5 Common U-Bass Questions Answered
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- Опубликовано: 22 июл 2024
- In today's video, I'm covering 5 common questions I get asked about U-Basses:
1. Is the U-Bass Tuned the same as an upright bass/bass guitar?
2. Which strings are best for which styles, and is there an overall best string?
3. Is a (acous./elect.) U-Bass loud enough to be heard unplugged? At a jam?
4. What can I do to reduce string noise/stickiness?
5. Is electric bass tablature/sheet music different than U-Bass tablature?
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Thank you! I was wondering about the flat wound and the Aquila Thunder Reds, your knowledge and experience helped me out a lot!
I’m glad I could help! Thanks for watching!
Cool video! I've been trying to research what strings to get for my U-Bass and this helped me quite a lot! Thanks for the link to the other video too :)
I'm glad I could help! Thanks for watching!
Just what I was looking for. Thank you for a thorough review.
I’m glad I could help. Thanks for watching!
I am just getting interested in the U-bass it is a new recently invented instrument seems applicable to the kind of music I like to play. Thanks for this info.
Great stuff Stephen. Flatwounds are amazing for reggae/dub for those who might wonder. Keep them coming brother, we definetely need more info.
Great point, especially if you pluck near the start of the neck to get that super warm tone. Thanks for watching!
Great video!!
Thanks!
WooHoo. A video actually released closer to Tuesday. LOL. I'll be there for the Live Stream Thursday whatever you have planned. Great 5 common Uke Bass - UBass most answered FAQ video. Keep em coming. You are good at these among others as I always say.
2 thoughts for whomever reads my comments.
1) Nothing wrong with the Regular Gut strings Black or Beige (or any of the Metal strings), but I love the Thundereds (yes I have said this in the chat and comments here before (This is also what Julia ended up with in her video Stephen is linking)). No noise, less sticky, not as bright as other Gut strings, sounds even more like an Upright to me. Especially with the right EQ, effect, or amp modeling. I was considering going Flatwounds, but I like the fact that I am keeping the tradition of a Ukulele Bass having Gut Strings, and the fact that it keeps that Upright tone. Downside to these strings is: sliding sucks; as just like other Gut stings you always slide to a note off but still slides easy so you just have to be carefull, Hard to play harmonic notes; they are playable but it is hard to hear them and make them play sometimes; and lastly forget Thumping. double Thumping and Slapping on these stings, even though to me they are less stretchy than all the other Gut strings, they are still to stretchy to thump and slap, however if you need to for a song, you can technique as hard as it can be around it LOL to mimic the sound of slap or thumping, but it is hard (All other techniques with your strumming hand should be fine),
2) Any Ukulele Bass that is not like a Solid Body model, meaning acoustic/Electric like we mostly play here. No matter what brand or kind of strings; if you are practicing by yourself; yes it is loud enough with no amp required. It may not (to me) not sound as good or at least as full sounding, but it does sound loud and clear. Now when you play with anybody else (and I have with my Ukulele Bass) unless you are like outdoors camping and you have no power, AMP it up always (I always do). Even if you have the volume on low with no effects, no other amp modeling or nothing. Even if it's a portable battery powered tini AMP (you know one of those inexpensive things that doubles as a Bluetooth speaker as an example?) because that little bit of sound boost as small as it may be, will make you be heard by the other players (even if it's only one other person you are playing with) to equal the sound of your Ukulele Bass/Ubass. Just because you can hear yourself acoustically and their instruments good, doesn't mean they can hear you playing acoustically to equal their volume while they are playing. Even if everyone else playing with you is all acoustic as well.
That's all I got this time. - CHEERS :)
Great points, Seth! Thank you for the insight on the Thunder Reds. For the jamming question, as the clip I included suggests, it's fine to jam with people fingerpicking and lightly strumming if you have the metal round wounds, but if they strum harder, it may still drown that out too. And I agree, the amp will give you a low boost that fills the sound out better no matter what.
Thank you as always for watching and commenting. Cheers!
I used baby powder and olive oil on black rubber thunder strings. It helped the grip a lot. I put a small piece of foam under strings right at the bridge as a mute to reduce string noise.
Baby powder and olive oil together, or at different times? How well did the foam mute work for string noise? That sounds like a great solution. Thanks for watching!
Wonderful!
Thank you!
Great tips for some beginners! Love all of the strings, but the rounds and flats are my favorite strings.
Side note: Her last name is Hofer, although I am not certain how to pronounce it.
Hey Preston, thanks as always for watching! I realized I had her name wrong during/after filming the video 🤦♂️ She's an amazing bassist. Have you seen her ride a unicycle while playing?
Fab. Thank you 😊
You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!
I think I'm due to change my round wounds, and I bought some flatwounds to try... But I actually like the sound of the string when you slide on it 😂 I know you aren't supposed to but.... I love it lol!! 🤦♀️So haven't changed over yet, but you have inspired me to give them a go
If you like the sound, keep them...lol. Both are fun to me :)
Bass noob here. So cool to learn about the harmonic!
Glad I could help. Thanks for watching!
I have a small bass practice amp that could fit into a shoebox, so Bringing that in the backpack should be no problem for jamming.
Very cool! What brand amp is it?
Sorry, I was just citing where a description could be found, if that was seen as commercial spam, it was unintentional.
@@Boris_Chang Did it automatically delete the comment? I never saw a reply. Sometimes it doesn't allow links in comments.
@@stephencoxbass Yeah. I should have known. Anyway it is a Laney (about$89 if I recall). It’s about half the size of a shoe box and weighs maybe two pounds. It can run on a 9v adaptor or 9v battery, so I can practice in a park or while hiking/camping.
@@Boris_Chang I've seen those before and wondered how they are with the low frequency notes. Do the E string notes distort at higher volumes?
Great job - I learned a lot watching this! What kind of flat-wound strings are you using in this video?
I’m glad you like it! These are the Galli/Kala flat wound strings. Thanks for watching!
I used the Thunder Reds and still found them too sticky for my beginner fingers. I recently swapped them out for a set of Road Toad Pahoehoes. They are much less sticky, don't have the string noise, and cost less than half of what a set of flat wounds cost. The only downsideis that they take a long time to stretch out. I have a set of flat wounds on my solid body UBass and they are nice.
The Pahoehoe strings also sound the most like an upright to me, but tend to not stay in tune as well and I think they might wear out quicker. It may be worth it for the ease of playing and the tone, though. Cheers!
Exactly - they do go out of tune relatively quickly. They also need to be readjusted on the tuning pegs every now and then as they stretch out. I don't mind that task, but if I had a bunch of basses, I'd get tired of it.
Hi Stephen, have you heard of anyone replacing the plastic nut with one made from bone? I did it many years ago on my acoustic guitar and the sound was brighter/louder than before.
I'm sure some have done this, but I don't know anyone specifically. If you are on Facebook, ask members of the "ubass freaks" group if they have done that. Thanks for watching. Cheers!
Hi , great video ! What strings do you have on the Ukulele in the video ? I have a 25inch scale Ibanez and wish to put on flat wounds .
These are the Kala/Galli flat wounds. I'm afraid they are a bit too short for your bass.
I have flat wounds on my red Journeyman also. I have 3 other Ubasses. They all have black polyurethane strings.
That's quite a collection! Which one is your favorite?
I play with a few small groups, ukulele, fiddle and mountain dulcimer and have taken learning the UBass to support the bass when no bassist show up.
What type of amp could help my UBass with 10 to 15 Dulcimers playing Wildwood Flower in a senior center cafeteria with an audience of 50 to 75 ?
What type of amp could help my UBass with 20 to 30 fiddlers playing Poppy Leaf Hornpipe in a practice at a senior center cafeteria?
What type of amp could help my UBass with 20 to 30 ukuleles playing “five foot 2 eyes of…“ in a small auditorium or outside in a quiet park. (No power in park)
I just bought a 60watt Fishman mini charge, but now I think I shouldn’t use the UBass with the Fishman mini, although I have heard it in the park it was fine. I just don’t want to bust the acoustic amp. I would appreciate any comments about natural sounding amplification of a UBass with urethane strings in these type of settings. Thanks in Advance. 🤙🏽🎶
I think your best bet is to have power and use a bass amp that's at least 100 watts. You may not need one that large, but it's nice if you perform with a drummer ever. I like the Fender Rumble amps, but Ampeg has some nice combo amps as well. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching!
Where to buy flatwounds for UBass?
There are some on Amazon, search Kala flat wound strings or Galli flat wounds and you should be able to find them. Thanks for watching!
If I switch from the standard 'rubber' strings my U-Bass came with to flatwounds, will I need to adjust the truss rod? I guess I'm wondering if the flatwounds have a significantly different tension compared to rubber when they are tuned up.
I didn’t have to, but I switched from round wounds to flat wounds. The tension is significantly higher, so it’s possible. Thanks for watching!
@@stephencoxbass Thanks for replying. But now I'm wondering whether the nut on my U-bass with the original black 'rubber' strings would need to be replaced or modified to accomodate the flatwounds (not a change I'd want to make).
If you play U bass with rubber strings, will you get calluses? Can I avoid callasus with rubber strings? Are they softer on my finger tips? I ask as I massage and play the piano. All advice on this matter welcome. Thanks.
You are definitely less likely to get calloused from the polyurethane strings. I can’t guarantee you won’t, but I believe it would take a lot of hard playing for long periods of time with slides and unnecessarily hard plucking if it was possible. Thanks for watching!
This is great, thanks Stephen! Was also admiring your strap: what sorts of straps do you recommend for a ubass? Maybe something sized for a baritone bass or baby guitar..?
I'm also curious about this!
The one I have is an ukulele strap. they tend to adjust just fine for the U-Bass. I got this one at Uke Republic.
@@stephencoxbass Are there any other accessories you would recommend or is a strap the only thing?
@@najarvis The strap is the main thing for me. I know some people like thumb rests, eq pedals and different things, but I generally keep it simple.
Do you think the flatwounds can be heard in a setting with an acoustic guitar?
Even with the round wounds, it's tough to hear over someone strumming. You might be able to with a guitarist fingerpicking, though.
@@stephencoxbass My preference in a group setting is to keep everything un-plugged, except for a couple of microphones, which can moved up close to any instrument/ vocalist, as required for the song ....
I know this might be a dumb question, but what strings would you recommend for a fat, bassy tone (similar to those 60s bass tones)?
Also in your opinion, how transferable are Uke bass skills to regular bass in your opinion?
Thank you
String wise, the polyurethane or the flat wound strings are most similar to the 60s tones. As far as transferring skills, it’s the same frets, mostly the same techniques overall, just a bit more stretching and you have to pluck a bit harder. You may have to mute a bit more on full size electric as well. Thanks for watching!
@@stephencoxbass Hey man appreciate the response, definetly helps!
Can we use regular bass guitar Round Wound string for U bass?
No, those have a metal core rather than a nylon, and they are thinner than the ones specifically made for U-Bass. They certainly won't work as well, and you might damage the U-Bass.
@@stephencoxbass Thanks
They need to come out with different Poly formulas, as a solution to getting the right sound. I think it could solve the problem.
They have a lot of options now, and some have helped reduce the problem if they haven’t solved it completely. A lot of people prefer the “Thunderbrowns.” I have yet to try them, though. Thanks for watching!
@@stephencoxbass thank you!!!
What is your favorite u bass?
The 2 I want most are the Kala Ebony Fretless and the Kala Koa solid body California model. As far as the ones I currently have, I enjoy playing my Journeyman model most, but the Exotic Mahogany model is probably the best built one. Cheers!
The best way to reduce noise on Thunderguts is rub your finger on the side of your nose. Sounds a bit gross, but it works.
My upright bass teacher also recommended this for sliding on upright easier. I bet it does help, although it may be a good idea to clean the strings off more frequently if you do this. 😅 Thanks for watching!
Rosin, not chalk, to avoid sticky poly strings. Common violin rosin. [edited/corrected]
Is that the option that works best for you? What kind of Resin?
@@stephencoxbass - Oops - I will correct that above... should have been ROSIN, not resin! (Although rosin is a kind of resin, but processed differently)
shtrings. shtrings. why shtrings? Why not "strings"?
Why not shtrings?
@@stephencoxbass once you start noticing all of the people saying sht instead of st it will drive you mad