Kala U Bass should it be considered as a Ukulele

I love my ubass because it it small. Using it for recording through some minor effects serious bass players can’t believe it’s not a bass.

I started playing ukulele because it was smaller than a guitar; I play baritone and tenor.

So, call it what you will. I call it a really nice sound if amped and recorded correctly. I play acoustic ubass with electronics and solid body ubass with electronics. Lov ‘em.

I love the rubbery strings because they do a good job of approximating a stand up.

There are other kinds of strings that ubass players use, including some metal strings, flatwounds, round wounds, hybrids.

I know a well known bass player who plays uke because it’s a lot easier to carry around a uke.

Bonnie Raiit’s bass player uses a ubass.
 
The ukulele is the only stringed instrument I have ever played, so if I can play it...then it is a ukulele. I would just down-tune the 2 treble strings a half step and get EAC#F# and then all my ukulele chord shapes will work. So, yeah, I'd consider it a uke, albeit not a uke with that traditional timbre of a guitar being plucked between the bridge and the tail-piece. But a uke nonetheless.
Not certain this works. I can take two strings off my guitar and down tune them but it is still a guitar. ( just one missing two strings). I get it that tuning like a ukulele makes an instrument playable like a ukulele. That is not why I find the U bass confusing and not why I am questioning it as a Ukulele. People are calling these instruments bass ukuleles and I think these came from the bass and not from the Ukulele. A Banjolele and Banjo mandolins are bastard instruments, they just have different parents. They come from a Banjo and a ukulele or a Banjo and a mandolin. So they are a new breed. For me they are not pure bred ukuleles or mandolins I think of pure bred dogs and mutts. Yes they are both dogs however when you combine let’s say a Standard poodle and a Labrador RetrIever you get a Labradoodle. It is no longer a poodle or a Labrador it is part of each. Thus is why the U bass is so confusing to me.
 
" A Banjolele and Banjo mandolins are bastard instruments, they just have different parents. They come from a Banjo and a ukulele or a Banjo and a mandolin. "

😁😁😁 This made me smile.... sure, Some instruments just have their own parentage.

This is an interesting discussion and I am enjoying all the views given. Each have their merits.
 
In the end it doesn't really matter :) Kleenex v. nose mop ... who cares !

I was embroiled in a similar nonsensical topic on a cycling blog. " Electric bikes... are they bicycles or motor cycles?" a) if it has a motor, isn't it a "motor"cycle? v. b) if you can pedal it to power it, it must be a bike.

If you try the instrument and like playing it, call it what you want and enjoy it!
(Friendly opinion, your mileage may vary)
s2
 
In the end it doesn't really matter :) Kleenex v. nose mop ... who cares !

I was embroiled in a similar nonsensical topic on a cycling blog. " Electric bikes... are they bicycles or motor cycles?" a) if it has a motor, isn't it a "motor"cycle? v. b) if you can pedal it to power it, it must be a bike.

If you try the instrument and like playing it, call it what you want and enjoy it!
(Friendly opinion, your mileage may vary)
s2
Definitely a bicycle;)
 
In the end it doesn't really matter :) Kleenex v. nose mop ... who cares !

I was embroiled in a similar nonsensical topic on a cycling blog. " Electric bikes... are they bicycles or motor cycles?" a) if it has a motor, isn't it a "motor"cycle? v. b) if you can pedal it to power it, it must be a bike.

If you try the instrument and like playing it, call it what you want and enjoy it!
(Friendly opinion, your mileage may vary)
s2
Now we are veering off topic, following your logic where does a 'Puch Maxi' fit? 2 wheels and a 49cc engine, but you have to pedal the damn thing to get it started!
shall we veer a little further and discuss the Sinclair C5?
 
In the Hornbostel-Sachs system, all of these are classified under call number 321. For what that’s worth.
 
A bass ukulele is a guitar.

Owen Holt’s original bass ukulele was a baritone ukulele with Ashbury bass strings. Changing the strings doesn’t change the instrument type, so it’s still a baritone ukulele.

Per @Wiggy and @merlin666 a baritone ukulele is a guitar.

Ergo a bass ukulele is a guitar. QED

More seriously:
A “bass” is not a singular specific instrument. It’s a tone range within an instrument family.

There are bass guitars and bass viol and bass mandolins and bass saxophones and bass fish and bass drums and bass banjos and bass ukuleles. They’re all basses. They’re also guitars and viols and mandolins and saxophones and fish and drums and banjos and ukuleles.
 
Is it the guilele an ukulele or a guitar? The name simply remember us -for a merely marketing strategy- that its dimension is those of a (tenor) ukulele. Despite the fact that it is tuned in A, this instrument has 6 strings arranged with the same intervals of acommon guitar. So it is not an ukulele; just the dimension recall it. it is a small guitar tuned higher. Guitars sometime had different tunings than the standard, The Terzin guitar in G for example and it was smaller. Even the guitar in B, that is bigger is another example.
U bass: the fact to call it bass ukulele is a marketing strategy organized by a brand famous because produce ukuleles only. The tuning is those of a real bass so this is a short bass. The only link to the ukulele is the fact that it is small and for the fact that it was interest of Kala to link it with the rest of the production; i.e. ukuleles.
Mimmo
Have you seen 6 string baritone ukes (tuned e to e)? Romero Creations has some and I really want one, but god if that’s a ukulele and not a small guitar I don’t know which way is up.
 
... There are bass guitars and bass viol and bass mandolins and bass saxophones and bass fish and bass drums and bass banjos and bass ukuleles. They’re all basses. They’re also guitars and viols and mandolins and saxophones and fish and drums and banjos and ukuleles.

Quod Erat Demonstrandum

Bass goes well with a uke!
 

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