kristo

I’ve always found hollow body basses never feel short scale because of the bridge position. If I could find a hollow body that felt like my Mustang that would be great! I am also a guitarist, and when I tried the Brandoni the size and feel was good for me. I love arch tops, so began to lust for a bass one. I’ve tried the Epiphone pictured but the pickup was rubbish and the neck was more like a full scale bass.

The scale length on the converted classical guitar is roughly 26.5 inches, and with the heavy Labellas the intonation is good and the strings feel great when playing. They aren’t super floppy like a Uke bass. I’m hoping the archtop would have a similar feel.

After picking up a Brandoni bass made from a classical acoustic guitar (see thread here https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/326362-nbd-brandoni-acoustic-bass/?tab=comments#comment-3564414 ) I've started to wonder if a similar thing could be done with an archtop guitar. Therefore I have acquired a cheap Harley Benton Manhattan to give it a go (with help): My plan is to get a Hofner Violin style bridge and tailpiece to try. Unfortunately I don't think the kind of bridge used on the Brandoni will have enough height. If it seems ok I'll then look at replacing the tuners with something more substantial and then getting a pickup fitted. So I guess before I get the ball rolling I was just wondering: Has anybody tried this before? Does anybody foresee any issues? If it works what pickup would people try?

Just noticed one of these on Gumtree. Slap some fat tapewounds on and you will not be disappointed. https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/brandoni-custom-acoustic-bass/1308281459

I can thoroughly recommend these:

I've recently picked up a Brandoni acoustic bass for using in my bluegrass/blues/jazz band and am absolutely loving it! I was using a Japanese Mustang bass (which I also love) but it didn't really fit in with the acoustic vibe of the band. I've tried numerous semi/hollow basses but none have felt right like the Mustang does. Then I stumbled across the Brandoni in Wunjo and was instantly smitten. It's essentially an acoustic guitar body converted to bass, but the tailpiece style means that short scale strings can be used. I ditched the stock roundwound strings and added some Labella 60-115 white tapewounds. The fatter strings nicely offset the 26" scale and it feels great to play. It sounds warm, and gives us the double bass kinda sound I wanted. I just wanted to see if anyone else is playing one of these? (Picture before I changed the strings)

That's a shame. I'm working on my dot reading and having a bit of 1990's reminisce so The Riverboat Song and Place Your Hands in dot form would have been awesome. Thanks for the tab link.

Can someone please help me access the PDF. I can't get it. :-(

These look ace, off to Andertons at the weekend to try one as GAS levels are high!

Do you know which Presto set would be similar in feel to Silver Slaps?

Cool, thanks. Is it usual to keep the input gain on preamps/amps pretty low with these? I've tried it into my Tecamp Puma combo (with a Orchid DI box for impedence matching inbetween) and it sounds better with the input level turned right down.