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Kala UBass Megathread, Part 7

#2,041
mmbass21 said:
No, I bought this on the cheap on ebay. The previous owner attempted to convert the bass from rounds to pahoehoe's but it was missing the A string when I got it. They also changed the nut which is why I think it didn't work for them.

I put the nylon wounds on. The neck had way too much relief and I think I unfortunately have the trussrod near maxed out right now. It plays well but the action is too high compared to my exotic mahogany which is darn near perfect. I'm hoping when I get around to it that lowering the nut will allow me to put a little relief back into the neck.
Click to expand...
Just a hint, don't try to straighten the neck only with the truss rod, try something (of course without or loose strings) like to "clamp" it on a straight plank and bring it slowly !!! more straight, then follow with the trussrod to hold it... Truss rod it is there to HOLD the neck straight, NOT AS A TOOL to bend it over... Saw it in YouTube by a luthier fixing necks on old E-Basses ... I would have to look it up...
 
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#2,042
Chris65bass said:
Just a hint, don't try to straighten the neck only with the truss rod, try something (of course without or loose strings) like to "clamp" it on a straight plank and bring it slowly more straight, then follow with the trussrod to hold it... Truss rod it is there to HOLD the neck straight, NOT AS A TOOL to bend it over... Saw it in YouTube by a luthier fixing necks on old E-Basses ... I would have to look it up...
Click to expand...
Found it, not acoustic Kala related, but always helpful for trust rods... ;)
Straightening bass neck:
 
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#2,044
Chris65bass said:
Update: after allowing the Journeyman to get used to the new climate, over the weekend I relieved the truss rod, about 3/4 of one circle. Neck got straighter, better, almost perfect on G, D, the "bump" from the 12th fret on, join with the body, is of course still there... :-( .
(Neck could maybe get straight only by trimming the frets, and maybe even "remove" some fretboard wood and re-fret the highest 4-5 frets, luthier's job... Lowering the nut is still an option for better action... or finding a way to lower the bridge, but I doubt that...).
Could loose truss rod a little bit more, but action is now up, with round wound strings, about 3-3,5 mm's on the 12th fret E string, almost 4mm on D, I think better then @SBassman had (the made in China sticker is still on... :) ), would not like it to get more...
It's about finding a good compromise...
Will take it to the band practice in the evening... :bassist:
Click to expand...
Quick update: 1. reliefed the truss rod a little bit more, then tighten a little bit, finally quite happy, neck is not perfect, but quite good now, still some "bump" after the 12th fret, for perfection would need some fretwork... 2. Action, previously I gave the action wrong measuring from the wood, not the fret o_O Crucial was the nut: since I do not plan to use polymere / rubber strings, only the black nylon at some time, I took my guts to file the nut... (worsed case scenario would be to have to buy a new one... ;)) After watching some videos, carefully, try and test repeatedly, not as much as you would do on an e-bass, lowered the strings, action is now from the 12th fret about 3+ mm (120/1000 inch) on G string to 3- on E string (from fret), very happy with the result :bassist::thumbsup:.
For perfection maybe lowering the bridge to the G string side, since it needs less space to vibrate and therefore could/should be lower than E side, but this could be influencing the piezo under the bridge... and some fretwork on high frets... But this can wait, will keep it and glad about it :laugh::laugh::laugh::bassist:. Already dreaming of finding some used fretless ukulele bass... :woot:
 
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#2,045
388FB087-9CEA-4516-BB1C-774BE7F51264.jpeg

New to me. I can hardly put it down. This is the most (healthy) fun per ounce around. Can’t wait to get it on some studio tracks.
 
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#2,047
A couple of years back, i was intrigue by the U-bass. It looked funny with it's rubber stings. After a couple of years my curiosity is satisfied, i got my first U-bass yesterday. I got the Kala Journeyman with Labella roundwound (no rubber string). I did not have the time to really play but i think I'm really gonna have some fun with it. I have an acoustic bass that i carry when I'm travelling but with the case, it's too big to bring to all my activities. I hope my U-bass is gonna fill my needs.

It came with the small plastic bar i read about in earlier post but i also got a small metal ring. Is it a tuner sleeve? i'm not sure because it's silver not black.
IMG_20220809_125639425.jpg
 
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#2,051
I'm a brand-new owner of a lefty Exotic Mahogany FS, and am already very much in love with it. However, my D-string is noticeably weaker (through amplification) than the others. It also does not light up a letter on the tuner like the other three strings do. I've tried searching all these UBass megathreads, but am finding the search tools to be pretty poor. First, are their better ways to search? Second, has anybody had a similar problem with a quiet string?

Thanks for helping this newbie.
 
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#2,052
If your saddle looks like this, they are notorious for having unbalanced amp volume. The pickup assembly has an inherent design flaw; the ceramic saddle (beige part) is solid even though there are slots cut in it. The metal tray it sits in has four individual pickup elements that the saddle is supposed to press against, but because the saddle is solid, it does not always put even pressure on the four pickups. I've done this fix on six of my bass ukes with that pickup assembly, worked perfectly.

First undo the strings, carefully pull up the pickup assembly out of the bridge, a wire is attached so don't pull it out too much. Next slide out the two black caps, they can be tight. Remove the saddle. Next, I used an thin saw blade to cut apart the four sections of the saddle and carefully set them back in the metal tray, it can be tricky to keep them there while you reassemble, be careful. Slide in the black caps and put the assembly back in the bridge and tighten the strings, making sure each saddle piece sits properly.

Pickup Assembly.jpg
 
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#2,053
KohanMike said:
If your saddle looks like this, they are notorious for having unbalanced amp volume. The pickup assembly has an inherent design flaw; the ceramic saddle (beige part) is solid even though there are slots cut in it. The metal tray it sits in has four individual pickup elements that the saddle is supposed to press against, but because the saddle is solid, it does not always put even pressure on the four pickups. I've done this fix on six of my bass ukes with that pickup assembly, worked perfectly.

First undo the strings, carefully pull up the pickup assembly out of the bridge, a wire is attached so don't pull it out too much. Next slide out the two black caps, they can be tight. Remove the saddle. Next, I used an thin saw blade to cut apart the four sections of the saddle and carefully set them back in the metal tray, it can be tricky to keep them there while you reassemble, be careful. Slide in the black caps and put the assembly back in the bridge and tighten the strings, making sure each saddle piece sits properly.

View attachment 4855967
Click to expand...
Very interesting, thanks for the detailed reply. My saddle unit is symmetrical, black, (mounted slanted on the body) and has no slots. As far as I can tell (peeking through the back opening), their is a single wire going to the bridge/pickup, as in your diagram. Do you know if there are similar dead string problems with this type of pickup?
 
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#2,054
pkstone said:
Very interesting, thanks for the detailed reply. My saddle unit is symmetrical, black, (mounted slanted on the body) and has no slots. As far as I can tell (peeking through the back opening), their is a single wire going to the bridge/pickup, as in your diagram. Do you know if there are similar dead string problems with this type of pickup?
Click to expand...
I just looked at it and see that it's a standard saddle. There could be a shim in the slot in which the saddle sits that is off kilter a little, or the slot itself is not perfectly flat. You can loosen the strings and take out the saddle to inspect, or take it to a repair shop and have them check it.
 
#2,055
KohanMike said:
I just looked at it and see that it's a standard saddle. There could be a shim in the slot in which the saddle sits that is off kilter a little, or the slot itself is not perfectly flat. You can loosen the strings and take out the saddle to inspect, or take it to a repair shop and have them check it.
Click to expand...

Now that I know there might be something to adjust, I'll check that, thanks; you've been extremely helpful.
 
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#2,056
Got a Solid Mahogany Kala for my birthday. Overall impression is very favorable to good, it's a great instrument. I have two questions though.

1. When using a wireless rather than just a cord, the U-Bass is quite noisy, there seems to be no shielding whatsoever. Has anybody had any success retroactively shielding a Kala? Does the tuner's battery have any effect on noise? Or is this a Me problem, not something anybody else has? (Bass sounds fine and noise-free when using a cable rather than the wireless.)
2. The strings seem to take ages to settle. I did the re-stringing thing that got posted here at the beginning of the thread, and it helped some, but only the E and A string are stable. D and G, I need to retune constantly. That's after two months of playing this instrument.

That said, I can't put the Kala down. It sounds great, even without amplification, and makes me go :D whenever I connect it to one of my amps. Workmanship is more than decent, and I really like the case it came with. Shame they didn't include a plug for the soundhole, though.

Oh, and pics or it didn't happen. And yes, this is going to get used in our Hard/Heavy band.

8D942DC4-1275-41EB-B4B1-024215900E45.jpeg
 
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#2,057
Sascha Erni said:
Got a Solid Mahogany Kala for my birthday. Overall impression is very favorable to good, it's a great instrument. I have two questions though.

1. When using a wireless rather than just a cord, the U-Bass is quite noisy, there seems to be no shielding whatsoever. Has anybody had any success retroactively shielding a Kala? Does the tuner's battery have any effect on noise? Or is this a Me problem, not something anybody else has? (Bass sounds fine and noise-free when using a cable rather than the wireless.)
2. The strings seem to take ages to settle. I did the re-stringing thing that got posted here at the beginning of the thread, and it helped some, but only the E and A string are stable. D and G, I need to retune constantly. That's after two months of playing this instrument.

That said, I can't put the Kala down. It sounds great, even without amplification, and makes me go :D whenever I connect it to one of my amps. Workmanship is more than decent, and I really like the case it came with. Shame they didn't include a plug for the soundhole, though.

Oh, and pics or it didn't happen. And yes, this is going to get used in our Hard/Heavy band.

View attachment 4874734
Click to expand...
I used to use a Sony 2.4GHz wireless, and now a much more compact Lekato 5.8GHz pod system with all my bass ukes, never had any excess noise. The only time I've had to use a cable is when I forgot to charge the wireless.
 
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#2,059
Probably these...
Invalid Link Removed

The nut for Pahoehoes would have a little slop using these lighter gauge strings. They're basically round wounds, wound with black "teflon?" tape.

You might also want to lower the action, on my Ubass, there's a plastic strip under the saddle, you could just take it out.
 

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