Kala UBass Megathread, Part 5

[olitoon]

Do you know if Kala has any plans to make a fretless SUB? Are there any affordable alternatives? The Cali is a little bit too expensive. Should I just buy a fretted SUB and a toe nail clipper?

[caeman]

Just strips the frets yourself. It isn't difficult, but it can a bit unnerving if you've never done it before. After you've done it once, you will feel empowered.

[TolerancEJ]

Originally Posted by olitoon

Do you know if Kala has any plans to make a fretless SUB? Are there any affordable alternatives? The Cali is a little bit too expensive. Should I just buy a fretted SUB and a toe nail clipper?

lol @ toe nail clipper. Nice laugh to start my day. Thanks!

[caeman]

Don't mock the toe nail clippers. They work. And they cost be re-used once you are done to clip your toe nails. Try THAT with fret pliers.

[TolerancEJ]

Originally Posted by caeman

Don't mock the toe nail clippers. They work. And they cost be re-used once you are done to clip your toe nails. Try THAT with fret pliers.

Thanks. I've learned something today.

[scotch]

Better yet, use 2 sharp chisels to gently work frets out. Far less chip out, 100% less toe lint on fingerboard!

Note, zero chip out, just indentations from fret barbs:



I used 2 chisels as close as parallel to the fretboard as possible as you press the sharp edge under the fret, it holds the wood grain down as you 'pry' the fret up. I just use the fret pullers to work faster. Chisels do most of the work!

Fret slots filled with trimmed bits of maple veneer:

[SBassman]

Originally Posted by TolerancEJ

Thanks. I've learned something today.

[caeman]

Toe Lint = Mojo

[SBassman]

I thought UBass fans would find this short review interesting:

Finally - a short hands-on review of the Michael Kelly Sojourn Travel Bass

[olitoon]

Originally Posted by SBassman

I thought UBass fans would find this short review interesting:

Finally - a short hands-on review of the Michael Kelly Sojourn Travel Bass

I played the Ortega D-Walker with the same 24" scale length in a shop. For a small person like me with short fingers it's great and it sounds like a real (acoustic) bass. Street price is 399€.

http://ortegaguitars.com/en/products...d/d-walker-rd/

If I wasn't looking for the Ortega RLIZARD Uku Bass, maybe I had bought one

[olitoon]

I asked Ortega if they have any plans for an fretless RLIZARD bass. Indeed they are working on a fretless model, which should be ready for Musikmesse Frankfurt in April.

I also wrote Kala asking about a fretless S-U-B and got a reply a few hours later:
"At some point in the future there will be fretless and 5 string S-U-B's, I believe."

Which doesn't sound that I should hold my breath for it, but it seems there will be more affordable fretless and 5-string solid body models sooner or later.

[TolerancEJ]

Originally Posted by olitoon

...I also wrote Kala asking about a fretless S-U-B and got a reply a few hours later:
"At some point in the future there will be fretless and 5 string S-U-B's, I believe."

Which doesn't sound that I should hold my breath for it, but it seems there will be more affordable fretless and 5-string solid body models sooner or later.

Cool Kala news. Thanks for sharing!

[davewave]

A 30 second video of a Christmas carol unplugged on my fretted spruce with Pyramid roundwounds.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbtQlrlJZN4


If you've been good little boys maybe Santa with put Pyramids in your stocking.
They're the only stable tuning u-bass strings available. Full stop.

Plugged in, it's easy to tweak the eq to dial out string noise and bomb all the bass you could ever want.

[3234718]

How's the action at the upper frets? Any buzzing?

[CaballoViejo]

Originally Posted by SBassman

I thought UBass fans would find this short review interesting:

Finally - a short hands-on review of the Michael Kelly Sojourn Travel Bass

I tried one of those Michael Kelly things in a shop. The intonation on the E string was terrible, way sharp at the 12th fret.

I've owned an Ortega D-Walker for about six weeks now. When I first got it, the E string was about 50 cents sharp at the 12th fret. It's settled down now (haha) to about 30 cents. The other strings are all from about 10 to 15 cents sharp. It's still quite pointless playing anything on the E above about the 5th fret.

Notice a theme here? As far as I'm concerned, until if and when someone makes a decent set of bass strings specifically designed for a 24" to 25" scale length, these sub-short-scale basses aren't worth bothering with. By 'decent', I mostly mean with E strings that aren't ridiculously under-tensioned.

[caeman]

Originally Posted by 3234718

How's the action at the upper frets? Any buzzing?

Upper Frets?

*looks at U-Bass*

There are notes beyond the 7th fret?

[3234718]

Originally Posted by caeman

Upper Frets?

*looks at U-Bass*

There are notes beyond the 7th fret?

It's true bro. I've seen em.

[caeman]

Sure. And I have a pet unicorn.

[davewave]

Originally Posted by 3234718

How's the action at the upper frets?

Damned high compared to a full scale properly set up bass guitar, but right at design specification for a u-bass.

Originally Posted by 3234718

Any buzzing?

Did I play like I was buzzed? That's just medicocrity.

I had to do some setup to minimize buzz, but it's not at the high frets where the problems lay, more with the open E.

• Brass washers over the ball ends, a stack long enough to get the optimum portion of the string to pass over the bridge.
• Cable ties to pull tension on each pair of strings above the nut to pull them toward each other to compensate for the slots being way too wide for the smaller gauge roundwounds instead of the pencil-thick elastic strings

Optimum would be a replacement nut sized and set up correctly.

I talked to a guy at Kamoa Ukes in Hawaii today about the flatwounds strings they use on their uke basses.
He said they don't fit u-basses, but I may buy a set to investigate if a guy could make them work.

Their basses are manufactured with flatwounds and a radiused fingerboard. Anybody played one?

http://kamoaukulelecompany.com/ukuleles.php?id=341

[SBassman]

I'm confused if we are talking about the UBass with Pyramids or the Michael Kelly Sojourn. I'll assume we're talking about the UBass with the Pyramids.