Kala Ubass (Ukulele bass)

[Owen]

I had never heard about these, I read a thread about them, watched some youtube vids and bought one within 18 hours.

Solid Mahogany, Piezo pick up and REALLY fat plastic-y strings

It is an awful lot of fun but also a serious instrument once plugged in. I play DB regularly and have an NS5 for when I cannot get the DB there. I am considering retiring the NS5, the Ubass sounds just as good for the kind of heavier dull thud gut type of sound I like.

I have gigged it twice since taking delivery. one full on Jazz quintet and this morning in Church. It needs fairly careful EQing (just like a DB with a pick up). Obviously everyone thought it was hilarious when I took it out. They stopped laughing when I plugged it in. There is an awful lot of LF going on.

The strings are very slightly tacky, you cannot do a triplet ghost note drag down to a lower note in a jazz stylee, but using some natural oil from the side of my nose made things a lot smoother. You cannot do a side to side vibrato. It just does not work.

Does it sound like a full-on DB? Obv not. Does it have that sort of DB-esque low-mid, air-shifting heft? Yes.

Do I look like someone carrying a Viola when it is in it's case? Yes. You cannot have everything.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNPx6RS8PiM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNPx6RS8PiM[/url]

[ped]

Looks cool... where did you buy yours from? Did you go for fretted or fretless?

[Mace]

I saw one a while ago online although think it was a prototype. As I play in a [url="http://www.therinkydinks.com"]ukulele band[/url], this really appeals to me but I didn't get on with my Ashbury when I had one - couldn't keep it in tune and was constantly snapping the really really tacky strings (I did use talc as lots of sites recommended too - was constantly vacuuming up after myself!)

Does anyone know if the scale length is longer than an Ashbury, are the strings for all intents and purposes the same as an Ashbury and more importanly, do they do a 5 string version as I need a low B to keep up with the uke's tuning?!

Any assistance muchly appreciated!

Cheers

[misrule]

Love it -- I want one

Here's an Iron Maiden cover

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsJamk8S-xs&feature=related"]YouTube[/url]

Cheers

Mark

[Owen]

There are no 5ers as far as I know, but the original idea came from a specialist Uke bloke (Road Toad) who is happy to make a 5 with a slightly extended scale for B tension

[4 Strings]

[quote name='owen' post='879359' date='Jun 27 2010, 11:31 PM']I had never heard about these, I read a thread about them, watched some youtube vids and bought one within 18 hours.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNPx6RS8PiM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNPx6RS8PiM[/url][/quote]


Thanks for the thoughts on these, look very useful for getting something like a db sound on a recording without actually hiring one and a player, albeit rather costly. I would think about one for quite a bit less.

As a side comment, I notice the guy in the little video plays with his thumb and forefinger position rather like Jamerson's 'Hook'. Seems a natural position for people used to db playing to adapt to a bass guitar (or uke!) except the thumb now dangles in mid-air instead of being rooted on the edge of the fingerboard.

[4 Strings]

[quote name='owen' post='879359' date='Jun 27 2010, 11:31 PM']I had never heard about these, I read a thread about them, watched some youtube vids and bought one within 18 hours.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNPx6RS8PiM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNPx6RS8PiM[/url][/quote]


Thanks for the thoughts on these, look very useful for getting something like a db sound on a recording without actually hiring one and a player, albeit rather costly. I would think about one for quite a bit less.

As a side comment, I notice the guy in the little video plays with his thumb and forefinger position rather like Jamerson's 'Hook'. Seems a natural position for people used to db playing to adapt to a bass guitar (or uke!) except the thumb now dangles in mid-air instead of being rooted on the edge of the fingerboard.

[redstriper]

Kala/Ashbory comparisons:

Kala U-bass is 20" scale, while the Ashbory is 18".
Kala uses a passive piezo pup without tone controls, while the Ash needs a 9v battery and has bass and treble tone controls.
Kala is available fretted or fretless, while the Ash is fretless only.
Kala comes with polyurethane strings which do not need talc - a little silicone spray, (cheap from builders merchants) is enough to remove the stickiness.
The original Ashbory strings do need talc and are prone to random breakage, to the point that I almost gave up on mine until finding the Kala type (roadtoad pahoehoe) strings which I now use on my Ashbory because they are more stable and much stronger.
Both mini basses are similar soundwise, (think big bottom) and quite addictive to play once you get used to them and the weight and size are simply marvelous.

[Owen]

[quote name='owen' post='879877' date='Jun 28 2010, 02:00 PM']There are no 5ers as far as I know, but the original idea came from a specialist Uke bloke (Road Toad) who is happy to make a 5 with a slightly extended scale for B tension[/quote]


I went for the fretted.

Here is the reply from the Road Toad bloke about a 5er

Biggest issue is putting a wide neck on a small body. It can
be done as I did it with my hybrid ukulele/bass:

[url="http://www.roadtoadmusic.com/Completed/Hybrid_UKEBASS_075H.html"]http://www.roadtoadmusic.com/Completed/Hyb...EBASS_075H.html[/url]

5 string would have a similarly wide neck, but about 50mm at nut and 63mm at
12th fret position. I've done it on solid body, but stretch the scale to
23.5" to get a good workable low B.

[Owen]

The strings are no longer tacky. Just so that you know.

[johnbiffa]

[quote name='owen' post='954038' date='Sep 12 2010, 09:02 PM']The strings are no longer tacky. Just so that you know.[/quote]

I bought the spuce topped fretted from a BCer and absolutely love it............feedback through my Marshall stack is a challenge however !

Great recording tool and perfect for the odd "quite number" in the set.

Audiences love it and all want to know what it is !!!

John

[TPJ]

I've got one of these in Mahogany. I've gigged it a few times and works lovely for acoustic stuff and open mic nights. I'm still coming to grips with the scale but it really has a nice tone. I run it through a Sadowsky pre-di.