Kala UBass Megathread, Part 5

[lokibass]

I use a Markbass CMD 121p with a New York 121 extension cab. It sounds great with my Mahogany fretless Ubass.

[imperialbari]

Today my first order directly from Aquila arrived in a fine box. Great relief, as I don’t like being on the last set of strings of any given species.

A T&T # provided with the shipping alert would have been nice. As I read the sales conditions, I qualified for a quantum rebate, but no deduction was done.

I was intend on trying the Thunderguts on my fretted acoustic, but reports on the frets indenting the TG’s made me reluctant towards using a new set for the initial try. So I moved the TG’s from the fretless acoustic to the fretted one.

What an improvement in clarity, sustain, and response. Placebo or not, it is faster to play scale passages on the Thunderguts than on the Pahoehoes.

The new set mounted on the fretless of course still takes frequent tuning, but they sound well.

Another poster mentioned the chorus effect he experienced. I had heard it on my Aquila strung Ovation guitar, and now also in the UBass. I see one possible explanation in sympathetic oscillations on the open unplayed strings, when the pitch of the played note is very close, but not identical, to a sympathetic flageolet on an open string.

Klaus

[slaerts]

Originally Posted by GBassNorth

I suspect that's a very nice sounding mini rig for the Ubass and the use of the QSC is a very different amplification route than most would take. Just a quick look at prices for this type of set up and you're quickly nearing or exceeding the $1000 mark on the rig (not including the Ubass). By mini venue I assume you're talking coffee shops, book stores and maybe resturants and small clubs. It would be interesting to hear what rigs others are using for these types of mini venues.

So how 'bout it Ubassers, what's your go to rig for mini gigs.

I just retired this month and now that I'm not traveling all over the world I'm considering playing out much more than I've been able to in the past, hence the increased interest in a proper rig.

My mini rig is a EA Doubler and a 1x10 mojo sonic cab. I've a barefaced 1x12 on the way too.

[olitoon]

Originally Posted by hodad66

New U-BASS forum....... http://deantomasula.com/ubassforum/index.php

A solution in search of a problem.

This megathread works just fine. 18 new forums for the U-Bass are way too many, IMHO.

[threshar]

I wonder if/when aquila will have a 5 string thundergut set. The sound clips are very promising.

Seems my new 5er has started settling on string tension. Been ungigable since I got it. We shall see how she does friday

[fuzzy beard]

Does any one know why the exotic hog is cheaper than the standard hog?

[3234718]

Originally Posted by fuzzy beard

Does any one know why the exotic hog is cheaper than the standard hog?

The exotic is laminate. The standard is solid wood, apparently.

[olitoon]

Originally Posted by threshar

I wonder if/when aquila will have a 5 string thundergut set. The sound clips are very promising.

Seems my new 5er has started settling on string tension. Been ungigable since I got it. We shall see how she does friday

Kala UBass Megathread, Part 5

[fuzzy beard]

Originally Posted by 3234718

The exotic is laminate. The standard is solid wood, apparently.

Does that affect tone?

[3234718]

I doubt there's a signifigant difference. Apparently solid wood instruments age better, so that's a factor. They both have the upgraded hipshot tuners where as the cheaper spruce top has the cheaper die cast tuners. I have the exotic hog and it sounds great to me.

Also, the exotic is only available in fretted.

[3234718]

I've owned a spruce top fretless and a solid hog fretless and sold both cuz I needed the dough. My current exotic hog fretted was a gift so it's a keeper, but if I were to buy one for myself, I'd probably go with a fretless spruce. The cheaper tuners work just fine. And the spruce top is solid with laminate sides. So the spruce and the standard hog are the only two models with any solid wood, apparently.

[davewave]

Originally Posted by Dicey

Are the pyramid strings ferrous? As in attracted to magnets? I was wondering because a typical electric bass pickup will work with them if that is the case, and I wouldn't mind building an ultra short scale with electric bass sound.

The Pyramids are NOT ferrous.
They are silvered copper wound on silk.
I just tried my big magnet on them, and there is zero attraction.

Can't a piezo give you an "electric bass" sound?

Here's a short video I made last night.
Spruce fretted strung with Pyramids, Paul Butterfield Blues Band "Work Song."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRvNhN75flc

[SBassman]

Originally Posted by olitoon

A solution in search of a problem.

This megathread works just fine. 18 new forums for the U-Bass are way too many, IMHO.

I don't see 18. I see one.

[3234718]

I have a perfectly broken pahoehoe set on my fretted exotihogany right now. Haven't touched it in a week to see how in tune they would be, and they're spot on perfect. I just got a set of silver rumblers in the mail that I figured would be good to have. but now i kinda wanna put them on. I'm considering going hybrid. SR's for the E and A for more tension maybe. More tension would be nice on all four strings too. How are the SR's on frets? I tried on a fretless hog I briefly owned amd found them to be only slightly less sticky than TG's. I figure on frets it won't be as bad. Thoughts?

[Kryptos]

Originally Posted by GBassNorth

So how 'bout it Ubassers, what's your go to rig for mini gigs.

U Bass >>> Roland Micro Cube.

Micro Cube RX

[SBassman]

Originally Posted by 3234718

... exotihogany ...

Today's word. Excellent.

Originally Posted by 3234718

... I'm considering going hybrid. SR's for the E and A for more tension maybe. ...

If you mean 2 SRs and two Hoehoes, I wouldn't recommend that.
The materials of these strings are completely different. Tone and feel are very different, to me.

[imperialbari]

Using UBass strings for miniature uprights has been discussed here. Latest sample shown was a 1/2 cello with Thundergut strings. Quite small distance between the E and A strings near the nut was an obvious issue.

I am tempted. Or rather was. A string length equal to that of the acoustic UBasses would be necessary to keep my benefits from playing the UBasses over playing the full size bass guitars. The closest thing is an 1/8 cello with a string length of 50cm.

The fingerboard width at the nut is 25mm, so I measured the thicknesses of Thunderguts and Pahoehoes. The former were the slimmer ones at these thicknesses indicated in mm:

E 4.83.
A 4.00
D 2.95
G 2.35

Combined thickness is 14.13mm leaving 10.87mm of fingerboard width not covered by strings. Even if the outer strings would align with the fingerboard edge, and the 3 spaces could be distributed evenly, the strings would be very close for my taste.

So I am halting my project. If a high C Thundergut string were to be introduced, a high miniature upright in ADGC might make me revive the project.

Klaus

[olitoon]

Originally Posted by imperialbari

Using UBass strings for miniature uprights has been discussed here. Latest sample shown was a 1/2 cello with Thundergut strings. Quite small distance between the E and A strings near the nut was an obvious issue.

[...]

Even if the outer strings would align with the fingerboard edge, and the 3 spaces could be distributed evenly, the strings would be very close for my taste.

So I am halting my project. If a high C Thundergut string were to be introduced, a high miniature upright in ADGC might make me revive the project.

Klaus

What about using the Pyramid U-Bass strings? They are thinner than the Thunderguts. Though I don't know how well they work with a scale length that is different from the acoustic U-Bass.

[imperialbari]

I am aware of the Pyramid strings, but I have not been attracted towards using them. Not that I dismiss the idea of roundwounds with a nylon core. I use them on my Ovation acoustic bass with its robust frets.

However the frets on the acoustic UBasses are not very robust. Ukulele-style they clearly are intended for softer strings.

Using roundwounds on fretless instruments is out of question for me, as I know the wear pattern of the grained fingerboard soon will affect playability.

And then the Pyramids never occurred into my imagination of sound and feel that had me investigate the mad idea of turning an instrument intended for kids aged 4 or 5 into something useful for me.

Klaus

[3234718]

I think tapewounds would be perfect. They're the best strings for "normal" acoustic basses, in my opinion. Why not for the ubass? I'm surprised it's however many years after the ubass came out and there's still only 4 options for strings.


Bakithi Kumalo awesomeness:
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