Harley Benton Kahuna CLU-Bass Ukulele FL

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

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!

Firstly, sound-wise this is awesome, very interesting and useful for acoustic gigs or ethnic-jazz stuff.
The hardware is pretty nice, especially the tuners.
But: The fretboard and the finish were almost half-finished, the fretboard was not flat and leveled, the finish was rough and not uniform, the nut was too high, so the first position was out of tune and most importantly, after about 1-2 months the piezo died because of the tension of the strings, when I tune way down the piezo comes back, but in standard tuning it just can't handle the string pressure.

I fixed the fretboard, the finish, the nut, I put flatwounds, installed a guitar pickup in the soundhole and it's way better now, but I wouldn't recommend this instrument and I wouldn't buy it again.

I am beginner bass player. I ordered this bass because I wanted something acoustic, fretless and cheap. I always loved the sound of fretless basses.
Build quality is very good - it does have some small imperfections in finish which does not affect sound at all. I love the sound from this small bass! Like some reviewers stated - it sound like small double bass :) The tone is lovely. I use it mostly for practice unplugged and as it sounds great, it is also very smooth and easy for playing - certainly easier than my electric basses :) Strings does have some strange feeling at first but I get used to it. They resonate less after some 12-13th fret, and those frets are harder to reach because it doesnt have a cutout body.
When plugged into amplifier it sounds good... however it is best to leave the treble slider in middle... Preamp and tuner work Ok. Batteries for preamp in package were dead on arrival but this was no big problem to me ;) Strings settled in tuning after week or two.
Conclusion - great sounding small uke bass that is very easy to play!

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.

Bought this uke as joined a local ukulele club with no intention of playing bass. I joined purely to learn ukulele. But once they found out I used to play bass in cabaret bands years ago and the club had no bass player then I was badgered into playing bass.
Thought I would give this little fella a try.
It arrived very quickly and I had all sorts of reservations until I plug it in to an amp. OMG it sounded like a classic 60's double bass. I immediately fell in love with it.
Stretching of the rubber strings made staying in tune impossible at first, having to tune after every 5 mins but no problem with the built in tuner.
All in all for the price I would recommend this as a good starting point for anyone wishing to give bass uke a try.
You won't be disappointed!!!