Kala UBass Megathread, Part 5

[caeman]

A recent spat of car repair bills has just forced themselves into my life. Very annoying that it may force me to sell my U-Bass to help cover the bills.

[pauliebass]

Originally Posted by caeman

A recent spat of car repair bills has just forced themselves into my life. Very annoying that it may force me to sell my U-Bass to help cover the bills.

That's too bad. I hope you can figure something else out.

[fuzzy beard]

Originally Posted by caeman

A recent spat of car repair bills has just forced themselves into my life. Very annoying that it may force me to sell my U-Bass to help cover the bills.

Sent u a pm

[kellyrojo]

+1 for shweetwater. I ordered a fretted ubass from them and it had some PUP imbalance and fret buzz. They exchanged for a fretless and I didnt even have to pay for shipping. The whole exchange took about a week. Awesome! Love my fretless--thinking about getting one of those HPF things!

[fuzzy beard]

Has anyone ever tried to do a little upright style slapping on the Ubass? You know the kind you hear in bluegrass.

[ChristophMuench]

Originally Posted by caeman

A recent spat of car repair bills has just forced themselves into my life. Very annoying that it may force me to sell my U-Bass to help cover the bills.

Better sell your television. Seriously.

[HeavyDuty]

Or a kidney.

[caeman]

My television is an old 27" CRT TV. I am trying to find a buyer for my GK Backline amp. I don't actually need a bass amp of that size. All of my church gigs are direct.

[3234718]

Originally Posted by fuzzy beard

Has anyone ever tried to do a little upright style slapping on the Ubass? You know the kind you hear in bluegrass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuLLc0P454M
Abe Laboriel's strumming/sorta slapping here is pretty percussive. I'm not terribly fond of the tone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-T27_NOsDc
Hutch Hutchinson doing some pop/slap on an acoustic with pyramids. Not crazy about this tone either. IMO, regular fingerstyle or thumbing the strings like Sting gets the best tones.

[kellyrojo]

Those videos are electric style slapping, not the old upright style guys started using to get their basses heard.

I cop a bluegrass slap type style using two fingers--kinda hard to explain and I started doing it without trying, but it gets that old Johnny Cash vibe. Maybe I'll make a video???

[fuzzy beard]

Originally Posted by kellyrojo

Those videos are electric style slapping, not the old upright style guys started using to get their basses heard.

I cop a bluegrass slap type style using two fingers--kinda hard to explain and I started doing it without trying, but it gets that old Johnny Cash vibe. Maybe I'll make a video???

That would be great YouTube turned up nothing while searching. But were on the same page that johnny cash boom-chaka-boom sound.

[3234718]

Ubass harmonics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck2_PA-nX3Y

[SBassman]

Originally Posted by 3234718

... not terribly fond of the tone.

I think this awesome instrument is hampered by a Ton of online audio improperly recorded, making it sound thin and lifeless.

When I first heard UBass audio, I honestly thought it sounded like ___insert bad word here___. Later, I caught some other audio that showed me what the instrument Really sounds like, and it was instant love.

I don't know about many of you, but my UBass through an amp does Not sound like most of this cruddy audio. Thank God.

[ChristophMuench]

Originally Posted by SBassman

I think this awesome instrument is hampered by a Ton of online audio improperly recorded, making it sound thin and lifeless.

When I first heard UBass audio, I honestly thought it sounded like ___insert bad word here___. Later, I caught some other audio that showed me what the instrument Really sounds like, and it was instant love.

I don't know about many of you, but my UBass through an amp does Not sound like most of this cruddy audio. Thank God.

Right. As I already said a while ago, about the only ones on Youtube who let the U-Bass sound good and like a real, serious instrument that not only can be used as a gimmick in amateurish Ukulele-/Country-/Bluegrass-bands are Tim Watson and Magnus Sjöquist. Especially unnerving I find those videos which also spread by Kala where famous pros (!) like Laboriel, Kumalo etc. are jamming and sounding like senseless blather.

But admittedly: If I hadn't painstakingly studied this forum and tried different setups for months I also wouldn't know how to make the U-Bass sound really good. If you just plug it in, even in a very good amp, you have a good chance that you are out of luck (wrong impedance, missing HPF, frequency response that brings out the "quack" too much and so on...).

[TimWatson]

Thanks for the kind words. I had an iPod touch, a youtube account, and some gigs. I thought, "why not? For me, this bass sounds good." That is the main reason I've put stuff up there. I'm still working with gear to get the ultimate tone, but you get the idea.

Well said, Christopher. I thought the same things.

[Michelin97Bass]

Picked up a fretted Mahogany solid top today.
Absolutely amazing instrument.
I have had some troubles with the A string, in that tuning it perfectly is nigh impossible.... But apart from that it is amazing!!

[3234718]

Originally Posted by Michelin97Bass

Picked up a fretted Mahogany solid top today.
Absolutely amazing instrument.
I have had some troubles with the A string, in that tuning it perfectly is nigh impossible.... But apart from that it is amazing!!

Of the three ubasses I've owned, the A string at the twelfth fret was never in tune. Either sharp or flat and the E, D and G were always spot on.

[BassManPatsFan]

I just paid for a fretless Mahogany UBass yesterday and I should have it buy the end of the week. Can't wait!!!

[olitoon]

I really wanted to like the U-Bass, but I'm quite disappointed after I received the third instrument with quality issues in a row.

[3234718]

Originally Posted by olitoon

I really wanted to like the U-Bass, but I'm quite disappointed after I received the third instrument with quality issues in a row.

Where'd you buy it?