Do U-BASS? - A ukulele bass appreciation thread

[alyctes]

14 minutes ago, tauzero said:

Well, the Bass Centre has (theoretically) the very latest incarnation of the Ashbory bass, with a 23" scale, but it's been sold out for months, if not years.

 

https://www.basscentre.com/bass-centre-ashbory-bass/bass-centre-ashbory-bass-natural.html

 

There was a previous Bass Centre Ashbory available in 2017 which was available in four finishes.

 

Translucent Blue, Amber & Sunburst models • Scale Length : 21" • Weight : 2.5kg (5.5lb)

Translucent Red model • Scale Length : 24" • Weight : 3.0kg (6.6lb)

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20170624164506/http://www.basscentre.com/bass-centre-ashbory-bass.html

 

I asked them about 5-strings at the time, and they said they wouldn't be doing them.

 

 

No fivers?

[tauzero]

32 minutes ago, alyctes said:

 

No fivers?

 

You could try AliExpress: 

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32909965717.html - might not be available

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005856491540.html

 

The search function on AliExpress is even worse than Amazon's.

[Dazed]

Amazons search bugged me so much recently I complained on their live chat function. Absolutely pointless but I’m at an age now I enjoy complaining, even to a human less bot 😄

I’m sure it used to better than it currently is. I hadn’t used the app for years but it seems search results are 50% irrelevant. 
 

I’m having very little joy finding 5 strings. 

[SamIAm]

@Dazed, I've also had a good look around ... but to no avail!

 

Might I suggest entering the fray with this

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_ukebass_fl_opnt.htm

HB make great instruments in my experience and it is not too expensive (I'm even tempted to get one myself!).

 

Whilst a 23 inch is preferable (in my experience) a 21 inch will give you a good taste and if you don't stray into the dusty top frets it's only a small difference, especially if fretless where you can adjust your fretting positions to accommodate intonation challanges.

 

If it works for you then you might consider a more expensive Kala California (Tho I'm not sure when their new models will ship).

 

Another route worth considering would be a bespoke build, if you're handy with DIY then a self build is viable.

Solid body, fretless and (like my Kala) you can get away without a truss rod if you only use 'rubber' strings.

ubass tuners are not costly, and the various other components are available off the shelf.

You would not be the first ... https://www.instructables.com/Designing-and-Making-a-Bass-Ukulele/

 

I do recall a lass who had one custom built for her in the UK a few years back for ... I think she paid about £600, sadly I can't find the messages we swapped (So I'm not sure who did it for her), but I'd be surprised if you could not find a luthier who would be prepared, they might consider it an intriguingly unusual build.

 

A totally different approach would be to reach out to the various ukulele specialists (Like Southern Ukulele or Hobgoblin) and ask them if they know of any ... or to keep their eye out for a used unit for you.

 

S'manth x

Edited July 25, 2023 by Smanth

[mcnach]

On 23/07/2023 at 21:05, Smanth said:

This is rather nice!

S'manth x

 

 

 

I bought one of these earlier in the year, after having bought a 20" fretless bass uke. The extra 3" don't make it that much bigger, but I find it a lot easier to play accurately. I love it.  

[mcnach]

12 hours ago, Dazed said:

Hello all. Some of you may have seen my Uke post in General and some have replied, thank you. Though I’d drop in here and bother you some more 🙂

 

As much as I enjoy researching instruments, borderline ocd, I also hate researching instruments 😄

 

I didnt there was so much choice, brands scale lengths strings etc. 

 

So far I’m feeling drawn to the slightly longer scales, 23” up but having trouble finding stockists and I guess being able to a/b them in one place may prove impossible. Is there much difference intonation-wise in the couple

of inches of the Kala’s 20/21” and say the Shortbass or Goldtones that are 23/24”? 
 

Are strings more difficult to find for one or the other? There seem to be quite a lot of different types for the shorter scales, I presume they won’t work on the slightly longer scales or am i wrong?

 

It's easy to find strings for both scale lengths, and different kinds too. I find the 20" harder to play (I have a 20" and a 23" both fretless) in tune, the fingerboard is tiiiiny when you come from a regular scale bass, but both require a bit of concentration for a while until you sort of 'internalise' the intervals on the neck. The hollow body doesn't really add that much to the sound, and it's still very quiet. I'd get a solid body. I really like my GoldTone 23" fretless one. The 2-band onboard EQ is decent and while still small it doesn't feel like I'm a giant when I play it. 

 

I first bought a 20" Batking fretless, just to try. It was cheap (around £100) and looked nice so I figured if I ended up not playing it at least it would look nice on the wall  I enjoyed playing it, tuning is far more stable than the old silicone strings on the Ashborys used to be, but it still requires retuning frequently initially until it settles. Then I got the 23" fretless GoldTone after hesitating for a while, as it seemed a lot extra money for something that would likely do the same job as the Batking. Soundwise it's not very different with the stock strings, although the GoldTone still sounds a bit nicer and less boomy, you can make a pseudo acoustic type of sound, or soemthing that in the mix would not sound far off an electric bass with flats. But the playability is much nicer, with those extra 3" really helping me find the right notes where I expect them to be.

 

Another thing I liked about the GoldTone (and possibly many other solid bodies) is that they make other strings (nylon wrapped in steel?) that sound more like a 'normal' bass, if you get bored of the other kinds, but I haven't tried them. Check them out on YouTube, there's a few demos of different strings.

 

IN short: I'd get a solid body and preferably 23". I'd also favour fretless, as intonation can be tricky to set right with some strings and fretless allows you to adjust easily.

[alyctes]

15 hours ago, Dazed said:

Amazons search bugged me so much recently I complained on their live chat function. Absolutely pointless but I’m at an age now I enjoy complaining, even to a human less bot 😄

I’m sure it used to better than it currently is. I hadn’t used the app for years but it seems search results are 50% irrelevant. 
 

I’m having very little joy finding 5 strings. 

 

Search generally is much less useful than it used to be.  Mostly nowadays it works as a marketing tool, which is not helpful at all. 

(Whether that is the problem with Amazon search I don't know, but I'm guessing they buy their search function in from somewhere.)

[alyctes]

Silicone strings for the Ashbory were so temperamental as to be useless.  Twice in a month I put mine away, came back next day and a string had snapped.  The Pahoehoes were a huge step forward.  It's got Thunderguts on it at the moment but I haven't played it for over a year.

 

When I do play it I treat it as a baby upright or a mini cello, hung vertically round my neck with the headstock next to my left ear.  I find this a lot easier than trying to play it like a uke, though I started as a cello player, so that might be part of it.

 

(To hang it like this, remove the upper strap button - very uncomfortable otherwise - and tie the strap on behind the nut.)

Edited July 25, 2023 by alyctes

[tauzero]

38 minutes ago, alyctes said:

Silicone strings for the Ashbory were so temperamental as to be useless.  Twice in a month I put mine away, came back next day and a string had snapped.  The Pahoehoes were a huge step forward.  It's got Thunderguts on it at the moment but I haven't played it for over a year.

 

When I do play it I treat it as a baby upright or a mini cello, hung vertically round my neck with the headstock next to my left ear.  I find this a lot easier than trying to play it like a uke, though I started as a cello player, so that might be part of it.

 

I played violin (very badly) before I played guitar or bass, and with the Ashbory I find fingering violin-fashion with my fingers going up the neck rather than bass-fashion with them going across is far preferable and helps me get the intonation right.

[Dazed]

Having read all of your replies, advice and experiences and loads of other stuff online, listened and watched quite a few videos - which are always a mixed bag depending on how they were recorded, I’d narrowed my choice down to two. Both were fretless  4 strings, because there really doesn’t seem to be many 5’s available and I didn’t want to stretch to or wait for a Kala California.
 

They’re both 23” though I did wonder about a couple of 25” scale models. I’m going to be travelling about the country tomorrow so was trying to squeeze in an extra stop to attempt to grab one of the ones I’d found (finding anywhere that stocks these things is a bit of a task in itself) Whilst planning this I had another look on one of the major retailers sites and had a bit of luck….. I’d ruled out this option as I couldn’t find anywhere that stocked the particular bass I was interested in. After a bit of last minute faffing about it’s been ordered and should be with me in a couple of days.
Pics to follow 🙂

[Dazed]

It’s been shipped…… waitings…..

[Dazed]

It arrived a few days. I’d some issues with it but hopefully resolved them now. I love it! 
Hardly put it down. I’ll do a nbd post probably but have a question in the meantime. 

 

I’ve had a piezo fitted electric bass in the past and didn’t notice any volume issues. 
This new Uke has a piezo fitted but I’m 

finding the volume is really low compared to any of my usual basses, and by low I mean I usually have the input and output volumes set at around a quarter at home (it’s a tiny PJB combo), with the Uke both volumes are almost at max to have a similar level to the electric basses. Is this normal?

[SamIAm]

24 minutes ago, Dazed said:

finding the volume is really low compared to any of my usual basses, and by low I mean I usually have the input and output volumes set at around a quarter at home (it’s a tiny PJB combo), with the Uke both volumes are almost at max to have a similar level to the electric basses. Is this normal?

All my ubasses came with an active piezo, I did have a passive piezo on a tenor uke once and it's output level was super low.

Is your ubass active? (And if so is the battery nice and fresh)?

S'manth x

[Dazed]

It’s both I believe. And has its own built in pre amp which I presume is active? It was a new battery. Have to investigate further.
 

When I got it the piezo wasn’t working and after dismantling the preamp and checking all the connectors found that the cable had been tightly caught and folded in half in the back of the E string when someone had put the strings on. Sorted this out but still nothing. Eventually I worked out that the bone nut on the bridge wasnt flat in the bottom end and had a bulge/curve over its length so it was wedged into the bridge slot and not actually making contact with the piezo underneath. An hour or so later sanding the nut and it now fits properly and it was working but has a really low output. 
 

While I’m here, what’s the action generally like on everyone’s Uke? Mine seems quite high I guess to allow the strings to vibrate freely, just wondering if could get it slightly lower without affecting the playability or creating a problem. 

[tauzero]

The Bass Centre have now got their Ashbory bass out - I suppose it would be approximately the Mk 3.

 

https://www.basscentre.com/bass-centre-ashbory-bass/bass-centre-ashbory-bass-natural.html

 

[msb]

That looks great! I have a blue Ashbory , my intonation is a bit iffy in the upper register. 

[tauzero]

8 minutes ago, msb said:

That looks great! I have a blue Ashbory , my intonation is a bit iffy in the upper register. 

 

The dogbone Mk 1 (or Mk 1a with proper tuners) or the original Bass Centre reworking?

[msb]

Crafted in Indonesia , designed by Fender is what it says on the back. I believe it was one of the last reissues.

[tauzero]

That's the mark 1a, the DeArmond/Fender one, as opposed to the mark 1 Guild which had awful banjo tuners.

[Dazed]

Just came across an Ashbory MarkII on fb marketplace if anyone was interested? Looks much nicer than the dog bone versions imo. No idea about the value but it’s up for £450
 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Dazed

[tauzero]

16 hours ago, Dazed said:

Just came across an Ashbory MarkII on fb marketplace if anyone was interested? Looks much nicer than the dog bone versions imo. No idea about the value but it’s up for £450
 

 

There were only 73 90 made so they are quite rare. At least two of us on BC have one - mine is still awaiting my diagnosis on what causes its terrible hum.

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by tauzero
Incorrectly remembered number