Camping bass?

March 29, 2005 4:05 PM

What is the best bass for a camping trip, short of an upright? I have one, but can't haul and house it in the woods. I also have an acoustic/electric guitar style Washburn bass, but it provides no bottom whatsoever.

Let's say I don't want to spend over $1000.

I wonder what it would sound like if you took a cello and tuned it like a bass. It's not going to sound like an upright, but with the larger box I would think it's gotta have more bottom end than a little unplugged electric/acoustic. Has this ever been tried?

I have listened to bass dobro samples and those instruments are louder, but still not very bottomy.

There are also battery powered bass amps, but I'd like to keep it acoustic if possible.

Ideas for homemade basses are welcome. Washtub basses are out. It's gotta have a neck. I am formulating a plan for building one from a bass drum that has a bolt-on upright bass neck. It could be broken down and fitted in a trunk. Also, where can I find a broken upright bass to cannibalize?

Thanks!

posted by wsg to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (10 answers total)

I don't have a specific suggestion for you, but you might want to check in with the folks at TalkBass. Although they seem to skew toward the 6-string-electric camp, I'm sure that someone has had a similar need.
posted by uncleozzy at 4:28 PM on March 29, 2005

Try a Guitaron. It's the same notion as an acoustic bass guitar, but has the body volume to support the lower strings. Or, if your willing to deal with a slide instrument, you might get enough low end out of a baritone weissenborn guitar. Lazy River and Celtic Cross make more affordable baritone Weissenborns that the Bear Creek I linked to for illustrative purposes. These guitars are generally described as having a cello-like tone and range. Alternately, I've played a few Gibson J200 super jumbos that had enough bass to play hiphop.

Of these options, I think the guitaron is far and away the best choice. Good luck.

Oh, for a busted up bass, try calling local schools and posting on Craigslist.
posted by stet at 4:36 PM on March 29, 2005

Oh booger. I meant you're. Oh the humiliation!
posted by stet at 4:46 PM on March 29, 2005

Like stet's Gibsons, I have an older Washburn accoustic that really carries the bottom end, much more than I care for sometimes. I would definately check out used jumbos and drop the tuning.
posted by snsranch at 4:47 PM on March 29, 2005

I take my upright electric bass with me when I do field work (I'm a biologist). Its hardy enough that the desert doesn't turn it into a pile of toothpicks, it sounds great and it doesn't take up a whole lot of room (5 1/2 feet long, but, less than a foot wide).
posted by a22lamia at 6:20 PM on March 29, 2005

a22lamia: Which electric upright are you taking with you? I found the Eminence to offer a good enough acoustic sound that I considered one for apartment practice (as well as a downright impressive amplified sound), but the Steinbergers and other solidbodies don't have any more acoustic response that an unplugged P-Bass.

Also, the Eminence also runs about 2.5 times the $1,000 budget, which is why I don't own one.
posted by stet at 6:29 PM on March 29, 2005

I love my guitarrón -- of all my instruments it's the one I would be most heartbroken to lose. I had a friend mod mine with geared tuners, a fretboard mod for lower action/better intonation, and it's strung with electric bass strings (can send you the gauges if you are interested). Tuned D-E-A-D-G-C (the low D has kind of an "El KaBONG" sound -- good for the last note of a song!)

I also have a more standard-flavor acoustic bass guitar built from Martin parts. Loads of low-end. (But a Martin is not within your budget).

On the experiment tip, in the 80s a crazy person I knew cobbled together a resonator bass guitar -- he stuck a bass neck on an acoustic body, opened up the body, stuck in a speaker cone, topped it off with a circular perforated aluminum ceiling speaker grille. Painted the body flat black. Wonderful...but it imploded after a couple years from the added neck tension.
posted by omnidrew at 7:18 PM on March 29, 2005

I totally missed the $1,000 budget. I agree that for your purposes an Eminence would be the best choice, barring the cost. I have a Vertical Bass by Bill Merchant which is more along the Steinberger lines, but it keeps my fingers in good shape, travels well and there is something just amazing about a bowed bass in the middle of no where.

On the more affordable end of things, have you looked into acoustic bass guitars? There are many that are within your price range. I haven't played any personally, but I've often thought of checking them out as a means of lightening my load when traveling.
posted by a22lamia at 7:28 PM on March 29, 2005

Response by poster: snsranch,

What model Washburn bass do you have?
posted by wsg at 7:30 PM on March 29, 2005

Response by poster: The best solution I have found so far is this. They have a nice warm, woody tone that is in the same register as an upright and carries. You can also build one for next to nothing.

It doesn't have neck, though.
posted by wsg at 7:54 AM on March 30, 2005