Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jim Morris on January 7, 2016 at 6:48am

Lane, from my experiments the only way to get trimmer line to bass pitch is with a much longer than uke scale. On the bass uke I made (21" scale) I went with Aquila Thundergut strings. With them I could tune EADG with no problem. It does take some stretching in time. Some so called bass ukes are more like what I'd call cello ukes since they're lower than a baritone but don't get down as low as what would be considered bass register. Nothing wrong with that but if you want lows in the range of an actual bass on short scale use the Thunderguts like Kala  does on their Ubass.

Here it is in action.

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/fretless-cigar-box-u-bass

Permalink Reply by Lane Martin on January 7, 2016 at 7:18am

Thanks, Jim. I had seen a few builds with trimmer line, but they were all around 34" scales. I'll have to see if I can find the Aquila strings locally. Or the new ones that D'addario makes (in consultation with Aquila)...they're online for about $11/set.

I think a "cello uke" is a good description. I had it an octave below a baritone with the guitar strings, but it definitely wasn't a "bass" sound.

That's a fine build you did. What did you fill the fret lines with? The text was cut off.

Permalink Reply by Jim Morris on January 7, 2016 at 8:04am

I'll have to look up the D'addrio strings since the Aquilas are around $25 a set. That's one reason I haven't made a 2nd one yet.

The fret lines were filled with a contrasting wood putty just so I could have a reference. After playing for a while I figured that marks on the side of the fretboard where you can see them would work just as well but the "fake" frets look nice.

Good luck with the build!

Permalink Reply by Where's Uranus? on January 7, 2016 at 8:08am

Thinner string would be the obvious one.

Are you playing with anyone, or by yourself? Just tune it to what sounds right to you, it's how I do mine, and it generally fits with my voice.

Permalink Reply by Lane Martin on January 7, 2016 at 8:17am

I'll see what I can find.

For now, it's just for messing around here at the house. I was doing research so I could build a bass uke for the lady that started our uke club, but she got a U-Bass for Christmas.

Permalink Reply by Where's Uranus? on January 7, 2016 at 9:09am

The U-Bass is basically a student size nylon guitar with different tuners. A few people have done conversions, also Rondo have one for around $100