Cutting the saddle (volume fix)...

[UkerDanno]

There might be a thread about this already, but I thought I'd document the process.

I unwound all the strings after marking them at the first fret with painters tape. (makes it easier to re-install)
Pulled out the saddle and separated the pieces. Marked the saddle so I wouldn't get the pieces confused.


Used an exacto razor saw to cut (very easy job) Then sanded the ends just a little to smooth out and prevent any jamming.


Had to fiddle a little with everything to get it back in place, but finally got it all. There were separate pieces under the pickup, that had to be oriented under each saddle piece. And there was a plastic shim under everything, I had to trim just a bit to get it to fit right, not sure why.


The tape I put on to mark the tuned position, then when re-installing, I pulled them to the 2nd fret and got the strings tied off, then wound up to in-tune.


Finished result...I'll let them sit for a few days before I trim the ends. These strings are about 3 years old and settled in nicely.




Not sure if it sounds all that much better, really, but it sounds good. I always had the bass turned up a little and treble turned down a bit. Jam next week, I'll see how it sounds with the group in the crowded room.

 

[bbkobabe]

I'm having a volume problem as well. I have seen this fix before, and may try it, but all my strings are giving low volume.

Hmmm...

BTW: What the heck is that inlay? My Kala has the same one, but I can't figure out what it is...

AND: Is that the pickup it came with or did you change it out?

Thanks for posting this!

 

[Arcy]

Clear demo, @UkerDanno !

BTW: What the heck is that inlay? My Kala has the same one, but I can't figure out what it is...

It's a toad (specifically a cane toad that didn't make it across the road). The original U-Bass™ was a collaboration between Kala and Road Toad. http://www.roadtoadmusic.com/main.html

 

[UkerDanno]

It's the original piezo pickup, it's an old solid spruce top (2012 vintage, I believe) that came out before they started putting in a preamp. Best setup IMHO.

 

[KohanMike]

I was the one who first posted that fix, read about it on the Talk Bass forum about 7 years ago and used it on 6-7 of my bass ukes with that pickup assembly. I actually removed the shim. Yes, originally Kala licensed the bass uke from Owen Holt/Road Toad Music and gave it their model name U-Bass.

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Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
4 tenor thinline cutaway ukes, 4 thinline acoustic bass ukes
•Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
•Member Cali Rose & The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

 

[Renaissance-Man]

I was the one who first posted that fix, read about it on the Talk Bass forum about 7 years ago and used it on 6-7 of my bass ukes with that pickup assembly.

What results did you get from this mod?

 

[UkerDanno]

I was the one who first posted that fix, read about it on the Talk Bass forum about 7 years ago and used it on 6-7 of my bass ukes with that pickup assembly. I actually removed the shim. Yes, originally Kala licensed the bass uke from Owen Holt/Road Toad Music and gave it their model name U-Bass.

---

Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
4 tenor thinline cutaway ukes, 4 thinline acoustic bass ukes
•Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
•Member Cali Rose & The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

I thought it would lower the action too much and I feel it's fine where it is.

What results did you get from this mod?

It's essentially to equalize volume if you have low volume from the E string or others. I have lower volume on E, but don't think this mod did much to help, maybe a little. I really don't or didn't have a problem, but the E string volume is lower than the other strings. I just turn up the bass on my amp and turn down the treble, it works fine.

 

[KohanMike]

What results did you get from this mod?

It worked perfectly on all my bass ukes.

I thought it would lower the action too much and I feel it's fine where it is. It's essentially to equalize volume if you have low volume from the E string or others. I have lower volume on E, but don't think this mod did much to help, maybe a little. I really don't or didn't have a problem, but the E string volume is lower than the other strings. I just turn up the bass on my amp and turn down the treble, it works fine.

It's possible that string is dead, I had that happen, changed the string and fixed it. I've since given up on all poly strings in favor of the Kala/Galli flatwound nylon core. They have a good deep bass sound, settle in quickly, never get sticky no matter the humidity and very easy to trim, though rarely needs it if you install them properly.

 

[UkerDanno]

It worked perfectly on all my bass ukes.

It's possible that string is dead, I had that happen, changed the string and fixed it. I've since given up on all poly strings in favor of the Kala/Galli flatwound nylon core. They have a good deep bass sound, settle in quickly, never get sticky no matter the humidity and very easy to trim, though rarely needs it if you install them properly.

I've had 4 Kala Ubasses, all with Pahoehoes, they all had about the same lower volume on the E string, I think it's the frequency.

 

[Renaissance-Man]

I've had 4 Kala Ubasses, all with Pahoehoes, they all had about the same lower volume on the E string, I think it's the frequency.

Yes, I agree. The E vibrations produce the least energy. Couple that with a passive pickup, the E signal is going to be the most attenuated. You should try plugging into an EQ pedal to shape and boost you bass signal.

 

[Renaissance-Man]

I'm having a volume problem as well. I have seen this fix before, and may try it, but all my strings are giving low volume.

I recall you originally posted just your A string was mute, but the others were normal. If all your strings are attenuated, I'd suspect your internal preamp.

 

[bbkobabe]

It's a toad

Ok a flattened toad... that actually makes sense!

My bass is one of those special Hutch Hutchingson(?) models. I bought this same pickup on the advice of Wiggy here on UU... But the output is really low now...

I recall you originally posted just your A string was mute, but the others were normal. If all your strings are attenuated, I'd suspect your internal preamp.

True... but I changed out the pickup... now, all the strings have low output, but all are sending SOMETHING at least... just not much. And yes, I did change the batteries... It has the Shadow pre-amp/tuner combo ... that may be the problem now... I guess changing that out might be my next step...

 

[Renaissance-Man]

...My bass is one of those special Hutch Hutchingson(?) models. I bought this same pickup on the advice of Wiggy here on UU... But the output is really low now...

True... but I changed out the pickup... now, all the strings have low output, but all are sending SOMETHING at least... just not much. And yes, I did change the batteries... It has the Shadow pre-amp/tuner combo ... that may be the problem now... I guess changing that out might be my next step...

I wasn't aware that you changed the pickup. I'm sorry to hear it didn't work out. I'm sure you're disappointed.

Sometimes I have trouble following the narrative, so help me along. Can you identify the replacement pickup for me, or is it a generic? Again, I welcome your corrections, wasn't the on-board preamp/tuner originally working normally, aside from the A string issue? As I understand it now, your problem seems to be a mismatched pickup and preamp pairing. I know, it's disappointing.

There may be a bright spot on your horizon. I have an idea, but first I need you to verify or correct my understanding.

 

[bbkobabe]

Thank you for helping me out!

My narrative has been a bit slapdash, so I totally understand...

OK: Bought used bass, noticed right away the tuner didn't work for the A string. Plugged it in. Low volume across the strings and zero volume on the A. Thought the issue was use of a guitar amp. so switched to a bass amp. Exactly the same.

Complained to the seller... they didn't seem surprised to hear this. Refunded me $50 to make repairs and told me they didn't want to hear from me again.

Wrote about it here. Bought $10 suggested replacement pickup from eBay, which looks exactly like the one in the posts above. It looked quite a bit different from the stock pickup, however, but had the exact same plug to link to the preamp so no soldering required. It required a bit of modification to make it fit in the saddle slot. Installed it without the shim. Tuner now works on all strings! Yeah!

Thought it was all ok, but still has super low volume even with volume set to 11 on the amp and pre-amp gain on max.

Changed the batteries. No change in the output.

Not sure what to do next... any suggestions?

 

[Renaissance-Man]

Thank you for helping me out!

My narrative has been a bit slapdash, so I totally understand...

OK: Bought used bass, noticed right away the tuner didn't work for the A string. Plugged it in. Low volume across the strings and zero volume on the A. Thought the issue was use of a guitar amp. so switched to a bass amp. Exactly the same.

Complained to the seller... they didn't seem surprised to hear this. Refunded me $50 to make repairs and told me they didn't want to hear from me again.

Wrote about it here. Bought $10 suggested replacement pickup from eBay, which looks exactly like the one in the posts above. It looked quite a bit different from the stock pickup, however, but had the exact same plug to link to the preamp so no soldering required. It required a bit of modification to make it fit in the saddle slot. Installed it without the shim. Tuner now works on all strings! Yeah!

Thought it was all ok, but still has super low volume even with volume set to 11 on the amp and pre-amp gain on max.

Changed the batteries. No change in the output.

Not sure what to do next... any suggestions?

Thanks for the recap. Above, when you say you set the pre-amp gain on max, what pre-amp is this? Is this your Shadow, a knob on your amp, a preamp pedal or something else?

The pickup you bought is appropriate (I did suggest it to you originally, but others could have suggested it too), and it's working correctly as per your recap. Let's try to figure out the condition of your Shadow unit.

Is this the rear of your Shadow unit? I've seen slight variations in the two connectors, but that's irrelevant.

I'm trying to ascertain if the Shadow unit is an active preamp, or just passive tone and volume pots. The tuner works fine, and although it's not mentioned above, I'm assuming the two pots work too. Maybe we can take a look inside this unit, but that's your call.

The pickup signal is routed to the Shadow via the mini phono plug, then it's sent to the output jack via the molex connector. Just for completeness, can you disconnect the molex plug and remove the output jack housing? Once removed, take a good look at the wiring inside and outside of the output jack unit and molex plug. Look to see if there is a cold solder connection anywhere too. It's possible this bass always worked this way.

BTW, what battery does the unit use? I bought a guitar once that had a DOA preamp. After a lot of head scratching, I pieced together what happened. It took a 9v battery. The battery just dropped into a plastic box. It was entirely possible to insert it correctly or backwards. Well, apparently the 9v was inserted backwards, and the preamp's opamp was fried. I replaced the opamp (a circuit board mounted inline 8 pin IC), and I also added a diode in series with the battery's positive so that if the battery was inserted backwards, no current would flow through the diode, and the opamp would not be destroyed again.

 

[UkerDanno]

Yes, I agree. The E vibrations produce the least energy. Couple that with a passive pickup, the E signal is going to be the most attenuated. You should try plugging into an EQ pedal to shape and boost you bass signal.

Any suggestions for a cheap and simple bass pedal?

 

[Renaissance-Man]

Yes. The Behringer AD121 V-Tone Acoustic Driver works beautifully, and it's bargain priced too.

 

[UkerDanno]

Yes. The Behringer AD121 V-Tone Acoustic Driver works beautifully, and it's bargain priced too.

This? Does it work for bass too?
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ADI21--behringer-adi21-v-tone-acoustic-driver-di-pedal

Edit: Oh, I see there's another one for bass...
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BDI21--behringer-bdi21-v-tone-bass-driver-di-pedal

 

[Renaissance-Man]

This? Does it work for bass too?
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ADI21--behringer-adi21-v-tone-acoustic-driver-di-pedal

Edit: Oh, I see there's another one for bass...
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BDI21--behringer-bdi21-v-tone-bass-driver-di-pedal

You'll be happy with either one for your ubass, but the AD121 has more features and it's on special so you'll also save another $8 in coin too. The filters are the same in both pedals. I use it for anything with a passive piezo, including my cello (that I don't play good). I can play fiddle good, but cello tuning is all fingered in the popular keys. It's hard to stay on pitch without a lot of sliding around.

 

[UkerDanno]

Here's a good demo/review...this lady also frequents the facebook Ubass Freaks page.