I play bass and drums.. thinking of accoustic

[Cen]

I have a Hartke SB15 and a cheap Tama drumkit so I could practice both and decide. I think I want to go bass, but my question is, I hate needing an amp at all times to practice. I kind of wish I could bring my bass around in my car and places and just practice when i'm bored. Is an acoustic/electric the answer? Does it play differently? Can I at least hear myself with an acoustic bass guitar? And when I plug in the acoustic to an amp to actually play, does it sound just like an electric thats plugged in?

[Bruiser]

You don't need an amp to practice with any bass-- there are a number of ways to get the amplified sound of the bass without an amp. Small headphone amps, effects boxes, mixers, can all send a signal to headphones. Yes, you can practice alone with an A/E bass (AEB) and no amp, but it is not exactly the same as playing a solid body bass, and they sound quite different when plugged in.

 

Does it play differently? That depends on the basses you're comparing. Physically, an AEB is going to be much bigger in the body, so it is going to hang differently and your arms will be in different positions-- that takes some getting used to. AEBs often use light bronze strings, which feel different and (in my opinion) give more string noise. They don't have magnetic pickups, so there's no place to hang your thumb, if that's your habit. And when I play the AEB unamplified, I tend to dig in and pluck harder than I would on a solid body, just to get any volume out of it. That means I have to fret harder, to keep the strings from buzzing on the frets-- I get tired sooner playing the AEB. And played through an amp, an AEB feeds back much more easily than a solid body, so you have to deal with that. I think that the bridge transducer in an AEB gives a more even tone across the strings than the magnetic pickups on a solid body, but that may not be true of all basses.

 

Other than that, they are very similar.

 

Ed

 

[Cen]

Thanks for the info friend! I never used a mixer before. What are my options using an electric without an amp? For example, headphone amps? Wha?

[Bruiser]

There are lots of options. One headphone amp that plugs directly into the bass is the Pocket Rockit STD Bass, about $70 new. You can mix in another sound source (iPod or CD player, for instance) and it runs on batteries.

 

Lots of multi-effect boxes can be used as a headphone amps; one that's very inexpensive these days is the Zoom 506II, about $35 or $40, runs on batteries or AC adapter (optional). Not the highest quality sound available, but it's okay for practicing alone. My first practice rig was one of these with a very cheap "microphone mixer," which mixes four signals into one mono output. I mixed in my CD player or metronome, and played along through the headphones.

 

Some things that are more full-featured: the Tascam Bass Trainer plays and loops CD and puts the sound of your bass into the mix. It does lots of other things, search this forum for lots of discussion.

 

A BassPod makes a dandy headphone amp and has lots of effects and amp models, but it requires AC power and is considerably more expensive. To mix in recorded music, you'll need some other sound source and some form of mixer.

 

I have a Behringer UB1204FX mixer that I use for combining signals; about $150 at GC. Not the best mixer in the world, but it does the job for mixing sound at home.

 

And your PC or laptop is also useable as a mixer-- the Windows volume control is a software mixer. Run an effects box or headphone amp into the mic input, throw in a CD or DVD, and play through the phones or speakers. There are all kinds of useful programs for learning, BTW.

 

With Google and a bit of imagination (and a few cables), there's a lot you can do.

 

There are probably dozens of other ways (and products) to do this; these are the ones that come to mind immediately.

 

Ed

 

[Gruuve]

You can practice on an electric bass without anything to plug into...I do it all the time. Unless there's lot of background noise, you can easily hear what you're playing and how it sounds. In fact, things like string buzz, etc., are MUCH more noticeable when the electric bass is not plugged in. I think it's a good idea to spend at least half of your practice time unplugged.

 

As has been said here before, if you can make what you're playing sound good on an unplugged electric bass, then it's going to sound even better when it's plugged in.

 

Dave

 

[jeremy c]

Just buy one of those new VW's where you can plug the bass directly into the car stereo. I think the car comes with a guitar.

 

One thing to think about if you want to keep a bass in the car...an acoustic bass guitar is not going to survive the heat and cold of a car trunk. An electric will.

 

Also, it is different to play. Your right arm position will be a little different because of the size of the body and there will be no pickups for you to rest your thumb on.

[Eric VB]

You can practice on an electric bass without anything to plug into...I do it all the time. Unless there's lot of background noise, you can easily hear what you're playing and how it sounds. In fact, things like string buzz, etc., are MUCH more noticeable when the electric bass is not plugged in. I think it's a good idea to spend at least half of your practice time unplugged.

Under noisier conditions I've been known to rotate the bass so I can rest my ear against the upper horn. Not very comfortable for long periods, but the bass frequencies sound great resonating with your skull bones!

 

Ed's experiences with AEB sound similar to mine, which is why I've never bought one. It's definitely not the same as an acoustic/electric guitar (which I do own) versus solid body electric guitar (which I also own).

 

If I absolutely had to have something to play at the beach or around the campfire circle, I might get an AEB. I think I'd also work a lot more on playing with a pick.

 

I've also played bass lines on acoustic guitar when that was the only thing available in unplugged situations.

 

Ed also gives an excellent laundry list of different devices that allow you to play electric bass guitar with headphones. While you can practice quietly as Dave says, sometimes it's too noisy and you need headphones. Headphones are also nice for keeping the peace with people that live with you or near you.

 

Like Ed I've used my cheapo Zoom BFX-708 as a headphone amp. It has drum machine functions, too, so I have something with which to practice. For CDs and such I just play along with the stereo. Sometimes I will plug my bass into my karaoke machine and just play softly through the stereo. Not that that would help for a portable solution.