claptonite

I will always be thankful to Kala (and a guy in a shop in Exeter) for introducing the U-bass to me but IMHO they are no longer value for money. There are many competitors out there now but Kala do not seem to have responded (tell me I'm wrong) with any budget versions of the U-bass. I don't doubt their quality is up there (although Bigwan's comment here might suggest otherwise) but I bought a Countryman at just about a 1/3 of the price of a Kala and it's pretty hard to tell the difference TBH in terms of sound and it has been much admired.

I had a set of Thunder Reds a couple of years ago on a previous (home-made) U-bass and didn't much care for them. I seem to think they were quite high tension and had a pretty hard sound but I have no comparison with the Thunder Blacks I am now using. I think they are quite similar to the Pahoehoes in reality. A (rich) friend of mine has a Kala U-bass with the original factory fit strings on and they slide a little bit better than the TB's I think. I seem to remember the TR's being not quite so sticky as the original Thunderguts. On the gauge..I'm not sure...can't say I've noticed much variation with all these U-bass strings other than the Pyramids which are quite different. They are all pretty "fat"!

Love "simple" bass...welcome.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DI_unit

Two days in and they're more or less staying in tune!

Jim's Ukulele Songbook at: http://ozbcoz.com/ Downloadable pdfs of maybe 2000+ songs with chords for ukes (inc. baritone), guitar, tenor guitar, banjo, mandolin...etc. Also, online, you can transpose songs to any key you like and download a pdf of that. My first call for most songs. Fantastic free resource.

I do - it's the one in my head!

I've never done this and always wondered how good the bass comes through on a FOH PA system. You're at the mercy of a) the quality of the PA and b) ditto the sound techie. Unless the venue is huge (and for me that's never the case) then I'd go for pumping through a decent amp which I can control and possibly with a feed out into the desk to give the techie some belief that he's really running the sound.

Well, they arrived today and took all of 10 minutes to fit straight out of the packet. Several first impressions: the black look is so much better than the off-white/cream look of standard Thunderguts. They don't need pre-stretching when you wind them onto the machine heads. Just load 'em up like normal strings - I had to shorten the E string otherwise you get two many winds and it looks all wrong plus it lifted clear off the nut. Took a couple inches off and that fixed it. The other strings were fine, full length. They are nice and smooth - at least as good as the Pahoehoe strings, I think, maybe even better. The tone so far seems really good. They've only been on a few hours (and it is the hottest day of the year so far) so it's too early to judge how they'll settle in. Unlike the standards, the E & A strings do actually seem to slide over the nut when you wind them up. Current on Amazon.co.uk at £22.40 inc. delivery, so a bargain price. My impression so far is that Aquila have a winner here. I'll report later after things settle and I've gigged with them.

I bought a Zoom 506 Mk2 Bass multi-effects pedal years ago and pretty much only ever used it a tuner and mute switch. Most of the effects added noise anyway. Like most bassists, I always listen to the bass lines at gigs etc. and, to be honest, fancy effects mostly just annoy me. So I tend to use my bass (now with a clip-on tuner!) straight into a combo and try and vary tone and feel by the way I play.

" ...or even just bass". What?

Well I've bought set now anyway, so I'll post a review in a while (good or bad). I tried a set of Thunder Reds on a bass uke I built from a 1/2 size classic guitar and they didn't suit it at all so went back to standard Thunderguts for that. I've also tried the Pyramid copper wound of silk/nylon and found them much too prone to finger noise on an acoustic bass uke. Might suit a solid bass uke better I guess.

Yes, someone lives here and plays bass. Actually, another of the County's big secrets (other than: where the hell is it?") is that it's a very musical place. Lots of venues and local bands. Probably most famous for being the birthplace of the venerable Thom Yorke. Anyway, been a bass player since 1999 and play a vintage Aria Pro 2 SB-600 built in Matsumoku in 1997. Bought on ebay about 12 years ago for £150. Brilliantly built solid passive bass - no frills but a stunningly playable neck. I also own a Countryman bass Ukulele which was about a 1/3 the price of a Kala U-Bass but punches well above it's weight. I play this regularly in a local ukulele group that gigs a couple of times a month for charity. I have a very eclectic musical taste but probably prefer blues and rock above most. Still a fan of 70's & 80's prog rock and saddened that it's out of fashion now...well a bit anyway. Top bass player ever - well for me you can't beat Tony Levin who's played with Peter Gabriel but everyone has their own choice.

Sorry if I've missed this point in this or other threads, but on the subject of Bass Ukulele Strings - has anyone tried the Aquila Thunderblacks - 140U? My Countryman bass uke came with the standard Thunderguts and I'm not a fan of the look and I think it's time for a change. Any views or alternatives?