Bass! That's Heavy!

I did not expect a bass ukulele to be the next instrument I would try, but today I got the chance. A call came through on the secret line from Ethnosound: now or never. Despite the enormous snowfall I rushed over after work and finally got my hands on the ukulele I had previously only admired in videos:

Kala U-Bass(in reality, a bass guitar)

This instrument can really only be called a ukulele because of its size. It is roughly the same size as a baritone, the largest standard ukulele size (soprano < concert < tenor < baritone). The strings are extremely thick and look rather like rolled-up black trouser drawstrings, but in fact they are made of an astonishingly interesting material:polyurethane. Until now I had only ever heard about polyurethane on the Discovery Channel; this afternoon I was poking it with my own fingers. In Hungarian the word also invites some truly dreadful puns, and after a tiring day I apparently could not resist them. Never mind - here is a little blues improvisation followed by Lady Madonna:

We could not try it with an amplifier, although it has some acoustic volume of its own - unfortunately not all of it comes through clearly in the recording. For the really good sound, however, you definitely need a proper bass amplifier. In the video, Gerzson from Ethnosound plays a lovely little concert ukulele made by Risa (thanks, Gerzson!), while I wrestle with the substantial Kala. You may have seen and heard Gerzson in earlier posts as well: Ethnosound - Ukulele Test and Blues Jam, A Visit to the Ethnosound Music Shop, The Sarod and the Middle Eastern Lute...)

As I mentioned in the caption, this instrument is a bass guitar dressed in ukulele clothing, so its tuning is the same as a bass guitar. I liked it very much and added it to my wish list .

(This instrument had already appeared in an earlier post: Ukulele Blues)