Retro-Rama: 1977 Ernie Ball Earthwood Acoustic Bass Guitar
Once upon a time, acoustic guitar companies made acoustic guitars by the truckload, but never bothered to make acoustic bass guitars (with the notable though unwieldy exception of the Gibson mando-bass, profiled in May ’07). Guitar advocate Ernie Ball set about fixing this injustice after being inspired by the sound—and size—of the Mexican guitarrón in the 1960s. His logic was simple: If there are electric bass guitars to go with electric guitars, there ought to be acoustic basses to go with acoustic guitars. It’s hard to argue with that! The Ernie Ball Earthwood is the original patriarch of acoustic bass guitars, now affectionately known to us bass folk as ABGs.
After some years of experimentation and several unsuccessful attempts to interest existing companies in the ABG, Ernie Ball developed the prototype Earthwood in collaboration with George Fullerton, who was previously with Fender and would later reunite with Leo Fender at G&L. Production began in 1972, and it apparently stopped and started a few times before finally ending for good in 1985. Brian Ritchie of the Violent Femmes—whose band’s sound and image were built around the distinctive style of the Earthwood—and John Entwistle of the Who have been two notable users of this bass.
Essentially, the Earthwood is exactly what it appears to be—a huge acoustic guitar with a bass-guitar-like neck. This is the Standard-version body, which is 24 1/2" long, 18 1/4" wide, and 6 5/8" deep. While it’s hard to imagine a bass much bigger than this, the Deluxe model is nearly two inches deeper. The Earthwood is very well made, with a number of distinctive touches. First of all, that big “E” on the headstock is hard to miss! The walnut sides and back are beautiful, and the dark wood binding on the top and bottom of the sides is subtle and well executed. The 34"-scale maple neck has an adjustable tilt accessed from the back on the bass. The Grover tuners have funky curved pegheads that fit the oversize proportion well. Some Earthwoods were made with a pickup included, but this one is acoustic all the way.
This bass’s owner, legendary session player and producer Emory Gordy Jr. (Elvis Presley, Emmylou Harris, Patty Loveless, Bill Monroe), has had it since it was new. Emory played an Earthwood belonging to producer Brian Ahern on Emmylou’s classic Roses in the Snow record, and used this one extensively on Loveless’s Bluegrass and White Snow Christmas album. In the studio, Emory has found that playing the bass upright, cradled between his legs, works better than “normal” playing position, and actually helps project the sound to the mic. Emory feels the Earthwood retains a string-bass character in a track without taking up quite so much space. Hearing some new tracks in the studio with him, I agree with his assessment: It records very well. Like many acoustic instruments, it has some resonant notes and some dead ones. The art in recording with this axe includes knowing its sweet spots.
As you might expect, this bass is pretty darn loud, especially compared to other ABGs. It can’t move as much air as a string bass, but it has a full, punchy sound, accentuated by its (original!) Ernie Ball Earthwood bronze strings, which still have a strong midrange component. It is fun to play, although most folks will find that its long reach takes some getting used to.
We have Ernie Ball to thank for bringing his brilliant idea to fruition. It seems he was ahead of his time, as the Earthwood didn’t take off as expected. Perhaps its gargantuan size scared people away. But hey, compared to a string bass, it’s not that big! In its smaller form, the ABG had its commercial breakthrough in the ’80s and ’90s, especially with the popularity of MTV Unplugged. We’ll look at another cool ABG next month. Until then, thanks for reading!
