umm Bongo?

[Guest]

I have recently switched to a Musicman Bongo HH 4, plays great, sounds...not too sure yet, Ive been mainly playing darkstar equiped basses strung with bright flats ( chromes or ernie ball flats) and especially with the audare pre been able find a sound i like easily. With the bongo while i love the playability (what a great neck!) tone wise at the moment it's missing something, not sure what maybe mid range punch/attack. At the moment it's strung with DR black beauties, ive just ordered a set of Rotosound RS 995LD Piano String Design strings mainly out of curiosity Any thoughts? it may be just down to not having played any round wound strings for years or getting to grips with the EQ.

[Buzz]

While I cannot help you, I shall put something into your mind that you'll remember every time you look at it:

Looks like a toilet seat doesn't it?

[Guest]

[quote name='Buzz' post='75321' date='Oct 16 2007, 11:13 PM']While I cannot help you, I shall put something into your mind that you'll remember every time you look at it:

Looks like a toilet seat doesn't it? [/quote]




luckily mine is black with a black pearl plate but ummm eerrr yes

but i am strangly drawn to its looks, got to go need a c**p

[Beedster]

Hi Steve, to be honest mate, I think the Bongo pre-amp is a bit suspect. I could never get exactly the sound I wanted out of mine, and with a 4-band EQ I had to really p*ss about an awful lot trying too. I found the highs and the high mids very brittle, and the lows a little too dark. I have to admit that I never gigged it so I don't know if these factors might have become positives in a live situation (there's a few guys way more experienced than me here who swear by them for live stuff). I had John East fit a 3 band SR pre-amp in my SUB5, and tone-wise it blew the 4 band Bongo out of the water. I would probably have done the same with the Bongo to be honest, but by that stage I had experienced my epiphany and had reverted to four string and passive basses.
Good luck mate
Chris

[Beedster]

[quote name='steve-norris' post='75328' date='Oct 16 2007, 11:20 PM']luckily mine is black with a black pearl plate but ummm eerrr yes

but i am strangly drawn to its looks, got to go need a c**p [/quote]

Oh, you might also wish to know that whilst the band hated the Bongo's looks, the bands' giirlfriends loved them

[Guest]

Cheers Chris, i know what you mean about the pre, Ive only had it a week but put in about maybe 10 hours playing time on it, the tone is there but seems almost as if it's hiding.
I have got to the bottom of one of the problems, due to the body shape it hangs with the bridge quite far back so inadvertently i was playing further towards the neck than i thought ( I use a floating right hand/ traveling thumb), getting a bit more punch now but still feel it's not quite there. I may try another pre amp as i love the neck on it, i feel like i have been playing it for years. To be honest i am a bit gutted as initially it was one of those wow moments, perhaps i should just put a set of darkstars in it JOKING!!!!!!

Was the East pre a standard item? I really liked the Audare pre I had in my SG but i don't want to start drilling holes in the bongo for switches. Should i stick with it.....looks wise it's really growing on me,my wife loves the bongo so maybe it's a 'pulling bass'

Edited October 18, 2007 by steve-norris

[Beedster]

[quote name='steve-norris' post='76171' date='Oct 18 2007, 08:35 PM']Cheers Chris, i know what you mean about the pre, Ive only had it a week but put in about maybe 10 hours playing time on it, the tone is there but seems almost as if it's hiding.
I have got to the bottom of one of the problems, due to the body shape it hangs with the bridge quite far back so inadvertently i was playing further towards the neck than i thought ( I use a floating right hand/ traveling thumb), getting a bit more punch now but still feel it's not quite there. I may try another pre amp as i love the neck on it, i feel like i have been playing it for years. To be honest i am a bit gutted as initially it was one of those wow moments, perhaps i should just put a set of darkstars in it JOKING!!!!!!

Was the East pre a standard item? I really liked the Audare pre I had in my SG but i don't want to start drilling holes in the bongo for switches. Should i stick with it.....looks wise it's really growing on me,my wife loves the bongo so maybe it's a 'pulling bass' [/quote]

It is indeed a pulling bass!
I picked up my Bongo from a guy locally, He had a crap amp so I sat down and played it unplugged. I was blown away by the resonance, sustain and tone. When I plugged it in at home I kept looking at my amp to check that I hadn't inadvertendly turned down the tone. It just didn't deliver, and when I tried boosting tones, to my ears it became a little brittle/muddy at the top/bottom respectively. JE does a stingray style 3EQ which I would ceratinly recomend over the Bongo's stock 4EQ. It has mid sweep so, not only is the sound quality improved, it is at least, if not more versatile than the fixed band 4EQ. I have no idea whether it would fit, but given the size of the Bongo's control cavity I'm sure JE could do something.
Good luck
Chris