What are some good + affordable electro-acoustic basses?

Godins are far too expensive and I've never tried one so I don't know if they're really that special.  But are there any affordable make/models out there that can roughly match up to Godins?

The older Washburns are actually pretty good. I'd look for one of them. They were called AB10 or something. Warwick Aliens are pretty good, but even the cheap ones are expensive now. Not tried a Fender one.

Be aware that absolutely all acoustic bass guitars still need amplifying when playing with other people.

fretmeister said:

The older Washburn … AB10

I only ever encountered those as a lined fretless. Played nicely but was embarrassingly quiet unplugged and, thanks to the budget piezo transducer, a bit honky when amplified.

To fit into a largely acoustic band context, I would consider a bass ukulele or the Ashbory bass.

Aria FEB F2 or F2M, medium or full scale.

Cheaply finished, but reasonably well-made. They come with appalling bronze roundwound strings (why do manufacturers insist on doing this?) which are especially inappropriate on the fretless version I had, but a decent set of nickel rounds or flatwounds will fix it.

Mine sounded great, although unfortunately it was just too big for a small guy like me to play comfortably.

Ok I've looked at all your recommendations so far and they all look great and are affordable.
Side question now - what the hell makes Godins so damn expensive?? The A4s are hovering on the £2000 mark brand new!

Don’t think I’ve ever seen an acoustic bass without built in pick ups. They are ridiculously quiet and won’t keep up with an enthusiastically strummed acoustic guitar unamplified. Im sure they probably were a thing but I don’t really recall seeing them ever before mtv unplugged came about. 

Open_G said:

Don’t think I’ve ever seen an acoustic bass without built in pick ups. They are ridiculously quiet and won’t keep up with an enthusiastically strummed acoustic guitar unamplified. Im sure they probably were a thing but I don’t really recall seeing them ever before mtv unplugged came about. 

There are a very few which are just about loud enough unplugged - Ernie Ball Earthwood, Guild B-50, or the old Eko BA-4 - but they’re huge, expensive and still much better amplified.

Anything else definitely needs to be plugged in - that’s one of the reasons I sold my Aria, it was about three times the size of my little rubber-string Tanglewood uke bass, but was no more usable without amplification.

Funkfingers said:

fretmeister said:

The older Washburn … AB10

I only ever encountered those as a lined fretless. Played nicely but was embarrassingly quiet unplugged and, thanks to the budget piezo transducer, a bit honky when amplified.

To fit into a largely acoustic band context, I would consider a bass ukulele or the Ashbory bass.

I tried a fretted one and I thought it was great plugged in. Very quiet unplugged as you say, but probably louder than the fretless.

I managed to get a really nice Jonas Hellborg sort of tone out of it, without spending £8000 on his signature Warwick!

ICBM said:

Open_G said:

Don’t think I’ve ever seen an acoustic bass without built in pick ups. They are ridiculously quiet and won’t keep up with an enthusiastically strummed acoustic guitar unamplified. Im sure they probably were a thing but I don’t really recall seeing them ever before mtv unplugged came about. 

There are a very few which are just about loud enough unplugged - Ernie Ball Earthwood, Guild B-50, or the old Eko BA-4 - but they’re huge, expensive and still much better amplified.

Anything else definitely needs to be plugged in - that’s one of the reasons I sold my Aria, it was about three times the size of my little rubber-string Tanglewood uke bass, but was no more usable without amplification.

This was entirely my experience too. My Ibanez AEB was loud enough to play... as long as no once else was playing, or talking, or breathing. I sold it and bought a uke bass as they both required amplification but the uke didn't have trebly bronze strings so sounded like a bass once plugged in; the Ibanez was so thin and metallic through the piezo, 

https://youtu.be/MiidbkgDiBc?si=bcPmHzfpdUPg8DVI

This is an interesting piece ... puts it into context re the amount of air in a double bass compared to an acoustic bass!!! 
Never really seen the point of an acoustic bass - too quiet un-amplified - prone to feedback if you amplify it - if you are going to amplify it why not just get an electric bass? 

OilCityPickups said:

Never really seen the point of an acoustic bass - too quiet un-amplified - prone to feedback if you amplify it - if you are going to amplify it why not just get an electric bass? 

Actually one thing my Aria was very good for was controlled feedback with a fuzz pedal :). The rubber-string uke bass is more unpredictable and gets out of control very easily - although it can be done - but the fretless electro (with flatwound strings) was completely controllable and sounded very good.

I did almost keep it, but I couldn't get comfortable with the very long neck with it on a strap - the bridge is further forward on the body than on a normal electric bass, and there's no extended upper horn, so the whole thing is about six inches further to the left. I tried attaching the strap to the headstock, but it kept slipping off my shoulder.