#31
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Quote:
Here's my other favorite solution that's "lap-sized"; the guitarron that you mention, but used outside of the Mariachi context: I have also seen a few bands who use converted cellos as basses, too. Oh, and I forgot to mention another friend who has a Taylor GS Mini bass and plugs in to a battery powered Roland Micro Cube bass amp. That's the one with four 4" drivers, and actually sounds pretty good as long as you don't want tons of volume out of it. Last edited by Rudy4; 08-08-2022 at 12:59 PM. |
#32
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Well my new Kala U-bass arrived yesterday along with some replacement string choices. The u-bass has a solid sitka spruce top, laminated Pao Ferro back and sides, Fishman electronics, Hipshot tuners, and black (Pahoehoe?) poly strings.
I bought a sets of Kala round wounds, Aquila ThunderBlack, and Aquila ThunderBrown strings to help me figure out what might work best for me. It is a pretty instrument which never hurts. The current strings are louder at the treble side, with the G much louder than E with flat eq on both the uke and bass amp. Tweeking the eq helps, but still not really balanced volume between the strings. I ordered a Fender Rumble 100 amp, and before it arrived I found a deal on a nice used Fender Rumble 25 about 5 miles from my house, so I bought it too. Both weigh about 22 pounds, but the Rumble 25 is much snaller. The 25 will be my practice amp while the 100 will be used for jams, performances and recording. I am enjoying fooling around with it and I think it will work well for me. Thanks again for everyone's comments and advice. Here are some pictures...
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Martin 000-17 SM Martin HD-28M Lots of loud banjos |
#33
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Nice! Congratulations. UBass are a lot of fun.
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#34
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Nice U-Bass, enjoy!
When it comes to amps, size matters. I'm pretty sure once you hear your U-Bass through your Rumble 100 it will become what you practice with, too. |
#35
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After switching between the two amps today you may be right. The Rumble 100 does sound much better.
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Martin 000-17 SM Martin HD-28M Lots of loud banjos |
#36
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Today I took off the old stock black polyurethane strings, probably Road Toad Pahoehoe strings, and replaced them with Aquila Thunderbrown strings.
The Thunderbrowns are a big improvement. Higher string tension compared to the old strings, resulting in less fret-related string buzzing. More uniform string volume versus the old strings where strings 1 & 2 were much louder than strings 3 & 4. Less EQ adjustment needed on the Thunderbrown's on both the U-bass and the Fender Rumble 100 amp. There is less of a difference in string gauges/diameters on the Thunderbrowns. The Thunderbrown 1st string is larger than the stock string while the Thunderbrown 4th is smaller than the stock string. 2nd & 3rd string diameters are similar for both sets. Hammer-ons and pull-offs work well on the Thunderbrowns, but they are sticky/abrasive for slides. That may change over time as the strings are used. Amplified sound is much better on the Thunderbrowns, and they feel better to the my fingers on both hands. They are harder to find versus most other u-bass strings and cost a bit more. I bought mine from Strings & Beyond, an easy transaction.
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Martin 000-17 SM Martin HD-28M Lots of loud banjos |