GEAR REVIEW
KALA KA-SSBEY-B-CE BARITONE UKULELE | Bruce Adolph
KEY FEATURES
• Baritone Body Size Advantage
• Cutaway Access to Higher Register
• Fishman Onboard Preamp System
• Ebony Fretboard
• Affordably Priced
thoroughly enjoyed it . It also fits nicely when you are sitting in a chair to play .
When I heard that Kala was offering a new baritone model from one of their more affordable lines ( Kala offers everything from inexpensive beginner ukes to handmade in the U . S . A . models ) I just had to review it for the magazine .
OK guitarists , if you thought ten years ago that ukes were just a fad recycling around like wearing torn jeans are now on the worship platform - you may be wrong . The popularity of the ukulele is still going strong , and I believe every guitar player should have one . They give you another tonal voice , offer easy portability ( especially for summer vacations ) and may even stretch your music theory skills ( which honestly , we can all use ).
Where I seem to differ with the general population is my favorite size uke is of the baritone variety . There are soprano , tenor , concert and baritone to choose from . Why I like the bari ’ s so much is three-fold . One , they are closest to the regular guitar in size . Two , they have two wound and two nylon strings … which brings us to the third reason . I find them easier to adapt too as baritones are tuned just like the bottom four strings of your guitar ( D , G , B & E ). Just mentally throw out your E and A bass strings and you are now playing a baritone uke !
Where it tests your creative music theory skills stems out of that . How do I play favorite songs of mine without access to those two missing strings ? You ’ d be surprised how easily some songs translate and you will be challenged too as some songs require a fresh way to pull them off .
The different voicing of all sizes of ukes is really part of the charm . Why I am in the minority here is that as much as I like baritones , the rest of the uke buying public does not . Ha ! It ’ s true . Martin hasn ’ t built a baritone in 60 years . Check the availability of other uke makers too . Baritones are just harder to find .
I once owned a vintage 60 ’ s Kamaka but sold it to one of our magazine readers about ten years ago . I miss it , but he isn ’ t ready to sell it back just yet ( editor ’ s note : the offer still stands – you know who you are :). A few years back I missed having one , and I bought a Kala baritone . I have
Enter the KA-SSBEY-B-SE . A baritone ukulele with a cutaway body to easily reach the higher register , a natural spruce top with gorgeous ebony back and sides tonewoods , an ebony fingerboard ( feels good under your fingertips ) and Fishman ’ s Kula electronics with a built-in tuner . The tuner is super easy to use and gets you dialed in quickly .
The tuners on the headstock are open-back and work fine . Open-back tuners also help keep the headstock from feeling top heavy . The matte finish is well applied , and the fretwork is just fine .
The KA-SSBEY-B-SE plays well , sounds good by itself ( it has plenty of volume when strumming with a pick ) and sounded fine through my miniature Spark test amp ( I actually liked placing some reverb and delay on it ).
I have never seen such nice case candy on an instrument . A 30-point quality control check list ( that is good that Kala is not shipping these instruments out until they have been gone over by a tech ). An App to teach you how to play a ukulele , along with an instruction book on the Fishman onboard preamp .
All in all – Kala scores high marks on this feature packed instrument for this low of a price point . Well done … or should I just say , “ Mahalo !”
Street $ 449.00 www . KalaBrand . com