Not sure what I just bought.....

JohnRC

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I picked up a little used, very clean Kala UBass spruce top. It felt good and played beautifully when the owner played it. I am brand new to all this and have been reading long threads here an in Talk Bass.

When I got home I realized that it does not have the electronics package with the tuner and the EQ stuff. It does have a rod in the neck and supposedly is 4 years old.

From all my reading I do not understand what I now have with regards to the electronics. Do I have what is called a "passive pickup"? I do not see a battery anywhere.

Will this determine what kind of amp I should get? Is there anything else I need to be aware of?

Thanks in advance for your help.
John
 
My older Ubass had a piezo(passive) pickup. You'll need to get either an amp that has a preamp built in or buy a preamp to boost the signal to the amp. The amp depends on your budget. I bought a Phil Jones double 4 bass amp. It's small and very portable. For preamps, I have the K&K micro reamp and a L.R. Baggs 5.0. Both work really well. You can buy great sounding amps off Craigslist or other sites liek it.

If you can give what your price range is for an amp, it would be easier what to recommend. Stay away from the really cheap Fender bass amps for the ubass. they never pushed mine like it needed to be pushed.
 
Pre-amps give more push and flexibility, however you can manage without one, especially for home or small venues.
If you can, try a bass amp or two in your local music shop.
 
I have the older Exotic Mahogany with the piezo pickup. My Orange Crush 25 bass has a preamp built in, it works pretty well for any situation I've encountered, from home practice to playing with 25 other people in a room for about 100 people. Also, HPF Pre is a bass specific preamp... https://sites.google.com/site/hpftechllc/home/hpf-pre
 
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