The acoustic bass guitar (also called ABG or acoustic bass) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually somewhat larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar. See also Acoustic Guitar (magazine An acoustic guitar is a Guitar that uses only acoustic methods to project the sound produced by its strings
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History
The first modern acoustic bass guitar was developed in the early 1960s by Ernie Ball of San Luis Obispo, California. Ernie Ball (1930 – September 9 2004) was an American Entrepreneur, musician and innovator widely acclaimed as a revolutionary in the development San Luis Obispo (sænˈluːɪs əˈbɪspoʊ Spanish for St Louis the Bishop) is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco Ball's aim was to provide bass guitarists with a more acoustic-sounding instrument that would match better with the sound of acoustic guitars. A steel-string acoustic guitar, is a modern form of Guitar descended from the Classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter louder sound 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 notes that ". . . the closest thing to an acoustic bass was the Mexican guitarron. The guitarrón (literally "large guitar" in Spanish, the suffix "-ón" denoting "large" is a very large deep-bodied Mexican 6-string acoustic . . in mariachi bands, so I bought one down in Tijuana and tinkered with it. MARIACHI, the Mixed Apparatus for Radar Investigation of Cosmic-rays of High Ionization, is an apparatus for the detection of Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR Tijuana (ˌtiːəˈwɑːnə Spanish, ti'xwana|ti'ʍana is the largest city of the Mexican state of Baja California, situated on the U "[1]
Ball collaborated with George Fullerton, a former employee at Fender, to develop the Earthwood acoustic bass guitar, which was introduced in 1972. George Murray Fullerton (8 December 1922 in Kensington South Africa – 19 November 2002 in Rondebosch Cape Town) was a South African Cricketer Fender Musical Instruments Corporation of Quincy Illinois is a manufacturer of stringed instruments such as solid-body Electric guitars including the Earthwood is a Brand of Ernie Ball. It is notable for The first modern Acoustic bass guitars A popular Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Production of this instrument ceased in 1974, resuming a few years later under the direction of Ernie Ball employee Dan Norton, until production finally ended again in 1985. Dan Norton is a United States Comic book artist who broke into the industry with Motorhead from Dark Horse Comics in 1994 Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) The Earthwood acoustic bass guitar was quite large (and deep) in contrast to most instruments in current production, which gave it more volume, especially in the low register. photo 1photo 2photo 3 The Ernie Ball company describes Ball's design as "an idea before its time"; the instrument was little-used in acoustic musical performances until the late 1980s, when the acoustic basses were used in performances on the MTV Unplugged television program. MTV Unplugged is a series showcasing popular musical artists playing Acoustic instruments It was produced by Viacom and was directed by Beth [2]
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 electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the A solid body electric instrument is a String instrument such as a guitar, bass or Violin built without its normal Sound box and relying A steel-string acoustic guitar, is a modern form of Guitar descended from the Classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter louder sound The majority of acoustic basses are fretted, but a significant number are fretless instead. A fret is a raised portion on the neck of a Stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck A fretless guitar is a Guitar without Frets It operates in the same manner as most other Stringed instruments and traditional Guitars but does Semi-fretted versions also exist, although they are quite rare.
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. Eko is an Italian manufacturer of electric guitars acoustic guitars and similar instruments catering to professional level and manufacturing largely for export The electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the The double bass is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed String instrument used in the modern symphony orchestra. In Music, an octave ( is the the use of which is "common in most musical systems The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles Like the electric bass guitar, models with five or more strings have been produced, although these are less common. The electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the 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. In Physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to Oscillate at maximum Amplitude at certain frequencies, known as the system's 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.
Because it can be difficult to hear an acoustic bass guitar without an amplifier, even in settings with other acoustic instruments, most acoustic basses have pickups, either magnetic or piezoelectric or both, so that they can be amplified with an instrument amplifier or a Public Address system. A pickup device acts as a Transducer that captures mechanical vibrations (usually from suitably equipped Stringed instruments such as the Electric guitar Piezoelectricity is the ability of some materials (notably Crystals and certain Ceramics including bone to generate an Electric potential in response to An instrument amplifier is an Electronic amplifier that converts the inaudible electric or electronic signal from musical instruments such as an Electric guitar A public address or " PA " system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, Amplifier and Loudspeakers used to
There are also semi-acoustic models fitted with pickups that are intended to be used with an amplifier. A semi-acoustic guitar or hollow-body electric is a type of Electric guitar with both a Sound box and one or more electric pickups. The soundbox of these instruments is not large enough to amplify the sound; instead, it is designed to produce a distinctive tone when amplified, similarly to semi-acoustic electric guitars. An electric guitar is a type of Guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into an electrical current which is made louder Thin-body semi-acoustic basses such as the violin-shaped Höfner made famous by the early Beatles and several Fender models are not normally regarded as acoustic basses at all, but rather as hollow-bodied bass guitars. Karl Höfner GmbH & Co KG is a German Manufacturer of Musical instruments with one division that manufactures Guitars and basses, and another The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 Fender Musical Instruments Corporation of Quincy Illinois is a manufacturer of stringed instruments such as solid-body Electric guitars including the The electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the As with semi-acoustic electric guitars, the line between acoustic instruments fitted with pickups and electric instruments with tone-enhancing bodies is sometimes hard to draw.
Saga Musical Instruments produces a four-string bass resonator guitar under their Regal brand name. Saga Musical Instruments is a Manufacturer and Wholesale distributor of Stringed instruments, particularly Fretted instruments A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar whose sound is produced by one or more metal cones ( Resonators ' instead of the The Regal Musical Instrument Company was established in 1908 in Chicago. videos National Reso-Phonic Guitars also produce three models of resonator bass guitar. National Reso-Phonic Guitars is a manufacturer of Resonator guitars and other resonator instruments including Mandolins Ukuleles and 12 string guitars [3]
Manufacturers
Other manufacturers of acoustic bass guitars (not mentioned above) include Alvarez, Breedlove,Cort, Crafter, Jerzey, Dean, Eston, Gibson, Washburn, Ibanez, Maton, Ovation, Michael Kelly, Prestige Ribbecke Halfling Bass, Sunlite, Takamine, Tacoma, Tanglewood, Larrivée, Fender and Martin. Dean Guitars is a manufacturer of musical instruments covering everything from electric guitars bass guitars acoustic guitars and bluegrass instruments such as the mandolin Eko is an Italian manufacturer of electric guitars acoustic guitars and similar instruments catering to professional level and manufacturing largely for export The Gibson Guitar Corporation of Nashville Tennessee, USA is a manufacturer of acoustic and Electric guitars The company's most popular guitar Washburn Guitars is an American Guitar manufacturer It was established in 1883 in Chicago Illinois. Ibanez (ˈaɪbænɛz or /aɪˈbænɛz/ is a Guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki and based in Nagoya Aichi, Japan. Maton is an Australian manufacturer of Guitars and other Fretted Musical instruments Maton was founded in 1946 as the Maton Musical Instruments The Ovation Guitar Company, a holding of Kaman Music Corporation, is a Guitar manufacturing company based in Bloomfield Connecticut, USA. Michael Kelly may refer to Michael Kelly (physicist, New Zealand-British physicist Michael Kelly (tenor (1762–1826 Irish actor singer pronounced tock-a-mee-neh is a Japanese Guitar manufacturer based in Nakatsugawa Gifu, Japan. Tacoma Guitars is a guitar manufacturer in Tacoma Washington. Tanglewood Guitars is a British company of Luthiers that manufacture a variety of stringed instruments such as Guitars and associated products
Mexican bass guitars
Traditional music of Mexico features several varieties of acoustic bass guitars.
The baja 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. The baja sexto began to be used in Texas in the 1920s with the rise of "Tex-Mex" music, where it continues to be used to play the parts which would be played by the piano in traditional American popular music. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada Tejano music (Spanish-Texan music is the name given to various forms of folk and popular music originating among the Hispanic populations of Central and Southern Texas The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers American popular music had a profound effect on music across the world A Mexican variation of the baja sexto is called bajo sexto and matches the standard tuning of a 12-string guitar, one octave lower. A bajo sexto ( Spanish: "bass sixth" is a type of 12 string guitar fused with a bass used in Mexican 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
The guitarrón or chitarrone is a very large, deep-bodied Mexican 6-string acoustic bass guitar played in Mariachi bands. The guitarrón (literally "large guitar" in Spanish, the suffix "-ón" denoting "large" is a very large deep-bodied Mexican 6-string acoustic MARIACHI, the Mixed Apparatus for Radar Investigation of Cosmic-rays of High Ionization, is an apparatus for the detection of Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR Other Latin American acoustic bass guitars exist as well, see: Bordonua Also, since the classical contrabass guitar shares the same range as an ABG, it is a type of acoustic bass guitar. The Bordonua (Bordonúa is a large deep body (sound-boxes are usually 6 in or 15 A contrabass guitar is a low-register plucked string instrument in the Guitar family which has six strings
External links
- Acoustic bass guitars
- The Tinozza Acoustic Bass Guitar Description and downloadable plans for a flattop ABG
- The Uccello Grasso Acoustic Bass Guitar Description and downloadable plans for an archtop ABG
- The Bassola Acoustic Bass Guitar Description and summary assembly instructions for a large archtop ABG
- Discover a Hobby: Online guide to learn Bass Guitar
- 5 string ABG tuned B-E-A-D-G
- Ribbecke Guitar Co. - http://www.ribbeckehalfling.com
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