Kala Scout Acoustic-electric Fretless U-Bass - Natural Reviews
The Kala U-Bass Scout is another short-scale acoustic-electric bass in their popular U-Bass line that delivers incredible tone, playability, and design. The Scout features a mahogany top, back, and sides for rich, full low-end bass tone. A mahogany neck with a fretless laurel fingerboard provides stellar response and feel as well. And with a smooth, deep Venetian cutaway, you get great access down the neck. In addition, a satin finish lets the natural mahogany really shine, and a cream binding ties the color of this fine instrument in nicely for some great stage presentation. The U-Bass Scout also fits easily into overhead compartments on planes, trains, or the backseat of your car — a feature bassists here at Sweetwater really love.
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Highest Rated Reviews
Wow!
This is hands down the best no-brainer purchase I have made. The sound of this little bass is so distinctive and upright-like, I just can't put it down! My wife probably thought I was nuts when it first arrived and I was just cracking up in the other room having a great time playing it. The A string is a bit non-responsive to tuning but with some patience it tunes up nicely.
So much FUN!!
I love this thing!
But the key is to get good strings...the Thunderbrowns are the absolute bomb! Great texture and makes this instrument sing. Being fretless means I can micro-adjust the intonation of each note high up and down low on the fingerboard...which is typically out of tune on these short-scale instruments. And the cutaway is clutch. The electronics are solid and the sound is HUGE when plugged in...again, in part due to the kick-*** strings. The acoustic sound is also louder than my full-sized acoustic bass guitar I had years ago, with better definition of sound. When plugged in, it does sound close to an upright, and can also get that "Mwaa" sound which is so sweet (again due to the strings...the Pahoehoe stock strings can't touch these Thunderbrowns!). Case is great (love the back-pack style straps).
Only things I can find so far: I wish there was a strap pin on the base of the neck, rather than having to tie my strap to the head-stock, but I can probably put one on myself, in a bit. And the battery seems like it is already losing juice, but again, not such a big deal. Also gotta adjust your fingering attack...play real chill, or else intense picking/plucking will pull notes out of tune a bit and cause some nasty buzzing/distortion, especially when plugged in.
Overall, definitely go for this one. So much fun and I haven't even gone to my first summer festival or campfire jam.
Kala Scout... a great little bass
Although I had not intended on getting the fretless version, I am glad I did. It really does sound like an upright when run through an amp. It is fun to play, weighs hardly anything, and at 20 inches long, real easy to transport. I always get a group of surprised people askng about it at the end of the gig.
Holy phat bottom, Batman!!
This thing was a brand new model, and I just happened to notice on the website prior to a trip to the Sweetwater facility in Ft. Wayne. It was so new, they didn't even have one on the display room floor yet. They brought it out from the warehouse, and I played around a bit with it...the tone was reasonably good without amplification. Then, I plugged it into a bass amp. Holy cow!! It growled, it had low end and tone for days, even with the EQ on both amp and bass flat. A bit like a cross between a Hofner and an upright bass, but with less deadness than a Hofner. The sound is just fantastic. I've already recorded with it on a project, and the client loved the tone. When I showed him what I used, he couldn't believe it!!! This is NOT a toy, and a steal at less than $ (as of this writing). I LOVE this thing!
Kala Scout
Overall decent for the money. Electronics are a bit of disappointment, but it works. Tuning pegs work but that's about it. But adding a better preamp and Hipshot pegs would probably double the cost.
If Kala had a cut-away fretless acoustic-electric with Fishman electronics and Hipshot pegs I would probably buy it.
