U Bass - Thunderguts or no?

[Slapstyle]

Hey gang. I just had shoulder surgery and for a few months, I can't slap the upright for my rockabilly band, so I've moved to the Kala U bass, fretless hog. I dig that it can get somewhat upright like tones, and it's good enough for what I'm doing. I'm finding that I'm constantly retuning it, and I've had it for several months now. It's my understanding that Thunderguts are much more stable and hold tuning better, but when I look at youtube clips they seem to have a plastic clack to them, that may be undesireable in many circumstances. Not the same fat warm tone as the original latex strings, but it's really tough, and of course the sound quality of youtube vids is what it is. So, I look to the masses, with experience and opinions. On the other hand, a little clack might be ok for the rockabilly thing, but I should think it would screw up more jazz oriented players.

Thought?

 

[Slapstyle]

I've noticed too, the stock strings tend to roll under my fingers sometimes, which feels very unnatural. Is there less of that with the Aquilas? And on an unrelated note, who else is pissed they just came out with a new model with a volume and on board preamp?

 

[mccartneyman]

I think the fact that Kala has switched to Silver Rumbler strings for the new EQ-equipped Rumbler shows that they acknowledge tuning stability issues with the old black strings. Yes, they do roll a buit under the fingers, but I don't find this hard to adapt to. As for the onboard preamp, I'm happy to see it because it was needed. I'm please that they offer it at the same treet price as the U-Bass without EQ. Pissed? Not really. When you jump onboard with a new product for its first run, you should expect things to be, perhaps, not quite tweaked. I bough a Fishman outboard EQ that I usewith other basses. so I'm OK with that. I don't really expect Kala to offer a no-cost retrofit to previous U-Bass purchasers.