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Kala u-bass tuning
- Thread starter John Stephen
- Start date
They are tuned just like any other bass. The flexible rubbery strings allow this with such a short scale.
I just saw a professional-looking article yesterday that says ukulele basses are tuned one octave higher than regular basses and those that are tuned the same are ukulele contrabasses. If you’ve seen any YouTube reviews of U-Basses it’s obviously wrong. If it’s octave higher it’s the bottom 4 strings of a guitar, that’s not particularly bassy.
That article probably uses the term "bass ukulele" to refer to a lone commercial model, the Luna Guitars Tattoo Uke Bass:
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which is indeed tuned E2-A2-D3-G3, like the 4 low strings of a standard guitar - ou one octave above the bass (viol, or guitar, or uke-shaped) - and it sports metal flatwound strings.
The reasoning is that it makes little sense that the bass member of the ukulele family be tuned over two octaves below the baritone ukulele. So the Luna has a better claim to that title than the Kala, which would then be called a "contrabass ukulele".
In this context, "bass" is not to be intended as an absolute term. "Bass" is a member of an instrument family which is is tuned suitably lower than its prime member (usually one octave). The lowest note of a bass flute is C3, not E1. It's all relative.
The phrase "contrabass ukulele" to refer to the Kala UBass may not be popular on YouTube but it is used on the internet by anyone who is sensitive to the above considerations. I also am, but I prefer the hyphenated "bass-ukulele", or better yet the reversed phrase, "ukulele bass": to my mind it's a hybrid, not solely a uke.
Moreover, it is and can only be (acoustic-)electric - unlike the Luna which does have a fighting chance of being heard acoustically.
(To continue this sticklery, I must add that I also have problems with the Luna's tuning being neither re-entrant not conducive to ordinary uke chord shapes but hey, the baritone uke tuning already broke with the former tradition, so I guess breaking with the latter is no sacrilege.)
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They are the same as a traditional basses. EADG, same octave. The Kala basses would be pretty good if they were half the price (made in China which is not on their website or on the instrument). If you want a small toy bass at a cheap price there many others out there at less than half the price with similar quality.
Here is a quick review after using one for a year (variety of gigs). I have many years of playing pro bass including stand up and electric. I bought a ubass out of of curiosity since I liked the idea of a mini bass which I still do.
Kala ubasses look good with nice fit and finish and are quite easy to play but they are far from pro instruments. If you learned to play with formal string bass method you will need to adapt to the small frets.
The pickup gets a lot of volume without feedback which is very nice. Problem is the the D an G strings are a lot louder than the E and A strings. There is no way to balance this without a Luther doing custom work which will cost more than the bass. I play in pit orchestras where dynamics are very important and it is a nightmare trying to deal with this. As you run up the neck the volume almost doubles.
The plastic strings are nice on the fingers and I can play for hours without a problem. However, the strings tend to roll changing the pitch. They also stick to the fingers causing a false note to sound when lifting off the string. It is impossible to glissando (slide) and hard to accent.
Intonation is horrible. If you tune to the open strings the octave will be almost a half step flat. I tune to the fifth fret which helps.
I bought mine through Amazon (first time not from a music store which will never happen again). It came with dead batteries and a very minor cosmetic flaw. After many weeks of emails (very bad customer service, no phone) they finally answered and agreed to send new batteries but wanted the bass sent back through Amazon to fix the cosmetic flaw. I said, no thanks, I'll live with the flaw.
Taylor and Guild are now making mini basses and I'm sure there will be other quality instruments out soon. I'll get one of those in the near future. Plus they are using steel strings which work much better. What Kala introduced was a good idea but has too many problems for serious players (at any price).
Thanks for the info, Alan. I appreciate the detailed review of it. Your comments are similar to others I've heard (though yours are more thorough).
The main difference is that you will have to turn that tuner about 400 times more than you do on a standard bass to get it to pitch. 
Glad to help John. As Red Green says "we're all in this together".
Right you are lug. Gave me a good laugh.
To explain, when tuning it takes a lot of cranking on the tuners to get anything to happen because the plastic strings act like rubber bands. The strings like to miss the pitch you want and it takes a lot of over and under compensation. Also, the pitch goes sharp when first playing it. I usually "warm" the bass up by playing it before tuning. The bass holds the pitch pretty good from day to day but it always needs some fiddling before playing. Nothing like my other bass guitars which are rock solid on holding the pitch. Those I just take an open A, do a quick harmonic check on the other strings and away I go.
Right you are lug. Gave me a good laugh.
To explain, when tuning it takes a lot of cranking on the tuners to get anything to happen because the plastic strings act like rubber bands. The strings like to miss the pitch you want and it takes a lot of over and under compensation. Also, the pitch goes sharp when first playing it. I usually "warm" the bass up by playing it before tuning. The bass holds the pitch pretty good from day to day but it always needs some fiddling before playing. Nothing like my other bass guitars which are rock solid on holding the pitch. Those I just take an open A, do a quick harmonic check on the other strings and away I go.
