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Kala UBass Megathread, Part 4

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#702
caeman said:
Fret-less. It has a nice sound when you say it. :)

And it has a nice sound when you play it. It is good to see another convert admitting the error of their ways. ;)
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Lol. ;-)

Don't misunderstand me folks, the fretted models sound great & served me very well! I don't think they sound all that different within a mix, but the fretless is certainly more fun & has potential for more expression.
 
#703
With a fretless, you can play a B+ (that quarter step in between B and C). I use + and - to indicate quarter steps. On my Gretsch, I enjoy being dissonant on purpose and playing in the quarter steps off, just to hear how it will sound.
 
#706
I certainly respect the skills of those converting fretted to fretless. Many of my several brass instruments have been modified by myself even if I am not a repairman. And my modification mostly, if not always, are made to be reversible.

I even have built a bass guitar 30 years ago as the final project of the university course that taught me the basics of bass guitar playing.

But I no longer have access to a workbench, or even to an area, where I can sand without problems. So I am not doing a conversion, but buying one more. I will experiment with strings, but it is the flexibility of the Pahoehoe that make it easy on my arthritic hands to press and hold strings down. So it may be the Pahoehoe’s I will use on the fretless in the longer run also. For my own pleasure only, as I don’t expect to be good at it.

I never played viols, but I have trafficked in circles where they were played. Their fretting was attractive to amateurs, but also was a problem when not set right.

When I bought my upright for playing bowed in a barndance group, I wanted it fretted viol style. But I never came to do that, partially because I didn’t find good material to tie around the neck. I didn’t want steel due to the potential damage to the neck. But when I at some point of time retire my current set of Pahoehoe’s I might try using them as frets on the upright.

Klaus
 
#707
Before anyone does a fret operation, we should check in with each other to be sure no one following the thread is looking to change. We might be able to achieve some things here with swaps.

To be honest, if I had enough resources to own fretted and fretless, that's what I would do, but in my world, I'm actually contemplating moving my fretless acoustic. If I get to my goal of gigging exclusively on a UBass, I'd want a main and a backup that were similar. Seeing the nice intonation on the SUB, I'm contemplating exiting the fretless world and getting a second fretted.
 
#708
SBassman said:
Before anyone does a fret operation, we should check in with each other to be sure no one following the thread is looking to change. We might be able to achieve some things here with swaps.

To be honest, if I had enough resources to own fretted and fretless, that's what I would do, but in my world, I'm actually contemplating moving my fretless acoustic. If I get to my goal of gigging exclusively on a UBass, I'd want a main and a backup that were similar. Seeing the nice intonation on the SUB, I'm contemplating exiting the fretless world and getting a second fretted.
Click to expand...

:Black ops Kidnap-relearning team suiting up:
 
#714
In general I find my acoustic UBass well made. However I have noted one oddity with the Hipshot tuner for the E string, when I had to tune that string down.

Where the tuners for the A, D, and G strings respond immediate to a turn in either direction, the tuner for the E string has to be turned well over 90° between moving the post from one direction until it moves the post in the opposite direction.

My immediate take on that situation would be wear, but that cannot be with a less than two months old instrument. I looked whether the parts were adjusted too far apart, but the tuner looks like been mounted as a whole unit with no separate parts attached to the headstock.

Klaus
 
#715
imperialbari said:
In general I find my acoustic UBass well made. However I have noted one oddity with the Hipshot tuner for the E string, when I had to tune that string down.

Where the tuners for the A, D, and G strings respond immediate to a turn in either direction, the tuner for the E string has to be turned well over 90° between moving the post from one direction until it moves the post in the opposite direction.

My immediate take on that situation would be wear, but that cannot be with a less than two months old instrument. I looked whether the parts were adjusted too far apart, but the tuner looks like been mounted as a whole unit with no separate parts attached to the headstock.

Klaus
Click to expand...

Loosen the big philips screw at the bottom of the tuner just a little bit.
 
#717
imperialbari said:
I have absolutely no idea why that would work, but it did!

Thank you so very much for the tip! The E-tuner now has immediate action in both directions!

Klaus
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It's because this scew holds the shaft AND the cogwheel in the tuner housing. If fixed too tight, there is friction between the wheel and the ground plate. Tuning higher is okay, but tuning down again, the cogwheel-friction fixes the pitch and you need that 90 degrees to overcome the 'play' of the mechanics. Handling this screw you have to compromise between those two functions.
 
#719
bluecab said:
It's because this scew holds the shaft AND the cogwheel in the tuner housing. If fixed too tight, there is friction between the wheel and the ground plate. Tuning higher is okay, but tuning down again, the cogwheel-friction fixes the pitch and you need that 90 degrees to overcome the 'play' of the mechanics. Handling this screw you have to compromise between those two functions.
Click to expand...
so loosening it too much would make it slip? I have the same problem on my Stagg EUB, the tuners are Fender style.
 
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