Thanks, acoustic basses have always been problematic, but they're a useful tool to have around, especially if you want to jam out in the park. Anyway, have you ever even heard of Harley Benton? They're the ruling bargain basement brand in Europe, marketed by this huge online catalog Thomann, but they don't seem to have penetrated the American market much. Probably 'cause they have to be imported, that tacks on an extra $100, and their whole selling point is that they give you relatively decent shit for under $200. I can't believe they turn a profit. Maybe as an engineer, you would know more about the latest refinements in mass production technology.
No, never heard of a Harley Benton, but I have a Fender 4-string acoustic bass, and it looks exactly like the Harley Benton. I like the Fender. It cost about $500 twenty years ago. I attribute the low cost of the Harley Benton to cheap labor, mostly. I'm guessing.
@@BUBBA-GREY Well, yeah, anything made in the PRC, you can bet they're working for damned near nothing. It's that the cost of materials & components must add up to over half the retail price, not to mention shipping around the world and all the regulatory shit that goes along with it; even if they're made on CNCs that can't miss by people who work for free, I bet they're not turning much more than a $10 profit on axes under $200. I bet that Fender's nice - Harley probably used their blueprints.
A good setup on that would go a long way. Also I would love to seea demo after you get that strung up piccolo. Edit: Do you like flatwound strings? Or maybe nylon coated strings?
The setup seemed pretty good straight out of the box, which is why I kept ranting and raving about it, but yeah, there is a lot of fret noise and I guess a professional can always make it better. The E-to-C tuning's going to require a custom-slotted nut to be any good; if I ever actually take that step, I will definitely make a video about it. All my experiences with flatwounds have been disappointing to date, by nature they sound kind of dead and don't have any bite to them. Seems like preventing fret noise, going easy on fretless fingerboards, and giving you that "vintage" rubberband sound are their only raison d'être. Nylon-coated, do you mean "tapewounds"? Those black ones? I've tried them on other people's axes, but again, it seemed like not tearing up the fretless fingerboard was the only point. Do you use anything like that?
@@ShiceSquad Not tapewounds, just coated with that black coating that kinda dampens the sound a bit. I use them on a P-Bass (a cheapo, admittedly) and I can get a tone that satisfies my need for Geezer Butler tone (to my ears) If you need the strings to have "bite", I really don't know what to suggest that would take care of the string noise. Unless you decided to use flats or coated and boosted your mids 🤷 (I have a hard time suggesting nylon tapewound strings, because every time I've put them on one of my basses, the tape starts coming off after not long) Edit: I have to suggest experimenting. One of the old codgers that comes to our music store to drink coffee and play banjo, suggested wrapping electrical tape around bass strings to someone, and i dont remember the issue it was supposed to remedy, but it might help 🤷 it could also turn out that he's full of it
@@lordimpaler3899 Good to know about the nylon tapewounds unwinding, that's the kind of valuable info I'm gathering for my "buyers' guide". Anyway, my initial plan for this bass was to use it for street musing, strumming a lot of chords with a pick. That's why I wanted to put on a high C string and ditch the low B. But now the guy I'm playing with wants to do a lot of Cure covers, and those require strong basslines and not strumming chords, so I'll just have to see how that works out. Probably won't be loud enough. All my experiences with flatwounds on electric have been disappointing, but it *might* be just the ticket for acoustic bass, so I'll give it a try. BTW do you have any demo videos of all these tips'n'tricks you're telling me about?
@@ShiceSquad I don't have any videos to speak of. Those are just things that seemed like they would work. I wish I could be more helpful in that regard
@@lordimpaler3899 Well it seems like you have a lot of tricks up your sleeve + you don't need much to demo an idea. Hell, I do all my shit on my phone. If I had to set up a real studio for all this just-for-fun shit, I wouldn't do it at all.
You think so?! I was just trying that as a "joke" to see how horrible it would sound making clickety-clack on the frets. That hammer-on gimmick was intended for the Microsynth, where the tiniest touch is enough to trigger the effect. ruclips.net/video/XTWDkwfOww0/видео.htmlsi=pCYJE5OGJMpbz4Vw
I already have a inabez 4 string semi acoustic. I plug it into a an acoustic guitar amp, bass a bit on full.... it sounds realy amazing through this amp, i can recomend it!! It still sounds acoustic, but much heavier and clean sound. 👍🏼
When it comes to acoustics, I’m not much of a piezo fan. Either a mic’d up acoustic or a clean electric sound will do it for me. Also, I remember Robert DeLeo’s bass on MTV Unplugged. I thought that was cool that he didn’t go the acoustic electric route. I’ve actually played that bass before, but I forget what make and model it was.
You too, eh? I never, ever considered a piezo to be a suitable solution to amplify an acoustic and I'm baffled that it continues to be the industry standard after 40+ years. I woulda thunk technological development shoulda replaced it by now, but I guess the powers that be figured the shrill, scrape-y icepick tone that sounds nothing like an acoustic was "good enough." It is amusing to note that these drawbacks of the piezo would be more appropriate for some kind of Albini-esque aggro applications, but for real acoustic work I suspect the "next level" guys rely on a ton of outboard processing, "acoustic emulators" or some shit. Anyway, that bowed upright song we did together was the only time I've ever used a piezo for anything serious.
Also, we can't be alone in our derision here. After all, some of the greatest "acoustic strummer/singer" guys all play acoustic in studio (with a mic setup) and a regular Strat live - in Cracker, Ween, Violent Femmes and the Pixies - 'cause neck pickup clean on the Strat sounds more like an acoustic than a piezo'd acoustic does.
***also funny you also noticed that electric bass on STP Unplugged, 'cause I think the cameraman was trying to hide it 🤣 According to teh interwebz, it was an Orlando Violin Bass. Speaking of Robert DeLeo, ever seen any interviews with that guy? It blew me away what a deep thinker the guy is. His brother too. I saw STP in a new light after that and started reviewing their more recent material. I thought "Core" was awesome when I was a little kid, but I started ignoring them and all "Mtv bands" on general principle after I got into seriously down'n'dirty DIY music.
I still listen to STP, and Number 4 is still one of my favorite albums. Also, I never understood the Pearl Jam comparisons either. Completely different bands.
@@ShiceSquad Piezos just sound “synthetic” to me. Even though I’m not a Green Day fan, I’ve always liked the sound of the acoustic on “Time Of Your Life.” That part they got right.
DKGCustom - never forget!
You sold me on it. Good job.
Thanks, acoustic basses have always been problematic, but they're a useful tool to have around, especially if you want to jam out in the park. Anyway, have you ever even heard of Harley Benton? They're the ruling bargain basement brand in Europe, marketed by this huge online catalog Thomann, but they don't seem to have penetrated the American market much. Probably 'cause they have to be imported, that tacks on an extra $100, and their whole selling point is that they give you relatively decent shit for under $200. I can't believe they turn a profit. Maybe as an engineer, you would know more about the latest refinements in mass production technology.
No, never heard of a Harley Benton, but I have a Fender 4-string acoustic bass, and it looks exactly like the Harley Benton. I like the Fender. It cost about $500 twenty years ago. I attribute the low cost of the Harley Benton to cheap labor, mostly. I'm guessing.
@@BUBBA-GREY Well, yeah, anything made in the PRC, you can bet they're working for damned near nothing. It's that the cost of materials & components must add up to over half the retail price, not to mention shipping around the world and all the regulatory shit that goes along with it; even if they're made on CNCs that can't miss by people who work for free, I bet they're not turning much more than a $10 profit on axes under $200. I bet that Fender's nice - Harley probably used their blueprints.
That's some mighty fine clickety-clack for under 200 clams 👍
Yeah, it does sound pretty skronky now that you mention it. BUT: the skronk is the whole charm of it
@@ShiceSquad Skronk won't keep the demons at bay.
@@tasteofbanat9988 But summoning demons is the whole reason we do any of this!
A good setup on that would go a long way. Also I would love to seea demo after you get that strung up piccolo.
Edit: Do you like flatwound strings? Or maybe nylon coated strings?
The setup seemed pretty good straight out of the box, which is why I kept ranting and raving about it, but yeah, there is a lot of fret noise and I guess a professional can always make it better. The E-to-C tuning's going to require a custom-slotted nut to be any good; if I ever actually take that step, I will definitely make a video about it. All my experiences with flatwounds have been disappointing to date, by nature they sound kind of dead and don't have any bite to them. Seems like preventing fret noise, going easy on fretless fingerboards, and giving you that "vintage" rubberband sound are their only raison d'être. Nylon-coated, do you mean "tapewounds"? Those black ones? I've tried them on other people's axes, but again, it seemed like not tearing up the fretless fingerboard was the only point. Do you use anything like that?
@@ShiceSquad Not tapewounds, just coated with that black coating that kinda dampens the sound a bit. I use them on a P-Bass (a cheapo, admittedly) and I can get a tone that satisfies my need for Geezer Butler tone (to my ears) If you need the strings to have "bite", I really don't know what to suggest that would take care of the string noise. Unless you decided to use flats or coated and boosted your mids 🤷 (I have a hard time suggesting nylon tapewound strings, because every time I've put them on one of my basses, the tape starts coming off after not long)
Edit: I have to suggest experimenting. One of the old codgers that comes to our music store to drink coffee and play banjo, suggested wrapping electrical tape around bass strings to someone, and i dont remember the issue it was supposed to remedy, but it might help 🤷 it could also turn out that he's full of it
@@lordimpaler3899 Good to know about the nylon tapewounds unwinding, that's the kind of valuable info I'm gathering for my "buyers' guide". Anyway, my initial plan for this bass was to use it for street musing, strumming a lot of chords with a pick. That's why I wanted to put on a high C string and ditch the low B. But now the guy I'm playing with wants to do a lot of Cure covers, and those require strong basslines and not strumming chords, so I'll just have to see how that works out. Probably won't be loud enough. All my experiences with flatwounds on electric have been disappointing, but it *might* be just the ticket for acoustic bass, so I'll give it a try. BTW do you have any demo videos of all these tips'n'tricks you're telling me about?
@@ShiceSquad I don't have any videos to speak of. Those are just things that seemed like they would work. I wish I could be more helpful in that regard
@@lordimpaler3899 Well it seems like you have a lot of tricks up your sleeve + you don't need much to demo an idea. Hell, I do all my shit on my phone. If I had to set up a real studio for all this just-for-fun shit, I wouldn't do it at all.
Can't resist the kommie krap, can you?
Of course not! Enticing chuds like me into supporting kommunism is the whole reason the guitar was invented!
nice hammer-on, seems to be the perfect tool for that technique.
You think so?! I was just trying that as a "joke" to see how horrible it would sound making clickety-clack on the frets. That hammer-on gimmick was intended for the Microsynth, where the tiniest touch is enough to trigger the effect. ruclips.net/video/XTWDkwfOww0/видео.htmlsi=pCYJE5OGJMpbz4Vw
I already have a inabez 4 string semi acoustic. I plug it into a an acoustic guitar amp, bass a bit on full.... it sounds realy amazing through this amp, i can recomend it!! It still sounds acoustic, but much heavier and clean sound. 👍🏼
When it comes to acoustics, I’m not much of a piezo fan. Either a mic’d up acoustic or a clean electric sound will do it for me. Also, I remember Robert DeLeo’s bass on MTV Unplugged. I thought that was cool that he didn’t go the acoustic electric route. I’ve actually played that bass before, but I forget what make and model it was.
You too, eh? I never, ever considered a piezo to be a suitable solution to amplify an acoustic and I'm baffled that it continues to be the industry standard after 40+ years. I woulda thunk technological development shoulda replaced it by now, but I guess the powers that be figured the shrill, scrape-y icepick tone that sounds nothing like an acoustic was "good enough." It is amusing to note that these drawbacks of the piezo would be more appropriate for some kind of Albini-esque aggro applications, but for real acoustic work I suspect the "next level" guys rely on a ton of outboard processing, "acoustic emulators" or some shit. Anyway, that bowed upright song we did together was the only time I've ever used a piezo for anything serious.
Also, we can't be alone in our derision here. After all, some of the greatest "acoustic strummer/singer" guys all play acoustic in studio (with a mic setup) and a regular Strat live - in Cracker, Ween, Violent Femmes and the Pixies - 'cause neck pickup clean on the Strat sounds more like an acoustic than a piezo'd acoustic does.
***also funny you also noticed that electric bass on STP Unplugged, 'cause I think the cameraman was trying to hide it 🤣 According to teh interwebz, it was an Orlando Violin Bass. Speaking of Robert DeLeo, ever seen any interviews with that guy? It blew me away what a deep thinker the guy is. His brother too. I saw STP in a new light after that and started reviewing their more recent material. I thought "Core" was awesome when I was a little kid, but I started ignoring them and all "Mtv bands" on general principle after I got into seriously down'n'dirty DIY music.
I still listen to STP, and Number 4 is still one of my favorite albums. Also, I never understood the Pearl Jam comparisons either. Completely different bands.
@@ShiceSquad Piezos just sound “synthetic” to me. Even though I’m not a Green Day fan, I’ve always liked the sound of the acoustic on “Time Of Your Life.” That part they got right.