Kala UBass Megathread, Part 7

[mrufino1]

I just had my UBass modded by TB’s @mrufino1. He replaced the bridge with an adjustable bridge with individual piezos in each saddle, put in a new pre amp, shimmed the neck, installed a home made mute that works great and is simple to engage with just Velcro, built a ramp, intonated it, set it up, leveled the frets, put on roundwounds and sent it back.

I hated this bass with the rubber band strings. Now I love it. Plays so much better, in tune, sounds great. Mark was a delight to work with, and I’d recommend him in a heartbeat.

View attachment 4137186 View attachment 4137187 View attachment 4137188 View attachment 4137189 View attachment 4137191

Thanks for posting that Rob! This was really fun to do and I was amazed at how good it sounds. Definitely much better than when I ran the braid piezo underneath a fender style bridge.

And I am really happy you’re digging the bass now!

We used a tone monster preamp in it because the shadow preamp that came with the kala doesn’t seem to like any other pickup. So the tone controls are on trimpots inside- only the volume knob works, the other two are just for show. I never mess with tone controls in the middle of a gig though, so having a sound that you like that is preset works for me. All of my basses are passive anyway these days.

Good stuff, and beautiful living room! If I find myself in your area in the future I definitely want to meet up.

 

[mrufino1]

Oh, I’m glad you like the mute! No one else has ever taken me up on one. I couldn’t play my gigs without that anymore, I put them on everything.

 

[Spinnnr]

My uke bass saga continues. Still love the Journeyman, and am still trying to fix the distortion on the Hadean fretless solid-body.

I applied Mike's solution to the Hadean, and while it helped the A string distortion it did not fix the distortion on the E string, particularly on the first and second frets. I took it to my luthier, and he said it was an issue with the pickup but did what he could to reduce it, including notching the saddle a bit to take out the knife-edge the strings have to break over.

It's not 'fixed' enough to be able to perform with, and especially since the Galli flatwounds (that are long enough!) finally arrived and they exacerbate the issue. I'm debating replacing the pickup, as I watched Magnus' how-to video (here: NEW DIY Video! How to change the preamp in a solid body UBass ) and that is something I can do myself, but I can't find that pickup, even by looking on the LR Baggs' website.

I've asked Rondo to send me a new pickup but they may say 'no', so where you do find uke bass replacement pickups for solid bodies?

 

[KohanMike]

I applied Mike's solution to the Hadean, and while it helped the A string distortion it did not fix the distortion on the E string, particularly on the first and second frets. I took it to my luthier, and he said it was an issue with the pickup but did what he could to reduce it, including notching the saddle a bit to take out the knife-edge the strings have to break over.

It's not 'fixed' enough to be able to perform with, and especially since the Galli flatwounds (that are long enough!) finally arrived and they exacerbate the issue. I'm debating replacing the pickup, as I watched Magnus' how-to video (here: NEW DIY Video! How to change the preamp in a solid body UBass ) and that is something I can do myself, but I can't find that pickup, even by looking on the LR Baggs' website.

I've asked Rondo to send me a new pickup but they may say 'no', so where you do find uke bass replacement pickups for solid bodies?

Rondo is only a middleman to the customer of the Chinese factory bass ukes, Rondo does not supply parts. I've found the pickup on AliExpress out of China; US $6.33 30% OFF|Transducer Pickup Piezo Suit for 4 String Acoustic Bass Guitar|Guitar Parts & Accessories| - AliExpress

 

[Spinnnr]

Rondo is only a middleman to the customer of the Chinese factory bass ukes, Rondo does not supply parts. I've found the pickup on AliExpress out of China; US $6.33 30% OFF|Transducer Pickup Piezo Suit for 4 String Acoustic Bass Guitar|Guitar Parts & Accessories| - AliExpress

Awesome - thank you so much, Mike!!

 

[LowWay]

Thanks for posting that Rob! This was really fun to do and I was amazed at how good it sounds. Definitely much better than when I ran the braid piezo underneath a fender style bridge.

And I am really happy you’re digging the bass now!

We used a tone monster preamp in it because the shadow preamp that came with the kala doesn’t seem to like any other pickup. So the tone controls are on trimpots inside- only the volume knob works, the other two are just for show. I never mess with tone controls in the middle of a gig though, so having a sound that you like that is preset works for me. All of my basses are passive anyway these days.

Good stuff, and beautiful living room! If I find myself in your area in the future I definitely want to meet up.

As long as we’re in a post pandemic scenario, you’re welcome any time.

 

[Jhalb]

I picked up a set of the Gallistrings black nylon ukulele bass strings. I thought I'd share my experience of installing them on my Kala Wanderer and initial impressions after playing with them a bit.

Here's the Gallistrings E string next to the OEM E string.
View attachment 3291710

Installation was simple enough. The only hitch I ran into was on the G string. The black nylon string has a little bulge where the string itself and the threaded end of the string meet. I had to use a small round file to carefully enlarge the hole in the body to let this bulge pass through. I used some rubber washers I found in the plumbing aisle at local hardware store to stop the metal ball ends on the strings from rubbing directly against the body of my bass uke, like this:
View attachment 3291711

Here's how the headstock looked when I finished:
View attachment 3291712

Initial impressions: The nylon covered strings have a smooth, cool feel to them that is not unpleasant. They are ever so slightly tacky, but not nearly as "sticky" as the OEM strings. There is a definite roundwound texture, but not the abrasiveness that metal roundwounds can have. Slides are much easier to do than with the OEM strings. The Gallistrings are stiffer than the OEM strings, which means that the tension is higher (better, IMO) and the action is higher (because of the way the strings bend over the bridge). So far I don't find the higher action intolerable.

Subjectively, the bass sounds louder when played unplugged. When plugged into my amp, the sound loses some of that upright-like tone associated with u-basses, but it is still plenty "thumpy". There's no "zing" to the sound, like associate with the Kala roundwounds.

Are you still using these strings? Any update?

 

[ellipsis]

Are you still using these strings? Any update?

The strings are still on my UBass. Nothing really to add to what I had said before.

 

[UbassDanno]

Played bass yesterday at an outside ukulele jam. I've always been impressed with my Orange Crush bass 25, even in large rooms, playing with ukulele groups. But, outside, I had it turned up 3/4 of the way and it was struggling at times, depending on how loud the leaders uke amp was. That's the most I ever had it turned up, wish I would have tried to turn it up more, but I was busy...

What would be a good upgrade amp that's not too huge? There's a used GK MB110 at a local Guitar center that would be nice $339. Also an old Fender Rumble 100 with "rat hair" and a Hartke 1415 on craigslist, both are under $150.

 

[tymbrewolf]

Busking bass amps around is not fun. However, I would not go for less than 200watts for a small venue if other instruments and voices are amped and mic'd.

 

[UbassDanno]

Busking bass amps around is not fun. However, I would not go for less than 200watts for a small venue if other instruments and voices are amped and mic'd.

All I play with is ukulele groups...

 

[MonetBass]

Just received this Kala U-bass Journeyman this weekend. So far, I'm impressed with the quality of this bass. It came with the silver-wound strings, and with some tweaking of the EQ, they sound really good. The tuner is flaky, though, so I have to use my regular tuner. The frets are nicely dressed, the action is good, and it plays easily.

 

[KohanMike]

Played bass yesterday at an outside ukulele jam. I've always been impressed with my Orange Crush bass 25, even in large rooms, playing with ukulele groups. But, outside, I had it turned up 3/4 of the way and it was struggling at times, depending on how loud the leaders uke amp was. That's the most I ever had it turned up, wish I would have tried to turn it up more, but I was busy... What would be a good upgrade amp that's not too huge? There's a used GK MB110 at a local Guitar center that would be nice $339. Also an old Fender Rumble 100 with "rat hair" and a Hartke 1415 on craigslist, both are under $150.

When I first played bass uke with my uke group, I used a Crate Limo 50w 10" battery amp I had for my guitars. It worked very well inside, but with our first outdoor gig in a small amphitheater, it didn't cut it. I thought a Phil Jones Double Four 70w would be better, but no, the two 4" couldn't do it. I was told here that the size speaker is important outdoors, so I ended up buying a Carvin MB15 200/250w with custom neo 15" speaker and that made all the difference. It's one of the most compact and light units I tried, but still pretty big for busking, so I decided to keep it in an old lady shopping cart, even while playing, with a battery and inverter I put together.

 

[KohanMike]

When I first played bass uke with my uke group, I used a Crate Limo 50w 10" battery amp I had for my guitars. It worked very well inside, but with our first outdoor gig in a small amphitheater, it didn't cut it. I thought a Phil Jones Double Four 70w would be better, but no, the two 4" couldn't do it. I was told here that the size speaker is important outdoors, so I ended up buying a Carvin MB15 200/250w with custom neo 15" speaker and that made all the difference. It's one of the most compact and light units I tried, but still pretty big for busking, so I decided to keep it in an old lady shopping cart, even while playing, with a battery and inverter I put together.

Let me add that I use the Double Four in the backyard with about 6 unamplified uke players and it works very well. I would think in a relatively close busking audience, it would do fine.

 

[UbassDanno]

Played bass yesterday at an outside ukulele jam. I've always been impressed with my Orange Crush bass 25, even in large rooms, playing with ukulele groups. But, outside, I had it turned up 3/4 of the way and it was struggling at times, depending on how loud the leaders uke amp was. That's the most I ever had it turned up, wish I would have tried to turn it up more, but I was busy...View attachment 4200447View attachment 4200448View attachment 4200449

What would be a good upgrade amp that's not too huge? There's a used GK MB110 at a local Guitar center that would be nice $339. Also an old Fender Rumble 100 with "rat hair" and a Hartke 1415 on craigslist, both are under $150.

In retrospect, I discovered that I had the bass turned way down. I hadn't had the amp out of the house in a year and was so excited to play with other people, I forgot to check the settings.

 

[el murdoque]

Just received this Kala U-bass Journeyman this weekend. So far, I'm impressed with the quality of this bass. It came with the silver-wound strings, and with some tweaking of the EQ, they sound really good. The tuner is flaky, though, so I have to use my regular tuner. The frets are nicely dressed, the action is good, and it plays easily.
View attachment 4256161

Have you tried installing fresh batteries?
My Journeyman arrived with a tuner that was not working as well, but the preamp worked. I installed new batteries and now it's fine. I find it really convenient to have a tuner in your uke - especially when you make it a habit to grab it and play while you walk around the house.

 

[MuthaFunk]

My pride and joy I keep on the boat. Paired with a PJ Double 4 and I’m in bass heaven all summer long at the cottage.

 

[MonetBass]

Have you tried installing fresh batteries?
My Journeyman arrived with a tuner that was not working as well, but the preamp worked. I installed new batteries and now it's fine. I find it really convenient to have a tuner in your uke - especially when you make it a habit to grab it and play while you walk around the house.

Good suggestion. I'll try that this weekend.

 

[KohanMike]

Have you tried installing fresh batteries? My Journeyman arrived with a tuner that was not working as well, but the preamp worked. I installed new batteries and now it's fine. I find it really convenient to have a tuner in your uke - especially when you make it a habit to grab it and play while you walk around the house.

Also, don't leave a cable plugged into the bass, that will kill the battery quickly. As soon as a cable is plugged in, the preamp turns on.

 

[DagoMaino]

Noob to the ubass realm.

I just picked up a spruce top kala ubass (ssmhg-fs). I’m really convinced that I like the ukulele bass thing now. The one I picked up has a finicky 1/4” jack so I have to decide if I want to fix it myself or exchange it for another. Aside from the jack issue, I don’t have any qualms with it, but I also don’t have any reference point to know how good it is relative to other options. For example, I did have my eye on the Haeden brand before I stumbled across this one.

Any insight on the relative quality. I paid about $350 for the Kala and I’m just curious if there are better options in that range or less.