NBD

Paul_C

It's been a long time since I bought a new bass and almost as long since I owned a bass I hadn't made myself, but my recent change of heart and selling off of pedals left me with some money to spend, which is difficult to resist

I really don't need an electric bass and I doubt I'd do much with a full-on acoustic bass so I went for something sillier.



I didn't want to go as far as the £300 or so that a Kala U Bass costs, and I'd heard a few negative comments about the quality of Thomann's Harley Benton Kahuna, but I found the Countryman ukulele bass for £128 shipped, which seemed like a passable compromise

It doesn't sound too bad, though the strings are going out of tune quite a bit (I've only had it an hour so it might just need a bit of time) and the E string seems to sound sharp even though the tuner says it's ok. If I play too sloppily it sounds a bit like a ruler being twanged on the edge of a desk but other than that it's quite a lot of fun.

Not a pro instrument (I doubt any of them are) but not bad for a bit of fun.

mart

Paul_C said:

?..Not a pro instrument (I doubt any of them are) but not bad for a bit of fun.

Interesting, and cool-looking beast. 

Last time I saw Fairport Convention, Dave Pegg was playing a Kala U bass, and getting a fantastic tone. So obviously they are "pro" instruments, at least in the literal sense.

How are the strings anchored at the bridge? Throug-body?

fretmeister

I like it. I'm fascinated by these too. Not tried one yet.

Paul_C

I'm already thinking about different strings - the ones it came with are meant to be pretty good, but the bottom string is a bit flubby and it's quite hard to hear a clear note in places so it sounds wrong even though the tuner says it's ok.

The only thing that's making me persist with the ones on it for a little while longer is that the replacements I like the look of are £35 a set!

Strangefan

I remember the guilds did a bass with rubber strings, always wanted to have a go of one

Paul_C

Paul_C said:

I'm already thinking about different strings - the ones it came with are meant to be pretty good, but the bottom string is a bit flubby and it's quite hard to hear a clear note in places so it sounds wrong even though the tuner says it's ok.

The only thing that's making me persist with the ones on it for a little while longer is that the replacements I like the look of are £35 a set!

"for a little while longer"

new strings ordered today

Paul_C

New strings fitted, and they're a great improvement

The bottom string is much more defined and the intonation problem is pretty much sorted.

They feel a little stickier, but that might be in part down to the battle to get them on, they also need to settle a little but they're not far off.