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Kala UBass Megathread, Part 4
- Thread starter smperry
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The fretless mahogany model that I received from kala is truly a joy to play. I had a fretted model, but intonation seemed to be an issue, perhaps because of the strings stretching. I decided to cut to the chase and return the fretted model for a fretless. The technical service dept. at kala was amazing at getting me the instrument I requested. I can rate them a ten. Kind and understanding, they shipped me the fretless. It is everything it claims to be. In tune, intonation flawless, and clean sounding. I can not put it down. In fact, I am done with this post so that I can pick it up! Cheers to kala and their techs for taking the time to put the perfect ubass in my hands!
I'm sure that's part of it but I think the poly strings are a problem too with a lot of ubasses. Uneven stretching across the length of the string and all. With the original and replacement poly strings the intonation at the 12th fret of my sprucetop fretless was always off but it was dead on with the thunderguts.
Wow - that's great to hear. I didn't think Kala would get involved in a swap like that. I figured they'd leave something like that up to the retailers.
If they helped you like that, they are indeed a 10. No - make that an 11.
When I swapped from fretted to fretless, I did it the old fashioned way - I sold one and bought another.
Glad to hear you are enjoying it that much. These basses are ridiculously fun to play.
Still busting to get my hands on a solid body fretless, but it just ain't in the budget. [large family, financial reality]
Some yes, some no. The problem is not so much the body or neck length, but the tuners. I went several different baritone uke hard cases before I found one that was wide enough around the headstock to accomodate the tuners.
Hi Christoph and everybody else,
i found a Bariton Ukulele Gigbag from a Brand called "Boston",
its well made, lightweight, fits tight, gives good Protection, almost like a softcase, and Transportability, with padded Backpackstraps, can recommend it. Bought it from "Leleland", an Ukulele Store in Berlin. (i m not from the Company or the Store..)
Torsten
I have been having so much fun with my Ubass. Picked it up at the start of the summer. I have found that a LR Bagg Gigpro preamp really helps the tone. I also find that if I'm playing with just one other person I can go without amplification. Check out the vid. below... I'm keeping up with a banjo player ... Granted she wasn't using fingerpicks.
lccben said:
Bravo. That is a better cover than 95% of what's on YouTube. Good vocals. I wish it was that breezy in Ohio right about now.
scotch
It's not rocket science!
- Nov 12, 2006
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I'm not sure life can get any better than sitting on a porch, with a nice breeze blowing through, making mellow music. Ahhh - thank you, Lord for letting me have music in my life.
The participants in this sonic experiment:
1. Cave Separate Ways A/B Selector
2. Fdeck HPF-Pre preamp/filter
3. Guyatone ST2 compressor/sustainer
Why are these boxes competing/coopeting? Because the ST2 cut the low-end like an HPF. So, I was curious in a head-to-head showdown of sonic experimentation what would happen. The ST2 lacks the 10MOhm input of the Fdeck, but has a higher level of boost and is a compressor.
*EQ Flatness
The flatness of the Fdeck is already known and allows the U-Bass to ring clearly through. The EQ on the ST2 is mostly flat. I could tell a slight boost in the bass area, very slight.
*Duck!
Because the ST2 lacks the 10MOhm input and isn't really a preamp, it was more clucky than the Fdeck. The importance of a proper input impedance is very high for good tone, it seems, very important.
*In Serial
At that point, I knew the ST2 could not replace the Fdeck by itself with the U-Bass, so I placed the ST2 after the Fdeck. Allowing the ST2 to do what it was intended to do, the results remained very clean and the U-Bass gained some sustain -- one beat more. If the Sustain knob goes above 12:00, you can begin hearing a lot of noise.
*Summary
If you were looking for a compressor/sustainer to use with the the U-Bass, the Guyatone ST2 does a good job of bringing up the low levels, limiting the louder thumps and adding one count more at 90 to 100 BPM of real signal.
Up to this point, I've not been much of a compressor type player, and though this model is quiet and offers a little more, it doesn't convince me that *I* need one. So, the ST2 will be going up on the chopping block. But, until you get one and run an hour of playing through it with your current setup, you just don't know.
1. Cave Separate Ways A/B Selector
2. Fdeck HPF-Pre preamp/filter
3. Guyatone ST2 compressor/sustainer
Why are these boxes competing/coopeting? Because the ST2 cut the low-end like an HPF. So, I was curious in a head-to-head showdown of sonic experimentation what would happen. The ST2 lacks the 10MOhm input of the Fdeck, but has a higher level of boost and is a compressor.
*EQ Flatness
The flatness of the Fdeck is already known and allows the U-Bass to ring clearly through. The EQ on the ST2 is mostly flat. I could tell a slight boost in the bass area, very slight.
*Duck!
Because the ST2 lacks the 10MOhm input and isn't really a preamp, it was more clucky than the Fdeck. The importance of a proper input impedance is very high for good tone, it seems, very important.
*In Serial
At that point, I knew the ST2 could not replace the Fdeck by itself with the U-Bass, so I placed the ST2 after the Fdeck. Allowing the ST2 to do what it was intended to do, the results remained very clean and the U-Bass gained some sustain -- one beat more. If the Sustain knob goes above 12:00, you can begin hearing a lot of noise.
*Summary
If you were looking for a compressor/sustainer to use with the the U-Bass, the Guyatone ST2 does a good job of bringing up the low levels, limiting the louder thumps and adding one count more at 90 to 100 BPM of real signal.
Up to this point, I've not been much of a compressor type player, and though this model is quiet and offers a little more, it doesn't convince me that *I* need one. So, the ST2 will be going up on the chopping block. But, until you get one and run an hour of playing through it with your current setup, you just don't know.
Pointer to this thread:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f101/using-old-cheap-cello-eub-863977/#post12877189
Last night, I got the chance to try out two different mahogany u's. One was first gen, the second was a newer gen. They played and felt nice, but I just don't like the color. Like the greater contrast of my spruce top.
Last night's experimentation also convinced me that I am indeed going to add a simple EQ to the small board, something like the EWS BMC.
http://ews-us.com/item_bassmid.php
The color scheme of the pedal is a big garrish, but most people will never see the pedal, so it shouldn't offend too many eyes.
Last night's experimentation also convinced me that I am indeed going to add a simple EQ to the small board, something like the EWS BMC.
http://ews-us.com/item_bassmid.php
The color scheme of the pedal is a big garrish, but most people will never see the pedal, so it shouldn't offend too many eyes.
Will soon be getting a sub 4 string red fretted. I'ts been at our store for months now just waiting for me to bring it home
Any man here willing to commit some cash to putting together an order for some custom-made flatwounds or nylon tapewounds?
If we could get ten sets spoken for maybe we could persuade Pyramid to tool up and make some.
i've purchased numerous Pyramid Golds for different 4/5 strings thru the years
i'm game for a set of flats for mine, put me on the list
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