Bass Uke

ukemunga

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A friend's wife called me today seeking advice on a bass uke for her husband for Christmas.

He's an ex rocker, played bass and it's been decades, and I got him interested in ukes. All I know is the buzzwords "Kala Ubass."

Looking for recommendations for acoustic electric that's not over the top expense-wise for a beginner. Probably with frets.

Thanks for any guidance.

Fred
 
There's no equivalent I know of in the bass uke world to a dolphin for a beginner to try out.

Without a budget of $400+, you're not in the market.
That might be over the top for many uke players, but it's the starting point for uke bass.

If your buddy has had a uke bass in his hands and expressed the desire for one, great.
If not, it's an expensive present that you might want to make sure can be exchanged or returned.

Something thing to keep in mind is that unless you're alone in a quiet room, there's no such thing as an "acoustic" uke bass.
To be heard, they must be played through an amplifier.
In a group setting, you can be sitting next to one and you won't hear it unplugged. So part of the price is the pickup and electronics.

If you buy used, it's important to critically check the sound through an amp, as they use under-saddle pickups that can have technical issues with even volume from string to string.

Another difference is the fat, soft, stretchy plastic strings are nothing like bass guitar strings.
Most old bass players (like me) take to them, but they're quite an adjustment in playing technique.

Kala was first to market and so is the standard.
I bought a spruce acoustic and a solidbody as soon as they became available a couple years back.

An alternative is Ohana's new uke bass.
I've played one, it's the same size and sells for a little less.

Mim, HMS, et al should be able to get Ohanas as well as Kalas, so you'd know there was a reputable dealer backing it.

One idea might be a gift card from a dealer, then the old rocker could get whatever he wanted rather than have a bass uke under the tree Christmas morning.
For $500, instead of a Chinese factory bass, there's a whole world of classy ukes.

There are thousands of posts on Kala u-basses and their clones from the perspective of bass players here:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/kala-ubass-megathread-part-6-a-964655/index47.html
 
Least expensive acoustic uke bass is Kala Rumbler UBass for $350. It's actually probably all he'd ever need to play ukulele bass.
 
There is a new kid on the block who has been well received in Salem,Oregon. List price is 599.95. Our Minimum Advertiseable Price is 349.95, so I cannot tell you publicly how close I will sell it below MAP. If it is sent from the distributor to you, they charge the shipping fee plus $8.00 drop ship fee. They will set up anything in their shop for $10.00. You can read about the EF-EBASS at www.shs-sales.net. They are fretted. They sound good plugged or unplugged.
 
There is also the Kamoa E3E steel string ukulele Bass. I've played one and like it a lot. They put out some acoustic volume too although not super loud. Someone who has played electric basses will feel more at home with a Kamoa.

The Kamoa bass has a bit of string tension and feels tight where as the Kala UBass has NO string tension at all and feels very floppy.

Despite some claims here that the Kamoa isn't tuned as low as the Kala it is infact tuned the same which is the same as a standard electric Bass. The difference is similar to playing with the tone controls. Acoustically the Kamoa sounds like the treble is turned up and the Kala sounds like the bass is turned up and the treble turned off. If you amplify them you can adjust the sound. The Kala sounds like a traditional acoustic double bass where as the Kamoa is closer to an electric bass.

Mind you. The Kamoa isn't that cheap either.

Anthony
 
There is also the Kamoa E3E steel string ukulele Bass. I've played one and like it a lot. They put out some acoustic volume too although not super loud. Someone who has played electric basses will feel more at home with a Kamoa.

The Kamoa bass has a bit of string tension and feels tight where as the Kala UBass has NO string tension at all and feels very floppy.

Despite some claims here that the Kamoa isn't tuned as low as the Kala it is infact tuned the same which is the same as a standard electric Bass. The difference is similar to playing with the tone controls. Acoustically the Kamoa sounds like the treble is turned up and the Kala sounds like the bass is turned up and the treble turned off. If you amplify them you can adjust the sound. The Kala sounds like a traditional acoustic double bass where as the Kamoa is closer to an electric bass.

Mind you. The Kamoa isn't that cheap either.

Anthony


The Kamoa is not tuned the same as a standard bass. It's tuned an entire octave higher.
It's tuned the same as the EADG strings of a standard acoustic guitar, but with a smaller body cavity and scale length.
Turning the treble up and down does not change an instrument's pitch by an octave.

You can get a properly tuned electric bass at a similar scale length, such as the Samick Mini Corsair or a Fernandez Nomad bass.


That being said, I agree with you that the Ubass strings feel a bit floppy.
But it's still a rather playable instrument. I've heard that the Aquila Thundergut bass uke strings have a higher tension than the stock black strings.
 
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The Kamoa is not tuned the same as a standard bass. It's tuned an entire octave higher.
It's tuned the same as the EADG strings of a standard acoustic guitar, but with a smaller body cavity and scale length.
Turning the treble up and down does not change an instrument's pitch by an octave.

You can get a properly tuned electric bass at a similar scale length, such as the Samick Mini Corsair or a Fernandez Nomad bass.


That being said, I agree with you that the Ubass strings feel a bit floppy.
But it's still a rather playable instrument. I've heard that the Aquila Thundergut bass uke strings have a higher tension than the stock black strings.

Umm, NO. Time to stop perpetrating this myth that the Kamoa is tuned an octave higher than the Kala and the same as the bottom 4 strings on a guitar. It isn't. I've tested it side by side with a guitar and the Kamoa is tuned and octave LOWER than the guitar.

It is JUST the same tuning as the KALA. The difference is the strings on the Kala SOUND lower acoustically and the strings on the Kamoa SOUND higher acoustically. The Kamoa is tuned the same as an electric bass. The Kala sounds like an acoustic double bass.

EDIT: Maybe you could put forward a case that the Kala is tuned down an octave LOWER than an electric bass. I'm not sure of that but the Kamoa IS tuned the same as an electric bass.

Anthony
 
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Here's a post I made on the Bass forum that might help.

Am considering a Ubass. Attended a workshop this weekend at the Tampa Bay Ukulele Getaway conducted by professional bassist Steve Boisen. His guidance is basically:
1. All the hollowbody Ubasses sound alike, so don't pay extra for solid woods unless you have to have the look.
2. Insure you get a model with a Hipshot tuner as the others are part plastic and likely to break.
3. There's a string installation video on YouTube. Follow it as the strings are far more difficult to install than they look.
4. Steve likes the Pahoehoe strings as he feels the Thunderguts are a little "sticky"
5. Biggest mistake beginning Ubassers make is picking the strings too aggressively. Just barely need to "pick" them with the fingertip.
6. A beginning bassist should avoid the fretless models because it will be harder for them to master. Finger placement on the fretting hand will be far more "critical" than on a fretted bass.

Well, that about exhaust my newly gained knowledge on the subject..

Last edited by PhilUSAFRet; 11-06-2013 at 06:21 PM.
 
Amazon has this for $315 with free shipping. http://www.amazon.com/Eddy-Finn-EF-EBASS-Ukulele-Mahogany/dp/B00CNR1FOS

View attachment 61496

I haven't seen one in person, so I can't offer any more info.

I love my Kala uBass with Pahoehoe black strings, and receive a lot of compliments about the sound.


I'd stay away from that Eddie Finn. The Kala Rumbler is only $30 more. The Kala is a known commodity. You can resell it. You can predict what you are getting. The few Eddie Finn ukes that I played were very unimpressive as players (I'm sure there are good ones but the ones I tried were dead). I don't see any meaningful benefit in getting the uke for only $30 cheaper. Actually at the moment Guitar Center is selling the Kala Rumbler for $349 and a 15% off sale so it would actually be cheaper to get the Rumbler from guitar center at the moment.
 
I own both the Kamoa and a Kala.



There is also the Kamoa E3E steel string ukulele Bass. I've played one and like it a lot. They put out some acoustic volume too although not super loud. Someone who has played electric basses will feel more at home with a Kamoa.

The Kamoa bass has a bit of string tension and feels tight where as the Kala UBass has NO string tension at all and feels very floppy.


So far, so good.



Despite some claims here that the Kamoa isn't tuned as low as the Kala, it is in fact tuned the same, which is the same as a standard electric Bass.


This is where your perception and mine diverge.



...Time to stop perpetrating this myth... I've tested it side by side with a guitar...


Your myth is my reality.

Possibly your impression during the side by side test with a guitar was skewed by the dark sound of the strings and construction of the Kamoa, but had you tested it against a u-bass, what might you you have decided?


In the spirit of aloha and the Myth Busters tv program, I offer a short video to demonstrate my point.

http://youtu.be/57KCSxmNomQ
 
I own both the Kamoa and a Kala.

So far, so good.

This is where your perception and mine diverge.






Your myth is my reality.

Possibly your impression during the side by side test with a guitar was skewed by the dark sound of the strings and construction of the Kamoa, but had you tested it against a u-bass, what might you you have decided?


In the spirit of aloha and the Myth Busters tv program, I offer a short video to demonstrate my point.

http://youtu.be/57KCSxmNomQ

Agreed. My experience is the Kamoa is tuned an octave higher than the Kala. The Kamoa is more of a piccolobass uke or a ukucello, which is why you can do some chording on it
 
Let me put this here:

Bass-Fish-Guitar--60819.jpg
 
^^^^
That's cute. Bass the fish meets bass the instrument.

Mike DaSilva makes ukes that look like fish, maybe he could do a custom "bass" uke.
The one that girl is holding looks longer than baritone uke scale.
"Scale", get it?

I don't know how old you are, but about 25 years ago there was a small independent music store in Denver that sold only bass guitars.
I think it was called First Bass, and in the guy's advertising he used a picture of a fish with a line through it to discourage fishermen from coming into his store looking for lures and reels. ;)
 
OK, I was wrong. I think the problem was that I played the Kamoa and it was an octave lower than the ukulele which was detuned. A standard bass is one octave lower than a standard guitar and the Kamoa was an octave lower to me.

I did compare the Kamoa to a standard guitar and the Kamoa did sound lower in pitch to me.

Anthony
 
Great comparison. Glad this all worked out for everyone. Because of it's smaller size, I find that Kamoa "piccolo bass" fascinating nonetheless, especially because I have relatively small hands and fingers. I guess I hadn't really paid enough attention to it to notice it was a smaller instrument and haven't seen or held one yet. Playing the U-Bass is a bit of a stretch for me.

Went looking for dimensions and couldn't find them. The Kamoa looked smaller in the comparison video, but is the scale length the same? I heard one on youtube plugged into a proper bass amp and it sure sounded like a "real bass", an octave higher or not.
 
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...Playing the U-Bass is a bit of a stretch for me.
...The Kamoa looked smaller in the comparison video, but is the scale length the same?
If a u-bass is a stretch for you, the Kamoa is no improvement.
That's an optical illusion in the video.

The Kamoa is virtually identical to the Kala, the body is actually half an inch wider and deeper, with a bowed back.
On both basses the scale length is 20", as the original u-basses were based on a baritone uke.
The width at the nut is 1.75"

As Anthony said, the Kamoa flatwound steel strings would be familiar to a bass player, but could feel very stiff to a uke player accustomed to nylon.
And again, to Anthony's point, the design and tuning of the Kamoa give it more projection and volume acoustically, and lends itself to the more forceful plucking and fretting technique of a bass guitar.
It can hold it's own without an amp.

The Kala elastic plastic strings demand amplification and a butterfly gentleness in touch that's not intuitive to old bass players like me.
The low E on the Kala factory strings is almost as fat as a pencil, and by design the action is very high, but since the tension is so low they're very playable.

The quest for more acoustic volume has driven the design of slightly larger basses, like the 23" scale Gold Tone micro bass.

We're fortunate uke basses have caught on so well, and there are more and more choices coming to market.

The uke group I play with regularly has used one for a couple of years, and it's hard now to imagine playing without one, it gives such great foundation and solid rhythm to the ensemble sound.

The bass uke never fails to draw questions and positive comments when we play in public.
 
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