2000 Fender BG-32 Acoustic Bass Guitar

I bought this bass to test out some various electronics and play with baritone-style restringing. I specifically got it because it's short scale (and thus comfortable) and has an attractive, old-fashioned, non-cutaway jumbo body shape. So many acoustic bass guitars go with smaller bodies and cutaways because they're relying entirely on pickups for their sound and I just don't get that. Why not just play a P-bass?

The videos should give you a good idea of the acoustic and plugged-in tones -- plugged-in I'm running flat at every setting, so it will definitely get a huge bass boost or treble/mids boost if you want it to. Unplugged you really have to either thumb it hard or use a pick to get enough volume to fill-in behind anything more than a couple guitars or mandolin/uke/whatever combos. Plugged-in, if you back your attack off, the undersaddle pickup gives a natural-enough tone that you can get sounds somewhere between "bass piano strings" to woody, almost-upright vibes. If you're really searching for an upright-y tone, though, you'll need to go with good-quality flatwound strings... which will kill the acoustic volume, of course.

Plusses for me on this are is reliability (the neck has been dead stable in use), comfort (slim neck, wide-enough board but slim enough for fast playing), sturdiness (it's all-ply in the body so it's tough and stable), and pleasant looks. From a distance it blends with Guild or Gibson jumbo-style guitars. Its body shape has almost the same round appeal as a J-185 or similar.

Work included: a light fret level/dress, new bone nut and saddle, cleaning, restringing with 105w-49w phosphor bronze strings, and a good setup. The neck is straight and the truss works correctly and action is bang-on at hair-below 2/16" bass side and hair-above 1/16" treble. I think any lower than these measurements on an acoustic bass guitar and you'll be getting some severe rattle from the low strings.

Scale length: 29 7/8"

Nut width: 1 11/16"

String spacing at nut: 1 3/8"

String spacing at bridge: 2 5/16"

Body length: 20"

Lower bout width: 16 1/4"

Upper bout width: 12 1/4"

Side depth at endpin: 5"

Top wood: ply spruce

Back/sides wood: ply mahogany (pretty figure)

Bracing type: x-braced

Fretboard: rosewood

Bridge: rosewood

Neck feel: slim C, 14-16" radius

Condition notes: overall it presents itself as clean but it does have a couple light dings on the neck, minor scuffs here and there on the body, a ding or two in the binding and on the body, and one larger crunch-in next to the binding on the lower-bout-treble-side (see photos). All is good, however, and any work necessary has been done. The bone nut and saddle are nice upgrades vs. the cheap plastic it came with. The pickup works as it should and the preamp has tons of gain if you need it.

It comes with: a decent black gigbag (not pictured).