Sock it to me - Looking for a bass for simple recordings

Cornfield

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I had a Kala sub bass that I traded away while I was sick and not using the bass at all. I'm feeling better now and want a cheap bass that will work for home recording.
I'm wondering if I should just get a midi keyboard and play bass through the DAW or if I should get a cheap but usable bass ukulele.
I know that there are now many more choices available in the bass uke world. Rubber strings, metal strings etc.
My playing is not elaborate so I am not going o be speeding up and down the neck.
Is anyone using a keyboard for bass? What is a good low end but sturdy bass uke for simple arrangements?
 
Rondomusic.com has been my go to for bass ukes, both acoustic and solid body. They also have a great variety of standard bass guitars, all of which are pretty good for the price, most under $200.

http://www.rondomusic.com/bassguitars4.html The bass ukes are toward the bottom of the list.
 
Rondomusic.com has been my go to for bass ukes, both acoustic and solid body. They also have a great variety of standard bass guitars, all of which are pretty good for the price, most under $200.

http://www.rondomusic.com/bassguitars4.html The bass ukes are toward the bottom of the list.

I agree - I bought one of these from Rondo and was very pleased. Also should note that if you go this route and look for a case, the musician's gear baritone uke case fits perfectly and is relatively inexpensive.
 
+1 for the Rondo Hadean uke basses. I have one each of the acoustic/electric as well as one of the solid-body electric basses from them. IIRC, the acoustic was ~$150 and the solid-body was ~$170 prior to ~$15 shipping cost and received in Nj in less than a week.

I have used them solely for songwriting and recording, both with the Road Toad Pahoehe Black poly-rubber strings.

Cheap enough for occasional use. there are MANY threads here on UU discussing these over the past 2-3 yrs, just search for 'Rondo', 'Hadean' or 'Omega' and the previous threads should come up.

I have no idea if they would stand up to regular gigging abuse since I never tried to use them that way. When I am not using them they sit in the cases.

I'd love to try the software that Jim linked to, but since my iPad's dock connecter seems to be toast, and the battery dead now, I am in a bind for anything iOS-related as the iPad is now a brick until or if I try to repair it with parts from ifixit.com, which is a bit of a daunting task, but way cheaper than getting a NEW iPad.
 
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No iPad for me. I use Android phone and pad. My wife uses Apple iPhone and iPad. This way when she has a technical issue (only on days that end with a "Y") I tell her to go to the Apple store and have them figure it out.

:) I love her!


I'm really leaning towards a midi key board so that I can do bass, drums, horn sounds etc.
 
I'm really leaning towards a midi key board so that I can do bass, drums, horn sounds etc.

But John, nothing quite compares to plucking on those giant strings! I fell in love with it the first time I tried one. I also had a Rondo bass for a couple of years and made loads of recordings with it, although I have recently upgraded.
 
No iPad for me. I use Android phone and pad. My wife uses Apple iPhone and iPad. This way when she has a technical issue (only on days that end with a "Y") I tell her to go to the Apple store and have them figure it out....

To be fair, this was a 64GB iPad 3 with WiFi and Cellular, purchased new in March of 2012 for about $900, and has served me well in all regards and never a problem until now.

The 30-pin charging/dock connector was what I considered it's weakness in the hardware, and despite it spending most of it's life on a desk or music stand in my home studio, the constant unplugging/replugging of peripherals into something with so many pins inside the connector (yes 30 little 0.5mm pins) was bound to fail some day.

This iPad owes me nothing, and all my files are backed up to iCloud, and iTunes locally, as well as my own full root-filesystem backup via rsync to my Linux server (one benefit of having a jailbroken device).

It's just that right now I don't have the funds to replace it with a newer model, and feel quite handicapped until I get a new iPad.

Not interested in Android nor Windows mobile devices, for reasons far beyond the scope of this thread, and BTW please accept by apology for the digression from the main topic of this thread. Further iOS/mobile conversation can happen via PM or in a new thread if anyone is interested...
 
If you don't want to deal with rubber strings, maybe keep an eye out for a Rogue Beatle bass copy. Musician's Friend has them on sale for around $150 on a regular basis or look for a used one. Decent basses once you get rid of the horrible factory strings.
 
If you don't want to deal with rubber strings, maybe keep an eye out for a Rogue Beatle bass copy. Musician's Friend has them on sale for around $150 on a regular basis or look for a used one. Decent basses once you get rid of the horrible factory strings.
they are 150 now
 
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