Starter U Bass?

Was wondering how these hold up over the long run.

I have a Rondo acoustic bass uke that I use regularly for a hospital gig where we roam from room to room. I also have a bunch of solid body and I have no concern about their durability. I've handled and analyzed the Kalas, the Rondos seem to be just as well made.

I also have my eyes on the Kala Journeyman in red, only because a like UAS.


8 tenor cutaway ukes, 3 acoustic bass ukes, 8 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini electric bass guitars

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. http://www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: https://www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/videos
 
Just got mine in today, and it's pretty nice. Build quality seems good, but some binding, or a nicer design around the sound hole would be nice. Frets seems pretty smooth, and the intonation seems fine. Having a hard time getting a clean sound with the string slapping the frets though. I guess this will go away with more practice!

I did a little demo track in Garageband, just to see how it sounds, and I think it sounds pretty good. You really wouldn't believe this was a uke bass! I'm playing my Donner tenor as rhythm, and drums and organ are Garageband instruments.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=11deZJ3ZqFnIupqqKZsyH2bflBA9Zt1Js
 
Just got mine in today, and it's pretty nice. Build quality seems good, but some binding, or a nicer design around the sound hole would be nice. Frets seems pretty smooth, and the intonation seems fine. Having a hard time getting a clean sound with the string slapping the frets though. I guess this will go away with more practice!

I did a little demo track in Garageband, just to see how it sounds, and I think it sounds pretty good. You really wouldn't believe this was a uke bass! I'm playing my Donner tenor as rhythm, and drums and organ are Garageband instruments.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=11deZJ3ZqFnIupqqKZsyH2bflBA9Zt1Js

I've found that the rubber strings require a much lighter touch from your plucking hand, and for more attack and less fret slapping, pluck closer to the bridge. For a warmer, more upright-bass tone, pluck closer to the end of the fretboard.

Due to the strings having much lower tension than other instruments, fret-slapping by the strings happens if you try to play it with the force you might use on ukulele, so in this case especially, less is more.
 
Got my Carlo Robelli today!!!! It's going back. :( HORRENDOUS buzzing on the A string. Not really sure what it was, but it sound like it was coming from the bridge. Otherwise it was a nice little instrument. Looking forward to getting a better one.
 
Thanks Booli! I was playing some tonight and noticed I could get a pretty decent clean sound playing closer to the bridge.
 
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A replacement. Other than that, it seems like a pretty nice little uke.

I've had and seen bad experiences with the lower priced Ubasses, i know some people swear by them and have had good luck, but I think the Kala is the most consistent quality. Look for an older used one on ebay or reverb. I have a 2012 vintage Kala Exotic mahogany without the preamp, it's the best Ubass among my friends and there's 4-5 others.
 
I've had and seen bad experiences with the lower priced Ubasses, i know some people swear by them and have had good luck, but I think the Kala is the most consistent quality. Look for an older used one on ebay or reverb. I have a 2012 vintage Kala Exotic mahogany without the preamp, it's the best Ubass among my friends and there's 4-5 others.

There’s no doubt that Kala makes a good product, and I feel that they give extra attention to the U-Bass as the bass is Mike Upton’s (president/owner) primary instrument. That said, the cheapest entry point to a Kala is the $229 Wanderer—not a bad deal, but still over $200. I’m okay with taking a chance on the $81 deal from Sam Ash, particularly as this won’t be my primary instrument!
 
Kind of my thought as well. I play in a trop rock band so it'll get played live if we end up doing acoustic shows, but I figured it would be a good introduction to see how I feel about it. Other than the buzzing, it seemed like a nice little uke. If I really like it and think I'll use it quite a bit, I'll likely pick up a Wanderer.
 
Well, took the Robelli out to band rehearsal a few weeks back. The guys were amazed at the sound (as was I). Took it out to a gig today. Sound was amazing as well, but had some problems with it. The Aquila strings were really grabby, what with my hands being a bit sweaty. This caused a bit of difficulty when coupled with problem #2. I'd not noticed it before, playing through my amp at practice or through headphones, but the D and the E string had noticeable volume differences. Notes on the D were blowing through loud and clear, while the E was really quiet. Not sure if it was technique or quality, but like I said I'd not noticed it before. Will be playing it more often to get used to it, so we'll see how it turns out.
 
Well, took the Robelli out to band rehearsal a few weeks back. The guys were amazed at the sound (as was I). Took it out to a gig today. Sound was amazing as well, but had some problems with it. The Aquila strings were really grabby, what with my hands being a bit sweaty. This caused a bit of difficulty when coupled with problem #2. I'd not noticed it before, playing through my amp at practice or through headphones, but the D and the E string had noticeable volume differences. Notes on the D were blowing through loud and clear, while the E was really quiet. Not sure if it was technique or quality, but like I said I'd not noticed it before. Will be playing it more often to get used to it, so we'll see how it turns out.

I never liked the Aquila Thundergut strings because they get sticky and will also dent (sausage) at the frets. I prefer Road Toad Pahoehoe because they're much smoother, but they're difficult to install and will take a long time to settle in. I've also found when the weather is on the humid side, all poly strings get sticky, so when I know I'm going to do an outdoor gig, I use one of my mini basses with flatwound steel strings. I have a number of solid body magnetic pickup and one acoustic piezo, an Aquila ShortBassOne-60 that came with Thunder Reds, I replaced them with a tailpiece and flatwounds.

The out of balance amplification seems to be a common issue with bass ukes that have a plastic saddle with slots cut between. When I have that problem, I take apart the saddle assembly and cut the saddle into the four sections, which allows pressure to be on each of the pickup elements individually underneath.


9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 8 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 33)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video
 
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Wow....just ran across the Carlo Robelli ubass @ Sam Ash just now, and it’s now $169!
 
We are starting a group ukulele strum and have been advised to have a bass player. We are thinking of buying a small bass guitar or bass uke. I had a U-Bass previously and hated the big floppy rubber strings. There are flat wound strings available now. How do they compare?

Any recommendations? Should I just bite the bullet and get another rubber band uke or go all out and get an Ohana OBU-22 (if I can find one?)
 
I've been playing bass ukes with my group for over 4 years and have accumulated a variety of small bass guitars, acoustic and solid body, with poly strings and flat wound steel. It sounds like you want to go with acoustic, I just added flat wound to an acoustic Aquila and it didn't come out too well, poor resonance. There are more small acoustic basses available now, Taylor, Cordoba, Traveler, Ibanez has a nice one, good price, PNB14E. Are you open to the idea of a solid body mini electric bass?

I've been using a SmallGuitars.com 1/2 size, 24" scale, that looks like a Fender Precision bass, with the flat wound strings I added, it's one of my best sounding and playing basses. I buy the strings from Gold Tone for $40.

Bass: https://smallguitars.com/results.php?CategoryID=12 (I didn't realize how much the price increased, got mine on sale 4 years ago for $150.)

Strings: https://goldtonemusicgroup.com/goldtone/accessories/mbls


9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 8 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 33)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video
 
No, I'm full up with acoustic; Gold Tone MicroBass 23 inch with Pahoehoe strings, Yamaha Jr. 22.5 inch guitar converted to bass with Pahoehoe, Rondo Hadean 21 inch with Thunderguts, Kala Journeyman 21 inch with Thunderguts and Aquila ShortBassOne-60 23.5 inch with the flat wounds, but may change them back to Thunder Reds that came with it.


9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 8 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 33)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video
 
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