thinline teles) are mostly about aesthetics and lightness. A semi hollow bass wouldn't actually sound very different from a solid bodied one (if you just put magnetic pickups in it, I mean). And as has been said above: there's a good reason upright basses are so big - if they could be made half the size, they probably would be. I'm actually surprised so many manufacterers still produce such an array of acoustic basses, given the fact nobody seems to really like them.

Hi all Today at a local music store I noticed an unbranded EUB sitting in the corner. There were slight traces of use and the salesman informed me that it had been repaired at the neck joint (it was visible at well). Electrically though it seemed to be in order. They demoed it for me and to my ears there was definitely nothing wrong with the sound or the controls. The store in question used to be owned by a renowned luthier so if he did the repair, it should be well done. I'm not sure whether that's the case though. I've been thinking about getting into playing upright bass for a while but the prices for even a cheap instrument have always held me back. This bass however was only 300 euros. The people at the store told me this was because even they didn't really know anything about it and because of the repair. The store has recently been taken over by a chain so I guess it's just an instrument that was already there about which they don't have any information. I was thinking about maybe making an offer of 200-250 euros for it. If it's not my thing, I figure I could probably get my money back by selling it. Because I obviously know nothing about EUB's, I thought it would be wise to ask around first. What are the risks, could it be worth it, should I be concerned they're 'only' asking 300 euros, ...? Sadly I don't have any pictures but except for the repair at the neck joint and the slight marks of use it seemed well enough made. Thanks for any advice you guys could give me! Lukas

I'd forgotten about those. Nice looking bass imo, very much my thing. Japanese, iirc? A reissue of one of those would be nice as well. The difference with acoustasonic instruments is, as Jus Lukin pointed out, about the electronics on the inside (modelling if you will). The Variax must have been of some inspiration when Fender were developing it but the execution seems to have been better than Line6's (or at least the sales figures are). Might have had something to do with marketing and the Fender name tag of course.

In case you missed it: Fender have over the last couple of years released a series of 'Acoustasonic' guitars. These (kind of) hollowbodied instruments (first a tele, later a strat and recently a jazzmaster) have electric-like body shapes and necks but feature an array of electronics to emulate several different acoustic guitars. There's also a regular electric guitar pickup on board. I've never seen one in the flesh let alone played one and I'm not really interested enough to buy one (they're about 1500 euros/pounds if I'm not mistaken) but they do seem like an interesting alternative to the usual choice between acoustics/electrics to me. If you want to know what they sound like: Fender seem to have sent out the last jazzmaster model to about every guitarist youtuber they could find. At least in the videos they sound pretty convincing. There's quite a lot of marketing to this of course, but the fact that they've released two more models after the first one at least indicates the original acoustasonic telecaster hasn't been an utter sales disaster. All of this made me think: what if Fender would release an acoustasonic bass? What would it look like, could it work, what sounds would be in it, would any one be interested in it? Looking at the guitars, there could be an array of possibilities for bass sounds (like upright/fretless/shortscale emulation? who knows). Anyway I thought I'd just put this here, in case any one was interested in the thought experiment.

Great purchase! I own a P7. Sire make some fine basses. If you're ever wondering what else is out there in the online bass lessons department: I wholy recommend Mark at talking bass. I've learned a lot from him.

2013 apparently - thanks for the link, never heard of them but very much my kind of thing!

I've seen some great suggestions - thanks all!

A couple of days ago this came by on the radio - it's by a local (Belgian) artist so I guess none of you would have heard it. (I don't know the guy personally so this isn't a covert plug or anything). The bass part on it immediately caught my attention and made me want to learn and play along - something I haven't really experienced a lot with recent/modern music. I haven't been playing bass for that long so it might be I'm easily impressed of course. Anyway I thought I'd ask around: what other recent songs (say, from the last two years or so) have impressed you or captured your interest in some way or another? I've seen some Dua Lupa bass lines being mentioned in other threads iirc, but I'm curious what other songs you come up with.

Agreed - can't see a reason why they wouldn't do it.

If I may add to this: I was under the impression the 5 series is about the same level of quality as the 7 series, only passive. 9s have fancy tops and 10s have fancy tops and different pu's. 3s are cheaper made than 7s but still active. Logically, we may one day see a 1 series: same level of quality as the cheaper 3 series but passive. Could be some awesome (and probably dirt cheap) entry level basses.

Thanks for the info! I hadn't looked because I was under the impression they were only just announced on fb - should've checked! Thanks anyway!

That D5 is gorgeous. Bit of a shame it's not a slab body, but it's no deal breaker for me. Any info about the pricing yet?

Every little thing she does is magic - Police

Fight for your right - Beastie Boys

Where do we go now but nowhere - Nick Cave

Baby one more time - Britney Spears

Take 5 - Dave Brubeck

I guess that's why they call it the blues - Elton John

Down to the waterside - Dire Straits

No one knows - Queens of the Stone Age