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Fender Fullerton Precision Uke bass

#45
I did not like the supplied rounds on this bass. I put on the Aguila Copper Flats and it sounds a lot better. I used it on a gig for a few tunes and it sounded enough like a bass that the audience did not even notice I had switched from my P bass. The copper flats are a bright flat which can be great if that's what you are looking for. I may also try the Galli flats on this bass, which are darker, more like a regular flat. The intonation is still not great, but I dont notice it down in the money notes. I wish the tone knob would do a little more.
I may go kamikaze on this bass. On my HB ukes the preamps were so bad I installed a regular pickup and left the piezo hooked up only for the tuner. I am doing a private party today with this one, I hope it works. I did a sound check with it yesterday and it sounded good. So, I am considering going to a regular bridge and a regular pickup on the Fender too.
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#46
Bodeeni said:
I did not like the supplied rounds on this bass. I put on the Aguila Copper Flats and it sounds a lot better. I used it on a gig for a few tunes and it sounded enough like a bass that the audience did not even notice I had switched from my P bass. The copper flats are a bright flat which can be great if that's what you are looking for. I may also try the Galli flats on this bass, which are darker, more like a regular flat. The intonation is still not great, but I dont notice it down in the money notes. I wish the tone knob would do a little more.
I may go kamikaze on this bass. On my HB ukes the preamps were so bad I installed a regular pickup and left the piezo hooked up only for the tuner. I am doing a private party today with this one, I hope it works. I did a sound check with it yesterday and it sounded good. So, I am considering going to a regular bridge and a regular pickup on the Fender too.
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Are you using Galli flats on the Harley Benton Kahuna? How do they fare through the magnetic pickup?
 
#48
HaphAsSard said:
Are you using Galli flats on the Harley Benton Kahuna? How do they fare through the magnetic pickup?
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Galli flats work pretty well with the magnetic pickup. Not as strong as a solid metal string but good enough and a 100% better than a crappy supplied piezo that would only do all the string intermittently (even with a lot of tweaking).
 
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#49
HaphAsSard said:
Are you using Galli flats on the Harley Benton Kahuna? How do they fare through the magnetic pickup?
Click to expand...
I tried a set of Kala/Galli flatwound nylon core on magnetic pickup, had to turn the volume to maximum on the bass and the PJD4 to maximum, but it still was not enough. Since then I let go of all my magnetic pickup basses, now only have piezo using a replaced all metal fully adjustable bridge and the Kala/Galli flats.
 
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#50
KohanMike said:
I tried a set of Kala/Galli flatwound nylon core on magnetic pickup, had to turn the volume to maximum on the bass and the PJD4 to maximum, but it still was not enough. Since then I let go of all my magnetic pickup basses, now only have piezo using a replaced all metal fully adjustable bridge and the Kala/Galli flats.
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You'll surely remember I was very interested in your discovery of the magnetic properties of the Gallis (which I would call "accidental", if not for the fact they seem to count on said properties for the long-scale version - the Synthesis Flatwounds - a product they do not solely market to ABG players if at all), but I did stop spamming the forum about the fact, once you revealed you were ultimately not satisfied with them on electric platforms.
The fact @Bodeeni is treading the same ground got me curious about his opinion.

[Also cf. @Norm Whipple's similar experience with the Pyramid 235 set, also nyloncore but nickel flatwounds, here: he also had to dime the gain at the amp head. I suppose boosting the signal even earlier in the chain, via a pedal, might also work.]
 
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#51
HaphAsSard said:
You'll surely remember I was very interested in your discovery of the magnetic properties of the Gallis (which I would call "accidental", if not for the fact they seem to count on said properties for the long-scale version - the Synthesis Flatwounds - a product they do not solely market to ABG players if at all), but I did stop spamming the forum about the fact, once you revealed you were ultimately not satisfied with them on electric platforms.
The fact @Bodeeni is treading the same ground got me curious about his opinion.

[Also cf. @Norm Whipple's similar experience with the Pyramid 235 set, also nyloncore but nickel flatwounds, here: he also had to dime the gain at the amp head. I suppose boosting the signal even earlier in the chain, via a pedal, might also work.]
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I went this route out of necessity because I figured a way to float as pickup in the sound hole easier than redoing the piezo and the preamp. The first pickup I tried, a Fender low noise strat did not work well at all, too weak. Then I went to a cheap Musiclily hot rail pickup which works a lot better, but not perfect. I gigged with one of these Ukes this weekend for a low volume guitar, keys, bass gig. It went well enough. the Uke is very bassy with this setup. Kind of like an upright with a mudbucker. No Jaco and no slapping, but it was an effective sound especially with just guitar and bass.
The pickup needs to be close to the strings and it took a bit to get the string to string balance decent because this pickup has an aggressive radius on the rails. If I was willing to spend big bucks I would either get a better Piezo and preamp or a rail pickup that correctly matched the fretboard radius. Hard to justify on a $100 Uke. The Musiclily pickup and Plastic ring with jack set me back under $30.
 
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#56
SBassman said:
This is a very interesting design, and the price point is great.

I think they missed the mark, though. An awful lot of people who enjoyed the uke bass wave - myself enthusiastically included - have eventually concluded that maybe the uke size is - too small. Those folks, like me today, want it - guitar sized. And so, something like a 23" scale and just a slightly bigger body would have made a difference for many more potential sellers. Just my theory, but I believe it to be true.
The Squier P Bass mini is a good seller, If this was smaller than that, but larger than the uke footprint, I think many would grab the bass in a blink. I'd be in the front of the line.
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I agree about needing a slightly longer scale for it to be practical for me. I have the Kala and Gold Tone basses and they do feel a bit cramped to me when playing seated.

I've been interested in a guitar scale sized bass for quite a while and was going to order an aftermarket guitar neck with a blank headstock to assemble one but for considerably less I bought a Glarry short scale that has a 25.5" scale and 24 frets that seemed closer to what I was thinking I wanted. The Glarry is still a bit cramped for me while playing seated but closer to being practical so I decided put the Glarry neck on an aftermarket Mustang guitar shaped body I ordered without any routing other than the neck pocket that I've used for a few projects. That body has an offset waist which moved the neck more to the left when playing seated which works out much better for me.
 

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