Kala U-Bass Solid Mahogany Fretless Ukelele

The fat strings are really the only thing that may take some getting used to, and I have a little trouble hearing it when there is any ambient noise, but it does sound great when it's amplified. It sounds more like a stand-up Bass than my acoustic or electric. The wood is also very nice. It's the first fretlees I've tried, and now I wish my others were fretless. The lines are there as a guide, so it's very easy to play

This is an awesome instrument. It sounds very much like an acoustic upright bass, though it seems to have a bit more sustain. This one is fretless, which allows for smother action without fret buzz, but does require a bit more skill when playing. But anyone with upright bass or cello playing experience could feel quite at home playing this one. And bass guitar players could learn quite quickly how to get the right intonation when playing. Anyway, love this instrument to get that more acoustic sound.

awesome little axe

Love the U-Bass! Just got it in and digging it! Arrived quickly, in great shape and came with a nice case! This is great for the bassist that wishes he could take it anywhere and practice anytime!

This little stupid bass ukelele is incredible. Never before have I so connected with a musical instrument, as if my own eternal soul and the soul of this little instrument once existed as two halves of a whole in the primordial cosmos. It turns out that English was always my second language - fretless bass uke my first - and I never knew.Note: I didn't buy it on Amazon. I picked this up at Ithaca Guitar Works in Ithaca, New York (on a Monday and I gigged with it on a Wednesday). Bear in mind that one looks ridiculous playing it. You can only look cool while playing it if you're the type of person who is able to look cool by deliberately not looking cool. If such superficial niceties aren't a concern, but spiritual fulfillment is, this fretless bass ukelele is for you.The fretless model is really the way to go. The tiny scale coupled with the gigantic-gauge silicon strings makes intonation very difficult for the fretted version and there's a good deal of clacking and buzzing against the frets. String tension is surprisingly comfortable. It comes with a useful on-board tuner, but tuning is slow (it's kind of like micro tuning, because the strings stretch like Stretch-arm-string). The strings also sometimes stick in the nut because they're rubber.The case is nice and durable and has backpack straps - as you head out the door in the morning you can throw it on your back in case you find yourself in a situation in which a fretless bass ukelele is needed. It's light and small enough that if you happen to be selected to populate an early Mars colony, NASA or whoever will probably let you bring it on the shuttle. This also means that you would be way more likely to be selected than, say, Charles Mingus, who plays a much larger bass, and also is dead.Replacement strings are expensive, and are probably difficult to come by. I have no idea how long the strings, or any component of this thing, last because I only bought it last week. So far so great.

Added in edit: I can't believe it! I got a mahogany fretted model to compliment my fretless model. I expected to be selling the fretless model here, but I find the unfretted model MUCH more friendly and easier to play. Intonation on a short scale instrument can be a real problem. If things are off just a bit, notes start sounding sour. In this regard, the fretted model is superior because the note you get depends on where the fret it. With the fretless model, the note depends on where your finger is placed. HOWEVER, the frets demand higher action to avoid buzzing, and even with the much higher action, the fretted instrument still buzzes (for me, anyway). This may be a matter of setup, but it's one of those cases where "the fretless model is so much easier to play, why bother struggling to get the fretted model almost as playable?" Yes, fretless means no frets, BUT the distances between lines on the fingerboard showing where the frets would be are so comfortable that I had almost no trouble adapting. So, for me, the clear winner is the fretless model and the fretted model goes back! I do feel obligated to add, tho', that many bass websites recommend the fretted model because intonation is so critical for a short scale. As always, YMMV!------------------------------------------------------------------------------Can I give this U-bass 6 stars?I saw the U-bass by happenstance when visiting a local high end acoustic music shop.I've played guitar as a hobby for almost 50 years. I've probably spent a lot more time per string on the bass strings than the treble strings because I fancy myself a bass player at heart. But, how many of us have room for an upright bass or could haul it around easily? My s.o. has an acoustic bass guitar. However, if truth be known, I don't find the bass guitar, acoustic or electric, easy to play. The scale is long, the strings are uncomfortable, and my hand doesn't stretch easily. My pinky is not particularly strong. I can use it only sparingly even when playing guitar.This U-bass is allowing me to satisfy every fantasy I've had about playing bass! It has a nice, short 20 inch scale, but not too short. (For comparison, typical guitar scales are 24.75 in and 25.4 inches, while a mandolin scale--which I DO find too short--is 14.25 in.) It makes the U-bass very easy to play. I don't have to stretch my fingers, and yet they don't trip over each other as they do on a mandolin.The U-bass has special polyurethane strings that are extremely gentle on the fingers. They're nothing like metal. They give the U-bass a sound more like an upright bass than a bass guitar. They do take a long time to settle in. I've had to stretch the strings and trim the excess twice so far, but rather than be frustrated I'm reminded of the old saw about ukuleles: "When do you change your strings?" "When you've got 10 days for them to stretch so that they'll stay in tune."All joking aside, it is CRITICAL that the strings not be left so long or allowed to stretch so much that they start wrapping around themselves rather than bare posts. If this happens and the tuners get progressively harder to turn, STOP! There is a real danger that the tuner will snap! However, unlike wound steel strings, there's no problem removing a string from its post, cutting it, and restringing. There are You Tube videos showing how this is done.The u-bass sounds great unplugged. I don't think it's loud enough to play with a group, but it's more than adequate for practice. It's great plugged in, too. You don't need a bass amp, either. It sounds fine through my two guitar practice amps (a Fender Bronco and a small Peavey amp). It has the advantage of having a passive pickup, requiring no battery. Murphy's Law suggests that the few times I'd want to amplify it, either any battery in it would be long dead OR I wouldn't have a battery when I needed it.The shop had three u-basses: a fretted spruce top, an fretless spruce top, and an fretless mahogany. The mahogany u-bass is more expensive, but it's not just the wood. The mahogany u-bass has branded Hipshot tuners. The spruce topped ubasses have tuners that look like Hipshots, but are not branded, suggesting that they are copies. Out of curiosity, I tried a simple intonation test. I put an electronic tuner on each, tuned them, and checked the octaves. The mahogany u bass seemed much better than the spruce topped u-basses, even the fretless model. I don't know if this is true in general or just of these three units, but after that test I couldn't buy one of the other two u-basses, despite their lower price and similar sound.I would have thought that after playing guitar for so many years the fretless model would seem foreign to me. Yet, that was not the case. This is in sharp contrast to most (all?) websites, which recommend getting the fretted model because it will be more familiar. There are lines on the fingerboard where the frets would have been. Instead of placing your between the frets like when playing guitar, here you place your fingers ON the fret line. Perhaps it's due to the short scale, but I had NO trouble making the adjustment. To be honest, I've also ordered a fretted mahogany U-bass because I'm curious to see which version I'll prefer for the long haul. I'll report back when I make my decision.If you, too, are a frustrated bass player, then here's the solution. Enjoy!