I am familiar with the story when Owen Holt teamed up with Kala to produce the first commercial Bass Ukulele. In 2009 Kala showed the first U Bass at NAMM (pictured below) It seems these instruments have caught on and
now I am hearing that these are considered Bass ukuleles. I am uncertain if in fact this is because Kala has become a well known producer of Ukuleles and this is simply a marketing ploy or if those of us interested in the Ukulele have accepted this hi-bred as a bass ukulele. It is even more confusing as all of the Kala U basses have
on board electronics so they are either acoustic/electric instruments or they are solid body electric instruments.
The short scale and size permits these U basses to be tuned like a regular bass E-A-D-G. I am uncertain if these U Basses should even be considered as part of the Ukulele family. As one who has been a guitarist for a long time and as I own an electric fretless bass that rarely gets played unless my bass playing friends stop by, I sort of think the the U bass is just a miniature bass and really has no connection to a Ukulele. The only connection I see is that both have four strings and as the bass has been around for a long time for me the U bass is simply a mini bass and I can’t wrap my head around the idea that this is a Ukulele. I own a Cordoba mini
from the first generation of minis produced by Cordoba and it is clear that this is a classical guitar neck placed on a small body. Cordoba never marketed the mini as a 6 string Ukulele, by the way I have found these first generation mini’s to be ideal instruments for kids to learn the guitar on. They are a comfortable size the fretboards are wide making fingering easy as string spacing is plentiful, and the nylon strings are easier on the fingers of children than steel strings.
The U bass is also close in size to a baritone Ukulele in fact the length of a Baritone Ukulele is generally
between 28-30 inches and a U Bass is 30 inches . I like the U bass I am just not certain it is really a Ukulele. I would like to hear other thoughts and comments. I suppose as the U Bass started out as an electric/accoustic instrument that may be why it is confusing to me. All of the others in the Ukulele family started out as acoustic instruments.
now I am hearing that these are considered Bass ukuleles. I am uncertain if in fact this is because Kala has become a well known producer of Ukuleles and this is simply a marketing ploy or if those of us interested in the Ukulele have accepted this hi-bred as a bass ukulele. It is even more confusing as all of the Kala U basses have
on board electronics so they are either acoustic/electric instruments or they are solid body electric instruments.
The short scale and size permits these U basses to be tuned like a regular bass E-A-D-G. I am uncertain if these U Basses should even be considered as part of the Ukulele family. As one who has been a guitarist for a long time and as I own an electric fretless bass that rarely gets played unless my bass playing friends stop by, I sort of think the the U bass is just a miniature bass and really has no connection to a Ukulele. The only connection I see is that both have four strings and as the bass has been around for a long time for me the U bass is simply a mini bass and I can’t wrap my head around the idea that this is a Ukulele. I own a Cordoba mini
from the first generation of minis produced by Cordoba and it is clear that this is a classical guitar neck placed on a small body. Cordoba never marketed the mini as a 6 string Ukulele, by the way I have found these first generation mini’s to be ideal instruments for kids to learn the guitar on. They are a comfortable size the fretboards are wide making fingering easy as string spacing is plentiful, and the nylon strings are easier on the fingers of children than steel strings.
The U bass is also close in size to a baritone Ukulele in fact the length of a Baritone Ukulele is generally
between 28-30 inches and a U Bass is 30 inches . I like the U bass I am just not certain it is really a Ukulele. I would like to hear other thoughts and comments. I suppose as the U Bass started out as an electric/accoustic instrument that may be why it is confusing to me. All of the others in the Ukulele family started out as acoustic instruments.