Bass Ukulele
It seems unbelievable, but you can actually get the pitch of a bass guitar out of a ukulele. This is thanks to the polyurethane strings. The first people to release a bass ukulele were Road Toad. However, it was expensive. More recently, Road Toad have hooked up with Kala to produce the much more affordable Kala UBass. This is a standard baritone Kala ukulele adapted to be able to handle the much thicker strings.
I haven't tried one of these ukuleles but I'm dying to give them a go.
One thing to note, if you're buying one get a bass amp at the same time. The acoustic volume of them isn't, apparently, sufficient.
On Video
A Kala U-Bass demonstrated by RISA ukuleles.
On eBay US
 SALE KALA U BASS Ukulele Bass Guitar w case  US $499.99
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 Sprucetop FRETLESS KALA U BASS Ukulele Bass GUITAR US $409.95
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 NEW Sprucetop FRETTED KALA U BASS Ukulele guitar Bass US $409.95
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One Comment
I’ve just bought the fretless Kala ubass model a couple of days ago. Having only played regular fretted bass before I’m finding pitching notes a little challenging so far, but worth persevering with because I want that upright sound which this little guy almost captures.
It is possible to play unamplified when practicing at home (nobody hears my bum notes then!) but once plugged in it really has an astonishing bottom end. The polyurethane strings have a great feel although I’m also finding using vibrato difficult in these early learning days. The ADG strings are tending to go flat often so far and I’m hoping this is just due to the strings stretching while settling in? There’s way too much wrapped around the tuners which might not be helping either.
The fit and finish is pretty good, with a nice grained mahogany. The edge of the fretboard could have been rounded off a little more, feels a bit sharp.
Well done Kala, a great bass with a huge sound!
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