"MiNi" solid body Ukulele Bass from China - any experience?

I noticed these popping up on eBay lately when I search Bass Ukulele

They appear to be generic U-Bass and other Bass Ukulele clones. I ordered the 5 string version as I wanted to try a 5-string bass tuning.

But does anyone here have personal experience with them? What's the quality like? Do the strings sound balanced?

I have experience with a Kala U-Bass and Mahalo's bass ukulele.


A demonstration video:


https://youtu.be/H85Qvl2R5eo

Yes, I have one from Musoo I bought about 4 years ago and had it converted to a Rickenbacker walnut look-alike with LaBella/Gold Tone flat wound steel strings. About six months ago I bought an Aiersi that I'm going to modify to look like a Music Man Bongo Bass, not sure if I'll keep the Thundergut strings or go to the same flat wounds. It's been hanging on the wall as I wait to get to it. Both have good amp string volume and are built plenty well enough.

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This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

Mike,
You are really creative in your reimaginings of production bass ukuleles. I am impressed. On the Bongo bass, will you reshape the existing headstock, or do you need to graft new wood?

Mike,
You are really creative in your reimaginings of production bass ukuleles. I am impressed. On the Bongo bass, will you reshape the existing headstock, or do you need to graft new wood?

rrieth said:

Mike, You are really creative in your reimaginings of production bass ukuleles. I am impressed. On the Bongo bass, will you reshape the existing headstock, or do you need to graft new wood?

Click to expand...

Thanks very much. My plan is to reshape the existing headstock. My mockup drawing is a photo of the Aiersi I took, then imported into my graphic design application Canvas Draw 5 in full scale, so everything is measured to exact sizes. As best as I can tell, it will work, but Murphy's law always prevails. We'll see once I start cutting.

I also just started working on another mod of a Rondo Hadean 24" scale to look like a Fender Jazz Bass with a bit of Mustang (the slide switch is to turn on and off the battery, ordered today). Today I filled the three pot holes, sanded the edges, including forming an elbow indent, Next is print a pickguard template so Patt's Guitar can make it, which will include the chrome sections, and use mylar self stick sheets to simulate the chrome sections. Pat Wilkins will do the painting.

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This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

Mike, does thay say UKENBACHER on the headstock?

ricdoug said:

Mike, does thay say UKENBACHER on the headstock?

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Yep, spelled Ukenbacker, I made up that Rickenbacker style decal on my computer, the name was suggested on the Talk Bass forum and I liked it. I've done that with a few of my bass mods, Tortoilele for my tortoise shell pickguard, Hofnelele for the Hofner violin style body, Narwhalele for my whale hump singlecut, all just for the fun of it. Plus the yellow one, a Jazzalele.

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This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

Mike, those are great re-imaginings of bass ukes. Really stylish and fun. Your designs work and pull together as a whole. Great eye-candy. Love the names for them.

Do you consider the ergonomics of playing them as you design and modify? Just curious.

Kenn2018 said:

Mike, those are great re-imaginings of bass ukes. Really stylish and fun. Your designs work and pull together as a whole. Great eye-candy. Love the names for them. Do you consider the ergonomics of playing them as you design and modify? Just curious.

Click to expand...

Thanks very much. Ergonomics is a good question, first they have to be between 21 and 24" scale. Next, it can't be too heavy because I have nerve damage all around my neck and shoulders from radiation treatments for cancer many years ago. Also, the body can't be too big, I made the mistake of modifying an Ibanez miKro 28.6" scale bass with a 24" Rondo Hadean neck, but the body was just too big, very uncomfortable for me. I'm rectifying that with a conversion of an Ibanez miKro 22.6" scale junior guitar, using parts from the miKro bass (in the photo below, the first one is the 28/24" Ibanez, then the junior guitar, then my mockup of the conversion to bass). The neck is going back to the Rondo being made into the yellow jazz

I also made the mistake of believing a Chinese vendor who said he could have a 22" scale Rickenbacker 325 replica made into a bass, but all they did was cut down the neck of their guitar, it's too heavy and big for me. It cost only $275, but not to go to waste, I'm giving it one of the members of my uke group, she just started learning bass on a temporarily borrowed one, this should make her happy since she can't afford to buy her own.

The yellow jazz is the first one that I sanded down to make space for my arm as I play. I found that design to be very comfortable on the ones that came that way.

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This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers