Kala Brand Music Co., 4-String Ukulele, Natural, UBASS JYMN-FS

This is an amazing little instrument! It produces an impressive amount of sound for such a small thing, and the richness of the deep tones is unbelievable. It is the pinnacle of portability, and it's size allows for more comfortable and literally impossible stretches compared to a normal bass. It can be grabbed at a moments notice, takes little space, and can play by itself without gear, although amplification is need when playing with most other instruments or in places with high noise pollution. The strings are a marvel of their own, this instrument wouldn't be possible without them, and there's more than one kind. I find tapping sounds especially good on this thing, it's bold and rich and you hardly have any of that string noise you'd normally get from tapping on an acoustic. Slapping really makes this bass project, it can easily be twice as loud when you slap it, and the internal reinforcement reassures you that this little thing can take it. The electronics sound great, you can use the three band equalizer to get all kinds of tones, and the tuner and volume knob come in very useful. You will not be able to get the same sounds out of this as an E bass, some things just won't sound as good on it. However, it has it's own voice that's better suited for some things than others, but oh baby does it sing! It sounds somewhere in-between an acoustic bass guitar, and an upright bass, with a touch of Ukulele. The acoustic resonation chamber allows for some interesting percussive possibilities. You can also modify the acoustic sound of the instrument by removing the back panel. Downsides: It's so small that it takes some getting used to in order to play it the same as a normal bass. It has 8 frets less than a standard bass. People don't know what it is. The strings have to be THICK because of the scale length. The E string is noticably quieter without amplification. When playing sitting down it can feel a little awkward. Upsides:. Unique Tone. It's easier to fret. You can make impossible stretches. It's super portable. It's acoustic and electric. People don't know what it is. Tapping works well. It's so light it can be held and played without a strap. You can drum on it. It takes a little space to store.Overall I would say that this is an excellent instrument, it should be a member of every bass enthusiast's collection.

This is a review for the new 2018 Journeyman model, with the cutaway and f-holes. It's long because I did a lot of research and wanted to share what I learned with other potential buyers.You really can get a very nice bass tone -- punchy and warm and woody -- from this tiny instrument, with the right gear and playing technique. It has a sound somewhere between McCartney's hollow-body Hofner with flatwound strings and a standup acoustic bass in old-school country and bluegrass tunes. Jazz players may want to check out the fretless Kala models. The U-Bass design is great for guitar players and those of us with smaller hands -- you can do very long stretches on the short 21" scale. I'm going to play it amplified through a PA with a subwoofer in a country string band, and use a portable battery-powered amp for spontaneous bluegrass jams at fiddle festivals.First and foremost, this thing is a blast to play! Nobody can resist picking it up and plunking their fave bass riffs. And it never fails to surprise people that it sounds like a "real" bass when amplified despite looking like a kid's toy uke. Because it's so small and lightweight you can take it anywhere, or just leave it next to your computer for recording or noodling away while taking a break. It can be played acoustically as a practice instrument, but if you use backing tracks you'll have to keep them below a conversational level in order to hear your bass playing. You could never hear this acoustically over another instrument -- you must have a bass amp.Unfortunately the first copy I received had lots of quality control problems: the fret edges stuck out (not filed down properly), the E string tuning peg was loose and hard to use, the fretboard wood was splitting lengthwise with several 3-inch long cracks, the string holes were drilled off-center behind the saddles, and the back cover plate was heavily warped. But I LOVED the sound and scale so much I ordered another, and the second was almost perfect -- maybe the factory just had a bad day with the first one.Older models of the Kala U-Bass had trouble with uneven string output (on a model I bought 5 years ago the E string was always much quieter than the others). But the 2018 U-Bass models like the Journeyman have a different kind of piezo pickup, which appears to be the Shadow SH-064 (Shadow Electronics SH-064 4 String Acoustic Bass Bridge Pickup with Saddle). The new bridge has individual saddles, which I believe include separate piezo pickups for each string -- and it definitely solves the problem of uneven string output. Great job, Kala!The strings you put on this instrument can make a HUGE difference in sound and playability, and there is now much more variety than a few years ago. This model ships with white strings that appear to be Aquila Thunderguts (Aquila Thundergut Bass Ukulele Strings - 68U). They certainly have more twang than the older Road Toad Pahoehoes (Kala Kala U-Bass Strings), which felt great but had a dull thuddy sound to my ear. Everyone complains the white strings have a sticky feel, which they do -- some people report that wiping on a little hand talc (like this stuff used for billiards: Silver Cup Billiard/Pool Premium Talc Powder, 13 Ounce Shaker Bottle) helps that problem. I found the Aquila white strings too fat, which throws off intonation (pitch) as you go farther up the neck. So I changed my strings to Aquila Thunder Reds (Aquila Thunder Reds (U-BASS Strings 91U)), and they are FANTASTIC -- they're thinner so the intonation is much better going up the neck, the sound is twangier and livelier which I like (particularly on the E string), and less sticky than the whites. I've seen suggestions from Kala that you should change the nut if you switch to the thinner Aquila Reds, but I haven't had any problems, and neither have about a half-dozen other reviews I've read. If you want to hear these strings, search for "aquila red bass strings review magnus" -- not me, it's a video by a REAL musician. ;) You can also use a special kind of metal round-wound strings for a much brighter and clearer tone (Kala KA-BASS-4 Metal Round Wound U-Bass Strings), but you lose some of the DEEP thud provided by the more rubbery strings.UPDATE 9/5/23: Aquila has a new-and-improved formula in their Thunderbrown strings -- they seem even better than the reds!If you do change strings, you will probably need to adjust the tension on your truss rod (slowly and carefully), and you should definitely allow a good 2 weeks for the strings to stretch out and stabilize. When I changed from Aquila Whites to Reds, I had to loosen the neck truss rod about 1/2 turn to get more relief (neck bow) -- otherwise I had constant buzzing at fret 3 and sometimes fret 1. But now it's perfect! Kala includes the correct hex key for truss rod adjustment in a little pouch inside the gig bag -- a nice touch.You need to modify your fretting technique slightly to ensure a clean sound. Press the string down firmly BETWEEN two frets, not just BEHIND the upper fret like you would on a guitar. Otherwise you can get an annoying buzzing sound if you press too lightly, and if you're too close to the fret the note will warble up a semi-tone to the higher pitch.Because the piezo pickup is sensitive to any kind of vibration, and the Aquila strings are a bit sticky, you need to be more careful than usual with your picking and fretting technique to minimize string noise. Try not to drag your fingers along the strings, always lift and place them. When plucking, just use a fingertip or fingernail or the edge of your thumb, and try not to get too close to the bridge. Or you can use felt picks like these (Planet Waves by D'Addario 1FLT9-04 D'Addario Felt Ukulele Picks, 4 Pack) if you're transitioning from guitar.For an amp I'm using the Phil Jones Bass Double Four (Phil Jones Bass Double Four 70W Bass Combo Amp Black) -- super small and lightweight, nice clean sound, with optional battery power -- very happy with it so far.The Journeyman includes an integrated tuner and preamp with tone controls (bass, mid, treble) and a volume slider. I turn down the treble about halfway to reduce string noise and leave bass and mid most of the way up. I love the tuner button -- it clicks positively when punching in/out of tuning mode, and does not cause a "pop" through the PA. The tuner seems accurate enough, with good visual indicators as you approach the center of the pitch target. However, the strings are so squishy that they can get caught up in the nut slots, leaving uneven tension on either side of the nut (Kala calls this "sausaging"), which then suddenly releases while playing and then you are off pitch slightly. Aquila suggests pulling the strings up out of the nut slots while tuning, but my solution so far is to lubricate the slots with a tiny dab of petroleum jelly -- seems to work for a while, although messy. The tuning pegs are OK, but because the strings are so elastic and they stick on the nut it can take a lot of back-and-forth to home in on the center pitch.In conclusion: this thing is great out of the box (if the factory had a good day), a total blast to play, and you can get a different sound and feel just by changing the strings. It's not a bass, it's a base UKE, which means it's fun and easy to play (particularly for guitar players with a few tweaks to your technique) and you can take it anywhere.

I cannot tell you how much I love this instrument! The design on it is beautiful, the sound on the strings and the extra perks has made this purchase worth it! I love that I can hook it up to an amp, it has a built in tuner, comes with a case, and strings for me to try out. I think the quality, color and tune has me sold!

I own a lot of top quality acoustic and electric bass guitars and a string bass and the sound of this little UBass keeps right up with any of them and adds its own unique, full, great sounding voice. I heard good things about it, but it sounds better than I expected. Even unplugged, it's a little louder than my Fender Kingman and my Tacoma fretless Thunder-chief, especially if played with a pick. Plugged in? I'm blown away. This thing sounds amazing, very "string bass" like. I enjoy that I can sit in my lazy boy, kick back and play and noodle around on it, it's so tiny! I kind of bought it for that, but it sounds so good that's it's going to get used for more than that... A really great little Uke Bass!

I didn't know what to expect from a Uke Bass, but this thing plays like the big boys! It takes some getting used to the rubber-like strings, but the sound is great. I have to tune it each time before I play it, but it has a very handy built-in tuner so that's no problem.

My third Ubass, the other two had round holes and white strings. Loved the both ! The Journeyman is a different version. The round wound strings are rough, noisy and the g string just seems odd. unplugged sound like a cigar box ! Have ordered a new nut and flat wound strings, which are not cheap. May have to go back to poly. Love the look of it !