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Kala UBass Megathread, Part 7
- Thread starter olitoon
- Start date
I didn't know they also added a bamboo U-bass, I know about the bamboo ukes. I recently bought an Aklot tenor cutaway uke for $90 that I'm 99% sure came from the same Chinese factory where the Kala bamboo uke comes from. Those factories make a variety of designs and offer them to companies and distributers, including adding any logo to the instruments. I've been to enough NAMM shows to see that as standard operating procedure.
Having said that, I'm very happy with my bamboo uke, seems like it's built well, sounds and feels really good. I added black and gold strap buttons to match the tuners, black nut & saddle, black stick-on fret markers, black strings and black string end beads.
I had a problem with my Rumbler and the jack coming loose and I couldn't tighten it up, contacted Kala and they had me ship it back, fixed it and returned all prepaid, no cost to me. I have a lot of confidence in Kala, a big name brand.
Yeah I’ve been impressed so far.
My new battery clip and tuner should arrive tomorrow. I’ll let you know when I’ve got everything installed.
My new battery clip and tuner should arrive tomorrow. I’ll let you know when I’ve got everything installed.
i had the same problem... they sent me the same items. i only replaced the battery clip been working fine since... it is easy to swap out.
I have 8 Rondo Hadean bass ukes, both acoustic and solid body. I think they're made just as well as the Kala models, using pretty much the same parts out of China. The one thing I've noticed, they can suffer from the poor design of the piezo pickup assembly. It has a metal carriage with four small pickup elements soldered on, then a ceramic saddle that has slots, and end caps to hold together the assembly.
The problem is the slots don't go all the way through, if they were separate sections, that would allow each section to put separate pressure on the pickup element below from the string pressure. Instead, the saddle is one piece, which can cause an imbalance of the amplified string volume. When I ran into that on a couple of mine, I took the suggestion of a TB thread and cut apart the four sections of the saddle, which worked perfectly. I'm actually going to do that to a new Oscar Schmidt bass uke I just bought with an imbalance volume problem.
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Hello kohanmike.
If you do this and post pics, I (and whoever is as mechanically challenged as me) would greatly appreciate it.
I understand what you want to do and why, but I’m not sure how.
Thanks!
John
If you do this and post pics, I (and whoever is as mechanically challenged as me) would greatly appreciate it.
I understand what you want to do and why, but I’m not sure how.
Thanks!
John
John, please be sure to click Quote so I get notified that you specified me in your post, or add an @ in front of my name.
It's actually very simple, just remove the assembly from the bass by unplugging it from the preamp inside, then slide off the two black end caps, which will release the saddle from the pickup section. I use a thin blade Xacto saw on each divider in the saddle, then sit the pieces back in the pickup section, slide on the two end caps and carefully replace the assembly back in the bass so the individual pieces don't fall out. The strings will then keep each piece in place and put individual pressure on the pickup element below.
It's actually very simple, just remove the assembly from the bass by unplugging it from the preamp inside, then slide off the two black end caps, which will release the saddle from the pickup section. I use a thin blade Xacto saw on each divider in the saddle, then sit the pieces back in the pickup section, slide on the two end caps and carefully replace the assembly back in the bass so the individual pieces don't fall out. The strings will then keep each piece in place and put individual pressure on the pickup element below.
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I had one of those, They look really cool, but the sound cut in and out, I sent it back. I know Mike loves Hadean, but he has the know how to tinker with the problems they always have.
Sometimes have. Of all the acoustic and solid body ukes I have that are made in China by most likely the same factory, Hadean or not, out of 11, 3 have had a problem.
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Kala TELECS50VHB CZ546748
When ubasses were new, I owned many. It's been years since I had one. For no good reason whatsoever, I just bought this. It's apparently pau ferro back and sides. Comes with kala rounds. I don't know why I did this, but I did. I haven't bought a bass of any kind in years. This is one of many new models I know nothing about. I've never played a ubass with rounds. I was thinking about them and looked them up on Sweetwater. I remembered the months long process of breaking in pahoehoes and saw this little guy with rounds, and it just kinda happened.
When ubasses were new, I owned many. It's been years since I had one. For no good reason whatsoever, I just bought this. It's apparently pau ferro back and sides. Comes with kala rounds. I don't know why I did this, but I did. I haven't bought a bass of any kind in years. This is one of many new models I know nothing about. I've never played a ubass with rounds. I was thinking about them and looked them up on Sweetwater. I remembered the months long process of breaking in pahoehoes and saw this little guy with rounds, and it just kinda happened.
Has anyone bought one of these with stock rounds? When rounds first came out for these, weren't they problematic? Didn't the nuts and saddles need work?
Yes, last year I bought a red Journeyman that came with the round wound/nylon core. As I've mentioned before, no matter how careful I was, I couldn't get them to stop farting/rattling on the frets, also, the A string buzzed like crazy. I ended up having to send it to Kala to fix. When it came back, I still couldn't stop the farting/rattling, so I replaced the strings with Aquila Thunderguts only because they matched the color of the binding so well. I sold it since, realizing the 20.75" scale is a little too short for me.
I have reached U-Bass Nirvana after putting a set of these on:
UXB810 Blacknylon Special Strings
They took a while to settle into stable tune but one that occurs - perfection. At least for me. I've tried a number of other strings for the U-Bass (have't tried the roundwound) and can't see ever changing from the Galli's. I have the Journeyman U-Bass.
Here they are at String & Beyond
Galli UXB810 Black Nylon Bass Ukulele Strings
UXB810 Blacknylon Special Strings
They took a while to settle into stable tune but one that occurs - perfection. At least for me. I've tried a number of other strings for the U-Bass (have't tried the roundwound) and can't see ever changing from the Galli's. I have the Journeyman U-Bass.
Here they are at String & Beyond
Galli UXB810 Black Nylon Bass Ukulele Strings
