Howdy : )
I came searching for an answer to this and while I didn't quite find what I was looking for was very enlightened (and entertained) so much by posts from Booli, mrufino1, kohanmike and others that I knew this is a place worth asking : )
I have an early run UKBE-20 lefty, purchased in mid 2015. The output is insanely over-hot (even with its over-the-top tone controls nearly off) and the only way to use it is at volume 10%. Otherwise it sounds like Jack Bruce through a Marshall, but even dialed nearly all the way down it still isn't a workable tone.
Some perspective: my main basses for the past 15 years have been Ashborys (I now have a trio of them from three different eras, all red all giggable). Got a first run lefty Kala fretted UBass (passive pickup, terrible intonation) which had me get a Hadean lefty fretted UKB-23 (not perfect but much more useful than the Kala). I like playing the hollow body Uke basses but neither will give me the R&B/Rock/Funk the Ashborys can deliver, so for those times when I'm not the designated driver and am being paid mostly in drink sought out a cheap fretted solid body to be a more Ashbory-like fretted option. Which is to say I'm deep in this tiny bass wonderland too.
So, these electronics in the UKBE...It's not that they don't sound good, which they don't, but they're not usable due to the 20db hotter output than the standard active bass output and overloaded tone at anywhere but nearly completely off. I have communicated with Agile (very fine folks, terrific service. I have bought a slew of cheap lefty guitars and basses from them over the years, always felt I got my money's worth and then some). Turns out the early run of these did indeed have a preamp or pickup issue that they had to change, so at least I know I'm not crazy : ) But since I put it in the closet for two years and only recently decided to deal with it, I don't expect Rondo to send over their revised electronics. Anyway, I don't really want it. What I want is a much better system I can install and be thrilled with. Very little at the pickup/preamp companies about solid body use basses specifically. I noticed that some of you, notably mrufino1, put an LR Baggs in theirs (I use a mute often too, but mine's a custom made rubber band and sponge design. Had to wait for the broccoli bunches to all get finished before I could have the rubber bands). You took yours out of a Kala, correct? Kala sells the Baggs "EQ", which seems like it would be the whole of the electronics, including preamp, but not a pickup (?) Biggs shows no product on their site that looks like an upgrade for a UKBE. I would LOVE to try a Mi-Si pickup, having heard them in a Kala California solid body, but no luck with that research either. Seems like Kala stopped using Mi-Si and went to custom designed Baggs in those. Perhaps that's why I'm having such fits finding a Baggs for the Hadean, because they only make one solid Uke bass system and won't offer a version to fit in anything but a Cal Bass? Fittingly, the Mi-Si site has plenty of products but none that look like what I need, as in what they used to put in Cal UBasses.
Anyway, what can anyone recommend as an upgrade as an onboard replacement swap for the UKBE? Thanks for your time! I appreciate any wisdom offered !
Thanks,
s
I came searching for an answer to this and while I didn't quite find what I was looking for was very enlightened (and entertained) so much by posts from Booli, mrufino1, kohanmike and others that I knew this is a place worth asking : )
I have an early run UKBE-20 lefty, purchased in mid 2015. The output is insanely over-hot (even with its over-the-top tone controls nearly off) and the only way to use it is at volume 10%. Otherwise it sounds like Jack Bruce through a Marshall, but even dialed nearly all the way down it still isn't a workable tone.
Some perspective: my main basses for the past 15 years have been Ashborys (I now have a trio of them from three different eras, all red all giggable). Got a first run lefty Kala fretted UBass (passive pickup, terrible intonation) which had me get a Hadean lefty fretted UKB-23 (not perfect but much more useful than the Kala). I like playing the hollow body Uke basses but neither will give me the R&B/Rock/Funk the Ashborys can deliver, so for those times when I'm not the designated driver and am being paid mostly in drink sought out a cheap fretted solid body to be a more Ashbory-like fretted option. Which is to say I'm deep in this tiny bass wonderland too.
So, these electronics in the UKBE...It's not that they don't sound good, which they don't, but they're not usable due to the 20db hotter output than the standard active bass output and overloaded tone at anywhere but nearly completely off. I have communicated with Agile (very fine folks, terrific service. I have bought a slew of cheap lefty guitars and basses from them over the years, always felt I got my money's worth and then some). Turns out the early run of these did indeed have a preamp or pickup issue that they had to change, so at least I know I'm not crazy : ) But since I put it in the closet for two years and only recently decided to deal with it, I don't expect Rondo to send over their revised electronics. Anyway, I don't really want it. What I want is a much better system I can install and be thrilled with. Very little at the pickup/preamp companies about solid body use basses specifically. I noticed that some of you, notably mrufino1, put an LR Baggs in theirs (I use a mute often too, but mine's a custom made rubber band and sponge design. Had to wait for the broccoli bunches to all get finished before I could have the rubber bands). You took yours out of a Kala, correct? Kala sells the Baggs "EQ", which seems like it would be the whole of the electronics, including preamp, but not a pickup (?) Biggs shows no product on their site that looks like an upgrade for a UKBE. I would LOVE to try a Mi-Si pickup, having heard them in a Kala California solid body, but no luck with that research either. Seems like Kala stopped using Mi-Si and went to custom designed Baggs in those. Perhaps that's why I'm having such fits finding a Baggs for the Hadean, because they only make one solid Uke bass system and won't offer a version to fit in anything but a Cal Bass? Fittingly, the Mi-Si site has plenty of products but none that look like what I need, as in what they used to put in Cal UBasses.
Anyway, what can anyone recommend as an upgrade as an onboard replacement swap for the UKBE? Thanks for your time! I appreciate any wisdom offered !
Thanks,
s
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