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Kala UBass Megathread, Part 6
- Thread starter smperry
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scotch
It's not rocket science!
- Nov 12, 2006
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Nice! I'm about " this close to buying a neck and parts and building my own solidbody.
They should offer a package discount on tuners. I'm not a fan of the body shape, nor the headstock shape, really. But the tuners... Might be DIY U bass time soon.
I think it's a normal price for Hipshot tuners. Does anyone know a cheaper alternative?
scotch
It's not rocket science!
- Nov 12, 2006
- 6,944
- 2,081
- 51
- Disclosures
- Please see Profile for Endorsement disclosures
Nice. I had neglected mine for a few months. Been bringing it to sessions again- back in love.
Howdy. This is my inaugural post. I'd put myself in the "dedicated amateur" category (played in bands for many years), which I only say so you can weigh this with some context. My bass = Fender Jazz, which I love. I haven't played in the last decade, and like another poster, have some nerve problems in one arm. Also, tiny hands (always a disadvantage).
Anyway, I was fascinated by the bass ukulele concept and stumbled on this thread. I tried out both the UBass (the spruce top) and then the Ohana and went with the Ohana. I like the neck better, the tension in the strings (reading about the "sticky" problem here, thankfully not an issue for me) and just the overall playability. Plus, the price point. I am having a blast playing it, especially after such a long layoff. Have only briefly heard it through an amp (an Acoustic for acoustic bass, forget the model) and was impressed -- I didn't expect it to sound so big.
After playing it for a while, I'm thinking for the first time of getting a fretless model, maybe a UBass or maybe the Gold Tone you're discussing (so far Ohana isn't making one).
Anyway, I was fascinated by the bass ukulele concept and stumbled on this thread. I tried out both the UBass (the spruce top) and then the Ohana and went with the Ohana. I like the neck better, the tension in the strings (reading about the "sticky" problem here, thankfully not an issue for me) and just the overall playability. Plus, the price point. I am having a blast playing it, especially after such a long layoff. Have only briefly heard it through an amp (an Acoustic for acoustic bass, forget the model) and was impressed -- I didn't expect it to sound so big.
After playing it for a while, I'm thinking for the first time of getting a fretless model, maybe a UBass or maybe the Gold Tone you're discussing (so far Ohana isn't making one).
Are you comfortable with the scale of the ohana? The gold tone is 23" scale and much more comfortable to play, in my opinion. But if you prefer the scale of the ohana, get a spruce top kala. Should run you about $450. The fretless gold tone is $375.
I'm fine with the scale of the Ohana, but coming from a Jazz bass, I don't think a slightly longer scale would be an issue, either, and maybe it's a plus. I think mainly I'd like to get my hands on a Gold Tone to see how it feels. I liked the spruce top Kala (with frets) enough to consider it, but the quality issues you're discussing here concern me, and maybe it would be more fun to have something that's a bit of a departure from the UBass concept. So I'm kinda leaning toward the Gold Tone, pending actually playing one. And getting past holiday spending...
Thanks for your answer!
Thanks for your answer!
The microbasses are available from several ebay sellers, but I got mine from samash so I could easily return it if there were any problems. They don't actually carry them yet and had to special order it directly from gold tone. Took about 3 weeks.
Gold Tone has a bunch of dealers in SoCal, so I'm hoping one of them near me has the Mini in stock. I'm watching a couple on eBay, but, yeah
do I want to get one from the Cleveland Pawnshop? 
I actually got my Ohana on eBay, from Mim's Ukes -- she does setup and was great to deal with.
I actually got my Ohana on eBay, from Mim's Ukes -- she does setup and was great to deal with.
I went to Ohana's website and couldn't find anything about a bass model. Do any of you have a link?
It looks like elderly instruments has them but they're website seems to be down. Maybe you could call them.
I don't know why Ohana doesn't have them on their website -- I even mentioned this to them on their Facebook page. I got mine from Mim's through eBay: here's her website: http://mimsukes.com
I don't think she has any in stock but she seems to do a lot of Ohanas, so worth a call? (540) 505-5444 6191 (doing free shipping right now too)
(the model # is BKB-35E)
ETA: I tried the Ohana at a local uke shop here in San Diego. Really wanted to buy from the guy but he was charging twice as much as Mim's--don't mind paying a little more to support a local business, but not an extra $300...
Thank you. I Googled Ohana bass uke and found a page for it at Elderly Music in Lansing, MI, but the page is no longer available.
If I use the low B string from a Pahoehoe 5 string set on a regular 4 string acoustic fretted uBass, can I get a usable (amplified) low C out of it? Is the 21" scale long enough to allow such a string to play in tune up the neck?
Quote from the bassuke.com website: «I do not recommend using low B below 22" scale»
On a 22" bass the C (first fret) would be at 20.8". Playing an open C string on a 21" scale U-Bass is like playing the C on the first fret on a 22" scale bass (tuned to B). It should work, but I haven't tried it.
(On a 23.5" Cali bass, the second fret is around 21". Tuning to C# on a 4-string U-Bass should work, too)
I would ask Road Toad which string fits best. They offer custom sets: http://www.bassuke.com/string_store.html
There's some homemade converted baritone ukes on ebay, but they look kind of terrible.
~$350 is as cheap is it gets with the kala rumbler, which isn't worth it when you can get the exotic mahogany for 50 bucks more.
Ubass often pop up in the TB classifieds. With the recent influx of new ubass-type instruments on the market, I bet there's gonna be a lot more ubasses in the classifieds in the months to come, if you can be patient.
~$350 is as cheap is it gets with the kala rumbler, which isn't worth it when you can get the exotic mahogany for 50 bucks more.
Ubass often pop up in the TB classifieds. With the recent influx of new ubass-type instruments on the market, I bet there's gonna be a lot more ubasses in the classifieds in the months to come, if you can be patient.
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