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Kala UBass Megathread, Part 2

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#906
hopturn said:
Yeah...only planning on a song or two with the Ubass Tuesday night. The Fishman Platinum will hopefully dial in the same sound, or close enough, that I had before. The rest of the night is Stingray City. And Thunderguts are white, after all. Personally. I don't think of ever get used to that.
Click to expand...

Let me know how you like the Fishman di. Considering getting one as a dedicated U-Bass di pre.
 
#907
So, I'm not happy to say that it seems quality control at kala is beginning to seem a bit shoddy. For a quick recap: I bought sub about a month ago. The treble knob wouldn't stay on, because the shaft was chipped. I didn't want a ubass minus one knob, and I don't have the skills to put in a new pot, so I returned it. 2nd ubass arrives, the strings were literally about an inch off the neck, with the action down as low as it could go. Was NOT fun to play, nothing like the previous one, and far from my acoustic. I call americanmusical who have been super cool, and tell them. I tell them I feel badly about this and I'm concerned about getting another one with issues, consider cancelling altogether, but they say they'll send another. I get it today.

Help? Please!

This one has a frikken grounding issue. It humms and stops when I touch either the metal on the jack I'm using, or the treble control. I don't quite get it. If I touch the bass knob, it quiets a bit, but doesn't stop completely. When I touch the volume control the hum/buzz stays the same. Not sure why that would be like that, but I'm tired of sending these things back, and if it goes back this time that's it.

Anyone have a clue how I can ground this and stop the buzzing. Any clue what might be wrong, and why it only gets quieted at the jack and treble control. Dead quiet when I touch either. Arggghhh....

This is time sensitive as I'll need to return it soon if I ain't fixin it. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
 
#908
I don't have the skills to offer advice on how to fix. Sorry to hear that all happened. I have had basses with grounding issues, and it is very frustrating.

Sweetwater claims to do a very thorough inspection of everything that goes out. If you return this one, maybe you want to consider trying Sweetwater. If you need a great engineer there, I can pass the name of mine along.
 
#909
@Scotch: then let me set you mind at ease on the Fishman Platinum Pre. I had a Ubass fretted that I sent back (the fretless arrives tomorrow from Sweetwater!) and bought it simply as a travel bass...sounded okay through my amp, not great. I had accidentally left my Fishman at a recording studio...I use it for all my EUB's...buy after a couple days i brought it home and plugged it up with my amp and Ubass and I was absolutely blown away by its clear, focused lows. Seriously dialed in an awesome tone in about 2 minutes. It's a "new" kind of bass tone. Almost a cross between an upright and a dub bass tone, IMO. I was instantly hooked. My plan is to play EUB and Ubass at all my upcoming gigs...will definitely freak people out, but sound awesome. I play in a cross genre band...kinda old school funky mo-town meets Robert Glasper Trio meets The Roots.
 
#914
hopturn said:
It's a "new" kind of bass tone. Almost a cross between an upright and a dub bass tone, IMO.
Click to expand...

I think this is a good way of describing it. It isn't specifically an upright bass. It isn't an electric bass. It IS an acoustic bass, though.

Where ever I play it, my spruce fretless gets compliments for good tone.

In other words, if it sounds good, it is good.
 
#915
Just a quick check in and update with more learnings on my Mahogany hollowbody Ubass.
I now have about 5 months on the stock P strings and tuning issues are non-existant. I can let the bass sit for a week and pick it up with nearly every string still in tune. The Snark is still a godsend and allows me to do what little tuning I need in a matter of seconds.
The A string does sit tight in the nut and sometimes requries a bit of a lift to get it to budge when tuning. Graphite helped a bit but I'll probably file the nut a little to open it up or maybe just polish the existing slot first to see if that does the trick.
Over the last 5 months it does seem like the strings have mellowed out a bit, not as much right hand finger noise. Not seeing any need at this time to try the Thunderguts but time will tell.
I do have the Fishman Pro-EQ Platinum Bass Preamp and I also have a Digitech BP90 Multi Effects Modeling Pedal. They both make all the difference in the world on taming down the piezo pickup. The BP90 has tons more flexibility than the Fishman and costs about a third less but does not have an XLR output. If you need an XLR out and have an amp that has one you can run the BP90 thru it, if not the Fishman is probably the better choice. I found the best stock setting on the BP90 to be setting 38. It really nails the DB feel.
From a gig standpoint, this thing is like a magnet. It draws so much attention it's comical. On one if the last gigs we played Harvest Moon by Neil Young (perfect for the Ubass in DB mode) got the slow dancers on the floor. Lot's of looks, people can't believe how deep and big this little thing can sound. Then we jumped to an AC/DC set of You Shook Me All Night Long and Let Me Put My Love Into You - the Ubass really held it's ground and the look on peoples faces (including my band mates) was worth it's weight in gold - grins ear to ear from the guitard and drummer. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this little monster is one of the most flexible and fun basses I own.
I am contemplating having a really nice custom Uke bass made by Road Toad for studio work and limiting the Kala to gigs.
 
#917
Yeah, the Fisman Pre is pretty great for dialing in a great bass tone. The compressor is good and not gimmicky. The eq is m designed to make things easy. Personally, I run the D.I. To the board and the 1/4 inch out to my Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0 which I use for my monitor. Another plus for the Fishman is that it can be phantom powered. Some gigs I don't even bother with an amp, even when doing studio work. It's a natural fit for the Ubass and really tames the piezo pickups, rounds it out and let's that woody deep tone through....bass
butter. Soometimes I'll even use it with my Stingray, which is great for taming that hot-headed beast.
 
#918
hopturn said:
Yeah, the Fisman Pre is pretty great for dialing in a great bass tone. The compressor is good and not gimmicky. The eq is m designed to make things easy. Personally, I run the D.I. To the board and the 1/4 inch out to my Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0 which I use for my monitor. Another plus for the Fishman is that it can be phantom powered. Some gigs I don't even bother with an amp, even when doing studio work. It's a natural fit for the Ubass and really tames the piezo pickups, rounds it out and let's that woody deep tone through....bass
butter. Soometimes I'll even use it with my Stingray, which is great for taming that hot-headed beast.
Click to expand...

Hadn't thought of trying the Fishman with my Stingrays. Might also be a solution for the G&L 2500. My G&L had pickups so hot it would clip darn near every amp I had. Even tried lowering the pickups and turning the vol way down. Finally got rid of it and picked up a Stingray 5H. Anyway, lovin the Kala and I'm torn between the Fishman and the Digitech. I have both so one will eventually end up being the go to pedal with the Kala, just not sure which one yet, enjoying both.
 
#919
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