Anyone tried these Kala U-Basses as a bass replacement?

[George]

I've wanted one of these for a while. I particularly like the look of the fretless which has convincing upright bass tones at a fraction of the price and size.

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[Nick]

These have always interested me, my local shop carries them and they're always fun to play on and sound wayyyy bigger than they are. Have not used one in a band setting but I imagine they'd be a fun recording tool.

Things that put me off them:

The rubber strings feel easy on the fingers at first, but the texture and thickness means they are quite strenuous to play long term. 5 minutes is probably the difference between comfortable and uncomfortable in the store, and this was when I used to play a full scale bass in a band regularly. Then again, it might just be a matter of getting used to and building finger strength/callouses.

The other potential issue is how the ultra short scale means pitch and tuning has that much less room for error, especially on a fretless. Even though they sound great, it's pretty easy to sound like a less-skilled player. For reference I am quite used to playing a fretless jazz bass, which may as well be fretted compared to the Kala. Again probably just something that takes practice to get used to, obviously the dudes in the videos you linked have it figured out.

[Ankhanu]

I’ve played a coworker’s at a couple work parties, and played around with them in shops... they’re surprisingly decent little instruments. I’ve also been to a couple shows where one was used as the only bass. They work fine, but, like Nick said, the big rubbery strings take some getting used to � and, they, along with the scale length, make certain techniques somewhat difficult; bends, slides, slap/pop, and the like. I imagine playing a fretless one of these would take a LOT of practice to do well.

[dezb1]

Had a Harley Benton one was nice, strings take some getting used to and you sometimes need a bit of talc on fresh strings as they can be a bit sticky on the fingers. Sold it when my bass playing gig with my brother in-law came to an end.

[aen]

half of my band has these. I believe we ended up keeping some u-bass on our latest record, but I'm not sure. I wouldn't want to use one all the time, as there are things about the P-bass and the Ulrtra VI I've grown to love, but they do sound very cool as their own thing.

*OH! IMPORTANT TO MENTION*
Bending is pretty much out of the question, as the strings stick to the frets and or your fingers. Tough for me to get used to, since I tend to play with a lotta vibrato.

[mickie08]

We keep looking at these and I think I am going to have to go for it. We do alot of 3 piece acoustic shows. Currently we do 3 guitars and 3 mics (singers) but have considered having our bass player play on e of these along with some uke here and there instead of guitar. Love the idea of it.

I looked at a bunch during NAMM. If anyone sees a great deal on one let me know.