I became aware of these recently, probably through talkbass or something like that. An ukulele company called
Kala has been working with a boutique ukulele builder named Owen Holt (his company is called
Road Toad) to produce something called the
U-BASS. It's kind of like an Ashbory, but the strings are made of a different material. The body is the same size as a baritone uke. It's tuned EADG like a regular bass guitar or upright bass.
I liked the idea of a bass I could take on a plane or wander around the house with without worrying about hitting against door-jambs. Went and tried one in a local store and was blown away! It had a really full sound, more like an upright than an electric bass. Doesn't sound bad unplugged either, though probably not loud enough to compete with other instruments.
Here's
a pretty cool video of Bakithi Kumalo playing one.
The only ones I could find in stock are the spruce topped ones. Not sure if they're still making the mahogany or acacia ones anymore. I thought I liked the look of the mahogany ones better but haven't been able to track one down. Instead, I discovered the handmade Road Toad instruments - apparently they take forever once you order one and are pretty expensive, starting around $1000. But I found one online for cheaper - it was built for someone who died so I got it for a discount.
I'll post some pics later, but just wanted to put the U-BASS on the radar. You can search around the web for more info.
