Can I borrow an acoustic bass.?

[bubinga5]

As the title says, has anyone near me an acoustic bass I can borrow for the evening. Im in evesham. Of course it will treated with the utmost care as I treat my own gear. Im not sure if the jam will go ahead yet, but I just might need one. 

[TheGreek]

If I still had one, I'd lend it to you. Unfortunately sold mine a long time ago. 

If you're not going to use an amp you'll be hard pushed to find an acoustic which can be heard. If you are, restring your bass with tapewounds for an old school tone.

[BreadBin]

If you were nearer you'd be welcome to borrow mine, I'm near Trowbridge in Wiltshire however. 

[naxos10]

A little away from you but I have one and work in Coventry so could meet up somewhere if its of any help.

[warwickhunt]

As has been said, if an acoustic bass is to be used truly acoustic it won't be heard above a firmly strummed single acoustic guitar!    

I own a Washburn AB20 bass and it needs to be amplified if played with other instruments; fine for playing by itself in the house but amplification is needed in 90% of the situations where you'd need play an acoustic.  However, if it is for that tone and you know you are going to be boosted then I hope you can find one soon.    

[BreadBin]

My Tenson Jumbo is actually pretty loud.

[warwickhunt]

2 minutes ago, BreadBin said:

My Tenson Jumbo is actually pretty loud.

There is the odd acoustic which if played hard can just about keep up (is it the Tacoma Thunderchief that is meant to be OK?) but the vast majority just won't be heard with any great authority, especially if there are two acoustic guitars and they are full on strumming rather than picking.  

[casapete]

Absolutely love my Washburn AB20, but in over 20 years of owning it I’ve never once found anywhere ( other than solo practice at home ) where I even thought of using it unplugged. Probably only a double bass would be able to hold it’s own unamplified with some acoustic guitars I’m afraid.

[petebassist]

7 minutes ago, casapete said:

Probably only a double bass would be able to hold it’s own unamplified with some acoustic guitars I’m afraid.

Depends on the size of the room & the acoustics. Though generally, if you were bowing, then yes a double bass will hold its own against a group of guitars, as that's how they were designed to be played primarily and they can shake the walls. Played pizzicato though, it's surprising how quiet they are compared to guitars, at least when I play - some people used to playing acoustically can get more volume using a bigger attack with the plucking hand, but maintaining that for a long session needs stamina. 

[casapete]

1 minute ago, petebassist said:

Depends on the size of the room & the acoustics. Though generally, if you were bowing, then yes a double bass will hold its own against a group of guitars, as that's how they were designed to be played primarily and they can shake the walls. Played pizzicato though, it's surprising how quiet they are compared to guitars, at least when I play - some people used to playing acoustically can get more volume using a bigger attack with the plucking hand, but maintaining that for a long session needs stamina. 

Yup, found that out the hard way with my upright! Was quite taken back by how quiet such a large instrument could be when played pizzicato - the difference between that and bowing is remarkable. 

[Monkey Steve]

Not helpful for the OP, but I've got an Ortego KTSM-5 that is massively loud (and if i was anywhere near Evesham the OP would be welcome to borrow it) - way louder than my acoustic guitar.  I never have to play my guitar softly to avoid annoying the neighbours, but am rarely able to play the bass without having to restrict how hard I'm hitting the strings.

I suspect a combination of it being very large, jumbo style body, and the fact that I hit the strings really hard

[BreadBin]

When it comes to acoustic bass guitars - size really does matter.