Gear Review Roundup: Meet 5 Bold Bass Ukes

Full review at https://www.ukulelemag.com/gear-revie...

Once the initial laughter at the small stature of the ukulele bass died down after it was introduced in the 2010s, bass players quickly looked beyond the novelty of a comically small bass and found a useful instrument that not only had a huge tone, but also was also super-portable. It soon became popular among all sorts of musicians looking for an easy-to-play bass that sounds great.

Playing these wee basses back-to-back made something very clear—the components and setup make a difference between a bass that was merely usable and one that was user-friendly.

Some of these uke basses are closer to traditional ukuleles, but they all have a few things in common: Each comes from makers that specialize in ukulele family instruments; they’re small; and they wouldn’t be out of place at a ukulele strumming party. All of the basses in this roundup have onboard tuners, which helps, since the elastic strings fitted to most of the instruments seem to require frequent tuning.