Getting back into bass and wanting to try a uke bass

Balog

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Years ago I was a thoroughly mediocre bassist, but I gave it up for various life reasons. Recently my wife has really got into playing uke (she just bought a Mainland concert that she loves) and I want to get a bass again to play along with her. Normal acoustic basses are bulky and sound bad in my experience, so I’m looking at getting a uke bass. Normally I’d buy used, but the local Craigslist is dry.

I see a lot of love for the Hadeans from Rondo. How do they compare to say a Donner from eBay? They look almost identical in pictures, and the eBay one is cheaper and has a case. Does Rondo offer any advantage, like setting them up or better QC/CS? Or is there something else I should consider?
 
I own a number of Rondo bass ukes, acoustic and solid body. As far as I can tell, the Donner seems to come from the same factory in China. In my experience, Rondo does not do any quality check or setup on their bass ukes, a few of mine have out of balance pickups when amplified, while the others are fine. At these low prices, I wouldn't expect any quality check or setup.

The Donner certainly is a better deal since it has a slightly lower price and includes a gig bag. I do recommend changing the stings to Road Toad Pahoehoe (like on the Kala U-bass), because they're very smooth compared to the rather sticky Aquila Thundergut, and in my experience, the Thunderguts get dents from the frets in a rather short time. The issue wth the Pahoehoe is they can be difficult to install and they stretch so much, it will take weeks for them to settle in, and once they do, it will be necessary to release them to cut off the excess, and restring.

All in all, you can get into an useful bass for a very reasonable price.
 
Thanks! I assume any clip on tuner that would work with a full size bass would work with a uke bass?
 
Happy hunting Balog. Let us know what you come up with.
 
Thanks! I assume any clip on tuner that would work with a full size bass would work with a uke bass?

Usually - sometimes the E string on my Rondo doesn't quite pick up on my snark tuner. The solution is to lightly touch the string above the 12th fret to get a harmonic and octave up (because you're not pushing the string down onto the fret, the note is precisely one octave up).

Also, I'll add that Rondo basses are a great value for the money, and that they fit quite snuggly into the Musician's Gear baritone uke hard case - which they currently are at Musician's Friend for $38. I should also note that mine is the "quilted maple" finish and it is not a very smooth finish. But it works.
 
I'll agree with the comments above as to Rondo, if you know how to tinker with them, they could be a good value. For my money, go with a Kala. I had a Kala Rumbler to start with and it was way better than any Rondo I've seen. I sold it and got an older Kala Exotic Mahogany and it was quite an upgrade. You get what you pay for. :shaka:
 
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