Most electric basses I run across represent variations on a basic theme, but occasionally
a new bass pops up that’s nothing like what has come before. That’s certainly the case
for the Kala U-Bass. When I first saw it, I thought it looked like a toy. But after spending
time with it, I concluded the U-Bass is an instrument to take seriously. It’s an unusual
looking axe that can produce—approximately—the usual sounds that bassists and our
band members come to expect.
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Download Example 1
Upright bass sound and feel - fingers near neck with gentle attack
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Download Example 2
Upright bass sound and feel - thumb and palm-muting
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Download Example 3
Old-school electric bass sound - fingers near bridge with stronger attack
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| All clips recorded straight into an AxePort Pro to GarageBand, no EQ adjustments.
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Essentially, the U-Bass starts with a baritone ukulele body and neck. It adds a stout, bass-worthy
bridge with piezo pickup. Up on the headstock sit four high-quality, geared Hipshot
tuners. Bringing the whole thing together is a set of fat, custom-designed polyurethane
strings. And there you have it—a flyweight mini-bass that can cop sounds ranging from old-school
funk to thumping upright. Let’s take a closer look.
Construction
Our review U-Bass was the original model, which comes with a sturdy, rigid foam case and
features a solid mahogany body and neck, and rosewood fretboard and bridge. You can
get a fretless model as well (fretless and fretted solidbodies are on their way, too), and Kala
recently introduced two additional models in different woods: The U-Bass 2 features a solid
spruce top with mahogany back, sides, and neck, while the solid Acacia model, with its striped
wood grain, is the real looker of the bunch.
In any case, the wooden parts of my review model had a good fit and finish. The
satin finish—with no body binding—combined with the black strings to create a
sleek, classy look. Rather than using a single undersaddle piezo strip like many
acoustic guitars, the U-Bass has separate saddles with an individual piezo element
for each string. Made by Shadow Electronics, these saddle pickups provide a very
even volume balance across the strings—something a lot of piezo bass transducers
can’t claim. Note that the pickup system is completely passive: There’s no preamp,
no volume control, no EQ knobs, not even a passive tone—just plug a cord into the
endpin jack, fire up the amp, and you’re off. As with most passive piezo pickups, for
the best sound you’ll need to use an amp with at least a 1 meg-ohm input impedance
or add a separate preamp box.
Initially, the strings reminded me of the Guild Ashbory bass I once owned. Unlike the
Ashbory, however, these newly designed strings do not have a sticky, rubbery feel. String
tension on the U-Bass allows decent articulation with no floppiness or mushy attack. The
frets were uke-sized, really skinny, and certainly not what you’d find on a typical bass.
The ends were smooth and the overall fretwork was clean. Given the rubber strings, the
U-Bass had an adequate, yet comfortable string height to avoid buzzing (as if rubber
strings could buzz).
I would have liked to see a second strap button at the neck-body joint, but that’s a simple
add-on job at your local guitar shop. The tuners are the real deal—the same quality you’d
find on a fine electric bass. Good thing, too, because getting a string in tune can sometimes
require several turns after the U-Bass has been sitting for a few days.
Coaxing Out the Sounds
Experimenting with the U-Bass, I quickly found that despite its simplicity, this is not a one-sound axe.
Both where you pluck the strings and how you pluck them makes a real difference. Think fat, old doghouse
bass. Think funky ’60s R&B. It all depends on your finger technique. And the closer to the neck you play, the deeper the tone and rounder the attack.
Likewise, when you get closer to the bridge,
the tone gets more plunky and bright. You can
really take advantage of this to vary the sound.