It’s my own fault for assuming. I was looking for that upright sound that the kala thunder gut strings are famous for. I picked this model and watched the demo video and the nylon thunder guts were sounding just like they do. So without checking specs I order by straight away. It comes with round wound. Not the thunder guts shown in the video demo. No big deal I tell myself and I ordered a $70 set of thunder guts. They don’t fit the nut. This model is made for the round wound that comes on it. The only other complaint I had was the lack of hip shot tuners. It’s quoted in The sales jargon as the “grandest ubass in the lineup” and “has the original ubass tone”. It ain’t and it don’t. But I bought it based on the sales one liners and not the spec sheet. None of the info was hidden. It was all right there in the specs I just looked over it and bought into the marketing. Not Joel’s fault. It was my own fault. Lesson learned.

I played brass instruments when I was younger, however I have always loved bass and now that I'm retired and have some time, I thought I'd give it a go. So, I'm not an expert on the quality of this instrument compared to others of it's type. However, the little experience I have with string instruments tells me that the UBass came to me in great condition, e.g. no rough fret edges, etc. And it is beautiful to look at, a work of art. As I am playing for my own satisfaction, I think the sound projection and quality is just fine acoustically or with the Fender amp that I got to go with it. Now it's up to me to get my Kala Journeyman to sound as good as it looks. I expect this will take some enjoyable time given the light weight and how easily it is held. Your customer service, as always is most excellent. Thanks a million for helping to get this beauty into my hands.

The Kala Ubass arrived two weeks ago. I excitedly ripped it out of the packaging. Wow! The Ubass is superbly crafted and looks fantastic. It is great to use as an acoustic bass. I did find that when I plugged it in to a small amp the quality was not so good. Maybe I need to experiment with other amps/sound system to get the sound I desire. However it is perfect to practice bass runs and when I attend our uke club. (I’m not allowed an electric bass). So pretty pleased with the instrument and the more I play it the more the tone matures!

What a fantastic buy at a realistic price for a Kala, the best of the UBass makers. It has a great feel physically, the construction and finish are excellent (exactly what you would expect from Kala) and provides good sound projection acoustically. This model only comes with round wound strings now but it sounds enormous when plugged into an amplifier. Great to sit back and riff on my own or jam with mates!