Harley Benton Kahuna CLU-Bass Ukulele FL 4-stars Reviews

Fun piece of kit

I bought it almost as a toy but had plenty of real fun with it. Don't expect hi-end quality from the electronics, but other than that the instrument is fun and a great introduction to bass ukuleles and perfect for portable jams

Could be great

Overall, I'm loving this bass. Sounds almost like a small contrabass with less bass and more midrange honk. The rubber strings take a little getting used to, and I'm trying to get the hang of it at the moment.

PROS:

Fun, good instrument you can use to mimic the contrabass without the bulk. Well-made, fun, and plays great if not for the rubber feel of the strings - which really isn't anyone's fault. I think the strings are aquila thundergut, because I ordered thundergut along with the bass and they seem exactly the same.

CONS:

The piezo, like everyone else seems to mention, is problematic and needs to be taken care of. the D,A strings are very loud and even clips in my case. In comparison, G is soft and E is very soft.

Recording it with a mic (with noise reduction + eq) makes it sound very, very convincing. Recording with the piezos are a problem at the moment, but we'll see how the piezo fix holds up.

UPDATE: I sawed the saddle so each portion will accommodate 1 string each. It sounds great now, the volume between strings is very well-balanced and removed the clipping problem as well!

Great uke bass !!

I enjoyed so much this instrument which is fantastic when played via amp but has little to say unplugged. I loved the sound in recordings which is similar to upright bass in texture (not so in depth). I use it in home recordings and I like even standard practice with it. Super interesting instrument!

Fun Fun Fun.

I have given this 3 for finish as it is very soft and really could do with a tougher finishing, that said its so much Fun to use its 'Small' & 'Light' and over a 'Meter' shorter than My Double Bass so very easy to transport. The Electrics are more than adequate and the Fretless Neck is a joy to play I wish I had got one of these years ago. This is one Bass I will be gigging a lot.

Very good for its price.

a little bit low on sound

Everything is amazing , but its not loud enough

great bass for money

Nice straight neck

good action

electronics ok not great

Fret lines are a good guide and nearly spot on

Body size is bigger than most u basses i have seen

resulting in more volume when using unpluged

Electronics are functional

low e string volume not as loud as others

the saddle is flexable and results in the d and g string having more down force pressure because of the higher tension,

So what i did was saw the e string part of the saddle away from the rest and i am getting more even volume now.

apart from that it is a good instrument

Great value instrument.

I bought this for my son who has been playing guitar and bass for a number of years. I bought it as something a bit different. He loves the sound. The strings take a bit of getting used to. For the cost, the bass is very good quality and value for money.

This instrument sounds absolutely amazing, like an upright bass almost. The eq and piezo are also cool, but the tuner is a bit unresponsive and shaky. The intonation, however, is really poor. Either it needs to be checked by a pro, or it shouldn't be used for more than toying at home. Since it's fretless, you can always compensate a little bit using your ear, but sometimes you just want to rely on muscle memory, and that's not really possible here.

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.