henry norton Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Does anyone know of any purely acoustic bass guitars? I mean an acoustic bass guitar that doesn't have (or at least doesn't always need) a piezo pickup and onboard amp. I used to play in an acoustic pop trio but played a fretless Precision through a practice amp. It worked ok but I always hankered after a purer sound (as well as only needing to carry one case to smaller clubs). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I think if you are going to get an acoustic bass guitar you would be a lot better off buying one that has a pickup. You don't have to plug it in but if you are playing with others,chances are that you'll have to. Most acoustic bass guitars don't have enough volume to be heard alongside a couple of acoustic guitars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 It's called a double bass... ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 (edited) What Doddy says and the Ozark I have is nice enough for a few hundred quid although like most things the newer ones appear to be not quite as nice so maybe a secondhand one off the bay or similar? Nice for home noodling IMO. Here you go this is like mine but mine has not got the fancy pre amp, just vol and tone pots with a 9v battery. Mine also has an oval sound hole which I prefer but if the solid woods are as nice as mine then these should be nice too. [url="http://www.alangregory.co.uk/music/Ozark_3385N_Acoustic_Bass_Guitar.html"]http://www.alangrego...ass_Guitar.html[/url] Edited October 12, 2011 by stingrayPete1977 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 [quote name='henry norton' timestamp='1318433821' post='1402102'] Does anyone know of any purely acoustic bass guitars? I mean an acoustic bass guitar that doesn't have (or at least doesn't always need) a piezo pickup and onboard amp. I used to play in an acoustic pop trio but played a fretless Precision through a practice amp. It worked ok but I always hankered after a purer sound (as well as only needing to carry one case to smaller clubs). [/quote] There are some purely acoustic ones, for example the old Eko B4 from the 70s, but you won't hear it when playing with others without amplification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted October 12, 2011 Author Share Posted October 12, 2011 Thanks for the replies. The general consensus seems to be no acoustic bass guitar is actually loud enough acoustically to be usable. Unless it's a double bass and therefore not a guitar at all... Half the problem seems to be they all have regular sized dreadnought type bodies, so they'll never move enough air to be heard over a loud acoustic guitar. The bridge is too far back to move the soundboard properly as well, presumably because the neck would be sticking out a mile if it was in the optimum position. I guess the problem with making anything much bigger than a dreadnought with a long scale is that you'd end up with something not much smaller than a DB, but without the flexibility and the kudos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 They are great for home practice and if you have a light rig with cab size options they can be used for live jamming with just a sneaky amp at your feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 There is the Earthwood: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AttitudeCastle Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 They need to be big for them to reasonate at any useful volume, hence why doublebasses and contra double basses are massive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlloyd Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Yep, the Earthwood is as small as you can go and still expect to be heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted October 13, 2011 Author Share Posted October 13, 2011 Yeah the Earthwood. I forgot about those. They are truly giant although not too bad to look at. They're very collectable too so sadly I won't be rushing out to buy one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 [quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1318446304' post='1402354'] There is the Earthwood: [/quote] Ah! You beat me to it! When i read the OP i thought imediatly in it. I still want one but they don't come up much often and when they do they're not cheap! An alternative is to get a Mariachi bass: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 [quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1318512291' post='1403131'] Ah! You beat me to it! When i read the OP i thought imediatly in it. I still want one but they don't come up much often and when they do they're not cheap! An alternative is to get a Mariachi bass: [/quote] Which I believe is called a guitarron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Yep! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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