Best U-Bass for Intonation?

Acoustic is difficult because none that I know of have adjustable bridges, and the shorter the scale, the more problematic the intonation. A compensated bridge that's angled to a degree will help, my new Kala Journeyman has one. For solid body, I like the Rondo Hadean with partially adjustable bridge, and the Gold Tone ME with better adjustments.

 

I would suggest going fret-less, because the intonation is never going to be spot-on with a fretted acoustic.
It's still easy to play, considering how small they are.

 

Ear training is all up to the individual & just how good your pitch-perception is.
I played a Hadean fret-less for a bit & I thought I sounded fine.
However, any listener might have disagreed, LOL!

My pitch-perception is awful.

 

I switched to playing a Ubass a few years ago and never looked back. I have sold my Beatle bass and now my Hadean is the only bass I own and need. I have zero problems with intonation and I only need to tune it about every third or fourth time I play it. Stays in tune rock solid. Of course with all new ukuleles you need to tune it many times the first month to get the strings stretched out, then it will stay in tune. It only weighs a few pounds. Hadeans are less than half the price of a Kala ubass and just as good, if not better. Sounds just like an upright.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QFV1RGE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I owned a Hadean & have tried the Kalas at Sam Ash & the local dealer.
A Hadean isn't bad, but it's not as good as a Kala, IME.

The bridge on my Hadean pulled up over the Winter & Kala users have commented on here that they've not had that issue.
I also had to re-tune often & that's when I realized the bridge issue.
If you're having to tune up often, something is giving way.

Buy a pre-owned Kala is my advice. I've seen $400 Kalas on GC.com for $200.
unless you're going fret-less, then you might need to buy new

 

I like it, but I had to have Kala fix the A string that rattled. The G and D string intonation is right on, the A and E are sharp.

I wouldn't recommend that unless you're an experienced builder. I had that done by a person less than experienced and the edge of the fretboard came back with splinters sticking up. Even when I filed them down, it was still rough. I ended up shelving the uke and bought a Hadean walnut acoustic that I like a lot.

 

agreed...fretless is the way to go...just don't expect to sound like Esperanza on it.

 

yes...it's easy...just make sure you buy one that's used and cheap

 

For intonation—- fretless, and a great set of ears.
For tone— it’s subjective

 

I had Kala fretless for a while. Finger placement is extremely critical on that short a scale. Being slightly off position on a 34" scale might have you a few cents off pitch. The same distance off position on a 21" scale will have you much further off pitch. It's not too bad if you are playing only, but trying to play, sing, and interact with an audience put me playing more off pitch than on, and I've been playing fretless over two decades.

A GT micro bass in 25" scale might be a little more forgiving, but still easy to play.

 

The rubber strings can be problematic in very high temps. A friend was playing his fretted UBass at a festival 7 years ago. The day was 48degC (118 degF for you Americans) and even more in the tent. He kept tuning up, and up, and up and the strings were like licorice....... no matter how much he turned those tuning pegs the strings just kept stretching and were flat.

 

I'll add my vote for fretless. On the fretted U-Bass, I find it very hard to play light enough that it doesn't go sharp.

 

I've got the fretted GT Microbass in 25" scale. The intonation was not good up the neck with the original rubber strings. I had much better results with the LaBella Silverbacks. They intonate well and don't stretch nearly as much but the tone is less similar to an upright.

 

I found the same issue with the GT in the 23" version & also switched to Silverbacks. I also had the same outcome; better stability & intonation, but less upright tone. It was still a great improvement in overall playability compared to the Thunder-stickies.

 

I can’t speak to fretless Kala, I’ve only played a fretted. (Kala, that is; I play 34” fretless all the time)
Anyway, I can speak about the Journeyman, as I have one. It’s pretty cool. I love the shape but the build quality isn’t great. It seems to be made out of some fake foamcore wood. The preamp screws had popped out and I had to CA them back in and noticed the white foam core within the sides, not sure if the top is also.
Regarding intonation, I think the rubbery strings do often sound a little off pitch. If you slide into the fret, the string stretches from the nut and causes the string between your finger and bridge to slacken, dropping pitch. If you slide from like 3 to 10, you can drop it almost a half tone.