Not sure if other people do vacationing around here…
I’m coming to the end of the summer for myself and my family and we had a handful of lovely trips to not-so-distant parts.
I usually bring an acoustic guitar, because it is easier for folks to participate with - you can strum around the campfire, people recognize what you’re doing, they recognize the songs you play, etc. Lots of pros.
But this summer I took my Kala U-bass with me and loved it.
Living rooms and beaches and rivers were all blessed with acoustic, tiny, U-bass jams.
It’s extra great when someone else brings a guitar.
But I really enjoyed it this summer.
And, yes, I did rock out some Toast Machine on the poor lil’ fella. I may have loosed some of the bracing. Still - sure is fun to have my bass travel with me.
Hope y’all are having good times and bringing basses wherever ye may be / whatsoever season it may be for ya.
I have an acoustic bass that I don’t like very much. But those Ubasses seem to hit all the points that the acoustic bass misses. Smaller yet seem to be louder. I haven’t played one yet, but I’d like to.
I don’t have a travel bass and wouldn’t be able to even take that. Usually the car is full, especially with implements for the dog to lounge on and feel at home wherever we go
On vacation, I am usually a pencil-and-paper guy, working stuff out with scales, triads, chords, walking bass lines and similar things. That is actually also quite rewarding, if not nearly as much fun as jamming with strangers on a beach!
It is bigger than any of my other basses and it’s more quiet than I thought it would be. I’m sure they work great for some people and I think I was just GASsing for a bass when I bought it.
Sometimes I’ll sit on my front porch and play it while my kids are outside (which is why I bought it).
I have the traveller bass but that will probably get sold and the new Fernandes Zo will be the full time travel bass. I took it on a work trip recently and the onboard speaker worked out great - didn’t even need headphones.
I’ve always taken something to play on vaca, but my upcoming trip I’m leaning towards trying to just read and take nothing.
Thank you for the reply.
From what I read when I considered purchasing an acoustic bass this seems to be the main complaint with acoustic basses. Most people I talked to preferred the Kala U Bass and seemed quite happy with it.
Yeah… I think it qualifies as both? I had it in some really fun tunings - the low string tuned to low C, then A, D string down to C, and G. Strummy harmonic good times were had. But the bass has a very decided buzz to it now.
Did I loosen the bracing? Maybe the pickup hardware is loose? Not sure.
There is a record of this on my phone.
If you want to hear some raw Ubass into an iPhone, I can scratch that itch!
I have a Blackstar Travel bass (18 frets) that strangely enough did not come with a gig bag! So I will probably not travel with it. Its actually my only bass - if I ever get close to playing will I’ll get a proper size one. And I can recommend the Vox Bass amPlug - works with headphones or small speakers.
Well, I should explain. When I say I was playing Toast Machine on it, it’s my personal code word for ‘aggressive, strummy, solo-bass-y’ type playing.
It’s not actual songs.
It’s things that could, feasibly, be Toast Machine songs. It’s a genre!
Maybe I’ll give it a shot on the Modulus as well and show you the sketch book version and a real version.
This is an idea that has a 10%-20% chance of happening.
Love this! I also bought a Kala U-bass for travel/camping. A mini amp like this would be perfect.
On one of our recent trips: I had a friendly couple walking past our campsite stop in the road and told me they were waiting to hear me play. I had been playing, but it was too quiet for them to hear. We had a nice chat about music
Oh man.
This idea is getting better and better and better. @MikeC - of course I’d have a blindfold. I always wear blindfolds. How else would people recognize me??
Pocket basses are a great travel bass. I have two (soon to be three:slightly_smiling_face:) made by Scott Beckwith of Birdsong Basses. They are the only basses I use. Gorgeous. Outstanding quality and sound from an honest guy. If you’re interested, check out his website—his new model is the Sport—very small and very light.
) made by Scott Beckwith of Birdsong Basses. They are the only basses I use. Gorgeous. Outstanding quality and sound from an honest guy. If you’re interested, check out his website—his new model is the Sport—very small and very light.