Kala UBass Megathread, Part 5 - Page 36

SBassman · #**701** 02-09-2013, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by olitoon

All recent models are active. Passive ones are from last year. (I ordered a Mahogany last December and it already had the Shadow pickup / preamp)

Thanks. I didn't realize that.

Kuroth · #**702** 02-09-2013, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChristophMuench

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...).

Hi... I am starting to read through this whole Thread but there is a lot to read.. Could someone please summarize what they are talking about above? Like what things should I do to get my bass sounding better..

Also I looked in the sound hole and up at the bass of the neck I can see what looks like a Round metal Rod.. Does this mean I have one with a Truss Rod and if so it it adjustable? With a long screw driver or something?

Thanks!

SBassman · #**703** 02-09-2013, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kuroth

Hi... I am starting to read through this whole Thread but there is a lot to read.. Could someone please summarize what they are talking about above? Like what things should I do to get my bass sounding better..

Also I looked in the sound hole and up at the bass of the neck I can see what looks like a Round metal Rod.. Does this mean I have one with a Truss Rod and if so it it adjustable? With a long screw driver or something?

Thanks!

Over history there have actually been models without a truss rod, models with a non adjustable truss rod, and current models with an adjustable truss rod. If you have an adjustable truss rod, it will be turned with a hex/allen wrench. If you haven't done this before, do some reading on this before trying anything, or bring it to a guitar tech. You really want to read up on All the steps of a setup before touching the truss rod. It might not be necessary.

As for the dialog about getting a UBass to sound good - it's all relative. Some of those guys are tone experts, and they are always striving for a little more. A hacker like me gets nice tone just plugging in and rolling off some high end. Don't worry about needing other stuff at this point. Plug it in and dial in a sound that You like.

imperialbari · #**704** 02-09-2013, 10:31 AM

Hardly a screwdriver. I use an angled torx(?) wrench from my set of guitar maintenance tools from Cruz.

Anyway the adjustment options are minimal compared to what is possible on my Ovation acoustic bass guitar.

Klaus

Kuroth · #**705** 02-09-2013, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SBassman

Over history there have actually been models without a truss rod, models with a non adjustable truss rod, and current models with an adjustable truss rod. If you have an adjustable truss rod, it will be turned with a hex/allen wrench. If you haven't done this before, do some reading on this before trying anything, or bring it to a guitar tech. You really want to read up on All the steps of a setup before touching the truss rod. It might not be necessary.

As for the dialog about getting a UBass to sound good - it's all relative. Some of those guys are tone experts, and they are always striving for a little more. A hacker like me gets nice tone just plugging in and rolling off some high end. Don't worry about needing other stuff at this point. Plug it in and dial in a sound that You like.

Hi.. I was not planning on messing with the Truss Rod at this point.. Was just wondering it I had one and if its one that can be adjusted..

Mine sounds pretty good to my ears.. I did read in the manual that says only have the string wrapped around the post 2 times.. Do you guys do that? Mine are like wrapped 3 or 4 times right now..

imperialbari · #**706** 02-09-2013, 11:10 AM

As I understand it, the problems come if the wraps are layered.

With the rapid and continued stretching of tee Pahoehoe strings especially the thing strings soon get layered. At one point early in my ownership of a fretted acoustic UBass the G string intonation went somewhat erratic. Rewinding the string after pulling it tighter solved the problem.

Klaus

SBassman · #**707** 02-09-2013, 12:44 PM

As Klaus points out, it's the layering that is trouble.

3 or 4 is not trouble - as long as they are not on top of each other. Once they get near to being on top of each other, definitely take the string off and put it back on at higher tension to reduce some of those wraps.

Kuroth · #**708** 02-09-2013, 06:16 PM

One more question..

I have the 2012 Acoustic-Electric U-Bass-2 Solid Spruce Top Passive

Is it normal that I have to turn my Amp volume WAY up when using my H-Bass?

**TimWatson** · #**709** 02-09-2013, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kuroth

One more question..

I have the 2012 Acoustic-Electric U-Bass-2 Solid Spruce Top Passive

Is it normal that I have to turn my Amp volume WAY up when using my H-Bass?

No.
My passive U-Bass has an output higher than any other bass I have, even the active ones.

Kuroth · #**710** 02-09-2013, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimWatson

No.
My passive U-Bass has an output higher than any other bass I have, even the active ones.

Could be a setup issue or do you think I might have to send it in?

**TimWatson** · #**711** 02-09-2013, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kuroth

Could be a setup issue or do you think I might have to send it in?

There have been anecdotes of pickups that went bad. Mine did. I called them and they sent me a new one in a couple days. Fixed. I would guess if it is that bad it would be a problem with the pickup, unless....

What amp are you using? If it has a very low impedance it is possible you need a buffer. This pickup reacts well to a very high input impedance load. If it is too low, that might account for the weak volume. Even then, it should not be that drastic. When I double, to match volume with my Upright or P-Bass, I have to back off the volume about 30% for the U-Bass to make it the same volume.

Give Kala a call. Chances are they will send you a replacement pickup.

Kuroth · #**712** 02-09-2013, 09:42 PM

Tried it on 2 Amps A TC Electric BG250 and a Fender Rumble 15. It does it on both.. On my Rumble I have to turn it up to 8 or 9 to get decent sound.

My BG250, I have never turned it past 4... I dont want to blow the windows out of my house..

So are the pickups easy to replace?? I am a noob when it comes to anything too complicated..

I Will give them a call..

SBassman · #**713** 02-09-2013, 10:50 PM

Definitely give them a call. These pickups are normally very high output.

olitoon · #**714** 02-10-2013, 03:22 AM

Pickup problems seems to be common with the U-Basses. First Mahogany I ordered had a lower output on the E string. Second S-U-B had a good pickup, but everything else was a mess (skewed bridge, ugly fingerboard, two bad tuners, white spots on the finish, strings were old and didn't sound good anymore). Third S-U-B had a strange pickup sound. D string had a low output, G string sounded very aggressive. Volume knob was loose.

I sent them all back, gave up on the Kala U-Bass. Waiting for a affordable fretless solid body that is worth the money (Cali models are too expensive).

Kuroth · #**715** 02-10-2013, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by olitoon

Pickup problems seems to be common with the U-Basses. First Mahogany I ordered had a lower output on the E string. Second S-U-B had a good pickup, but everything else was a mess (skewed bridge, ugly fingerboard, two bad tuners, white spots on the finish, strings were old and didn't sound good anymore). Third S-U-B had a strange pickup sound. D string had a low output, G string sounded very aggressive. Volume knob was loose.

I sent them all back, gave up on the Kala U-Bass. Waiting for a affordable fretless solid body that is worth the money (Cali models are too expensive).

This "seems" to be the only problem with it.. Everything else looks beautiful and seems to be working ok..

Seems odd since they say they are all setup and inspected.. Mine had the tags on it with the Date and person Initials who set mine.. Seems odd if they are REALLY doing this that so many bad ones go out..

I am still wondering (Be anyone else that has done it) is the pickup easy to change out myself? I dont think it is as it seems all hard wired together..

**HeavyDuty** · #**716** 02-10-2013, 08:28 AM

Pretty bad run of luck there, olitoon.

That said, I really don't think the price of the Cali series solidbodies is out of line - mine just cost me about the same as a clean used Fender AmStd P or a new AmSpl P would have cost with a great sale. A UBass may be small, but there's still the same amount of workmanship involved.

SUBs are the ones that I think are a bit overpriced.

GBassNorth · #**717** 02-10-2013, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimWatson

No.
My passive U-Bass has an output higher than any other bass I have, even the active ones.

Spot on Tim!
Kuroth - If your hollowbody U-bass requires a volume increase at the amp to match your other basses output levels it's most likely something wrong with the pickup or output jack on your U-bass. These things have by far the hottest output pickups of any bass I've ever played - including my Spectors and G&L's which are both known for ultra hot output.

davewave · #**718** 02-10-2013, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kuroth

I am still wondering (Be anyone else that has done it) is the pickup easy to change out myself? I dont think it is as it seems all hard wired together..

Plug and play, but the pickup and wiring are extremely fragile.

The pickup lead plugs into the output jack as shown.
The saddle / pickup assembly lifts out of the wooden bridge.

You asked about setup, there are probably some plastic shims under the pickup saddle, if you want to try a lower action you could remove one.
You could file the nut to your liking.
I agree that you should never need to touch the truss rod.

olitoon · #**719** 02-10-2013, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyDuty

Pretty bad run of luck there, olitoon.

I have to admit, this happens very often with all kinds of items I order online (bikes, electronic devices, you name it). Maybe it has something to do with karma.

Quote:

That said, I really don't think the price of the Cali series solidbodies is out of line - mine just cost me about the same as a clean used Fender AmStd P or a new AmSpl P would have cost with a great sale. A UBass may be small, but there's still the same amount of workmanship involved.

SUBs are the ones that I think are a bit overpriced.

I didn't mean the Cali is too expensive for what you get, I just cannot afford to spent that amount of money at the moment. I agree, the SUB is overpriced. It feels more like a $200 to $300 instrument.

davewave · #**720** 02-10-2013, 10:09 AM

I've had a set of Pyramids on my fretted acoustic since June.

Somebody expressed concern about fret wear, etc.
Here are my observations:

The fret wire seems much harder than the strings.
These strings have no iron or steel in them like traditional bass strings, they use silvered copper wrapped on nylon.
So my experience is the fret wears out the string, not the reverse, as shown in the photo.

Wear on the fingerboard appears minimal.
I saw a little scuffing up by the nut, nothing that appears to be damaging the ebony fingerboard.
A little fretboard oil made the scuffs disappear.