Best Bass Ukulele For Beginners in 2021

What’s the point of a bass ukulele?

A bass ukulele or an electric bass ukulele (Same thing) is basically a “mini” bass guitar.

Why would someone want a “mini” bass guitar?

Well a bass ukulele is designed for people who would love to play (Or actually play) bass without having a large bass guitar. Similar to having a travel guitar or even a guitalele.

Another major advantage of a bass ukulele over a bass guitar is to avoid strumming away on metal strings. Which can definitely take a toll on your fingers.

A bass ukulele on the other hand comes with mostly Aquila Nylgut strings. Which is a blend of about three synthetic materials blended together.

So if you always wanted to play bass but were either intimidated by the size of a bass guitar or deterred by the tough metal strings on a full size bass guitar, an electric bass ukulele is definitely something you should look into.

Just like with an electric guitar or a lap guitar, with a bass ukulele, you also need an amp. It’s not like your typical soprano ukulele or something.

Once you get really good playing the bass ukulele, you can create your own bass lines and bass sounds by recording them through a multitrack recorder or something and turning them into midi notes. Then just use any midi keyboard and you got your very own unique bass sounds. Make sure it’s a midi keyboard and not a digital piano. As most digital pianos don’t have midi features.

Anyways, let’s have a look at some bass ukuleles shall we.

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Kala U Bass Black Ukulele – Best Bass Ukulele For Beginners

Before we even get into this, let me “enlighten” you about the Kala Ubass brand.

Well if you’ve used a ukulele or two before, you’ve probably heard of Kala. They literally wrote the book on ukuleles (Plus their founder is a super chilled guy. Someone who’s story has definitely inspired me).

What is Kala U Bass?

If there is one model that has put the bas ukulele on the map, that would be the Kala U Bass. Products created under this line are just next level. No in just terms of body and construction but sound and of course, reliability as well. Who would have thought that a company from Petaluma, CA would be leading the pack when it came to making quality bass ukuleles and more. I would love to see them get into the acoustic guitar or drum set market as well.

Anyways, let’s get back to our review shall we . . .

Now this is one good-looking electric bass ukulele. With the all black finish it really stands out no matter where you play it. Don’t forget it’s also made by Kala, pretty much the most respected brand when it comes to anything related to ukuleles. To make things even better, the Kala team has added a nice cutaway body. Which means you can really belch out some serious high tones on this bass ukulele.

This Journeyman Ubass model is super lightweight, easy to lug around and just a fine instrument overall. If you really want to take things to the next level, just change the strings and that will really make a big difference. Most report this specific Kala bass ukulele as as one of the best bass Uke’s they ever owned. Especially if you play bluegrass music.

Hadean Bass Uke UKB-23

An all walnut body construction, the Hadean acoustic electric bass ukulele is a fine ukulele overall. Although most recommend that you use it as “practice” or backup ukulele bass guitar, you can definitely jump on the stage with this one if you like.

A quality instrument all around, most do recommend that you replace the stock strings that it comes with. Let’s just say they don’t necessarily make the cut. Another thing you might want to do is make sure you unplug it when you’re not using it because the battery drain on the built in tuner is pretty heavy.

So overall, Great sound, lots of fun but some technical things on this bass ukulele definitely need some improvement.

Hadean Acoustic Electric Bass – Best Acoustic Bass Ukulele

Similar to the UKB 23, Except with one key difference, it looks freaking gorgeous.

If you don’t like a traditional electric bass guitar because of the strings (You need strong fingers to play a bass guitar) this bass ukulele can be an ideal replacement.

Just make sure you don’t leave the batteries on or you would completely drain the built in tuner. That’s right, this a ukulele with a built in tuner.

What is a built in ukulele tuner?

In some stringed instruments, a built in tuner is just like a regular guitar tuner. The advantage here is mainly convenience. Some do prefer a typical clip on tuner as it supposedly is more “accurate”.

As a beginner bass ukulele player, you should be fine with both. Clip on or a built in ukulele tuner.

Hadean Acoustic Electric Bass Ukulele

Now this Bass ukulele has a great build. It’s a solid body acoustic electric bass ukulele by Hadean. It’s super easy to carry around so you can practice on the road, and the sound it produces is fairly loud (Which is always a good thing). In fact, the sound is so clear, that you can literally play it even without plugging it in.

I would recommend you look into getting a small amp for this ukulele though (If you don’t already have one) just so you get the most out of it.

The cutaway body also helps as you can now play the higher notes without any trouble.

Hadean Ukulele UKB-24

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Great for beginners and professionals. In fact, there are lots of professional bass ukulele players who use this in their gigs and it shows.

However, since this is something that is liked by professionals, you do have to spend some time tuning it properly.

Hadean Ukulele UKB-23

A great looking electric bass ukulele that also produces great bass tones. There is an issue though and that is with the frets. They need to be spaced out properly. I would even consider them kind of odd especially when you compare it to a normal bass guitar.

The world this is a great choice but the Hadean group does need to make sure that the construction is on point. It does produce good sound but the “stickiness” of the strings can be quite a turn off.

Kala UBASS-WNDR-FS

Now this is what you call a u bass ukulele.

Well, the Kala brand does it again and with flying colors. This bass ukulele comes with its own built-in tuner, a gig bag and a few other goodies. now that’s just the stuff that this UKE comes with but what about the sound? The sound produced is loud, and has a nice rich tone to it..

Especially if you add on nylon strings.I really great thing about this one is you can either use it as a professional ukulele player or you can give it away as a gift. Either way receiver wins and wins big time. Once you connect this bad boy to a decent guitar amplifier, then you’ll really have some fun.

Kala U-BASS EBY FL – Best Fretless Ukulele Bass

Kala U-Bass-EBY-FL Striped Ebony Fretless Acoustic-Electric U-Bass Ukulele Bundle with Hard Case, Tuner, Austin Bazaar Instructional DVD, and Polishing Cloth

If you’re looking for a complete Kayla package, this might be what the doctor ordered. Included in this bundle is clip on guitar tuner, a hard case and a polishing towel. I believe they’ve also included DVD instructions but who owns a DVD player these days?

If your beginner or a professional you will definitely appreciate the way this whole package is assembled. You know you got a quality uke when you can play it just fine while it’s unplugged. Best part is there is literally no “buzzing noise” when you play it.

There seems to be a common complaint the ¼” input but that’s about it. So what I would suggest for the Kala UBass department is 2 improve on little bit of construction mishaps and we’ll forget if there ever was a problem in the first place. By the way, I’m only saying that just because it’s Kayla. They’ve already established themselves as one of the best to ever do it so if you’re concerned about quality, don’t stress about it. These guys will take care of it pretty fast.

Luna Bass Ukulele

This Luna Bass Ukulele has a beautiful design, and sounds more like an upright bass guitar. One thing you would really appreciate is how well made these bass ukuleles by Luna are. The body is mostly made of mahogany and the fretboard has a nice walnut layout to it. If you own a ukulele by Lanaki, you will then appreciate the Luna brand as well.

Hadean Acoustic Electric Bass Ukulele UKB-27

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This bass ukulele by Hadean has great intonation.

What is ukulele or guitar intonation?

When someone says this guitar or this soprano ukulele has great intonation, what they are really saying is you can ‘tune’ it fairly accurately.

Another beauty of a bass ukulele but you will need to do a little bit of sanding though. Which is a letdown considering this is not some DIY ukulele kit or something. All in all it’s a great electric bass ukulele specially for beginners and most usually have a good time learning on it.