Kala UBass Megathread, Part 7

[Dr. Turkey]

The metal would sets seem nice to have around for when you want to have an acoustic bass guitar like sound. Wonder if a company will ever try making a more traditional acoustic string for it

 

[axesword]

I have my Solid Spruce U-Bass up for sale in the classifieds:
For Sale - Kala Solid Spruce Fretless UBass | TalkBass.com

 

[SBassman]

Anybody else spend any more time with the new Kala wound strings?

 

[Holdsg]

I have a set, haven't put them on my Cali yet.
Waiting for delivery of my fretless Bakithi, then I'll put them on the fretted for a change of pace.

 

[Gorn]

I have a set, haven't put them on my Cali yet.
Waiting for delivery of my fretless Bakithi, then I'll put them on the fretted for a change of pace.

I wonder what kind of mwah you'd get on the fretless with rounds.

 

[Holdsg]

Thought about it, might still do it.

 

[Dr. Turkey]

Considering it but I'm still loving my pahoehoe boom boom. Also worried about the rounds eating up the board, wish they'd used ebony instead of rosewood :\

 

[Dr. Turkey]

And since I just got it Thursday I figured I'd may as well go ahead and upload a picture of my fretless "Exotic Mahogony" U Bass

 

[1stnamebassist]

I wonder what kind of mwah you'd get on the fretless with rounds.

I don't know about the new strings but the pyramids were like ultra mwah! Too mwahy for my taste. I bet with a new nut and shimming the bridge it probably would have been a bit better. I'm kinda waiting to hear reports on the new strings before I buy and try.

 

[mrufino1]

Finally was able to get my California 5 this afternoon and played it all night on tonight's gig. I need to make a thumb rest (which I did on my hadean 4 string) and the pahoehoe strings are sticky as heck, so I need to clean or replace them, but overall it was awesome and I very much enjoyed not having to frantically tune down to D for uptown funk!



My arthritis says I'll be playing this one for a long time.

 

[1stnamebassist]

Have you tried other strings? I'm surprised you say they are sticky they are least sticky of all. And they last for years. Maybe they need a good cleaning. Are you sure they are not Silver Rumblers? They are a very dark almost charcoal colored or like a parkerized finish that some guns can have. They are sticky! I'm glad it worked out so well on the gig! How does the low B sound by the way? Also is it floppy?

 

[Dr. Turkey]

Wipe them down and spray them with some fast fret. What's the difference supposed to be with the silver rumblers?

Also just installed the daddario strings to try them out and I clearly have no idea what I'm doing

 

[mrufino1]

Yes, I'm going to clean them. Definitely pahoehoes, they're sticky because they are used. I don't have any fast fret, I'll have to get some.

 

[KohanMike]

When I first used thunderguts on my Gold Tone MicroBass and they were too sticky, I went into MaCabe's and tried the Kalas they had on the wall, both the black Pahoehoe and the Rumblers, no contest, the Rumblers were only a little less sticky than the Thunderguts, the Pahoehoe were not sticky at all. Since then I've replaced all my Thunderguts with Pahoehoe.

 

[mrufino1]

Yes, these aren't sticky like thunderguts, just need a cleaning. It could be because it was shipped across country. I bought this one from @katysax and she was wonderful to deal with. Definitely a cool bass.

 

[KohanMike]

I know katysax (Sherry), we've played with the same group before, the Westside Ukulele Ensemble, cross paths on the Ukulele Underground forum, and even had a meetup with a few others at a pub in Santa Monica not long ago, nice.

 

[mrufino1]

Yes Mike, I remembered that you two know each other. I figured that if it didn't work right I could send you after her- just kidding! She was very cool to deal with.

I ordered a new set of 5 string pahoehoe strings and fast fret. I figured it would be good to have an extra set, even if I clean the ones I have.

 

[1stnamebassist]

I don't think fast fret on paehoehoes is necessary or a good idea. I tried it and the strings got really squeaky and the stuff is really hard to remove. Just wipe them down with a wet rag occasionally.

 

[GBassNorth]

I don't think fast fret on paehoehoes is necessary or a good idea. I tried it and the strings got really squeaky and the stuff is really hard to remove. Just wipe them down with a wet rag occasionally.

+1
Not sure what fast fret would do to the strings but I use warm water on mine about once a year to remove any gunk-n-funk. Works great. On year 4 or 5 now with my original set of strings. Not sure when rubber rot kicks in but I suspect these strings are going last a good bit longer.

 

[Holdsg]

This one has now landed, and I've done my comparison to the fretted.

yeah, the fretless wins by a hair, easier to play for me. Less farting out on the frets (more foregiving of finger placement).
I don't need two of these.
so the fretted is now posted in the classifieds.

For Sale - Kala California U-Bass 4-Fretted with LR Baggs Pre | TalkBass.com