Kala Ubass

Does anyone have any opinions on the difference between the two Kala u-basses.

Apart from one being spruce and the other mahogany, the only difference I can see is the quality of the tuners. The mahogany version has Hipshot whereas the spruce has die-cast tuners.

Are the Hipshot tuners really worth the extra £70 on the pricetag?
 
The other difference is that the spruce topped one has laminated back and sides while the mahogany and acacia ones are all solid wood. This doesn't make a big difference when the instrument is plugged in though. Kala had to replace one of the tuners on my spruce topped U-Bass when it failed. I'm not sure this would have happended with the Hipshot tuners. Still, I'm happy with my purchase and the cheaper tuners work fine as long as the strings are installed correctly.

- Steve
 
Thanks for that, Steve!

I think I prefer look of the spruce one too :)

If anyone has a u-bass for sale second-hand, please let me know.
 
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Seems like I have the dissenting vote here. I had one for about 6 months. The sound is incredible for the size, however I did not like the sound of it plugged into a large bass amp. Seemed to sound best in a smaller amp or directly into a PA board. I used mine mostly into a smaller Line6 (mostly as a monitor), and then XLR out to a board.

I sold it for a few reasons:
1. The strings seemed to stretch forever. Every month I had to essentially restring it to take up the increasing excess slack on the tuner pegs. The tuner pegs are weak and can break easily with too much string wrap. There is a video on the Kala web site for replacing the tuners, which strongly implies this was a problem very early.
2. The sound got a bit boring. Every time I played it I wished I had my Carvin instead.
3. It sounded best with a small acoustic ensemble. It seemed to get lost with a few instruments.

Marvelous idea, but it was not for me.
 
I own a mahogany Ubass and absolutely love it. It's an ideal bass to have lying around in your living room. I recently used in a jazz trio setting with a pianist and a drummer. It was brilliant. The ideal answer if you've got some GAS for a short-scale, a hollow body or an upright bass; this little fellow can satisfy all three needs.

I don't know if Magnus' channel and blog are already mentioned in this thread, but check them out
http://playubass.wordpress.com/

 
Personally, I'm not interested in the solid body u-basses because they look like miniature electric bass guitars. I like the fact that the standard u-bass blends visually with ukuleles and the acoustic volume is very handy for practicing without an amp. When I want a solidbody electric bass I'll just grab one of my Fenders.

- Steve
 
Makes sense, I already have a solid body Ibanez SDGR bass. Had the pleasure of playing on a fretted mahogany acoustic ubass on Tuesday at our local uke jam for a couple hours. On Thursday went and bought my own, a spruce top fretless. Can hardly put it down!

Some have said the ubass doesn't have much sustain, and that's true. In that sense it's like the Hofner bass Paul McCartney played.
 
I actually like the lack of sustain since I use my U-Bass in place of my upright bass. I'm not sure how it would work with a full band, but it sounds nice with ukulele and other acoustic instruments. Here's a video of The Barnkickers playing at a house concert in Georgia. I am playing my U-Bass though a Gallien Krueger MB150S combo.



- Steve
 
a great one for sale

I've got a great semi-hollow for sale, made by Road Toad himself, the prototype maker for the Kalas. It's black limba wood and is fretless.

Why am I selling? I just don't have the time to master the bass. I put in a couple of months working on walking bass, working with a great book by Ed Friedlander, but I kept going back to playing classical pieces on the uke and now think it's time to get a better uke for playing classical.

It sounds great when amped through a good amp. I tend to turn down the the higher frequencies and up the lower, comes out with a nice stand up like tone and it sure is easy on the fingers.

I'd like $600 plus mailing costs and I'll throw in the case which is a baritone case.
 
Wow! Great deal. Wish I had the cash.
I love my spruce topped ubass. Going on the same set of strings for 1 1/2 years now.
It's currently the only bass I own right now but the only playing out I do with it is in our uke group.
 
I just bought a Hutch Hutchinson model U-Bass. I was one of the many skeptics out there about the validity of this instrument, not thinking it much more than a gimmick or schtick instrument like the Ashbory basses of old.

I was wrong. This is a great bass and I can see where it will work in some situations. For me, I double on electric and upright in musical theatre pits, and this will probably be used on those occasions where there isn't room for both instruments.
 
One Bad Monkey said:
IFor me, I double on electric and upright in musical theatre pits, and this will probably be used on those occasions where there isn't room for both instruments.
Click to expand...

I also double on upright and electric bass and play in theatre pits. I never thought of using my U-bass there but it's actually a great idea. Thanks!

- Steve
 
bassfiddlesteve said:
I also double on upright and electric bass and play in theatre pits. I never thought of using my U-bass there but it's actually a great idea. Thanks!

- Steve
Click to expand...

Glad to do it. I actually went with the Hutch mainly because I thought that the slotted sound holes would be less feedback prone than the regular one in the other models in those cramped quarters. Plus, it looks cool!

When running your U-Bass into an amp, do you put a preamp in front of it, or just direct?
 
One Bad Monkey said:
When running your U-Bass into an amp, do you put a preamp in front of it, or just direct?
Click to expand...

I just plug it directly in to my Gallien-Krueger MB150 combo, the same amp I use for my other basses. I usually roll off some highs for the U-Bass. I don't use a preamp with any of my basses (my upright has a Realist pickup).

- Steve
 
bassfiddlesteve said:
I just plug it directly in to my Gallien-Krueger MB150 combo, the same amp I use for my other basses. I usually roll off some highs for the U-Bass. I don't use a preamp with any of my basses (my upright has a Realist pickup).

- Steve
Click to expand...

I had an MB150 for a while; great little amp!

I'm mainly using Phil Jones Bass amps now, and their 5 band EQ is very powerful, so I think I'll be fine direct too.
 
last week is firt time I played kala u bass & i like it:D
I want to build it by myself with carbon fiber .
I will use shadow pickup same Kala.
but i want unplug sound louder

what's better body size & scale lenght ?

unplug volume Thundergut VS Pahoehoe string ?

If it same. I will made semi hollow.

My sketchsketch-carbon-U-BASS.jpg

Sorry for my bad English.

-Thanks-
 
Good luck on building one; that sounds great! Personally, I liked your far left baritone version. It reminded me of a jazz guitar.

As for a louder unplugged volume, I don't think you're going to really achieve that with the size of the instruments. If you look at regular scale acoustic/electric basses, they have to have a body that is much bigger than an acoustic guitar to achieve any sort of volume and you still have to gig with those plugged into an amp. The only acoustic/electric bass that I played that sounded loud unplugged was the old Tacoma Thunderchief. Then again, the body size of that was quite large compared to others in the area.
 
One Bad Monkey said:
Good luck on building one; that sounds great! Personally, I liked your far left baritone version. It reminded me of a jazz guitar.

As for a louder unplugged volume, I don't think you're going to really achieve that with the size of the instruments. If you look at regular scale acoustic/electric basses, they have to have a body that is much bigger than an acoustic guitar to achieve any sort of volume and you still have to gig with those plugged into an amp. The only acoustic/electric bass that I played that sounded loud unplugged was the old Tacoma Thunderchief. Then again, the body size of that was quite large compared to others in the area.
Click to expand...
After research & Discuss with my friend who's bass player.

Cann't make lounder for unplug coz string in tension less.

U Bass sound character is from that string.

If change wound or steel string . sound so like normal acoustic bass.

So that I will design on small semihallow body with PU.

carbon-U-BASS-classic.jpg

Thanks so much
 
I have a left handed KALA U Bass.

I love it! It is a different animal from an electric bass, but can be an amazing instrument to have in your arsenal. It sounds much like a stand up bass, through a proper amp. I play thru a small Genz Benz 300 W Shuttle, with an 8" cab, or a Carvin MB 12- both of which are top notch amps.

I think it does need a bit of added oomph, IMHO, in the pickup area. Given the specific range of the Shadow Pickup, EQ needs to be liberally applied to get the best out of this instrument, and the super short scale does take some getting used to, so- give yourself a week for getting in tune with the scale of it, prior to gigging with it...

But really, it is a well made, innovative, cool, and fun-to-play instrument- great for practice, or, with a small amp, for playing with acoustic guitars! Great also for small jazz and blues combos.
 
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