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Kala Ubass Megathread, Part 1

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#961
I experimented with the U-Bass through a Behringer ADI21 through the Syagogue's PA system and I had to flip the PAD switch to -20db. Even then, I could turn the blend knob very far without it distorting.

I showed the U-Bass to several people after Erev Shabbat service and it impressed all of them. I am definitely taking it to Shabbat service tomorrow morning. I need to read through the song list and see which songs that upright sound will work best with.
 
#963
Ok, I have a bit of an emergency. My silicone soundhole cover has fallen apart. A couple of the scissor snips were too long, leading it to ripping.

My gig is tomorrow night. I took some foam, cut it into a circle, and put that into the hole. It's staying, although it will be not too difficult to knock it into the hole while I'm playing. Anyway, will foam do the job as a soundhole cover? I'm talking about that dark grey foam that is used for packing - and even sealing drafts in a window. Will this work, or is this a waste of time?

[Trying to avoid learning this on the job in front of everyone tomorrow. Any help appreciated.]
 
#964
SBassman said:
Ok, I have a bit of an emergency. My silicone soundhole cover has fallen apart. A couple of the scissor snips were too long, leading it to ripping.

My gig is tomorrow night. I took some foam, cut it into a circle, and put that into the hole. It's staying, although it will be not too difficult to knock it into the hole while I'm playing. Anyway, will foam do the job as a soundhole cover? I'm talking about that dark grey foam that is used for packing - and even sealing drafts in a window. Will this work, or is this a waste of time?

[Trying to avoid learning this on the job in front of everyone tomorrow. Any help appreciated.]
Click to expand...

I wouldn't freak out too much. I've been playing some pretty large and loud venues without feedback problems. The only time I've run into howling is with monitors that were cranked way too loud!
 
#967
SBassman said:
Thanks guys.

This band really does play ridiculously loud.

I'll let you know how it goes.

That foam though - will that be a deterrent, or am I fooling myself using foam?
Click to expand...

I don't use a sound hole cover and get zero feedback ever at loud band volumes unless I stand within a foot or two of the monitor and face directly at it. It's actually very easy to control, to the point you can add feedback if you want to go Hendrix for a second or two. The foam cover should be adequate for what you want to do, but you may not even need it. Just in case, take a solid body bass with you for backup.
 
#968
GBassNorth said:
I don't use a sound hole cover and get zero feedback ever at loud band volumes unless I stand within a foot or two of the monitor and face directly at it. It's actually very easy to control, to the point you can add feedback if you want to go Hendrix for a second or two. The foam cover should be adequate for what you want to do, but you may not even need it. Just in case, take a solid body bass with you for backup.
Click to expand...

I'm taking a solid body with me, although if I have to punt it will
be uncomfortable. I have played the UBass exclusively for some time now.

[This is nothing to many of you with deep abilities, but I'm a weekend warrior - who actually does most gigging on drums :) - so, swapping a scale length after some solid time on this bass will be a challenge.]
 
#969
In final prep for my gig tonight, I had to re-do my A string again.

So far, with this bass and initial set of strings, I:
- Re-did the entire bass once
- Re-did the A previous to this
- Just re-did the A again.

[I'm talking about restringing when you run out of wrap room on the post.]

Anyone else seeing readjustment of the A necessary more frequently than the others, or is that just a random thing I experienced?
 
#970
SBassman said:
In final prep for my gig tonight, I had to re-do my A string again.

So far, with this bass and initial set of strings, I:
- Re-did the entire bass once
- Re-did the A previous to this
- Just re-did the A again.

[I'm talking about restringing when you run out of wrap room on the post.]

Anyone else seeing readjustment of the A necessary more frequently than the others, or is that just a random thing I experienced?
Click to expand...

My A string seems to be fairly stable as are the G and E strings. The only one that seems to need to be rewrapped every now and then is my D string (about once a month so far). Even then only because I'm paranoid about the wrap slipping down around the tuning nut where it might cause a problem. All my strings stay relatively in tune when sitting for a couple of days, after that I find that the bass does go out of tune about a half step.
 
#971
Well, it's 3:50am EST, and I'm home from the New Year's Eve gig.
I played the entire gig on the UBass.

So - how did it do?

Tone was great. Shocked a whole lotta people.
We play mostly dance rock. We play a few country tunes, and,
it really shined on those tunes. I couldn't imagine a better instrument for country tunes.

It did very well on the rock tunes, too. I was able to conjure some very powerful sounds. On the Adele tunes, it sounded amazing.

Ok, there's a down side. I have to say I was disappointed by - tuning stability. I guess I was digging in a bit more than I do in the house, and I had to tune a few different times Inside the set.
Which, for me, is - N.G.

The fun Still outweighs this for me, so I will continue playing this out, but, yeah, I was disappointed. It also gives me more reason to spend some time now with the Thunderguts. Maybe they'll fix some of that.
 
#973
I think I may need a compressor/sustainer. There are some slow songs we play at the during worship that there isn't much space for me to play a lot of bass notes. I end up playing a lot of whole notes and half-notes, but the sustain on this U-Bass won't allow that.

For the faster songs, where I get to thump more notes, I am very happy with the results. Now, I need to have a talk with the sound guy, because when I switched over to the U-bass from my electric, people couldn't hear me as well.
 
#974
The U-Bass definitely isn't a sustain machine! If its full sustaining whole notes you need, I think another bass is a better choice. Compression may help a little, but to get longer notes I suspect you're gonna have to for a really unnatural sounding squash setting. Of course, that could sound super cool too!

I've found that broken in strings (maybe a few weeks old) stay in tune pretty well. I do employ a rather light touch, though- it feels to me like I get a better dynamic range and even more low end tone by playing far lighter than I approach a normal bass guitar.
 
#976
scotch said:
... in other U-Bass news... I'm in possession of some Aquila Thundergut strings. I'm going to audition them this month to see if I dig 'em. I have an acoustic tour in February & need to make a choice. Stay tuned! (Punny.)
Click to expand...

I, too, am newly in possession of some Thunderguts that I am going to put on today. Do yours have anything on the ends? Aquila is telling me to just knot the ends. Is that what you're going to do?
 
#977
SBassman said:
I, too, am newly in possession of some Thunderguts that I am going to put on today. Do yours have anything on the ends? Aquila is telling me to just knot the ends. Is that what you're going to do?
Click to expand...

I'm planning on knotting them & possibly using the red grommets from the Road Toad black (stock) strings.
 
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