Educate me on these cheap bass ukes.

[Eilif]

I've played a number of u-bases. They seem well done and certainly a good value, but the price is just outside of the impulse-buy range that is pretty much my limit. Now I see that Oscar Schmidt has one, and Rondo has them in solid and acoustic versions.

I'd love to hear folks experience with these cheapies and to know whether they're serviceable instruments. It'd be great to have a mini bass that I can take on trips, but I don't want to buy one that isn't an actual instrument. I'm especially interested to know if the acoustic versions are loud enough to be heard in individual practice or when played with a regular uke.

 

[DirkP]

Just bought a Rondo (under the label of a german musicstore, where they are called J&D) for 130,- yesterday.

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I'm especially interested to know if the acoustic versions are loud enough to be heard in individual practice or when played with a regular uke.

It is an actual instrument, no doubts.

The general consensus seems to be that they are loud enough for individual practise but barely loud enough with other instruments. If you play with a pick they might be loud enough played with a ukulele or a soft played acoustic guitar. But this is common for all UKE basses regardless the price, it is simply the small body.

For 130,- the Rondo is incredible. It's beautifull, the tuner and the preamp are surprisingly good, the balance of volume across the strings is quite good too (some much more expensive instruments have problems with this). There is a huge thread here on talkbass about the "Hagean Rondo" UKE basses, the solidbody one and the acoustic one. The general consensus seems to be that esp. the acoustic one is very good for the money.

My only complaint so far is the stickyness of the strings. These are Aquilla Thunderguts that retail for about 20,- alone and many rate them as among the best strings for UKE-basses. They are easier to tune after a shorter set-in period (during the first days you have to tune the strings every few minutes), but a lot of other strings seem to be worse in that area. And they sound BIG, almost upright-bass like. Aquilla recommends baby powder to make the strings less sticky.
Don't know what about making adjustments. I guess it doesn't have a tweakable truss-rod.

But apart from this, these instruments are just fantastic and lots of fun. For only 1/15 of what I paid for my last Jazz Bass a no-brainer.
Would really like to play such a bass in a band setting

 

[pcake]

i hear good things about the rondos. i have a u-bass rumbler, and you can hear it well during individual practice with more bass than a lot of large acoustic basses. played with a uke, i'd say it would depend on how that uke is being played. i think it wouldn't be loud enough to keep up with a uke being strummed hard.

 

[DirkP]

If I think about it again: I quite like the volume unamplified. It's enough to have fun: much louder and more bass than an unamplified solidbody bass. But you could still play it in a hotel room or at night, when people are sleeping in a neighboured room without disturbing them.

 

[Eilif]

Thanks for the info folks. I'll look up the rondo thread.

As for the sticky strings, have you folks tried baby powder? As far as I know these are similar to strings on the the old Guild/Dearmond Ashbory basses and they always recommended using it.

 

[DirkP]

I have to buy baby powder, it's what Aquilla recommends, but it seems to be a compromise. It goes everywhere and do you really want to always use baby powder when you grab your instrument?
I try it. The d and g string on mine are less sticky than the E and A string.
With a soft touch and a bit of will you can play it, but it feels a bit uncomfortable, esp. when you make slides with the left hand - and these sound very good on these basses..

 

[MEKer]

Be sure to take a good look at the Oscar Schmidt.

 

[Eilif]

I have to buy baby powder, it's what Aquilla recommends, but it seems to be a compromise. It goes everywhere and do you really want to always use baby powder when you grab your instrument?
I try it. The d and g string on mine are less sticky than the E and A string.
With a soft touch and a bit of will you can play it, but it feels a bit uncomfortable, esp. when you make slides with the left hand - and these sound very good on these basses..

I wouldn't be too fussed about having to use powder. Do you need alot or a little? I would imagine you just need a bit to reduce the friction from your finger moisture. String players use rosin everytime they play so I don't think it's to much trouble.

 

[Orangeclawhammr]

I didn't like the strings on my Gold Tone Microbass, so I got a set of pahoehoes. Much nicer.

 

[DirkP]

Be sure to take a good look at the Oscar Schmidt.

Besides the cutaway and some minor cosmetic differances, I would guess these all come from the same factory (J&D, Rondo, Oscar Schmidt). The tuners are the same on mine, the bridge looks quite similar too.

 

[DirkP]

I didn't like the strings on my Gold Tone Microbass, so I got a set of pahoehoes. Much nicer.

But what about the tuning? People who prefer the Aquilla strings complain about the pahoehoes to need to much time until they hold the tuning. IIRC the Rondo came with pahoehoes first and now they come with Aquilla.

 

[Goteky45]

are there steel strings for these?

 

[DirkP]

This has steel strings, but its size is 36" and they call it compact acoustic bass, my Uke bass is 30".
I don't think that there are steel strings as a replacement for "ordinary" UKE basses. Maybe the tension would be too high for the necks, but I'm just guessing.
Love the first video.






It's an OBU-22. In germany it is about 530,-.

This guy is a bit critical about it and steel strings in general:
Ohana OBU-22 Uke Bass | uBass Appreciation Society

Agree with him a bit although my knowledge is limited to 2 days of owning one What makes these little toys so unique and lets them sound more like an upright bass are the STICKY strings.

 

[HaphAsSard]

are there steel strings for these?

I don't think that there are steel strings as a replacement for "ordinary" UKE basses. Maybe the tension would be too high for the necks, but I'm just guessing.

The main problem with steel-core strings used on bass ukes is actually intonation: bridges are placed with ultra-flexible strings in mind and they should be moved back some if the instrument were retrofitted with metal-cores (the Ohana is probably an exception). Also, apart from the new-ish Pyramid black nylon tapewounds, you really have to go the custom route to source such strings.

(As for tone, while I get how synthetic strings give an air of family, at least ideally, to the bass member of the ukulele family, I for one am not particularly fond of their tone, so I'm sympathetic towards anyone who enquires about alternative choices. Nor do I not get the appeal of upright emulation - I do, but I don't really like the bass uke/rubber string specific impression of it. JMHO.)

 

[Orangeclawhammr]

But what about the tuning? People who prefer the Aquilla strings complain about the pahoehoes to need to much time until they hold the tuning. IIRC the Rondo came with pahoehoes first and now they come with Aquilla.

They both took a long time to settle in. About a month or so.

 

[katysax]

I have the original Kala U-Bass, the California U-Bass (solid made in USA), the Rondo Music Hadean (Acoustic version), and a Shortbass One. I have had the Gold Tone Micro Solid Body and the Rondo Hadean Solid Body.

My $.02 is that the Rondo Acoustic version is a heck of a deal for the money. I'm not a big fan of the strings, but they are a bit louder acoustically, which can be helpful. Overall, the Acoustic Rondo is surprisingly well made and usable. At some point I'll probably sell my Kala Mahogany Acoustic and keep the Rondo.

I much prefer the solid body u-basses. To me they are easier to hold and no problems with feedback and string noise. I love the California U-Bass. The Sub-U Bass is also fun, with a different (but in its own way very good) sound. I prefer the California Basses because their construction is more refined and I prefer the sound.

The Rondo Solid Body that I had was simply a mess. Bad construction. Terrible electronics. Some people find them worthwhile as the basis for modifications. But on their own, unmodified they are terrible.

The Gold Tone Solid Body that I had was also a mess. It looked like it was made out of pieces of junk wood that were glued together. It also looked like someone had randomly sanded parts. The pickup did not work properly. I sent it back.

The Shortbass One is something I just got. I need something loud enough to play acoustically and neither the Rondo nor the Kala are cutting it. I have been using a sell steel string Fender Acoustic Bass that I hate. But it is just loud enough. I'm hoping the Shortbass One will work out. It is pretty nice to play but quite a bit bigger. I haven't bothered to plug it in as I don't care about what it sounds like amplified. I've got plenty of basses I can play with an amp.

Bottom line is that the Rondo acoustic is well worth the cost. You'll know its a cheapie from the fret ends and cheap tuners and lack of refinement, but it is quite serviceable and fun to play. I think it's about as good as the Kala Rumbler for quite a bit less money.

 

[BAG]

I've played bass in a Uke band and any acoustic UBass is not going to be heard unplugged at all if there is more than one uke playing (and playing quietly at that). It's even hard to hear my big bodied ABG unplugged when three or more ukes are playing together, especially when most uke players are musical novices to some extent and only know one strumming method (loud!!). I took to playing the electric with them and use a Roland Cube Street at small jams and take my amp to gigs or DI through the PA.

 

[BAG]

Here's the group last year at a festival in Perisher Valley.

 

[Scotty DelMar]

Goteky45, Scroll down to Pyramids and Kala metal wound strings. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Thet are not steel core however.

 

[1stnamebassist]

I tried the pyramids and didn't like them at all. Not much bottom in my experience anyway. I tried the thunderguts and silver rumblers and didn't like them either. Way too sticky for me. I tried baby powder. pool talc bags, etc, and nothing would work with the stickeness and weird overtones and squeeks that the strings make. After using the powder I would get through maybe half of a song and the sticky feeling would come back. Went back to the paehoehoes and everything was fine. Yeah they take a while to settle in and hold tune, but once there they are fine. Could potentially last years also, something that the thunderguts probably won't do.