Opinions on Bongo Bass?

[Muzz]

Eyes closed, a terrific bass: light(ish), comfortable, and very versatile - it'll do Ray tones and an awful lot more. Eyes open? Ohhhhhh...it's a bog seat... 😕

[petecarlton]

Just now, Muzz said:

Eyes closed, a terrific bass: light(ish), comfortable, and very versatile - it'll do Ray tones and an awful lot more. Eyes open? Ohhhhhh...it's a bog seat... 😕

A comfortable bog seat. 

[Muzz]

I know, and it's just me - I have a similar issue with Warwick Corvettes, stemming from a friend of mine who isn't musical at all, but has a savant gift for saying just the wrong thing to ruin an impression; I had a lovely blue fretless Corvette, the minute he saw it he said 'That bit looks like a nob', and that was it; I couldn't unsee it...I sold the thing eventually... 😕

[Bassassin]

This was posted in another thread:

Want one now.

[Mokl]

I always thought the Bongo looked terrible, then suddenly one day,  for no discernible reason,  I realised that I now think it looks great and quite want one.... and especially a Stealth 6 (after seeing below vid) which I could neither afford nor do justice to

 

 

 

[petecarlton]

23 minutes ago, Mokl said:

I always thought the Bongo looked terrible, then suddenly one day,  for no discernible reason,  I realised that I now think it looks great and quite want one.... and especially a Stealth 6 (after seeing below vid) which I could neither afford nor do justice to

 

 

 

Sure you could!

[tegs07]

Still not sure of the aesthetic appeal of the Bongo, but thanks for the link to Shobaleader one. Not come across them before and will definitely search for more of their stuff...

[Woodinblack]

On 16/01/2021 at 12:11, NancyJohnson said:

You can see how close the string spacing was at the nut and how the lower bout gave really easy access to the dusty end.  It was a thing of beauty really.

I have wanted one for a while. would really love one in that colour and the string spacing sounds great. Only as a 5 - the 6s just seem a bit too fat of neck (I know there isn't really a way round that).

Almost got a stealth black on that was heavily relic'd (and not synthetically) as it was cheap but it was too far away / couldn't risk the sale.

Used to dislike the looks, but really that just comes down to the round pickgaurd thing like MMs have got (where I dislike it also).

Trouble is they just dont come up often and when they do they are quite expensive, and I really don't need one.

Looks wise, not ugly - ugly like a telecaster headstocked slab P bass ugly,  but certainly quirky and more interesting for it.

 

[Russ]

1 hour ago, tegs07 said:

Still not sure of the aesthetic appeal of the Bongo, but thanks for the link to Shobaleader one. Not come across them before and will definitely search for more of their stuff...

It's Tom Jenkinson's band - of course, he's better known as Squarepusher.

I have two Bongos - fretted and fretless 5-string HH models. The fretted one is candy apple red, older, heavier and has the older design hardware. The fretless is purple, a couple of years old, weighs practically nothing and mwahhhs like there's no tomorrow. Absolutely love 'em. 

[WinterMute]

6 hours ago, Mokl said:

I always thought the Bongo looked terrible, then suddenly one day,  for no discernible reason,  I realised that I now think it looks great and quite want one.... and especially a Stealth 6 (after seeing below vid) which I could neither afford nor do justice to

 

The 6 string looks great, I think it looks more balanced than the 5 or the 4 (don't much like the 4 string tbh) but my hands are too small for a 6 string neck, the 5 string Bongo, being a tad wider than the SR5 is abut my limit.

[Woodwind]

9 hours ago, Mokl said:

I always thought the Bongo looked terrible, then suddenly one day,  for no discernible reason,  I realised that I now think it looks great and quite want one.... and especially a Stealth 6 (after seeing below vid) which I could neither afford nor do justice to

 

 

 

I similarly had an epiphany moment with the bongos and it revolved around the 6 string version. Also the stealth version.

 

The tone Tom gets in that video is absolutely wonderful!!

[Bigwan]

I've had 2 in my time. A 5 string HH in Graphite Pearl (I think) and a 4HH in the same finish which I traded the 5HH for. 

I liked the 5 tonally, and it was nice and light, but ergonomically the neck just didn't work for me at all... So I traded it with another Basschatter for his 4HH. Kept it for about a year and there was nothing much to complain about with it... I just fell out of love with it.

Having ticked the box now I don't think I'd own another, but there's no real reason for that other than I've ploughed that furrow already! That'll maybe change at some point, although given their current price, my love for all things ACG and all the other basses out there I've never tried, I doubt it!

Perfectly good basses. The look never bothered me personally. Sure it's a little different but so what? 

[Owen]

 

[yorks5stringer]

Ummm ( can't believe I'm the first to post this)...

[Moldsight]

On 16/01/2021 at 08:32, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Basswood is fine. However, it has three significant issues;

Appearance- like Poplar and Alder, it lacks much obvious grain or figuring and isn't a particularly attractive colour. This explains why it's usually only available in solid finishes. 

Name- If it were called Tilia bassguitaris superioris, I'm sure people would love it. Being saddled with a plain old name like Basswood just evokes responses like "Yeah, right."

Reputation- because of the two above, at best it gets ignored,  at worst branded as a cheap substitute. I've played Bongos and liked them without knowing or particularly caring what they were fashioned from. Conversely, lovers of natural finishes and multi-laminate through- necks might be suspicious of what's lurking under that solid finish; what are they trying to hide?

I think the Bongo's price reflects the amount of machining required to get the shape,  the cost of the pickups and the (presumably expensive) 4 band EQ, plus a little bit for it being a Musicman..

Basswood always seemed very soft (dents) and I ended up using drywall screws as much better grip than standard woodwork screws that seem to turn the wood to Dust with poor grip.

I might be way off here, thought I read that Basswood is corrosive to steel fixings? just thinking about long term viability?

[Lfalex v1.1]

Not heard of that one before, but there's ways around that sort thing; the old cocktail stick and glue trick for straplocks, maybe swap out steel fixings for brass or stainless alternatives. 

You'd like to think that manufacturers would have done their homework on an issue of this nature. 

[petecarlton]

This just dropped on YouTube:

 

[petecarlton]

On 16/01/2021 at 08:32, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Basswood is fine. However, it has three significant issues;

Appearance- like Poplar and Alder, it lacks much obvious grain or figuring and isn't a particularly attractive colour. This explains why it's usually only available in solid finishes. 

Name- If it were called Tilia bassguitaris superioris, I'm sure people would love it. Being saddled with a plain old name like Basswood just evokes responses like "Yeah, right."

Reputation- because of the two above, at best it gets ignored,  at worst branded as a cheap substitute. I've played Bongos and liked them without knowing or particularly caring what they were fashioned from. Conversely, lovers of natural finishes and multi-laminate through- necks might be suspicious of what's lurking under that solid finish; what are they trying to hide?

I think most of these objections might tend to dissolve if people were to pronounce it properly - it's Bass as in the beer, not the instrument (cf. John Myung on the YT vid I just put up).

[Eldon Tyrell]

16 minutes ago, petecarlton said:

I think most of these objections might tend to dissolve if people were to pronounce it properly - it's Bass as in the beer, not the instrument (cf. John Myung on the YT vid I just put up).

Basswood is perfectly fine. I think people confuse it with ply wood and think it is not "real" wood. Bass builders should relabel it to "linden wood" and I am sure people would suddenly love it and maybe even show it off: "look, mine is mad of linden, not ash/alder/maple/walnut/mahogany etc" 😎 

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

Basswood is perfectly fine...

There are other common names for linden wood (lime wood, nothing to do with lime fruit...), or Tilla, its Latin name; in France it's 'tilleul'. Here's a pretty fair run-down on its use in lutherie (in French...)...

Le tilleul est-il un mauvais bois pour la guitare..? ...

In essence, it is suggested that American (harder...) or European (a bit softer...) species are useful, especially for bodies, and more so with a maple top, and that Asiatic species are too soft to be very good at all, although one may be lucky sometimes. The most delicate part is getting it properly dried, and the weight will reflect this (it's much lighter when dried...). Worth a read, maybe, through a Google translation if necessary..? 

Cort guitars are apparently made from American tilleul and maple, in Indonesia and China. The bodies are from the same woods as US-made guitars.

Edited January 23, 2021 by Dad3353

[Moldsight]

On 21/01/2021 at 21:45, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Not heard of that one before, but there's ways around that sort thing; the old cocktail stick and glue trick for straplocks, maybe swap out steel fixings for brass or stainless alternatives. 

You'd like to think that manufacturers would have done their homework on an issue of this nature. 

Couldn't find the reference I see about corrosion. With the comment about incorrect drying from Dad3353 it would make sense for acids in sappy wood to corrode.

I stand by my experience on Basswood being powdery on 2 of my guitars (6 strings) and try to avoid doweling/plugging oversize holes.

https://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/46241.pdf is an interesting read regarding corrosion on mostly treated timbers. Possibly applicable to under seasoned wood in guitars also. I wonder if the fixing corrosion issue I see posted were galvanised (zinc plated) fastners?

Sorry OP for going off topic and surprised how heavy it is with a Basswood body as my 6 string Basswoods are so much lighter than anything else I own and seems to be a glorified Balsa wood ( a bit extreme but I hope you know what I mean).

Edited January 23, 2021 by Moldsight
incorrect spelling

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, Moldsight said:

...and seem to be a glorified Balsa wood...

Basswood is used quite extensively in model aircraft precisely because it's light, but stronger than balsa. It's used for spars and bracing; anywhere where balsa would be too weak. It's lighter than spruce, which is another option. Basswood is also used in aircraft-grade plywood; again, for its light weight compared to other woods used in ply.

[drTStingray]

On 18 January 2021 at 14:08, petecarlton said:

A comfortable bog seat. 

They're definitely comfortable - I haven't got this loo seat thought (with a very pointy and long top horn and stubby lower one) - not sure how that works on a bog seat but hey ho - each to their own!! 😁 I prefer to think of the shape and edges to be more akin to something less lavatorial!!!

i really like mine - if you don't like the pg shape you can always take it off. Mine has no dents and certainly no pulled out screws - indeed the pg screws are sleeved. I've had mine for 10 yrs (it's 12 yrs old) and none of the 'potential' problems suggested for basswood have happened, probably because the bass is very well put together, as you would expect for something of that price - it's a 5HHp and the piezo sounds especially good mixed in. I once played a sort of hip hop low B string part using almost all piezo - it was an excellent effect!! 

These basses have got great tonal ability - mine is a sort of orange (lava pearl) - these bold colours suit Bongo basses. I must say I really like this new colour also. 

 

Edited January 23, 2021 by drTStingray

[petecarlton]

3 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

There are other common names for linden wood (lime wood, nothing to do with lime fruit...), or Tilla, its Latin name; in France it's 'tilleul'. Here's a pretty fair run-down on its use in lutherie (in French...)...

Le tilleul est-il un mauvais bois pour la guitare..? ...

In essence, it is suggested that American (harder...) or European (a bit softer...) species are useful, especially for bodies, and more so with a maple top, and that Asiatic species are too soft to be very good at all, although one may be lucky sometimes. The most delicate part is getting it properly dried, and the weight will reflect this (it's much lighter when dried...). Worth a read, maybe, through a Google translation if necessary..? 

The meat of this article is in the conclusion:

"Basswood [linden, lime, whatever] is therefore definitively not a poor wood for guitar bodies!  It is just a wood like any other, with its own characteristics, which may or may not be to our taste; as long, of course, as it has been carefully selected.  A good basswood will sound superb; and a bad will sound disgusting!" 

Surprisingly, it picks out premium Ibanez guitars using basswood as being in the "disgusting" category!

[Dad3353]

41 minutes ago, petecarlton said:

The meat of this article is in the conclusion:

"Basswood [linden, lime, whatever] is therefore definitively not a poor wood for guitar bodies!  It is just a wood like any other, with its own characteristics, which may or may not be to our taste; as long, of course, as it has been carefully selected.  A good basswood will sound superb; and a bad will sound disgusting!" 

Unsurprisingly, it picks out premier prix Ibanez guitars using basswood as being in the "disgusting" category!

Fixed.