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Kala Ubass Megathread, Part 1

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#621
My Hog has also been on order since Feb. Still no anticipated delivery date. If I didn't get such a great deal on it, I think that I would cancel my order. I do like my Spruce top but wanted to check out the difference. So I wait....................................did I say I was waiting....................................................?
 
#624
SubSectorSucker said:
I have serious, irrational GAS for one of these. Does anyone know if the HH signature model is going into production, or are the ones that got out already the only ones?
Click to expand...

Kala says they might put the HH into production once they catch up with demand for the regular acoustic models.

But with trying to catch up with demand for the acoustic models and two solidbody models (USA and imports) I don't see that happening anytime soon.
 
#625
gracebass777 said:
Hi, this is a question for you dads (or) moms out there.

I'm contemplating getting my 4 year old son started on bass playing and I'm thinking about getting him the Ubass. I made the switch from guitar to bass about 2 years ago and love it.

Any of you have little ones with experience with this?

How much does does the Ubass weigh?

Would those strings be good for those little fingers?

Acoustic or electric, which might be better?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Since I've had my fretless mahogany model, I've been thinking that the Ubass is a great way to get smaller children into bass playing. In my job as a community musician I work mainly with primary school kids (under 11s), and for most of them a bass guitar is just too big - even a short scale model.

I was trying to get my 13 year old daughter to play some tunes on my Fender Jazz bass a few weeks ago, and whilst she could just about manage it, she found it too heavy and also a long stretch down to the 1st fret. So she wasn't too keen on doing it again. This week she had a go on the Ubass and absolutely loved it! She practiced with it for nearly 2 hours. She did pretty good at playing fretless for her first time - the fret markers surely are a massive help. To my trained ears some notes were a little out of tune - but with practice I'm sure she can get them closer to pitch.

I'm not sure if a child as young as 4 could play a Ubass - it would depend how big they are - but probably an average 6 - 8 year old would be ok. I would guess that finger length is the deciding factor. The tension is low so they are easy to press down, it's just reaching round to the E string - try it with your son to find out!

I just weighed my fretless mahogany Ubass on our kitchen scales and with a strap attached it was roughly 2 lb, or 900 grammes. This is very light and I'm sure the weight wouldn't be a problem.

I'd recommend a fretted spruce acoustic Ubass, both because it is the cheapest model, and also because it is useful to be able to hear the Ubass acoustically for quiet practice in your armchair.

In fact, I think I may end up buying a fretted spruce model myself for kids to use when I'm running workshops.

I love my Ubass.

I did a gig with it on the prom at Grange over Sands yesterday and got a lot of interest about the Ubass from passing musicians. One guy said "Tell me where I can buy one please!". I directed them all towards Kala on the web. The other musicians said I should set up a dealership. Maybe Kala might be kind and send me a free fretted spruce model for my good advertising work. Here's hoping :D
 
#626
Although I love my little ubass I'm starting to have a little issue with the wee fellow:
When I press the ubass to my body while playing, the backside sounds like squeaky floorboards. It seems there's some room for the backpanel to be pressed in. That's not right I think.
I contacted Kala and they said: get it repaired by a luthier, it won't cost a lot of money, or send it back to the store.

Considering the fact that I live in the netherlands and I bought the ubass in the UK, that's some hassle.

Any word of advice?
 
#627
I brought my UBass to a local open mic a couple of nights ago and it was a big hit. It went straight to the PA through my Fishman preamp and sounded unbelievable. The other guys playing commandeered it for a while and didn't want to give it back. Everyone wants one now! I got to listen to it from audience perspective and was absolutely stunned by the amplified sound. So was everyone else.
 
#628
Great! Thanks for this post Rick. It was nice to hear your daughter getting more into bass playing. And i agree Kala should consider sending something to you :)

My son and I had a chance to try a solid body Ubass the other day at the local music store. Size wise it was a good fit but it made me realize that at age 4 his attention span may preclude any serious learning on this uke for now . Will wait and see...

Dan



Rick Middleton said:
Since I've had my fretless mahogany model, I've been thinking that the Ubass is a great way to get smaller children into bass playing. In my job as a community musician I work mainly with primary school kids (under 11s), and for most of them a bass guitar is just too big - even a short scale model.

I was trying to get my 13 year old daughter to play some tunes on my Fender Jazz bass a few weeks ago, and whilst she could just about manage it, she found it too heavy and also a long stretch down to the 1st fret. So she wasn't too keen on doing it again. This week she had a go on the Ubass and absolutely loved it! She practiced with it for nearly 2 hours. She did pretty good at playing fretless for her first time - the fret markers surely are a massive help. To my trained ears some notes were a little out of tune - but with practice I'm sure she can get them closer to pitch.

I'm not sure if a child as young as 4 could play a Ubass - it would depend how big they are - but probably an average 6 - 8 year old would be ok. I would guess that finger length is the deciding factor. The tension is low so they are easy to press down, it's just reaching round to the E string - try it with your son to find out!

I just weighed my fretless mahogany Ubass on our kitchen scales and with a strap attached it was roughly 2 lb, or 900 grammes. This is very light and I'm sure the weight wouldn't be a problem.

I'd recommend a fretted spruce acoustic Ubass, both because it is the cheapest model, and also because it is useful to be able to hear the Ubass acoustically for quiet practice in your armchair.

In fact, I think I may end up buying a fretted spruce model myself for kids to use when I'm running workshops.

I love my Ubass.

I did a gig with it on the prom at Grange over Sands yesterday and got a lot of interest about the Ubass from passing musicians. One guy said "Tell me where I can buy one please!". I directed them all towards Kala on the web. The other musicians said I should set up a dealership. Maybe Kala might be kind and send me a free fretted spruce model for my good advertising work. Here's hoping :D
Click to expand...
 
#630
Joe Nerve said:
wow... I really don't need one of these things... have about 20 basses... bad gas, bad BAD gas... they're in stock... my finger is in the trigger and the gun is loaded... hand trembling...
Click to expand...

Dude, DO IT! Most of my 'normal' bass collection is basically variations on a similar theme. The U-Bass is a whole different instrument. I think mine paid for itself in like 2 weeks. It's a very different paintbrush & producers, artists, engineers, etc are all digging it.
 
#632
I have a Kala fretted mahogany u-bass and am not happy that the jack/strap button came loose after only 6 weeks.

The original supplier has re-tightened it as a gesture of goodwill, although they won't refund the £22 cost of returning it to them, and Kala have sent me a detailed description of how to tighten it myself.

I'm a musician not a technician - why should I have to keep repairing what is a basic design fault?
 
#633
JanineH said:
I have a Kala fretted mahogany u-bass and am not happy that the jack/strap button came loose after only 6 weeks.

The original supplier has re-tightened it as a gesture of goodwill, although they won't refund the £22 cost of returning it to them, and Kala have sent me a detailed description of how to tighten it myself.

I'm a musician not a technician - why should I have to keep repairing what is a basic design fault?
Click to expand...

I had that happen too. It you take the wooden cover off the back (that you would remove to change strings) you can get to the jack to tighten it easily. No need to send it in. Not that big a deal. It is not a design fault, it is a loose jack. It happens on a lot of basses. If you don't want it to happen again put a drop of Loctite on the threads before tightening them. Problem solved.

[This invalid link has been removed]

I don't know if it is available where you live, but I'm sure there is something there that does the same thing.
 
#635
Jjango said:
Might I ask where they're in stock? I just checked Musician's Friend, and they seem to be backordered.
Click to expand...

They're in stock in a place called Joe's imagination. :/

Actually pulled the trigger. Then saw they are indeed again out of stock. One of 2 things may explain this... either they were in stock for a day (or the websites reflected this for all of 10 minutes) and they all went out to pre-orders, or the websites were in the midst of updating their expected delivery date when I searched the other day. Anyhoo... was told I could have one by mid september but I wanted the bass for a trip I'm taking at the end of august. I'm therefore putting putting the misfired gun back in cabinet for a while. Seems the gods are telling me this wasn't supposed to be, at least not now.

Scotch - your post fired the shot.

HeavyDuty - be careful what you wish for.
 
#640
Make sure you think about a preamp before hitting the road with the U-Bass untested. Some amps & di's it works fine, but that high impedance pickup just doesn't like certain input stages.

Mine worked great through my amps at home and pedalboard- but at the first session I brought it to, I didn't bring my usual gear & was patched straight into a U5 - no bueno! There was a rather loud low-freq hum. It turns out it was a piezo impedance interface issue.

Just so you don't get "caught with yer pants down" so to speak!

A great, super-cheap pre that works great is an ART TubeMP. No hum, great tone & you can interface with pretty much anything.
 
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