Fretted?? Back in July you indicated that you were awaiting delivery of a fretless model. I've been following this tread to hear what you thought of it because I'm interested in a fretless, too. Did your fretless model not work out, AJ? Or . . . ??
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Kala Ubass Megathread, Part 1
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Fretted?? Back in July you indicated that you were awaiting delivery of a fretless model. I've been following this tread to hear what you thought of it because I'm interested in a fretless, too. Did your fretless model not work out, AJ? Or . . . ??
Just bought my fretless mahogany Ubass yesterday - great little thingie, so fun to play! Count me in as a member
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I'm interested in the fretless model, too. But Gollihur Music recommends getting the fretted one instead. (Invalid Link Removed)
I suspect it may have to do with intonation on such a short 20" scale, but my own odd, fretless, upright bass has only a 26" scale, so I'm still interested. What comments do you have now that you've had your fretless for a while, mwesth?
Andy Brown
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- Jul 23, 2004
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Hey Jack... I changed my mind at the last minute to go for a fretted after hearing about the potential intonation issues.
Possibly. Though a Baritone Uke is tuned differently than a bass (DGBE vs. EADG) and the nut probably is not cut to accept the thick Pahoehoe strings.
No, the neck dimensions are different and the tuners, nut and bridge would have to be changed. Not really plausible IMO.
- Steve
Absolutely not. I tried it with my Martin bari and there is just no way to attach the strings to the tuners. It's like trying to thread a needle with a rope.
Frank, my 26 is a very modified guitarrón. The idea is to be able to play full DB lines on it, upright. I've made a new bridge/saddle arrangement so it can take BG strings with ball ends. Right now I have it strung with six Rotosound Tru Bass 88s, which are black nylon-wrapped, flat-wounds: 50-65-75-100-115-135. Trying to get it to sound as little like a BG and as much like a DB as possible, and these are the closest. Not a DB sound, of course, but closer than any of the several others I've tried--especially amplified.
The 135 is intended to be a B0 on a BG, but on my 26"-scale upright guitarrón all of my strings are tuned up a fourth from what they were designed for on a BG. So my 135 is tuned to E1. The 50, which was originally intended as a C3, I have tuned up to an F3. So my UG has a range of E1 to F4, almost the same as a four-string DB. This way I can play regular DB bass lines, which was the whole idea of modifying it.
Snagged a 2nd grade "blemished" fretless mahogany on ebay earlier. There are a few of them closing tomorrow. A fretted and a fretless@ 379, also a sprucetop fretless for $339 closing tomorrow.
A blem fretted mahogany closed for 415 today. I got my fretless with one bid over the opening at 384.
I did a bit of research on the blemished ones and it seems they (Butler) are on the up and up regarding the tiniest of blemishes getting a 2 stamped into them by Kala. Hope mine's a good'n.
In other news, Kala is not keeping everyone happy. Latest listing is another guitar merchant destocking Kala and badmouthing them in the process. I noticed the strings on it are overwound already but it's going cheap!
A blem fretted mahogany closed for 415 today. I got my fretless with one bid over the opening at 384.
I did a bit of research on the blemished ones and it seems they (Butler) are on the up and up regarding the tiniest of blemishes getting a 2 stamped into them by Kala. Hope mine's a good'n.
In other news, Kala is not keeping everyone happy. Latest listing is another guitar merchant destocking Kala and badmouthing them in the process. I noticed the strings on it are overwound already but it's going cheap!
I looked at that auction and was really surprised by the negative comments regarding Kala. I don't know anything about Oklahoma Vintage Guitar or the "great reputation" they claim to enjoy, but I bought my UBass from Easy Music Center in Honolulu, and have had occasion to communicate directly with Mike Upton at Kala, and the service I've received from both has been absolutely fantastic.
Andy Brown
Commercial User
- Jul 23, 2004
- 5,675
- 312
- Disclosures
- Founder/Owner: Wing Instruments
I had the 1/8" connector on the jack on my U-Bass break, so they just sent me a new one along with the entire bridge assembly. Nothing but top-notch service from Kala.
I played around with a fretted today at a music store in a KC suburb. It had a 1/4" jack, and sounded very good amped. I noticed that some of the strings were wrapped around their posts 5-6 times and double wrapped at that, and I tried to tell them that Kala recommends against that and why, but I don't think they bought it.
A question: Why is it said that intonation is such a problem on the fretless? Seems to me that any fretless BG would have the same problems when you play it up the neck where the imaginary frets are as close together as on a U-Bass, wouldn't that be so?
A question: Why is it said that intonation is such a problem on the fretless? Seems to me that any fretless BG would have the same problems when you play it up the neck where the imaginary frets are as close together as on a U-Bass, wouldn't that be so?
I'm picking it's a problem for those not used to intonating themselves accurately. You're talking such infinitesmal movement to attain pitch when the scale is so short. Same reason a violin sounds baaaad so easily.
Let you know when I get mine. I grew up playing violin so should be ok.
Let you know when I get mine. I grew up playing violin so should be ok.
Same here, I've had nothing but good experiences with Kala including them sending me a new ubass because their supplier couldn't get a replacement tuner to me without a long delay. don't know what the problem was with the oklahoma music store was, but my experience with Kala and Mike Upton has been nothing short of great.
In fact, I was so impressed with the quality/bang for the buck ratio and customer service that I turned around a month later and bought a Kala tenor uke, that I am loving btw!!!
Venting.....friggen NZ Customs has latched onto my U-bass and they are taking their sweet time to send me a bill for import tax. I thought being a "uke" it might go through unmolested. Dangnabbit, that's be an extra 15% to pay on the uke and the blimmin airmail.
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