A friend made something very similar when these strings came out. It needs a very, very light touch. Digging in does rather ruin the tuning! That looks really fun and very useful if you (like my friend) have serious arthritis. He was able to jam again after a couple of years getting frustrated by the pain of a "real" bass.
Bassist here, I've been considering getting a Uke bass when I'm too lazy to haul my double bass and/or playing a gig at a venue that might be a bit too sketchy for hauling my double bass to. They sound massive, once you get used to the unique strings!
I recently got my first u-bass (Gold Tone acoustic fretless) and I really like it. You can get very authentic upright tones with a microphone, but then get more plugged in tones by plugging it into an amp or straight into the DAW. It's given me a lot more options when recording bass.
Neckthru on a sub 200€ bass?! Ok that thing is almost as cool as Tiffany, I love that song. I was thinking this is way easier to take to the coffee shop than my giant electric/acoustic Bass! Now I can add a deep bass line to Smelly Cat. ☕️
Look carefully for a good supply of the strings. With the Guild Ashbory, this was a problem. After they quite making the bass, the string supplier stopped selling them.
I'm most surprised by how well it sits in the mix! I've ruined my hands from (over)doing construction work, possibly for life, so maybe I should just fully embrace these kind of string instrument. But apropos construction and the things you learn doing that: maybe coat the strings with silicone lubricant or something similar? Edit: ARRRGH, no lefthand version 😭
Good reminder that one trick ponies can still be useful. I just picked up a 5-string NSD electric upright, and the note definition and fretless sounds are on a comlpetely different level. That has always been my beef with Uke basses, but I can definitely imagine situations where the tone you used on the opening clip would be useful. And you can take the little HB into a lot of situations where you wouldn’t take an enormous electric upright on a stand…
There was a band called Stump once upon a time, whose bass player used a rubber strung bass guitar and used talcum powder or chalk on his hands, clouds of it during a gig but oh boy what an immense sound. I would get this just for the craic. looks good too.
Darn it, I was laughing, I was enjoying myself my wallet was safe I tell you. Why did you have to mention the fretless variant? Now I want one :P You rock man!
How is the fret buzz? With my Kala acoustic u-bass I went fretless because of the buzz, but my intonation is not always perfect, so frets would be nice.
It could work for some metal. Face it, Bob Daisley didn't sound too much different. Most bass in metal is just there to give it a push anyways. You should make a short metal riff with it incorporated.😅
@@kimhoffmannandersen5477 He didn't, he has a very classic muffled, tone control rolled off, possibly flatwound sound. Why bring Orange Julius into this?
What about using it as a practice instrument for a kid (5 to 8yo) until they have hands big enough ? Because the touch of rubber is very different, do you think they will pick bad playing habits?
That looks really awesome. Do they also have a Guitarlele? I saw they have a Basslele that’s acoustic as well. Are these available from Thomann US, or must it be purchased from the main Thomann website in Europe? If it is available in the US, how does one order that way?
By the way, can one use light gauge steel or acoustic phosphor bronze strings for a normal bass instead of rubber? Or will the neck, tuners and bridge not be able to handle the added pressure? Or perhaps nylon or fluorocarbon type strings for an acoustic bass? It seems like this instrument has a piezo pickup installed, so it should work with almost any type of strings if it can take the pressure. That might improve the playing experience. Can you experiment with other types of strings and do a follow up video Ty!
Why is Harley Benton ripping off a company as small as Kala (assuming they have not been bought out)? The latter were lucky to find a market for their U Bass before this well-funded clone manufacturer came into existence (note that I have not criticized Harley Benton's clones of products from well-established companies this way).
