The Bass Geek

To pick up from yesterday, a starting bass guitarist is going to need a good quality starter bass and a small amplifier. But then you’re looking at VH1 Classic or something of the like, and you see an old episode of “MTV Unplugged” that shows you another possibility. It’s an acoustic guitar, but it’s got bass strings on it. The acoustic bass guitar! Why not get something like that, huh?

For a couple reasons, actually. First, if you’ll notice, there’s a cord coming out of it. Sure, there are cords coming out of just about every instrument there, but the cord is absolutely, positively necessary for the bass guitar. Acoustic guitars can make plenty of noise all by themselves, because you don’t need to move a lot of air to make high frequencies in a loud fashion. It’s not enough to overpower an amp, but it’s still loud enough. Especially if you’re trapped listening to someone to someone try to learn the riff from “Redemption Song,” and it’s obvious they’re at the beginning of their journey. There’s a reason the upright bass is as big as it is - it needs that much air. If the bass guitar isn’t that large, you’re not going to be as loud. The next closest thing is the guitarron (that huge bass-like instrument you’ll see in mariachi bands), but it even uses special strings to make some noise. An acoustic bass guitar doesn’t stand a chance against the onslaught of even a modest-sized band without an amp. If you try to play loud enough to be heard above the din, you stand a chance of injuring your hands. The amp is a better solution.

And what do you have then? An amplified acoustic bass guitar. You still need the amp, so you’ve got to make sure the tone sounds good. And on the budget models, I just haven’t heard a good quality of tone. Stanley Clarke expressed a similar opinion in this World Cafe interview, saying that a lot of these instruments don’t sound great, and you have to adjust your playing style dramatically to make it work. I’ve heard some wonderful acoustic instruments, like Rob Allen’s instruments and the fine bass guitars at Azola. They sound great amplified and acoustic, but they’re hardly starter instruments.

If you’re looking for something to practice with or get a certain tone, these instruments will be fine. It’s my opinion, though, that these instruments were primarily made to bank on a series and not a sound. For every player like Brian Ritchie of the Violent Femmes (who gets an amazing tone and, by the way, uses a full Hartke rig to get part of it), you have a bunch of other instruments that are acoustic in name only. They still require an amp to get anywhere near a usable sound. They can be fine for certain circumstances. But if you’re just starting out, get your fingers around something a little more practical and work your way up from there.