You’ve heard the phrase, “built like a tank,” and understand what that means.
There was (or possibly still is, not sure,) a bass guitar made in Russia where the brand name was “Ural.” Do they play well? Sort of. Did they ever sound good? Not really (it’s been said that it ‘sounds like a detuned guitar’ more than anything else.)
But are they built well? Oh, yes. The video below is of someone trying to destroy one. He eventually succeeds, but take into account how much effort it took to make the instrument actually break apart. A Fender bass slammed with that much force would have completely shattered on the first or second hit on a concrete floor. But not the Ural!
(Note: Ural basses are not what anyone would call valuable, and you can find them on eBay relatively easily by searching for ‘ural bass’ or just ‘ural.’)
For those of you interested in getting an Ural bass, this is what it sounds like in non-destroyed condition. 🙂 The sound is best described as being very “honky,” meaning single-coil pickups which are wound in a such a way where the middle-range frequencies are overly prominent. Is an Ural bass an easy way to get vintage-style “honk” tones for cheap? That would be a yes.
that is actually a pretty cool and usable bass
No, it isn’t. It’s just a piece of wood with strings, nothing more.
Every bass is a piece of wood with strings.
Is this the same “Ural” that makes motorcycle sidecars?
Probably. Think “Yamaha”.
yamaha is a decent bike, I had Ural Tourist, brand new in 2005, it was a piece of shit.
I would LOVE to have a Ural! Anyone who doesn’t like that sound is not someone I care to play in a band with anyway.
What was he drinking? I want some of it!!!
Is that the “wreck” room?
Was there a dash-cam on that bass? Would love to see that footage!!
Well, I guess we’re not going to be in a band together, because it sounds like crap.
Every bass is a just piece of wood with strings. If it doesn’t sound good, put different pickups on it. Rather than destroying an instrument, give it to someone that can’t afford one.
sometimes wood sounds like shit
I think it would be a HUGE improvement if the pickups were replaced with some quality ones. Single coil just won’t cut it for a bass guitar.
I guess that’s why the Jazz bass was such a failure. D’oh.
Rough translation of the fellow’s speech.
What kind of bass will half-meter stick out the guitar case and scare passersby? Any kind of bass will stick out but scaring would be just a “Ural” bass. It even intonate a bit. Curiously enough but It is made of wood(tree)[the same word in russian] and judging by weight not of a single one. Strings are placed in a one centimeter range. (He means the distance between strings and the 12th fret). Something is rattling here, smith. is falling off there. Everything is bad about the electronics… Seems like the previous owner simply didn’t dare to check the cavity not being sure if it won’t blow up… I dared and soldered bridge pickup straight to the output that’s why all the pots and buttons are not functional. Anyway that’s not an instrument. I’m not a bass player and this is ‘Ural” bass, so everything I’ll play will automatically turn to Heavy metal. However brick picks are needed to accomplish but I don’t have them and I have to tune the bass in D in order not to brake my fingers while playing and to prevent the bass folding in half.
To tell the truth these basses are not that bad. You just shouldn’t play through 15w guitar amp as that guy did. 😉
If he just wired the bridge pickup straight out, that would also explain the honky tone. I would have liked to hear it with the bridge pickup as part of the mix.
oops — wanted to hear it with the neck pickup.
Hey, I’ve heard worse; had a Peavey that sounded about like that. It looks rather nice; replace the pickups and you’d have something, there.
I suspect the clip was recorded with this instrument played through a typical guitar amp which might explain the complete lack of bottom end to the sound. Then he kicks in the distortion channel and you get all the hum and buzz you expect from a high gain guitar amp fed from single coil pickups. FYI, URAL sidecars ARE built like tanks, URAL motorcycles are actually based on a pre-war BMW design. The two together make a very retro looking rig that would be completely at home in North Africa.
My Russian is a little rusty, but I did pick out that he calls the electronics “bad” and that he says he is not a bass player. He plays bass like a guitar player, which can have a direct effect on the tone. I would have liked to see him run through the controls on camera. ** I just watched it again, and he says the controls don’t work.
Well, that’s actually a good sounding bass! At the title I thought it would sound like a tank too, but indeed it sounds nice =]
I wonder if this guy would sound better with a good bass…
Amusing as it is that the Ural bass is so difficult to destroy, I still think it’s a real shame to wreck what is probably becoming a hard-to-find bass and something that is, no doubt, a piece of history. Go on and destroy a Chinese or Korean or Mexican made P-bass, but not something funky and rare like this. I love the old Eastern Block instruments as much as I love the 1960s Japanese and Italian electrics. That stuff is irreplaceable!
From an American perspective, that is true. But these were Russians having fun destroying what they obviously considered to be a cheap Russian product, so for them, it is almost exactly like wrecking a cheap POS Squier would be for us. I’m guessing those basses are not that rare in Russia.
школоте не понять
полюбасу ))
I guess every bass player in Russia has played an Ural bass at least once in a lifetime. And I actually helped a few Americans who came to visit to get basses for them. They found them interesting in their way, so who knows. If you want one, drop me a line at cov727@gmail.com, and we’ll see what we can do to get you an authentic one (s). Mind though there have been a number of variations and their model history is probably as complex as it is with Japan inner market models of the same decade.
These Ural “instruments” have nothing in common with Ural motorcycles, but name. Designed sometime in early 1970s and manufactured somewhere in Sverdlovsk (maybe) they did not change a bit over years. Those people who designed this bass did not have any idea what the musical instrument is, and manufacturing workers did not care either. I saw Ural guitars and basses in stores in 70s and 80s, it was hilarious. The guy says that strings are set 3/8″ off the fingerboard, electronics do not work, so he made a short cut from pickups directly to output socket. Manufacturers did not care about wood, if it’s dried or not, so warped or bent neck was a standard, and no truss rod would improve the situation. Good firewood though. No value, except museum displaying examples of how NOT to build an instrument. Who was buying these guitars? No one! But Soviets continued manufacturing them nevertheless. Beware of socialism and government-sponsored economy, folks.
Diggin this comment. Sounds like most production companies that have no real foundation in the product manufacturing it for quick cash. Sometimes the result is favorable, and after reviewing the model, I would say unfavorable. It is not hideous looking, though neither is an AK-47. Shoot one and try to be extremely accurate and you’ll want something else however. Crappy playing and too much RHCP. Wouldn’t mind having a player that is worth his salt play one and give a review. That would be a better test as opposed to destroying it.
That would be incorrect.
To the extent of my knowledge, the basses and guitars were only made by the Sverdlovsk Keyboard Instrument Factory, so they did have at least some idea what a wooden musical instrument is. Any reserve that these are not “musical instruments at all” is just a way of depreciating and neglecting history of the greatest nation. It is sad how many are vulnerable to this nowadays. Most of neglecting comments are being made by those who weren’t even born when the products were in circulation so they wouldn’t actually know.
In fact the line had grave differences in materials, pickups and electronics. This seems to be rather the question of supply than aftermarket engineering. As we all know, the same is applicable to major brands including F***, M***M***, etc.
However, the designs were backened by two major concepts of the time span: the first one being that small formations of amateur musicians (i.e. bands of appr. 3-7 youngsters) are apt to soak alien ideology with the musical culture like sponges. One should recollect that at that time the Soviets bloomed in classical, neoclassical composers and musicians instead – that, and folk motives, were the mainstream. Recollect the Beatles hysteria when they first appeared in the US, and then multiply it by level of suspicion of the McCarthy Committee, and you will get the idea what the attitude to r’n’r was at the time. Therefore, manufacture of stringed electric instruments was a very wary responce to the challenge of times.
Secondly, at the time of the Ural line engineering, the concept of “acoustic neutrality” of instruments that used electromagnetic sound picking up prevailed or, at least, was strong. That is, that sound is generated and processed mainly whithin the electric circuit, and the role of the body/neck material is but minute, or secondary. Then again, this wasn’t only in the USSR: remember all the plastic/acrylic/carbon fiber/aluminum research things.
Don’t you trust in “not caring abiut undried wood” etc. comments – as I said, the line was manufactured by a piano factory.
“Who was bying these instrumnts – no one!” – HELL NO!!! In fact, EVERYONE had these. Only some musicians that played in the federal TV channels, or major theatres or philarmonic societies would have access to play American- or European -made instruments, and those were mainly property of the counrty, not of musicians themselves. I am 36 now, bass player since 15, and my Dad was a founding member of one of the first bands ever in my city, so I have seen and heard much more with my own eyes and ears than most comment posters who are around 20 now.
Regards,
D.
Still, I insist, NO ONE was buying Ural guitars. Everyone was playing Czech makes or East Germany makes (Iolana and Musima labels). Lucky ones could get some Japanese guitars, but that was rare. Any Soviet-manufactured guitars could be found only in Soviet Army clubs or some rural small clubs. They were purchased for the funds provided by the local government (or army). And I know this from my own experience, not my Dad’s.
As a side note, I guess the correct name of the guitar/bass line in English might be “the Urals”, since it refers to the mountain ridge that separates Europe and Asia. Sverdlovsk (where the line was made) is a city in the Urals geographical region
However, there is also a major River Ural there, so I wouldn’t bet.
Ural bike is/was being made in the town of Irbit, appr. 130 mi. away from Sverdlovsk. No connection to the piano factory. Name is also purely geographical
I like my Ural bass and my Ural 650 guitar ; the guy who suggested using a decent amp as right on
I have a Soviet bass, a Kavkaz Bas 2, that I got on eBay for $100 a few years ago. (Plus $110 for shipping from Siberia.) The pickups actually sound pretty good, but the neck was hopelessly warped–as bad as the ’60s Japanese bass that was my first. I solved the problem by putting an old Hagstrom neck on it. Not up to my G&L, old Fender, or Gibson, but a really nice short-scale axe.