Kala Ubass Journeyman

Just happened to have to go into my local music store which also has a great selection of Ukes which is very unusual in the UK but we do have 7 Uke playing societies within 20 minutes of where I live so the store is on a safe bet with local buyers.

Kala UBass Journeyman.
Build quality looked for the laminated Ubass very good given its priced at half a solid Ubass.
Twin f sound holes.
No twist or bend in the neck.
Nice slow action of the tuners.
Inbuilt pickup (not tested) with tuner which is slightly different to my Kala Tenor but easy to use.
Good tone all along fretboard.
Good intonation all along fretboard.
No fret buzz.
Good sound when played slap style.
Very impressed.

Considering buying.

Any thoughts.

I bought a red Journeyman a couple of months ago from Safe Haven Music via Reverb for $299.99. When I received the tracking email, they told me when they checked it and found a finish flaw on the back, so they gave me a 10% discount, nice.

When I received it, I realized it had the Kala metal round wound nylon core strings, which I don't like at all. I gave it a quick test and found that the A string rattled like crazy, typical of those strings. I also noticed the nut was a low. I changed the strings to a set of Thunderguts I had on hand, even though I don't especially like them, but they matched the binding, so I used them. I played it, but the A string still rattled like crazy.

I took it to my local Sam Ash store, a Kala dealer. When I picked it up, he told me he put a shim under the nut, but the rattle was still there. I tested it at length and couldn't avoid the rattle. He then got out one of their in stock Journeyman in the box and discovered that the A string also rattled like crazy on that one.

I told him I'm going to NAMM in a couple of days and will ask Kala what to do. I met the Kevin Durkin at the Kala booth, their customer experience manager, and explained. Without hesitation he said to send him an email and he'll send me a mailing label and they will take care of it. That was three weeks ago and tracking shows it will be back tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to it working perfectly now, but we'll see.

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This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

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