Jim Hanks
Well-known member
I've tried just about every other uke configuration but never a bass except for a few minutes at Guitar Center with some acoustic Kala U-Bass models. Honestly I was never enamored with the acoustic sound enough to find someone to let me plug one in and didn't play long enough to get used to the rubber string feel. But lately, I've been a little less satisfied with some of the results I'm getting from MIDI bass and thinking about a more "organic" alternative. This has more to do with the "playing interface" than the sounds I have available. Keyboard, EWI, and touchscreen controls all feel less than ideal in different ways and sequenced parts are hard to make not sound mechanical.
Anyway, if I got a bass uke, the emphasis would be on ease of use for recording. So something that would get a clean plugged-in signal with little to no fret/string noise and would take well to digital effects (EQ, amp/cabinets sims, etc.). Acoustic sound is not that important but some versatility in achieving different effected tones would be nice - thinking along the lines of acoustic, jazz, latin, pop. Rock and metal not required but nice bonus. :rock: It does not have to djent.
In terms of other factors, I'd say shorter scale is better. My baritone preference is 19" over 20", though I could probably deal with up to 22" or so for a bass playing mostly single notes.
For cost, I won't say "money is no object", cheaper is better obviously, but it needs to be good to go out of the box. I have no interest in something that needs rewiring or fretwork and I'd prefer not to have any nut/saddle work either unless there's a vendor who does that first. Of course I'd consider a used instrument that someone else had did any of this work. Whatever it costs to achieve this is whatever it costs.
Thoughts?
Anyway, if I got a bass uke, the emphasis would be on ease of use for recording. So something that would get a clean plugged-in signal with little to no fret/string noise and would take well to digital effects (EQ, amp/cabinets sims, etc.). Acoustic sound is not that important but some versatility in achieving different effected tones would be nice - thinking along the lines of acoustic, jazz, latin, pop. Rock and metal not required but nice bonus. :rock: It does not have to djent.
In terms of other factors, I'd say shorter scale is better. My baritone preference is 19" over 20", though I could probably deal with up to 22" or so for a bass playing mostly single notes.
For cost, I won't say "money is no object", cheaper is better obviously, but it needs to be good to go out of the box. I have no interest in something that needs rewiring or fretwork and I'd prefer not to have any nut/saddle work either unless there's a vendor who does that first. Of course I'd consider a used instrument that someone else had did any of this work. Whatever it costs to achieve this is whatever it costs.
Thoughts?