ukulele bass!

[hieronymous]

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.

[Dave W]

Congrats.

Maybe you read about it here: http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=3773.0

[hieronymous]

Yeah, that might have been it! I should have searched better

[godofthunder]

That is really Cool ! $599.00 for the mahogany ones, I'd love to get one !

[hieronymous]

Yes, it's a really fun instrument! Still kind of coming to grips with mine - it doesn't have an endpin (the Kala ones do), so you have to hold it and support it while playing if standing.

And here are a couple of pics:





This is called the "Tadpole" - concert sized body, 18.01" scale length, curly koa from the Big Island.

[Garrett]

The little thing sounds great and looks like it would a lot of fun to play!

[nofi]

great website you have and very nice abg.

[Garrett]

  I`m diggin these little Ukes....



http://www.kalaukulele.com/