Is the American made U-Bass worth the extra money? that natural swamp ash sure looks nice.
These custom prototypes look even more gorgeous.
CustomTopUBasses.jpg
I own a import solidbody and acoustic, that's two instruments for what a Cali would cost.
I love them and believe I got my money's worth.
I've never seen a Cali in a music store, so I've never played one.
They have better tuners, the Mi-Si pickup and the aesthetics.
But you would still be paying a thousand dollars for an instrument with rubber band strings and no intonation adjustment at the bridge.
(I guess this isn't an issue for uke players, but as a bass player it drives me a little nuts.)
The strings situation is getting better, as Aquila brought out their version (but still no 5-strings yet), and now Kala sells Pyramid metal roundwounds that fit the acoustic. [I have a set of those that I'm very happy with.]
If you want a 5-string or solidbody fretless, they're not available as imports, so the Californias are the only option.
There's quite a bit of u-bass discussion on the TalkBass forums from a bassist rather than uke perspective here:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/kala-ubass-megathread-part-4-a-893171/