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Kala UBass Megathread, Part 7

#527
SBassman said:
I had a sick thought about the Rondo solid body ubass clone. Buy one, pull the existing bridge and install a steel adjustable with piezo saddles.
Yes, sick. I didn't do it, but the thought crossed my mind for a while.
Click to expand...

I'd be temped to install a magnetic pickup as well.

And defret it.

You know, sick thoughts are so contagious.
 
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#529
bluebird28 said:
At that scale what would you use for strings? I might just defret mine when it comes in, we'll see.
Click to expand...
When the scale is that short, I prefer Pahoehoes. For all the inconvenience of dealing with them stretching, I think RoadToad got it right after all.

With an adjustable bridge, though, it might be a good platform for the LaBella Copper White tapewounds.
 
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#531
SBassman said:
I had a sick thought about the Rondo solid body ubass clone. Buy one, pull the existing bridge and install a steel adjustable with piezo saddles.
Yes, sick. I didn't do it, but the thought crossed my mind for a while.
Click to expand...

Not sick at all! I think it's really silly for these very-short-scale instruments to NOT have adjustable intonation.

The elastomeric strings might be too large in diameter to fit into the saddles properly if the bridge is designed for steel strings. But there's probably a way to get it to work.
 
#533
Hi all,

I'm new here but not new to bass. I've had a Hutch model U-Bass for a while now, with original saddle pickup and stock strings. Recently it developed a problem where the deeper bass tones disappear (as if a pass filter was switched on to remove tone below 100Hz). If I lightly tap the saddle/pickup, it crackles and the full tone returns, but quickly drops away again (after playing a bar or so). In other words, the sound doesnt disappear completely but it becomes thin and remains that way until I tap the saddle/pickup (and then it drops off again after a few bars).

A luthier friend in a nearby town reckons it is a known problem and can be rectified by re-seating the pickup and maybe installing a shim to prevent the pickup being pulled forward by the string pressure.

To me, the crackle sound when tapping the pickup seems more like a faulty connection somewhere in the pickup/saddle assembly, but maybe it is just a seating/alignment problem?? I've trawled through the long U-Bass threads on this forum but not found anything resembling my problem.

Is this a known issue or is my pickup likely to be broken?

Thanks!

Diggo
 
#535
bluebird28 said:
Hi Diggo, check out this thread back on page 25, I believe. But here is the link:

http://www.talkbass.com/threads/kala-ubass-megathread-part-7.1041046/page-26

I highly recommend using a small mirror and a small flashlight preferably with a swivel head on a narrow stalk. Check out the inside of your instrument thoroughly and best of luck.
Click to expand...

Hi Bluebird28
The connection to the jack socket is OK. The crackle when tapping the pickup was due to overloading a gain stage in my system (ie my mistake), so that's sorted. The loss of tone was rectified by re-seating the saddle/pickup and inserting a paper shim along one side. Also seems good now.
Thanks,
Diggo
 
#536
Okay, I'm stumped. How do you get a strap on the U-Bass? I get it about either doing the string thing on the headstock, like an acoustic, or adding a button to the neck heel, but none of my straps want to fit on the big fat strap button slash output jack. Is there a trick to it?
 
#537
Amara said:
Okay, I'm stumped. How do you get a strap on the U-Bass? I get it about either doing the string thing on the headstock, like an acoustic, or adding a button to the neck heel, but none of my straps want to fit on the big fat strap button slash output jack. Is there a trick to it?
Click to expand...

You'll have to enlarge the strap hole. Do it carefully, you don't want it to be too loose. I use the detachable headstock adapter also. I find that the Kala balances better than using a neck heel strap button.

Jeff
 
#538
Yep, I enlarged my strap at the heel end with a sharp knife by a few millimetres. I put a button where the neck meets the body, I don't like connecting at the headstock, works fine for me. Still playing mine and loving it.
 
#539
Dragged my strobist kit out for the first time in a while, the ubass got put in the spotlight for a bit :)

DSC_1133-L.jpg

DSC_1129-L.jpg

DSC_1130-L.jpg


Such a pretty little thing...
 
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#540
jburtonca said:
You'll have to enlarge the strap hole. Do it carefully, you don't want it to be too loose. I use the detachable headstock adapter also. I find that the Kala balances better than using a neck heel strap button.
Click to expand...

I agree about the balance. I attach the strap at the headstock with a shoelace wrapped between the tuners. I don't like the feel of anything around the neck behind the nut. I enlarged the other strap hole with several nips with a leather punch.
 

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