Mandobass VS Upright bass/ bass guitar

[Ryan13]

I play bass guitar, and im interested in a mandobass, does anyone know if they just sound like an upright bass or is there something unique about the sound?
thanks. Ryan.

[Mike Snyder]

There used to be a mandobass at Fly By Night music in Neosho Missouri. I tried it out back in the 90s and it was decidedly unimpressive. It was a Gibson and had been pieced back together after what looked like an explosion. They probably sound better without all that extra glue. Most impressive was a Taylor acoustic which I still kick myself for not buying. It was a massive beast, but had volume and tone enough for jam environs without amplification. I don't think they build them anymore, or that many were built while they were.

[mrmando]

They are not as loud as an upright bass. When you play mandobass, you can hear it just fine, but it doesn't project out to the audience very well. You pretty much have to put a mic on it if you want it heard.

They're pretty rare ... are you looking at a particular mandobass, or just thinking about the concept?

[Daive]

I have owned a gibson mandobass for 6 or 7 years and play bass weekly and I have yet to play the mandobass at a jam or gig there is no comparison to a upright bass the old gibson has little volume, looks great parked in the corner my big black june bug?

[Big Joe]

The mandobass was an idea that maybe should have been left unthought . They don't sound that great and are still large and not easy to transport. There are not a lot of them and most have had some repair work. An upright bass of even reasonable quality will do much better than a mandobass. You will find an upright will play quite a bit different from your electric bass. While the principles are the same, the stretch is greater and you will have to develop your right hand to pluck the strings differently from the electric. That being said, everything else tranfers to upright once you get used to playing with no frets on the longer scale.

[Jim Garber]

Agreed with all above. I owned a Gibson mandobass many years ago. Didn't play it much but the back split a few times and I realized that it was costing me way too much in repairs. The old funky Kay upright I had was a much better instrument.

[violmando]

Not to mention most mandobasses are outrageously expensive for what you get! As a bassist, I studied double bass in college and added electric bass later. Upright will test BOTH hands because of the lack of frets and the longer scale length but it's worthwhile. Avoid buying a shiny new one and get yourself a nice vintage Kay or something else, preferably 60's vintage or older. And make sure it's set up well for whatever you choose to do; the type of strings and bridge height for bowing classical won't work well if you're using it for plucking, for instance. I have a great bass, but I've always preferred my husband's upright when it came to jazzier things; he has the right kind of strings, mine are classical.

[dcoventry]

Pete Langdell at Rigel is building a pretty bd @ss bass these days. Try looking at that sight.

http://rigelinstruments.com/publish/abg.shtml

[catmandu2]

Oh, another thread to render my biased opinion! Not that you need another one, but yes go doublebass for acoustic and P-bass (or equivalent) for everything else!

[mrmando]

I like mandobasses (but then I've never been the guy who's stuck with playing one). If you are joining a mandolin orchestra, a mandobass is just the ticket. They really don't have any other practical use. Pete's instrument looks really cool and the price seems reasonable; I hope to be able to try one out someday.

I have one of these puppies, but I don't know if I could convince anyone that it's a mandobass:

[catmandu2]

Martin!, I usually hate stuff like that, but that looks kinda cool...the Florentine McCartney...

Maybe I need a drink

[Ryan13]

I like mandobasses (but then I've never been the guy who's stuck with playing one). If you are joining a mandolin orchestra, a mandobass is just the ticket. They really don't have any other practical use. Pete's instrument looks really cool and the price seems reasonable; I hope to be able to try one out someday.

I have one of these puppies, but I don't know if I could convince anyone that it's a mandobass:

I actually plan on buying one of those soon :D hah

[Ryan13]

I was mostly interested in the concept of it. Im very interested in instruments most teenagers dont play (mandolin for example). But I dont know. I mean Id love to get my hands on one but i just want to give one a try. Do you know anything about playing one compared to an upright, I know upright and electric are very different but playing both of them which feels more natural? Do you know what I mean?

[catmandu2]

Ryan, an A/E bass of any kind will be far more convenient, affordable, and likely more effective as well (unless of course, you need a mando bass for a special kind of ensemble or aesthetic) -- for novelty, more or less, one like Martin's there would be good..

I would think a mando bass would be more akin to any variety of acoustic "guitar-like" (fretted) instruments--moreso than doublebass. I've heard that guitarron , however, is a unique and effective sound. With the nuevo-folk/alt Americana scene so popular, I wouldn't be surprised to see these and other trad instruments turning up, as have accordian, charango, uke -- increasingly. Trad-minded bands like Calexico, Los Lobo, Nikko Case... (in other words, kinda hip )

[JonZ]

I don't know... The bass player from The Violent Femmes played the heck out of that guitar-style acoustic bass. How about that solo on "Please, Please, Please Do Not Go"?! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

[catmandu2]

I don't know... The bass player from The Violent Femmes played the heck out of that guitar-style acoustic bass. How about that solo on "Please, Please, Please Do Not Go"?! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

Dude has gear, technical wherewital, other stuff... Most folks I've known to try an acoustic bass guitar find it lacks vloume, then feeds back upon cranking it, and also prone to other acoustic interference/noise. Not that they can't work, however. Just sayin...a good ol slab is pretty efficient.

[allenhopkins]

Acoustic bass guitars that produce enough volume and bassy sound -- unamplified -- are few and far between. Most of them only are satisfactory plugged in. The Tacoma Thunderchief and the Taylor AB series (no longer made) are the ones most often cited as having sufficient "guts."

Something to consider, if one is looking for an acoustic bass guitar, is the guitarron, the bass of Mexican mariachi bands. It can put out a lot of sound. I have a cheap "tourist level" one from Honduras, and it's pretty loud -- louder than any acoustic bass guitar I've played.

[Wolfboy]

As Allen says, an acoustic guitar body - even a big, acoustic bass guitar body - simply doesn't have enough cubic inches of airspace to carry the low frequencies of a bass guitar. (There's a reason bass fiddles are as big as they are.) The closest thing to a workable, unamplified acoustic bass guitar I've ever encountered was the Ernie Ball Earthwood, which was big enough to be incredibly uncomfortable to play, and didn't sound too bad but still didn't quite get all the way there IMO. And if you have to plug in an acoustic bass guitar to get an acceptable tone, well, really, what's the point? Might as well just play an electric and be done with it, no?

As for the mandobass, I quote from the liner notes of Gifts by the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble:

"Many of the early mandolin groups used mandobasses, typically with large pear-shaped bodies and fretted fingerboards. However, most of these lack the power and resonance of the other mandolin family instruments, and the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble's David Spicher plays a traditional bass viol."

There you have it - even the NME doesn't bother with a mandobass!

[catmandu2]

Yep. It can look kinda weird seeing an electric bass in various (otherwise acoustic) folk music ensembles, but there's a reason why the slab turns up so often...even in bluegrass for heaven's sake.

Getting the low fundamental is often not as sonically complex as the other, higher voices in ensemble. However, some of us are strongly attracted to the sound of acoustic bass and are compelled to play the real thing which provides the sound -- as inconvenient as it may be (doublebass, deployed as improvising tool, is no dilettante instrument).

[wundo]

Has anyone considered a Balalaika concert bass?
When plucked with a large leather pick, are very loud.
It is also played in a leaning position, for better attack.
Rather large and awkward for travel though

[catmandu2]

real thing

oops, meant "thing." I hate to use the "real"--especially in these contexts.

AND, especially when the "real" thing is actually often a mando bass, or a balalaika bass...or tuba. What the doublebass (viol) has become is, like the violin, ubiquitous by its efficacy--it is an instrument with immense capability. Sort of like the slab, but for very different reasons.

[Tim2723]

Several years ago I heard (but didn't play) one of the old Gibson's in a shop in upstate NY. I have to agree with everything said so far: Not much tone, generally unimpressive, couldn't be heard from 20 feet away, and incredibly expensive for something practically useless musically. I concluded that these must have been the product of Orville's eccentric imagination. I assumed they were built to complete the set of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass instruments as Americans relate to those those terms.

Easier and cheaper to get might be a bass balalaika. They're equally neat looking.

[multidon]

My wife plays bass in our old time string group, and we faced the problem of getting her something acoustic that has enough sound unplugged and is still more transportable than the upright "doghouse". We literally looked at and played all the A/E that are commonly available in music stores and were unimpressed with all of them except one- the Breedlove that GC sells and is made in Korea, I'm not sure of the exact model. I don't know how they do it with limited cubic inches, but the unplugged sound is not bad, much better than their competition. Plus, it has a great pickup/preamp installed, so if we play somewhere with a PA, we can plug right in! We find it a useful combination. I did have to lower the factory action by sanding down the bottom a the saddle a tad.

[multidon]

Also, check out THIS thread:
www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?74565-Terrifying-yet-fascinating-at-the-same-time.

[violmando]

Someone mentioned the Contrabass balalaika and they ARE loud, but they are also a pain to carry around. If you want something different, I second Allan and whoever else mentioned the Guitarron...they are LOUD and fun and pretty decent to carry around. The technque and stringing is different than upright/elec. bass but it's not hard to learn; I have an inexpensive one and I love it! My votes are 1) upright bass or for uniqueness 2)Guitarron. You'll be sorry if you blow the money for a mandobass because you won't have any sound and as a bass player, that's what it's all about...who needs a bass you can't hear?