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I wouldn't pay that sort of money for the one my friend has, though - it's cool, but not particularly usable for anything outside that Mountain fuzz bass sort of thing... or maybe as an electric upright. The short scale probably doesn't help either.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
so that said id go for a Semi or solid electric bass as you'd be plugging it in anyway and either DI if the place has monitors or use a little amp (TC Electronic 208/112 or the little mark-bass, or the Trace Elliot elf)
years ago I did a few gigs as a trio (acoustic, piano & bass) I used my Jazz bass & Tech 21 sansamp DI into a little 10" powered pa monitor it was great for little coffee shop/art gallery gigs.
Like most things tho - it’s nice to have a thread to consider other gear purchases
I do really fancy a vintage hollowbody or semi... but well..
But amplify that acoustic bass and you get a sound quite different from an electric or semi hollow - and quite a pleasing sound in its own way.
I’ve got a handful of solidbody electric basses, and one semi-hollow and one acoustic. The acoustic gets played out more often than the semi.
Sounds like the definition of faint praise. Put a compressor (or two) after a solid electric bass and you can get any sound you want. I can't see the point in putting up with the uncomfortable, inefficient, poorly intonated design that is the Acoustic Bass for anything other than cosmetic appeal. Didn't it come about purely as a result of the unplugged fad of the 90's?
A compressor on an electric bass doesn't sound the same at all - if anything, you want the opposite.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
No, I’d like a players grade guild or harmony or even a Hofner (non-violin, foul things..)
Re the compressor thing - I've had good results using 2 comps, you can accentuate the bloom effect or get a spot on Hofner thud sound feeding one into another, esp. with a Pog2 after to control attack. My favorite lineup -
The Maxon is a stunning comp for bass - while many comps rob a bit of bass or else deaden it, the Maxon accentuates the low end in a really natural way. It's a remarkable pedal (in spite of the cheesy light up effect and huge footprint!).
I have to admit that the whole 'unplugged' thing used to really annoy me - because in 99% of cases, everything was plugged in! Splitting hairs possibly... but like you, I used to think that if you're going to plug in an electro-acoustic bass, why not just use an electric one?
I only ever used the Eko a couple of times, and strictly acoustic - I don't think it was even mic'ed from memory. Just for tiny acoustic gigs where we needed minimum volume and equipment.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Uncomfortable? That is obviously just a matter of taste/compatibility.
Inefficient? What a bizarre thing to say. No, it’s quite efficient actually, I pluck a note, and the note sounds through my amp just as much as if I’d plucked the same note on an electric bass.
Poorly intonated? Huh? I assume you abhor all acoustic guitars for the same reason? Besides, play a fretless and the problem disappears.
So excuse me if I don’t rush off to buy another compressor and spend weeks fiddling with controls on both in a mad quest to get less compression out of an electric bass. If it’s ok with you (and even if it’s not) I’ll just pick up my acoustic bass, plug in, and get a sound I like a lot straightaway with no effort. Based on past experience I’ll also gets lots of positive comments from the audience about my sound. YMMV obviously.
This is is a discussion about basses in the context of acoustic gigs, not vintage instruments and dealers.