Alien Bass

thefitz said:
.......
to pretty much cut through at all on an ABG, you need to play with a pick
(cue a million responses saying that fingers are louder on ABGs). I'm not
saying that ABGs are acceptable volume-wise, but you can reduce the
damage.
Click to expand...

+1 ..... and [paraphrasing you] all you accomplish is to get a bit closer
to that threshold of usefulness, without ever actually reaching it.

The ABG "total loudness package" would be a stiff pick, frets, and those
brass/bronze "acoustic" strings. This stuff is louder, but it also functions
all together to make your bass sound klangy and not really "bass-like".

I'm thimking that one way that might work to get a useful ABG, again
adding 'not-so-bass-like' sound [just to be heard] would be an 8-string
ABG. The octave [or fifth !] strings would reinforce the note choices in
an audible manner, perhaps leading the listener's ear and mind to hear
the bass as well ... a sort symbiosis thing. To keep it as bassy as might
be possible, I spoze the E-string pair could include an octave or a fifth,
the A-string pair would include a fifth cuz an octave-A might be a bit
too high [detracting from bassiness], and the D- and G-pairs would be
unity pairs cuz even on a regular [shidtty] ABG the D & G are audible.

Acoarst, all this is a lotta string tension for a hollow box ax, and the
8-string neck and oversize headstock will put it waaaay outa balance,
but if you don't suffer, then it's not "ART" [right?].
 
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Of course once you add the bracing to hold 8 strings to the body any sort of natural resonance would die and it probably wont cut through as well as you'd like. So you would need 5th and 8va strings, to make a 12 string, which would need more bracing, which would stifle more of the resonance, which would require mor strings..........till you end up with a box with 36 strings that you have to hit with a small lump hammer to get to ring out, that sounds like a bunch of pots and pans dropped down a stair well which needs and amp anyway. PROBLEM SOLVED!
 
mart said:
Phew. :lol:


:eek: Really? I have two Martin guitars (6-stringers, not ABGs) -
one laminate and one all solid. Guess which is louder.
Click to expand...

Uh huh.

Rule of thumb [small 't' thumb] with URB construction
is that altho carved [aka "solid"] tops are sweeter or
richer sounding, it's the plywood tops that are louder.
 
That might apply to giant uprights, but for ABGs, if you find that plywood basses are louder than all solid ones, you're smoking some delicious crack-eola. Write that down.
 
Ok, I am not a specialist here, so I can be wrong. But to me it seems wrong to clissify the material used in "Solid Wood, and Plywood"
They can come in different qualities. And a laminated wood can be actually better made than the solid wood, if it is made properly. Some builders use it for a purpose, and they can do a great job by chosing the right laminates, the way they are arranging the grains, etc.

A cabinet is like an acoustic instrument, right? Same principles... I have some pretty expensive B&W speakers, and I don't think they ever use solid wood, for acoustic reasons, laminated wood is better.

But again, I am not a specialist, just playing with the little information I have.
 
From what i have heard/read/been lied to by sales reps. Laminates can be excellent at reflecting and focussing sound, hence good for back-and-sides of guitars and cabs. But solid tops have a more even resonance, and produce a warmer tone as they vibrate,as well as allowing sound to pass tyhrough them better, hence good for tops. I cant think of any top of the line acoustic guitars that have laminate tops.
 
The above is a good explanation of it all - but my generalities with solid wood and plywood was said giving a company the benefit of the doubt; I'm comparing the woods on similarly spec'd out instruments. The plywood on the Alien's nicer than a solid Rondomusic top... but if we're comparing that, we're missing the point; we're looking at instruments sitting in the same market percentile here. Since an Alien's about $2000, that puts it squarely at the top of the price list for laminated ABGs, and frankly in the top 20 percentile of all-solid ABGs.
 
I think you should trust your ears :-) The fretless version of the Alien bass was voted 2 years in the row the best ABG in the world, period!

That's MIPA award. That means over 200 specialists voted there.
 
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