Me And My Bass Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 (edited) Got this uke for a xmas present this week! I have owned a few ukulele basses over the years (Kala mahogany Ubass, Kala SUB 5 Ubass & HB (Thomann) bass) all of which (except the HB) I have parted ways with due to the fact they cost a small fortune and I couldn't justify keeping them as an expensive ornament. I did use them for a small number of acoustic gigs etc, but they were few and far between. Anyway, the Countryman - BUILD - Really nice build quality, no sharp frets or any obvious flaws with the finish. Made with mahogany laminated sides, back and top with mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard and Aquila Thundergut strings. Maybe not as quality as the Kala, but light years ahead of the HB. The new strings take a while to stretch and settle on these but the tuners seem to be doing there job and holds the tuning well. SOUND - The bass came fitted with some nice Thundergut strings which I do think are an improvement on the black phoe strings these basses normally come with. Acousticly the bass sounds fine, for me not really practical for giging etc but totally fine for some late night practice when everyone is in bed. Plugged in is where these wee ukulele basses excel. The countrymans preamp is ok, at this point I would say the Kala preamp they use is far better than the CMs. With the high, mid & bass centred the CM sounds a bit top/treble heavy. I fixed this by rolling all the treble off, mid at 10ish & bass just about maxed out. At this setting the CM sounded nice and fat yet I could still cut through with some punchy-ness by playing towards the bridge. The preamp also has a tuner built in which works great. COST - This was a xmas present but I think these are coming in at around £130/50 from bass direct etc. VERDICT - At this price point the Countryman is a winner, I will probably get another solid body Kala at some point but for all my acoustic needs the CM does the job fine. A good way to dip your toe into the bass uke world. Short demo video l made is up on my instagram page - https://instagram.com/p/BOgMdy8g7TbtDJe01SNYA7ZUz4NplqelQXvGTU0/ Cheers! Edited December 28, 2016 by Me And My Bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickeyboro Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Page unavailable 😤 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Me And My Bass Posted December 29, 2016 Author Share Posted December 29, 2016 [quote name='Mickeyboro' timestamp='1483015551' post='3204113'] Page unavailable 😤 [/quote] Sorry man, forgot the profile is private. Fired it up on YouTube - https://youtu.be/i0GoTLJBuPk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 [quote name='Me And My Bass' timestamp='1483021741' post='3204183'] Sorry man, forgot the profile is private. Fired it up on YouTube [/quote]Very cool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0GoTLJBuPk&feature=youtu.be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byo Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Great piece of kit the Countryman. I got one a few months back and I agree with all the above points. IMHO the preamp is the weakest part of the instrument and it is still quite decent. No build issues either on mine. I am also looking at the solid kala maybe with the roundwound strings that are now available as a great lightweight alternative! They never pop up 2nd hand though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickeyboro Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Much smaller than HB which I upgraded from. Even got it into a football match with no problems... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Pretty much agree with all of the above. Having tried a Kala, I honestly couldn't justify maybe £200+ more on one over the Countryman. There is also a train of thought which says solid tops/bodies maybe are n't totally necessary/the best thing on a piezo equipped electro acoustic which is mainly played plugged in. Love my Countryman, best bass related thing I've bought in ages, especially given it was £145. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deezbar Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 Totally agree.The countryman is a great UBass on a budget.I had a solid body Kala but for some reason the E string was quieter than the other strings.Lovely instrument but that always bugged me.Could have been a fault.The countryman is a winner for a great price 😃👍🏻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lobematt Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Sorry to revive this old thread but has anyone tried the Thomann bass ukes? This one looks particularly tasty https://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_bass_ukulele_koa_side_hole.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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