Bass Uke

[ZoomBasser]

Hi BlaBlas,

Just received my Lefthand Kahuna Bass Uke and looking at your instrument I have decided not to think about changing the strings for the moment ;-)
What are you going to do with your spare-parts now?

When I compare the instrument that I have with yours, there are some differences, for example the bridge.
Maybe they changed the design with the new batch after the Uke was out of stock for quiet some time - or it is only my instrument that is different ;-)

It's looks exacly like the right hand version as shown here (same bridge, same electronics)
www.thomann.de/de/harley_benton_kahuna_clu_bass.htm?ref=prod_rel_347286_1

[blablas]

Nov 5, 2016 13:06:36 GMT ZoomBasser said:

What are you going to do with your spare-parts now?

I don't know yet, maybe build a Uke bass myself. If this happens they'll come by here.

I will probably first order a new Kuhana bass again in the near future, miss the little bastard!


Changing the strings is normally not an issue, I've done that before without any problems.
All you need are the right strings, this is where I screwed up last time, I wanted to try something else which just didn't work out the way I expected.

[mrdes]

At least with Harley Benton prices we can all release our inner Pete Townshend once in a while, and end up with some useful spare parts.

[blablas]

And I've got a Kahuna again!

[mat]

Hi guys! I'm new here, my name is Mat.
I just got Kahuna Ubass from my friends for my birthday and I'm doing some research.
Blablas, I'm wondering if you could post some more pics of this (may it rest in piece) baby's guts. I'd like to know how does the pickup look like, how the bridge is mounted and what are the connections to the preamp. I'm thinking about giving my Kahuna an extra punch from some upright bass transducer/piezo pickup.
What do you guys think about it?
Cheers

[blablas]

Welcome mat.

The pickup is just a simple bar-piezo thingy and the bridge saddle is just resting on this bar inside a slot that's routed in the bridge. The wiring for the pickup goes through a a hole that has been drilled through the bridge and the top.The bridge itself is glued to the top of the body.
Similar to this.

I don't have any more detailed pictures but I've still got the leftover parts so if you want too I can make more detailed photo's of those. All the wooden leftovers have been trashed.

[mat]

Thanks a lot Blablas. This thingy looks just right in its place, I guess I'm gonna leave it there for now.
But in the future I'll probably consider adding a second parallel pick-up
If I'll be up to something I'll let you guys know!
Cheers!

[jim]

I just picked up one of these fun little toys a few days back, and so far I'm loving it. Far easier to noodle with than a full scale bass...

One gripe I do have though is tuning the darned thing - seems that the strings get stuck in the nut so nothing happens until it jumps way past where you want to be, then sticks again. Anyone else had this? And if so have you found a solution? I don't really fancy filing out the nut at present as actually the action seems fine. Currently I'm releasing the tension by hand - lifting the string out each time but that's not really satisfactory...

Luckily, men seems to stay in tune pretty well.

[blablas]

It's the nature of these rubber strings, they are soft and sticky, the nut tends to dig a little bit into string.
You are doing the right thing with lifting them from the nut.

[manxman]

After reading this thread, I ordered a Kahuna bass Uke from Thomann and got them to fit Thunder Reds. I've enjoyed practicing at home and jamming with a few guys. However a problem arose at a gig tonight. I got terrible feedback, even after I moved to the opposite side of the stage to the bass amp. The strings I wasn't playing were ringing away and I had to lean the palm of my hand on the bridge to stop them.

I'm pretty new to all this having only started playing last year. Any ideas how to avoid this ?

Regards
Manxman

[Deleted]

Can you get a soundhole cover to fit a uke? If not can you improvise one?

Other options if the feedback is coming from your amp is finding the feedback frequency and quashing it on the amp or with an eq pedal. Have you tried having the amp in front of you instead of in a back line? Do you have any monitors facing you or PA speakers behind you?

[Deleted]

I see they do exist.

[JAC]

Hi manxman and welcome!

What you mention are two different things, although one could be causing the other.

The issue with the non muted strings ringing is something you need to address with your playing tecnique, as you realised, you can use your palm to mute them.

The feedback issue is something that happens a lot with acoustic instruments. You can address this with a soundhole cover as mentioned by @defjef.

[manxman]

Thanks Guys

Kala sell them in the US (thanks DefJef) for$9 but they then wanted $43 postage to the UK. Luckily they have a UK distributor Bass Direct [e-mail] who sold me one for £11 incl postage - result. It's made all the difference, I can stand in front of the bass amp and just need to be careful about muting the non-playing strings as JAC suggests. Its not a tight fit, but a couple of discreet strips of BluTak have stopped it dropping out.

This little Ubass is totally addictive, I'm glad I upgraded to Thunder Red strings because its a much better playing experience than the standard Thunder Guts. Just a shame that Thomann don't off them as a standard option rather than charging full price for them plus re-stringing. It occurred to me yesterday that I've hardly touched my other bass since getting this one, oh dear where did that strength and flexibility in my left hand go :-)

One concern. The A string seems quieter than the rest especially the E. Any ideas why that should be ?

[Deleted]

Great news manxman. Thanks for the update. I know they do seem to be tricky to trace so thanks for the UK source. Others may fit but many sellers seem to simply avoid telling us what size they are. Could be handy if you could post the measurements here for us if you have the time.

Glad it worked.

As regards the volume issue on one string, could it be simply an issue of tension? Maybe that one is under less tension than the others? Just a quirk of manufacturing necessity?