The U-Bass: an accidental fascination.

I had always wanted an upright bass. It was one instrument that was always out of reach for me. It is one of the most versatile bass instruments that can be used in many forms of music. I found it sounded particularly good played along with drum machines and sampled beats.  As I reached my 30's I started making a little more money so began the search for one of these elusive instruments to call my own.

The search lasted for a few years but I eventually found one for sale in the mountains of Virginia that really caught my eye. It was the back up bass for a recently passed local jazz musician who I had not heard of. A friend of his was selling it for his surviving family members. It was a 1959 "Schuster" There is very little information about these basses online (and there still isn't) but it looked and played really nice and had a built in pickup. I ended up buying it and I still have it to this day.

Ann's painting of the Schuster

 I've used it on many recordings including a few songs I did for a soundtrack for a local independent film called Basilisk Link to Basilisk trailer

These days the pickup on the bass is starting to show it's age. It's giving a lot of static and the signal is starting to get weak on it. It needs a trip to Bob's bass shop in Greensboro: https://bassviolinshop.com/
I'm dreading how much time it may take and how much it might cost to get the pickup replaced so I've been putting it off for a long time.

Eventually the dread lead me to start seeking an alternative to messing with this classic instrument. I had always been seeking out something that had that upright bass sound but was much more portable and affordable. I looked at some fretless electric basses but they just don't have the same sound as an upright. Acoustic fretless basses were another option but they don't really have the same sound either. I eventually put it on the back burner but one day I stumbled on something that was a bit of anomaly.

I read a post by an upright bass player who played bluegrass who was getting too old to haul his upright bass around. He wrote a glowing review about using a "Ukulele Bass" or "U-Bass" as an alternative to an upright. I was skeptical at first since these are such tiny instruments but after listening to some of them in YouTube video's I was hooked.

They are tuned just like a regular bass and they use these special "rubber" like strings to get to get that upright sound. I listened and shopped around for a while and decided to get a cheaper knock off brand for $129. I choose this one: Hadean fretless Ukulele bass I was going to be running it through several plugins so I didn't see any point in buying a more expensive authentic model.

The rubber strings take some time to get used to but this thing sounds great. I haven't touched my upright since I got it. Sometimes you can get a "groan" sound when sliding on the strings if your fingers are dry. It's not a problem for me but I could see wearing gloves if I was going to gig with this thing. Over all it's a nice alternative to an upright that is light and cheap.