Acoustic bass guitar

The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than, a

Traditional music of Mexico features several varieties of acoustic bass guitars, such as the guitarrón, a very large, deep-bodied Mexican 6-string acoustic bass guitar played in Mariachi bands, the león, plucked with a pick, and the bajo sexto, with six pairs of strings.

History

The Bassoguitar built by the Regal Musical Instrument Company was likely the first mass-produced acoustic bass to make use of a guitar-like body.^[1] This was an upright instrument, too big to play in a transverse position. The first modern acoustic bass guitar was developed in the mid-1950s by Kay of Chicago.^{[citation needed]} Harptone started producing their B4 model in 1965 under the name Supreme; production ended in 1975. They also made a very limited number under the Standel logo. Ernie Ball began producing a model in the early 70's. Ball's aim was to provide bass guitarists with a more acoustic-sounding instrument that would match better with the sound of acoustic guitars. Ball stated that "...if there were electric bass guitars to go with electric guitars then you ought to have acoustic basses to go with acoustic guitars." Ball said that "...the closest thing to an acoustic bass was the Mexican guitarron...in mariachi bands, so I bought one down in Tijuana and tinkered with it."^[2]

Ball collaborated with

Folk bass player Ashley Hutchings used the acoustic bass guitar with his Etchingham Steam Band in 1974 and 1975.^[4] An early user of the acoustic bass guitar in rock was English multi-instrumentalist and composer Mike Oldfield, who had one custom-built for him by luthier Tony Zemaitis in the mid-1970s and used the bass on a number of his recordings from that time onwards, a prominent example being his 1975 album Ommadawn.

Construction and tuning

Unlike the electric bass guitar, which is generally a solid body instrument, the acoustic bass guitar usually has a hollow wooden body similar to (though usually somewhat larger than) that of the steel-string acoustic guitar. The majority of acoustic basses are fretted, but some are fretless instead. Semi-fretted versions also exist, although they are quite rare.^{[citation needed]}

Like the traditional electric bass and the double bass, the acoustic bass guitar commonly has four strings, which are normally tuned E-A-D-G, an octave below the lowest four strings of the 6-string guitar. Like the electric bass guitar, models with five or more strings have been produced, although these are less common. In part, this is because the body of an acoustic bass guitar is too small to produce a resonance of acceptable volume at lower pitches on the low "B" string. One solution uses the five string acoustic bass to add an additional high string ("E-A-D-G-C") instead of adding a low "B". Another solution is to rely on amplification to reproduce the low "B" string's notes, or by making the body a little bit larger.

There are also

Saga Musical Instruments produces a four-string bass resonator guitar under their Regal brand name.^videos National Reso-Phonic Guitars also produce three models of resonator bass guitar.Instruments Page - National Reso-Phonic Guitars One notable player of the resonator bass guitar is Les Claypool of Primus, who plays Regal RD-05 resonator basses.^[5]

Manufacturers

Other manufacturers of acoustic bass guitars (not mentioned above) include

Mexican bass guitars

Traditional music of Mexico features varieties of acoustic bass guitars. The guitarrón is a very large, deep-bodied Mexican 6-string acoustic bass guitar played in Mariachi bands. The bajo sexto, with six pairs of strings, resembles a twelve-string guitar tuned an octave lower. The heavy gauge strings generate a large string tension, yet the guitar is built relatively lightly. Musicians began to adopt the bajo sexto in Texas in the 1920s with the rise of "Tex-Mex" music, and it remains in common use for parts that would be played by the piano in traditional American popular music. The tuning of these instruments is (capital letters are an octave lower than small letters):

Baja sexto: Ee Aa Dd Gg Cc Ff

Bajo sexto: Ee Aa Dd Gg Bb ee ^{[citation needed]}

Other Latin American acoustic bass guitars exist as well, such as the Bordonua.

Gallery

• 
  Ashton Acoustic Bass
• 
  Ibanez Acoustic Bass
• 
  A man playing an acoustic bass.
• 
  Taylor AB-1 Acoustic Bass
• 
  Closeup of the fingerboard of a Taylor AB-1 Acoustic Bass
• 
  Martin B65E Acoustic Bass

See also

• Bass guitar
• Contrabass guitar
• Double bass
• Mandobass

References