Harley Benton Kahuna CLU-Bass Ukulele FL Reviews

not suitable for professional gigs

A fun toy. unfortunately the bass E string is quieter than the rest, and this makes it unusable for gigs.

Great fun

Bought it for fun, and can say that indeed it is alot of fun to play it. Maybe it doesn?t have a great sound unplugged, but when you plug it into an amp it does wonders. I even used it at a gig yesterday and of course people could not belive the sound that came out of this small instrument :)

Very good value for money

I had been playing some acoustic shows with my band, and wanted to play something other than an electric bass. I suppose I really wanted a double bass, but I neither had the funds or any way of transporting such a beast! I did some research, and came across the Kala U-Bass - which I came close to ordering until I discovered this.

It cost me less than £100, and is amazing value for money. I've used it at several acoustic shows with my originals band, and also for a few numbers with my function band - for covers of songs where a double bass was used on the original recording.

The general feedback I've received is it doesn't sound at all how it looks. Expect some confused faces when you gig this!

I've used directly into a PA system and my regular bass guitar amp. In both cases I've had better results by using the 'Fishman' pre-amp model on my Zoom B3. This allows me to match its level to my bass guitar for easy mid-show switching.

There are two minor niggles - there is one 'fret' that is slightly raised at one side (The fingerboard still has slots cut for frets and these are filled with veneer or similar). It's really not noticeable when playing though! Secondly, the pre-amp seems a little bit hissy, especially with the tone turned up. This noticeable through headphones or when using a cab with a tweeter - though only when the room is silent. Can't hear it at all through a tweeterless Ampeg SVT cab.

Please don't let this put you off - it's a great bass and well worth the money. I may upgrade

Fun!

I wouldn't call this a professional instrument, but it is a lot of fun! Unfortunately on the E and A strings it "buzzes" (more of a rattle than a buzz) when you play below the imaginary 4th fret which is annoying

I read online that a few people had problems with the E string not being very loud through the pickup, and I can confirm that mine is the same. The piezo pickup doesn't seem to pick up the E string as well as it does the other strings which is a shame, but not a complete deal breaker as piezo pickups aren't so expensive to replace.

If you want to experiment then this is a great instrument, it sounds like a tiny double bass and is a lot of fun to play, but don't expect a professional instrument. I would not do a professional recording or gig with this instrument.