Bass Ukulele

[mattbee]

Hiya!

Anyone tried using a (real) bass ukulele instead of upright bass (from a sample library) for recordings that call for it, like dramedy, or any others that you'd usually reach for a double bass for?
I saw this video which got me looking at others, and in a blind test, I'm not sure I'd hear a big difference! (unless you took advantage of what a fretless can do compared to a fretted instrument)
Anyway, just thought I'd ask to see if anyone had gone down this route and found it great or not great (and I'd love to know the reasons, to save me spending decent $$$). Not sure if I'd get one with a pickup or if mic'ing would be the way to go etc, or if the idea sucks and I should get better at my sample libraries I already have

Thanks crew!

[ochaim]

I’ve been looking into the same thing the past month or so. I’m no musician but the idea of adding a bass uke to Trillian intrigues me and it led me to this bass ukelele on amazon.

https://www.amazon.ca/Electric-Fretless ... B07Z4FVCL4

the reviews aint bad! i might have to look at getting some strings recommendations in the reviews as well.

[funsongs]

Hiya!
Anyone tried using a (real) bass ukulele instead of upright bass (from a sample library) for recordings that call for it, like dramedy, or any others that you'd usually reach for a double bass for?
Thanks crew!

Hi, Matt. Funny you should post this, as a buddy & I were just discussing his purchase of a KALA U-Bass - I've had one for a few years now,
which I got specifically to use in the studio in place of a fretless upright (which I don't own or play). I goofed buying a fretless uke bass,
and had a local luthier install mandolin frets up to the 9th position. It's great how you can 'tweak' those to get a variety of sounds.

I am not primarily a bass player... but I figured I could learn to do my own on one of these 'little guys'.
Pardon the shameless share - but this was one of my favorites using the ukulele bass:

The ENSEMBLE:
Peter Rahill: KALA U-Bass, acoustic and Telecaster guitars, keys, lead vocal
Stacy Antonel: duet vocals
Brian Petry: drums (airgigs.com)
Ian Smith: saxophone (airgigs.com)

Here's hoping you have as much fun and success using yours.
Cheers!

[mattbee]

Hiya!
Anyone tried using a (real) bass ukulele instead of upright bass (from a sample library) for recordings that call for it, like dramedy, or any others that you'd usually reach for a double bass for?
Thanks crew!

Hi, Matt. Funny you should post this, as a buddy & I were just discussing his purchase of a KALA U-Bass - I've had one for a few years now,
which I got specifically to use in the studio in place of a fretless upright (which I don't own or play). I goofed buying a fretless uke bass,
and had a local luthier install mandolin frets up to the 9th position. It's great how you can 'tweak' those to get a variety of sounds.

I am not primarily a bass player... but I figured I could learn to do my own on one of these 'little guys'.
Pardon the shameless share - but this was one of my favorites using the ukulele bass:

The ENSEMBLE:
Peter Rahill: KALA U-Bass, acoustic and Telecaster guitars, keys, lead vocal
Stacy Antonel: duet vocals
Brian Petry: drums (airgigs.com)
Ian Smith: saxophone (airgigs.com)

Here's hoping you have as much fun and success using yours.
Cheers!

Hi Peter,

Thanks so much - that's really helpful, and nice sounding song there too, the u-bass sounds nice on it! I'll perhaps stick to a fretted one, then? Do you mind me asking if you got one with a pickup, or if you mic it up for recordings? (Or both) There isn't much literature online about recording u-bass so not sure about which approach to take, I'll probably get one with a pickup for flexibility but if there are cheaper ones without pickups it'll tempt me if they sound best mic'd up anyway....

[funsongs]

Hi Peter,

Thanks so much - that's really helpful, and nice sounding song there too, the u-bass sounds nice on it! I'll perhaps stick to a fretted one, then? Do you mind me asking if you got one with a pickup, or if you mic it up for recordings? (Or both) There isn't much literature online about recording u-bass so not sure about which approach to take, I'll probably get one with a pickup for flexibility but if there are cheaper ones without pickups it'll tempt me if they sound best mic'd up anyway....

The KALA U-Bass comes with a built-in pickup w/on-board tuner, and the separate battery-power slot takes a pair of CR 2032s.
When I record with it I use both the cable & a mic. Since the top is pretty thin wood, I found I needed to tape on a piece of soft cloth
in the place where a pickguard would be - just to insure muting any noise from my fingers touching the top... sloppy playing, as it were.

Having one channel each of wire/mic - you can blend the tone to suit what sort of sound you want.

Good luck... they're fun as heck... and easier to haul than a P-Bass.
(Not that there's anything WRONG with that!)
A 2nd shameless PLUG for a recent production where I used the U-Bass and help from a few TAXI musician/mates: Robert & Kristoff!

THE ENSEMBLE:
Peter Rahill: KALA U-Bass & vocals
Robert F. Else: piano
Kristoff Scott: lead guitar & harmony vocal
Steve Peavey: rhythm & 2nd lead guitar
Brian Petry: drums (airgigs.com)
Lindy Edwards: saxophone

[mattbee]

Awesome, thanks Peter and thanks for posting another cool track, also!

[funsongs]

Awesome, thanks Peter and thanks for posting another cool track, also!

You bet - and thank you, too.