Electric or acoustic bass guitar, advice needed!!!

[vipunen]

Hi guys,

I´m recording instrumental acoustic record.
It's gonna be reeaaalllyyy quiet stuff.

We will record 2 ac-guitars, percussions and bass in one room at the same time.
We will be adding keys, drumkit(!) and some other sounds later.

My question is:
Should I use electric or acoustic bass guitar???

The bass player doesn't have acoustic bass, so we can't really experiment with it.
If we wan't to go 100% acoustic, we probably need to buy acoustic bass.

I haven't really heard any good things about acoustic bass guitars, so maybe I should just use electric with some minimal amplification???
Either way I'm using DI (just in case) and mic for bass.

Any ideas or experiences???

Thanks,

-W.

[Pasta4lnch]

fwiw I was in a studio a while back that had a REALLY cheap acoustic bass. . . I was futzing w/ it and it sounded REALLY good. I mean exceptional. I would have been psyched to stick a nice mic in front of it . . . might be nice if you can find one to try out.

on the other hand an electric bass on an acoustic recording won;t sound out of place at all. . .

[vipunen]

Thanks for the input!

Think I'll do some demo recordings with electric bass.
+I'll go to music store and test some acoustic bass guitars.
Looks like the Ibanez is pretty much only choise here...

Anyone else???

[Tapeworm]

Originally Posted by vipunen

Thanks for the input!

Think I'll do some demo recordings with electric bass.
+I'll go to music store and test some acoustic bass guitars.
Looks like the Ibanez is pretty much only choise here...

Anyone else???

I bought an Ibanez acoustic bass used for a little over $100.00. I like putting a ribbon mic up in front of it when recording "all acoustic". It works great for that "mellow" sound.

[Tapeworm]

Just saw that it will be live in one room...might be a problem with the ribbon mic (figure 8). My acoustic bass is very quiet so it needs lots of gain. You could try running it through a small amp. I've never recorded like this but I have played live. I always end up rolling off most of the high end so it sounds more like a stand up (with frets )

[vipunen]

Originally Posted by Tapeworm

My acoustic bass is very quiet so it needs lots of gain. You could try running it through a small amp. I've never recorded like this but I have played live. I always end up rolling off most of the high end so it sounds more like a stand up (with frets )

That's what I've heard also, that the "acoustic" bass is not really acoustic enough and you need to use the build in mic system.

btw. I just realised that I'm not even sure what acoustic bass sounds like!

Can someone recommend some easily available recordings with acoustic bass gtr???

Didn't Nirvana use one on the unplugged record???

[FFTT]

I would think an electric fretless would be the way to go unless you're
really wanting to go authentic in sound and appearance.

Then again you might have a challenge if this is your bass player. :-)
YouTube - The Tielman Brothers - Rollin' Rock (live 1960)
YouTube - The Tielman Brothers - Rock It Up (live 1959)

[vipunen]

Originally Posted by FFTT

I would think an electric fretless would be the way to go unless you're
really wanting to go authentic in sound and appearance.

Then again you might have a challenge if this is your bass player. :-)
YouTube - The Tielman Brothers - Rollin' Rock (live 1960)
YouTube - The Tielman Brothers - Rock It Up (live 1959)

I've played Yamaha electric fretless in some jam sessions, and it sounds great, but not for this project. It just sounds so -80s!!! Just reminds me of Paul Simon and that type of "world music" for some reason!!! (I'm not into that)
I'm not sure if all fretless sound like that, or is it just the Yamaha.


Tielman brothers rock thou!!!thumbsup
...dutch "indorock" -WTF!!! LOL
Awesome stage tricks! ...Like when the drummer was playing guitar with his sticks. I definitely have to do that with my drummer on our next gig, (in few hours)