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Kala UBass Megathread, Part 2
- Thread starter smperry
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I guess everyone's mileage may vary, but, for whatever it is worth, and I know that's not much
I absolutely prefer the Thunderguts to the stock strings.The brightness does Not come at the expensive of low end.
The low end is there in massive amounts, and you can EQ the Thundergut tone into whatever
you like.
I hear ya, man.
Had to cancel my order because something else came up (dog got sick and I had to take him to the vet). I had such a bad experience with the first iteration of Thunderguts that I may be scarred for life. I know that the glowing recommendations from various established and respected members of this community should allay my concerns but I just can't seem to shake the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" thing.
Frankly, although I could hear the differences between the tone of the Aquilas and stock strings in Justin's clips, it wasn't enough to make me want to switch but then, I've never been much into the technical aspects of bass playing; For 39 years now (yeah; I started real young!), I've always just plugged it in and played.
Whether strung with Thunderguts or Pahoehoes; the U-Bass is fab.
Just a question about the Mike Upton response: "because of some neck issues"?
I'm a little affraid to let Thundergut on mine...(i don't have truss-rod on it).
I'm a little affraid to let Thundergut on mine...(i don't have truss-rod on it).
One question about excessive string wraps:
My A and D are wound all the way from the top of the tuner spool to the bottom. I've only had it since Thursday, and it still takes quite a bit of tuning... should I un-wind them, cut off maybe a 1/2" or so of excessive and then re-wind? I'm afraid that any more string on the post may cause tuning issues like Mike Upton explains in the restringing video.
EDIT: On an unrelated note, I'm thinking that electric sold-body U-basses in the style of 'classic' electrics, i.e. P-bass, J-bass, Tele, T-bird, would ba awesome. Purely awesome.
My A and D are wound all the way from the top of the tuner spool to the bottom. I've only had it since Thursday, and it still takes quite a bit of tuning... should I un-wind them, cut off maybe a 1/2" or so of excessive and then re-wind? I'm afraid that any more string on the post may cause tuning issues like Mike Upton explains in the restringing video.
EDIT: On an unrelated note, I'm thinking that electric sold-body U-basses in the style of 'classic' electrics, i.e. P-bass, J-bass, Tele, T-bird, would ba awesome. Purely awesome.
Has anyone tried any 'other' strings, besides the stock one and the thunderguts? I'm a little string crazy, and on my 30" scale 6-string Kinal ABG I ended up sticking with some plain gut bass viol de gamba strings (and a silver wrapped gut cello string), which ended up sounding and intonating better than anything else I had tried.
I would be interested in trying the same gut viol de gamba strings on a Kala UBass - maybe as a tenor (ADGC) UBass?
Of course, I would have to buy a UBass first...
I would be interested in trying the same gut viol de gamba strings on a Kala UBass - maybe as a tenor (ADGC) UBass?
Of course, I would have to buy a UBass first...
Thanks, I just got the Thunderguts, and I think I'm just going to put those on.
With the TG's, there's a zip tie at the end... do I still need to put a knot in the string? I plan on putting the stock grommets on them.
Having had the zip tie fall off on one of mine (albeit on the defective set) I would trust a knot more.
Bad news guys, while I was putting the TG strings on it, my A tuner broke before I got it up to pitch. I've called Kala and left a message, and I'm about to send an e-mail, but I'm very disturbed that this happened. I wasn't even up to F# yet when the gear on the back of the tuning machine simply sheered off of the spool that the string winds onto. I'm hoping I can get a replacement tuner pretty quick, but it is Friday, so who knows when I'll hear back from them.
Yes - you want to do that. Read the whole thread - and then do that. With the stock strings, you're going to do that more than once. It's normal.
That's terrible. Very sorry to hear. Please keep us up to date on that.
I'm sure they are going to take care of this for you.
Would you mind taking a picture and posting it?
As you can see, it seems like the tuning post and the gear are only held together at the spot that's showing silver... that's where it sheered off.
From the looks of it, the tuning post got bound up, you can see where some of the black coating got scraped off. I'm wondering if there's any sort of lubricant anyone likes to use on tuning gears to keep this from happening again.
From the looks of it, the tuning post got bound up, you can see where some of the black coating got scraped off. I'm wondering if there's any sort of lubricant anyone likes to use on tuning gears to keep this from happening again.
I can't see well bec I'm on the phone right now. Pm me th exact model your shipping address and which tuner broke and I might be able to help save you a day on this. I wrote to kala contacts and they asked for that info. I'm sure Monday they will see your note and ask you for it but we might be able to save you a little time on this if we get them the info for first thing Monday.
Hate to add to this thread, but I was changing strings tonight, and I did the exact same thing, same result, and also have contacted the Kala email for replacement. I remember reading the precautions, and I thought I was being careful. Oh well. First restring, first sheared off tuner, lesson learned.
I was more worried about the excessive amount of winds the original strings were going to cause problems. I'm thinking this has more to do with a defective tuner than restringing method... I had only nearly gotten one wind around the tuning post when it pooped out on me. I just hope a replacement is had quickly, I want to play it!
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