KalaUBASS Mahogany Nomad Fretted (UBASS-NOMAD-FS)

I picked mine up to jam acoustically with my wife and brother on their Uke and Acoustic Guitar. Getting used to the rubber strings is easy, though the scale difference to a full scale bass is pretty jarring. I was able to play it just fine, but it took me a few jam sessions to get used to the size.Probably my favorite part of it is the incredulous looks I get from other bass players that hadn't heard of Uke Basses. It's a great conversation starter and fun to jam with people without having to lug heavy amps around just to be heard. You'll have to stick to the higher register to be heard acoustically with other instruments around, but it's got a great almost upright bass tone that's really unique that I love.Tuning is a bit of a challenge, as it seems like I have to turn the machine heads like 4 times as far to tune as a regular bass, but I figure the nature of the rubber strings just makes that the case. The built in tuner works well enough, and the piezo pickup works very well, giving it that warm, almost upright bass tone.I love playing on mine, if you like unique instruments this is a must buy.

Update...the pickup went out after 4 months. I am SadHaving fun with this. Loud enough without an amp to hear what you are doing and practice and it sounds pretty cool plugged in to a bass amp. Love having a tuner built in. Has sparked the interest of my kids, which was the goal.The A string was buzzing a lot out of the box. It needed a truss rod adjustment. There is no way to adjust the bridge or compensation so the intonation is not perfect, but fine for bass. For the price, nicely made. Wood is pretty and tastefully finished.

I am so pleased I finally bought this. I play a number of instruments, including the uke. This is obviously a bass, not a ukulele. But it is easy on the hands (like a uke) and easy to carry. I love the sound. The built in tuner is a plus. It sounds good with an amp (and you need one to perform) but I usually play with it without one.It's very easy on the hands. You will not find a 'bass uke' book. Just buy a bass book.

Great value, craftmanship to be expected for price. Bag pictured is NOT the one you get. The one I received was a basic one with a pocket that can barely hold a cable.

Having demoed the next model up, my son decided he wanted to give this one a shot. It arrived in a gig bag that look like someone spilled nacho cheese in it, there were a few noticeable scuffs on the body (maybe it was a demo model being passed off as “new”, the electronics were loose inside the body and made a rattling noise when you pick up the instrument, the onboard tuner was not even remotely accurate and any output was barely audible when plugged into an amp. Needless to say this one’s going back. My hope it that we just got a lemon.