Acoustic Bass Guitars?

[ebick]

I didn't know Taylor made them, but I see these on E-Bay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Taylor-Acoustic-Bass-Ab-1-Good-Condition-Case-/280800811245?pt=Guitar&hash=item41610858ed

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Taylor-AB-2-Acoustic-Bass-Custom-Hard-Shell-Case-/160709592295?pt=Guitar&hash=item256b09c4e7

They don't show them on their site....they stopped making them?

[Bong Twang Ping]

Yes, they were made from the late 90's until around 2003 I believe, there were 3 versions: AB-1 Imbuia/Spruce, AB-2 Imbuia/Imbuia, AB-3 Maple/Spruce.

It's very difficult, if not impossible to make an acoustic bass instrument that genuinely provides unplugged volume levels equivalent to an upright bass with a body size that can be comfortably held in guitar playing positions. Even a cello, which has a much larger body than any acoustic bass guitar that I've ever seen, cannot get that low and loud!

Bong

[Gutch]

I owned a Taylor AB3 for a year or so.  A lot of fun to play and sounded great plugged in.  However, as a friend so aptly put it, playing it standing up with a strap was like hanging a Buick around your neck...

[ebick]

Yeah, I guess I don't think about it for "performing".  Thought of the idea of an acoustic bass for around the house to mess around with and possibly for playing with another, single acoustic guitar.  I wasn't specifically looking for a Taylor, and doubt I would go that route.  I just happen to have come across them while nosing around.  Seems like a decent one (at least as far as the brand name goes) can be had relatively inexpensively.

[Bong Twang Ping]

The Tacoma Thunderchief is a great acoustic bass for the money. A friend of mine had one with the L.R.Baggs electrics. I had a lot of fun playing it for an afternoon.

Bong

[CJAZ]

I have an AB-1 and an AB-2.  The look and sound great plugged in or acoustic.  I have played out with them but mostly sitting and I am pretty large framed so it didnt wear me out.  I am thinking of sending one of them back to Steve Klein to have it made fretless.  They really are playable art.

[HeavyDuty]

I'm mostly a bass player.  I tried the Taylor ABG when it first came out, but it didn't compare well to the Tacoma four I had at the time.  I have a pair of five string Tacomas now.

It's really rough to make an ABG that performs well acoustically.

[ebick]

It's really rough to make an ABG that performs well acoustically.

As a charter member of the "Chasing the last leaf that blew by club", at the time I was just more thinking about something to noodle around with and perhaps use in a small, acoustic only setting.  There are some really low cost units made by some well-known names.  I posted this originally because I wasn't even aware at the time that Taylor was in the mix.

[michaelw]

i think  the AB series was made from 96-01,
starting with the AB-1 spruce/imbuia & AB-2 all imbuia

the time-line archive shows the AB-3 spruce/maple was added in 98
http://taylorguitars.us/guitars/reference/dating.html

the website archive shows the AB-3 being available in 00
http://taylorguitars.us/Guitars/Archive/Older/archive/bass.html

i don't recall seeing any 02 or 03 models, but
it is possible some were made (for artists, etc)

there are some pics of prototypes T3/5-style electric acoustic & a bass that has an
offset soundhole hanging on walls in the background in a couple of issues of W & S -
an acoustic bass developed from the GS baritone could  be pretty cool, imho

[CJAZ]

The Tacoma Thunderchief is a great acoustic bass for the money. A friend of mine had one with the L.R.Baggs electrics. I had a lot of fun playing it for an afternoon.

Bong

I had a thunderchief and sold it pretty quickly as for me it was thin.  Much smaller body than the AB models, but if you're not a big guy then it would make a big differnce.  Here is a link for an AB-3 up for sale ironically for mre than I paid for both of mine.     All of the other AB-3's that I have seen before this one were red stained.


 http://www.gryphonstrings.com/instpix/37039/37039.php 

[Iplay2]

I have played base for years, and even dabbled with an upright base in high school (though extremely poorly).  I have never come across an acoustic base that was even really fun for me to play.  They have all sounded so bad unplugged that I couldn’t see the point in them.  That being said, I would like to see what Bob could do if he gave it another chance and tried to make an updated version, using some of his newer techniques.  Updates for the base the same way he has brought about CV bracing and the GS in his guitars.  Might be interesting.