rondo music hadean ubass

katysax · Jun 17, 2014

OK I got one of each. Picked them up from UPS today. Opened them at the office so I haven't plugged them in yet.

Initial impressions:

-- Solid body. Mine is natural color. Looks a LOT like ubass. The neck is very nice and the body well done but obviously kind of cheap wood. The tuners are very smooth. We will see if they hold up over time. The bridge installation was kind of messy The potentiometers are really cheap and flimsy. The nut is badly cut. The jack is installed much better than on the Chinese UBass. I kind of like the feel of the Aquila strings. Easier to tune than the Paoehoe strings but a bit sticky. My first impression is that it's a pretty awesome deal for the money. The stuff that is potentially a problem can easily be upgraded.

-- Hollow body. Mine has a spruce top. Holy Moly. It is very very pretty. Better looking than my mahogany UBass. Sounds acoustically like an acoustic bass guitar - not enough volume to be worth much besides practicing alone. The string spacing is fine. Tuners are the same as the solid body. I'm guessing the quality of the pickup is pretty cheap.

These both look really terrific for the price. The hollow body one looks better of the two (and was the cheapest).

strumsilly · Jun 18, 2014

mine [hollow swamp ash] arrives tomorrow. will post impressions.

katysax · Jun 19, 2014

Now I've had a chance to plug them in:

Keep in mind I'm not really a bass player but a musician who sometimes plays the bass.

Acoustic Model - I like it. I might like it better than my mahogany U-Bass. Not only does it look good, the pickups seem acceptable. It puts out more volume than the passive pickups in my acoustic ubass. Intonation is OK and overall feel is good. The strings are a mixed bag. They are easier to tune than the black strings but they are sticky and make a bit of noise.Theres a little twang in the sound that makes me think that for some types of music it would be pretty cool. Overall my first impression is that its a heck of a deal for the price. Because the strings are not as hard to tune, the cheap tuners might be adequate for the job.

Solid Body Model - Not that great. Body is a bit bigger and heavier than either the California or Chinese UBass. The pickup is pretty terrible. Not much volume and the sound is kind of dead. However, there is a lot of potential. I think if you changed to a decent pickup it could make a very nice ukulele bass. I like the Chinese UBass better because it has a much better pickup, much more volume and good full deep sound. I like the California UBass way way better. It is just all around better quality and the pickup is considerably better, much richer sound.

I like the solid body UBass, the California or Sub bass, way more than my Mahogany acoustic. It's just easier to play. Easier to hold. Less concern about feedback. I keep the Mahogany because sometimes I play with people who insist on "all acoustic" even when I plug in the Bass. I'm going to try using the Hadean instead. As far as the solid body. I think it would be a good deal for someone who wants something to mod. It is though a lot lot cheaper than even the Kala Sub U Bass so you really can't expect that much.

Someone who knows what they are doing and really knows the bass might have an opinion different from mine.

bnolsen · Jun 19, 2014

Got mine this afternoon. I have no previous experience with any ubass.

I had literally 5 mins with my white solid body this afternoon, most of that spent tuning it up (had to take the girls to piano practice). Had to fight my almost 4yro son for it.

Took a LOT of twisting to bring things up even a half step. The tuners aren't bad, one seemed a bit tighter than the others. What I did play (second position only) sounded in tune to me. Definitely thumpy compared to typical bass, thinking more double bass like.

I really like the size, weight and balance but I need to strap it. Definitely quiet pickups but didn't have time to mess with the knobs other than to get sound. I'll probably get another 15mins or so plugged in later on.

katysax · Jun 19, 2014

bnolsen said:
Took a LOT of twisting to bring things up even a half step. The tuners aren't bad, one seemed a bit tighter than the others. What I did play (second position only) sounded in tune to me. Definitely thumpy compared to typical bass, thinking more double bass like.

I really like the size, weight and balance but I need to strap it. Definitely quiet pickups but didn't have time to mess with the knobs other than to get sound. I'll probably get another 15mins or so plugged in later on.

These strings are way way easier to tune than the Paoheoe strings when they are new. As much as you had to twist - it was really nothing. I agree the sound has a kind of thumpy double bass sound to it.

bnolsen · Jun 19, 2014

hokay got 10 more mins with it. note some of these observations may well apply just as well to any ubass.

Grabbed a 3" planet waves strap at GC on the way home. Price match on it. A bit overkill for this tiny bass, but the balance is good, it wears well.

I thought round wounds were loud. Finger noise is pretty extreme. Crank down the treble, thump thump is what you get. It's not a bad sound, just fundamentals. Nope, this isn't a heavy metal bass (got pedal?).

I did some intonation checks at the 12th fret. Tuner on my zoom pedal showed sharp across the board. Very precise tuner. Moving over to a snark showed it to be in tune, maybe 1 sliver. I have room to drop the bridge and will do so. Not tonight.

ubass general problem: frets are close enough making it hard to do 1-2-4 fingering so will mess with my practicing.

katysax · Jun 19, 2014

bnolsen said:
frets are close enough making it hard to do 1-2-4 fingering so will mess with my practicing.

You don't finger the chords on the bass - you will kill your hand and arm. It's better to move your hand around and do one note at a time.

Finger noise is very extreme on the Hadeans. One of the main reasons that I like the solid body ubass better than the acoustic is that it doesn't have a finger noise problem.The acoustic one does have a lot of finger noise.

bnolsen · Jun 19, 2014

Its the solid body. I forgot i left the pedal fully in the effects loop instead of half plugged in so that may have boosted the finger noise.

I have a zoom g1on at home (used here) and a zoom b1on at work. The tuner function is very precise.

The amp I'm testing with is an ampeg ba108 with high sensitivity 8" speaker swap. It has a dedicated effects loop which can also be used as a tuner plug.

1-2-4 isn't chording, its a bass fingering technique where you only use 1st, 2nd and 4th fingers to fret. The frets are too close on the ubass to use this technique

katysax · Jun 19, 2014

bnolsen said:
1-2-4 isn't chording, its a bass fingering technique where you only use 1st, 2nd and 4th fingers to fret. The frets are too close on the ubass to use this technique

Ha ha. Thanks for the clarification. I'm not a bass player but just dabble on the bass. I should not give advice on how to play. People probably should take all my critiques of the instruments with a grain of sand. All I can do is say what I like but I really can't judge.

bnolsen · Jun 19, 2014

Need more pics:

sound sample (sorry about the poor skillz). Bass, Treble and Volume all maxxed on the ubass:

https://soundcloud.com/traeak/hadean-omega-ubass-progression

strumsilly · Jun 21, 2014

my swamp ash acoustic/electric was waiting for me when i GOT HOME YESTERDAY. It looks nice and sounds pretty quiet ubtil you plug it in. then it sounds like a bass, duh. t. This was an impulse buy as the price was too good to pass on this. I'll sell it for what I paid $140 and split the shipping, so should be about $150. PM me if you're interested. I could do a SOUND SAMPLE and pics if needed.

katysax · Jun 21, 2014

I'm pretty sure I want to send the solid body one back. It's actually a great deal for the money but the electronics leave a lot to be desired. Given that I already have the UBass, and I'm not really one to do modifications - I think my curiosity is satisfied. Before I send it back I thought I'd give people here and on Talkbass a chance to buy it from me. If I send it back they will refund me $150, if they sell it to you they will charge $150 plus shipping - I'll sell it to you for $150 and I'll pay the shipping. PM me if interested.

The one I'm returning is the solid body. The acoustic/electric one for me is usable as it is and great backup.

Booli · Jun 21, 2014

@strumsilly, & @katysax:

wow! immediately for resale. hmmm.

I'm all for modding (upgrades, given the price compared to the lowest Kala U-Bass), but due to recent events, lack the funds at the moment.

Otherwise, I'd love to take one of these off your hands.

Somebody should jump on this, as there have not been any new bass ukes listed on the Rondo site for the past couple of days.

katysax · Jun 22, 2014

Booli said:
@strumsilly, & @katysax:

wow! immediately for resale. hmmm.

I'm all for modding (upgrades, given the price compared to the lowest Kala U-Bass), but due to recent events, lack the funds at the moment.

Otherwise, I'd love to take one of these off your hands.

Somebody should jump on this, as there have not been any new bass ukes listed on the Rondo site for the past couple of days.

That's why I'm offering it here. If no takers by Monday - I'm sending it back. There's really nothing "wrong" with it. For the price it is a killer deal. I guess I bought it out of curiosity. Now that I have it I realize that three solid body Ubasses is probably two too many. On a scale of 1-10, the California model is a 9, the Sub Ubass is a 6, and this Rondo Bass is a 5. Not bad considering it is significantly cheaper than the Sub Ubass, and in some ways it is better - I like the neck better and the jack better. The pickups do not put out a lot of volume. It would be OK if I were using a bigger amp, but I carry the smallest possible amp I can get away with so these pickups will not do. But if someone took this bass and upgraded the pickups they'd have an instrument in most ways better than the Sub UBass for a lower price. So I'm offering it here because Rondo is sold out for a while. If I send this back it will be grabbed quickly when they put it up again.

Edited Tuesday June 24: OK i did indeed send back the solid body. The pickups really are weak. The bridge and overall construction are not equal to the Kala Sub U Bass, their solid body Chinese model. That's not surprising considering the vast difference in price. It just wasn't worth it to me to mess around with upgrades. On the other hand I am keeping the acoustic model. Overall the quality was higher than the solid body, even though cheaper. It's probably because the acoustic was built on a standard baritone uke so there was nothing new that needed to be built. IMHO the acoustic version is a killer deal compared to my Kala acoustic UBass, but the solid body needs work.

strumsilly · Jun 29, 2014

strumsilly said:
my swamp ash acoustic/electric was waiting for me when i GOT HOME YESTERDAY. It looks nice and sounds pretty quiet ubtil you plug it in. then it sounds like a bass, duh. t. This was an impulse buy as the price was too good to pass on this. I'll sell it for what I paid $140 and split the shipping, so should be about $150. PM me if you're interested. I could do a SOUND SAMPLE and pics if needed.

I've been playing around with it and have decided to keep it [for now]. surprised no one jumped on this.

Booli · Jun 30, 2014

strumsilly said:
I've been playing around with it and have decided to keep it [for now]. surprised no one jumped on this.

Had I not just acquired 2 new ukes in the past 30 days

[both project-ukes, with additional incidental costs], I definitely would have taken you up on your offer, but as of now, and for at least 30 days, there will be no significant UAS funds for me

.