What is considered a big white bass?

What brand is widely considered the best acoustic bass guitar?

• I am looking to buy an acoustic or acoustic-electric bass. I already own a Fender electric bass and am pretty happy with the sound and construction of it. What brand would be a good medium price range for me to start my search?

• Answer:

  I shopped for those about 12 years ago and finally wound up having an acoustic mando-bass made by Phil Clark--but he's semi-retired now. My recollection is that the acoustic basses back then were uneven, different basses of the same make and model had different tonal characteristics. I'd strongly recommend acoustic-electric. No acoustic bass generates enough sound to be heard except in a very quiet room. That said, you'll want to judge them by sound and touch. My process for guitar-buying (which I learned from a classical guitar major) involves going to the store and actually playing a ton of them. Assess which ones feel good and also sound good to you. Once you have winnowed it down to a few, have someone else play them (preferably play exactly the same thing each time) while your back it turned so you can assess the sound without being swayed by looks or price. Once finished with that process, you'll know. I wouldn't trust any brand, particularly, I'd rely on actual performance of individual basses.