I like to pick up a bit of history with my projects and I started scratching the surface this week. The Acoustic Bass Guitar, or ABG as the dudes like to say, hasn't been around too long. Ernie Ball (the man not the company) developed it along with George Fullerton (the "G" in G&L (the "L" being Leo Fender)). Ball used the Mexican guitarrón as a reference point. The Ernie Ball Earthwood bass was a monster—the body almost the size of a guitarrón, but with a long scale bass neck. It was only in production from 1972-74 and then discontinued until another run in the early 80s. Not too many exist and even fewer in good condition. ABGs had a resurgence with MTV's Unplugged series and this time Washburn ABGs were the crowd favorite.
To play these strictly acoustically you need a large body in order to produce low, bass tones loud enough. However, in the case of Unplugged everyone was plugged in. Using piezo pickups it was possible to get an acoustic sound electronically and this meant you didn't really need a giant bass. Which means you could make a smaller ABG that was easier to play. I know there are problems once you start to get really loud—feedback—and I'm really curious what Brian Ritchie (plays Ernie Ball's Earthwood Bass in the Violent Femmes) does to combat that.
But, I know you are wondering, what does that ramshackle guitar of Cale's sound like…
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