Kala UBass Megathread, Part 5

[imperialbari]

I never learned soldering, so the lead being plugged into the jack sounds good to me.

On the other hand experience tells me that whatever conducts via contact may stop conducting for whatever reason of greasing or corrosion of the contact areas.

Isn't there a good chance that unplugging and replugging may improve the conductivity?

And isn't there a chance that the pickup sensitivity may improve from just having the saddle and the shims lifted off and then remounting them carefully?

Klaus

[davewave]

Originally Posted by imperialbari

I never learned soldering, so the lead being plugged into the jack sounds good to me.

On the other hand experience tells me that whatever conducts via contact may stop conducting for whatever reason of greasing or corrosion of the contact areas.

Isn't there a good chance that unplugging and replugging may improve the conductivity?

And isn't there a chance that the pickup sensitivity may improve from just having the saddle and the shims lifted off and then remounting them carefully?

Klaus

Exactly, Klaus.
That would be my suggestion unless one is not confident in his repair skills, or would prefer to return a new instrument rather than attempt basic maintenance.

It's a very serviceable design, but the center conductor of the pickup lead is very small diameter stranded wire, so quite delicate and easily damaged.

Careless people have broken them merely by trying to change strings.

[HeavyDuty]

Originally Posted by olitoon

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.

Ah - I misunderstood you.

[davewave]

US residents, Kala accessories are 20% off again this month with free shipping.

I finally popped for a hard case.
I went for tweed, and it seems like a sturdy vinyl that should resist scuffing and hold up well.

Fits the acoustic like a glove, and my S-U-B fits with a small closed cell foam block added.

[SBassman]

Originally Posted by davewave

US residents, Kala accessories are 20% off again this month with free shipping.

I finally popped for a hard case.
I went for tweed, and it seems like a sturdy vinyl that should resist scuffing and hold up well.

Fits the acoustic like a glove, and my S-U-B fits with a small closed cell foam block added.

Nice.

[imperialbari]

Interesting that the tweed case is dual purpose. The SUB is too wide for the foam cases that come with the hogs.

Klaus

[Kuroth]

Originally Posted by davewave

US residents, Kala accessories are 20% off again this month with free shipping.

I finally popped for a hard case.
I went for tweed, and it seems like a sturdy vinyl that should resist scuffing and hold up well.

Fits the acoustic like a glove, and my S-U-B fits with a small closed cell foam block added.

I order that exact case for mine and got the 20% off.. Looks like a sweet looking case

[Kuroth]

Originally Posted by davewave

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.

Thanks for the Pics.. Mine looks totally different at the output jack. It dont look like I can Just unplug it.. Its hard to describe but part of it at the output jack looks like its connected to a round Green thing that looks like the same green stuff computer boards are made of.. I contracted Kala and I did purchase mine from a Authorized Dealer on Ebay so I am hoping they just send me a new Pickup and let me take it to a music store about 15 min from my home that is also an authorized dealer and let them fix it.. (I dont know enough to mess with it)

[HeavyDuty]

A couple of Kalas in the classifieds right now (not mine) - a fretted Cali solidbody four and a hog:

FS-Short scale basses- Kala=Jerry Jones Harmony

[kellyrojo]

Hey Ubassers---quick question.

I am thinking about getting the Fdeck to better my sound. I can get a good to very good tone right now using my BDDI then straight into my amp--but I feel like I am missing just a little something. I would ideally like my tone to sound as much like the acoustic tone of my ubass as possible.

So my question is, is Fdeck what I need or is the BDDI already doing a similar thing since it is set up to work with the impedence of the piezo? Will I end up going ubass>fdeck>bddi?

Thanks for any suggestions anyone may have

PS: Even after reading this thread all through I am still completely confused when it comes tp impedence and electronics in general so dont be afraid to use laymen's terms!

[ChristophMuench]

Simply buy the Fdeck Series 2 and be happy. It's the best preamp, period.
You don't need the BDDI after that.

[Kuroth]

Originally Posted by ChristophMuench

Simply buy the Fdeck Series 2 and be happy. It's the best preamp, period.
You don't need the BDDI after that.

Hi.. What is the actual full name of the Fdeck Series 2???

I cant find Fdeck Series 2 anywhere so assume this is an abbreviation of the full name

Thanks

[dougness]

Originally Posted by davewave

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...So my experience is the fret wears out the string, not the reverse, as shown in the photo.

This has me a little concerned. I was going to get my U-bass set up for Pyramids with a proper nut and height adjustment. At $60 per set, they need to last quite a while.

How long have you had the Pyramids on your bass?

[TimWatson]

The F-Deck is a small home-made preamp made by TB'er Francis Deck. If you google F-Deck preamp it will lead you to his online order page.

The F-Deck is a clean preamp with very high input impedance. It is great for everything I plug into it, and makes the most difference with these passive piezo pickups like on the Ubass and upright. The BDDI EQ's out some of the undesirable frequencies that piezos put out but that "missing a little something" is probably due to its j put impedance being about 500k ohms, as opposed to the F-Deck's 10 MegOhms. It is not properly "driving" the pickup, which solidifies and thickens the bass frequencies, and tames the whacky mids and scratchy highs. The result is a more solid, even tone.

I have experimented with a lot of preamps with the U-Bass. Some do good tone shaping and dynamic control. Some are high impedance, some have filters to control the sub lows that muddy our sound on the attacks. IMO NONE are a better first in line preamp with the U-Bass or upright as the F-Deck. Series 2 is especially great with upright and U-Bass. (read my posts on why, it is nitpicky and very subjective) in the HPF-pre thread. Then after you have properly buffered the pickup EQ, distort, filter, and compress to taste (again IMO, nothing beats [sfx] products. You may not need much of that after the instrument is running through the F-Deck. If I have a bass with me, I have an F-Deck with me, period. That is the one piece that is always on and the best bang for the buck you can get especially with piezo pickups.

[Logo]

Hello,
the Headway EDB1 is also a good preamp that i somehow at the moment prefer over the FDeck Series 2, which i also have (thanks to a friendly Talkbass member here).
To me it seems to be a little bit warmer, rounder, thicker, natural, pleasing, relaxed sounding, compared to the Fdeck (which maybe a little brighter) in my setting at least, maybe only a personal preference, only to suggest another (in my regard good) preamp option.
The edb1 doesn´t have the adjustable Highpassfilter like the Fdeck (which is very helpfull in difficult, boomy rooms, so i´m glad to have it as well, for these situations),
it has a fixed HPF, switchable in 3 steps, but only the first is useable for Bass( cut below 41 HZ).
The input impedance is switchable also: 1 MOhm, 20 MOhm and 5 MOhm, of which 5 MOhm sounds best for me for the acoustic Ubass (10 MOhm fixed on the Fdeck).
The Eq is usefull, for minor tweaks, could eventually be better for bass although (its not a specific preamp for Bass, but for acoustic instruments), but for me its sufficiant in the most situations, all levels adjusted by ear to the room and situation, mostly boosting the Bass-Level (98 hz i think) a little bit to ad just a little bit of punch.
Had the Fishman Plat Pro also, whichs Hpf and EQ are very good for Bass, but the overall sound is not as clear, transparent, natural, than the others, kind of coloured, as has been stated here before.
Tried the BDDi some Time ago, but not with Ubass, only with electric, didn´t suit my taste, seems to have a baked in kind of "Rock-tone" (?) or similar (which it was build for, i think..)

Hope i´m not confusing anybody, only wanted to share my experience as well, as i got so much information here. Thanks.
Torsten

[Kuroth]

Originally Posted by TimWatson

The F-Deck is a small home-made preamp made by TB'er Francis Deck. If you google F-Deck preamp it will lead you to his online order page.

The F-Deck is a clean preamp with very high input impedance. It is great for everything I plug into it, and makes the most difference with these passive piezo pickups like on the Ubass and upright. The BDDI EQ's out some of the undesirable frequencies that piezos put out but that "missing a little something" is probably due to its j put impedance being about 500k ohms, as opposed to the F-Deck's 10 MegOhms. It is not properly "driving" the pickup, which solidifies and thickens the bass frequencies, and tames the whacky mids and scratchy highs. The result is a more solid, even tone.

I have experimented with a lot of preamps with the U-Bass. Some do good tone shaping and dynamic control. Some are high impedance, some have filters to control the sub lows that muddy our sound on the attacks. IMO NONE are a better first in line preamp with the U-Bass or upright as the F-Deck. Series 2 is especially great with upright and U-Bass. (read my posts on why, it is nitpicky and very subjective) in the HPF-pre thread. Then after you have properly buffered the pickup EQ, distort, filter, and compress to taste (again IMO, nothing beats [sfx] products. You may not need much of that after the instrument is running through the F-Deck. If I have a bass with me, I have an F-Deck with me, period. That is the one piece that is always on and the best bang for the buck you can get especially with piezo pickups.

Thank you very much.. Found it and the Prices are not bad.. Would you say get the Series 2 or should I get the Series 3?

[davewave]

Originally Posted by dougness

How long have you had the Pyramids on your bass?

As I stated in the first line of the post, since June.
The strings still play and sound new.

The photo is a close-up of the silver coating wearing off on the G string at the 5th or 7th fret, the worst case spot in the set.

I play hard, and had to fret very firmly with the strings 4 mm above the fingerboard.
Now that the bass is properly set up, I can play with a lighter touch, which we all agree is key with this instrument.

The wear should be less going forward.
I expect a year plus of string life.

[CaballoViejo]

Good to know I can reasonably expect my Pyramids to last most of this year.

Don't know if anyone's posted this chart before, but the progressive tension is certainly one of my main reasons for liking them so much:



Love how Pyramid are having a bit each way with the "Ukulele Bass Guitar" description.

Fingers crossed they eventually bring out a flat-wound version!

[TimWatson]

Originally Posted by Kuroth

Thank you very much.. Found it and the Prices are not bad.. Would you say get the Series 2 or should I get the Series 3?

I have both. If you are not worried about battery life (100 hours of being plugged in), I'd get the 2. It has more gain on the output, and has a very slightly softer dynamic character. Note that the series 3 has 2 filters, one is set at 35 hz, the other is the standard variable. It chops off EVERYTHING below 35. That one is great for putting on a pedal board (also has a power jack) and in very high volume situations, and for electric bass.

Also note that I have extensively A/B'd these boxes on gigs and the difference is only noticeable when directly compared, and still very subtle at that. The tone is the same, but the 2 sounds dynamically "warmer" and the 3 sounds "sharper". I use the 2 with the upright and U-Bass, and the 3 with my electrics. Plug either in cold and don't tell me which one it is, with the volume the same, I wouldn't have a clue blindfolded. Going minimalist, series 2 is awesome for this application. And it is a great $70.

[Kuroth]

Originally Posted by TimWatson

I have both. If you are not worried about battery life (100 hours of being plugged in), I'd get the 2. It has more gain on the output, and has a very slightly softer dynamic character. Note that the series 3 has 2 filters, one is set at 35 hz, the other is the standard variable. It chops off EVERYTHING below 35. That one is great for putting on a pedal board (also has a power jack) and in very high volume situations, and for electric bass.

Also note that I have extensively A/B'd these boxes on gigs and the difference is only noticeable when directly compared, and still very subtle at that. The tone is the same, but the 2 sounds dynamically "warmer" and the 3 sounds "sharper". I use the 2 with the upright and U-Bass, and the 3 with my electrics. Plug either in cold and don't tell me which one it is, with the volume the same, I wouldn't have a clue blindfolded. Going minimalist, series 2 is awesome for this application. And it is a great $70.

Thank you Tim for the detailed Info.. I ordered the 2