How the acoustic bass guitar makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the acoustic bass guitar belongs to the lutes: strings run parallel to a soundboard and along a neck – the family of the guitar, violin, sitar and oud.
More broadly it is one of the chordophones (string instruments), where sound comes from vibrating strings, amplified by a resonating body.
Press play above and watch the spectrum: the evenly spaced peaks are harmonics, and their relative strength is what gives the instrument its character.
From Wikipedia
The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than, a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar and the double bass, the acoustic bass guitar commonly has four strings usually tuned E-A-D-G, an octave below the lowest four strings of the 6-string guitar.
Because it can sometimes 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 they can be amplified with a bass amp.
Other lutes
Frequently asked questions
What does an acoustic bass guitar sound like?
As one of the lutes, its sound comes from the way strings run parallel to a soundboard and along a neck.
What type of instrument is the acoustic bass guitar?
It is classified as lutes (Hornbostel–Sachs 321.322).
Sources & credits
- Wikidata Q424017 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Acoustic bass guitar – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Niranjan Arminius – Public domain