am I missing out - Bongo HS

[puckwall99]

Hello All,

I'm considering a Bongo 4 HS which I can get a great deal on. As a long time SR5 player, and having not been able to play a Bongo yet, am I missing out on what the bass has to offer by not going HH? Something tells me I should hold out and get the "full Bongo." Any help is greatly appreciated.



PW

 

[maddog]

What tone variatons you looking for?

 

[barkatozz]

Honestly...I prefer the HS over the HH.

 

[puckwall99]

I guess I'm looking for the ability to have a variety of tones at my disposal, as well of course as the familiar "voice of god" that I hear the bass described as. I play everything from country, to hard rock, depending on my mood, and who I'm playing with. I'm not looking for a bass that will necessarily do it all, I just want to make sure I'm getting a bass that does as much as it is designed to do. I don't know if the Bongo was designed as an HH and the H and HS came later, or if they are 3 different animals all with their own design.

 

[maddog]

3 different monsters:

HH = dirtier, think Godzilla

HS = cleaner, think Hannibal Lecter

H = meaner, think Stingray with 'Roid Rage.

It comes down to personal preference, none of the bongo variations is a slacker. Dudley and the BMW team did a wonderful job. Oh yeah, and you too BP.

 

[tkarter]

All the Bongos sound good IMHO. They are different than the SR5 in a happy kind of way.

IMHO

tk

 

[adouglas]

the familiar "voice of god"

Don't need a Bongo for that....

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/43189

 

[Oldtoe]

I find my H/SC to be the angrier Bongo. Night before last, I played all my basses back to back and concluded, to my endless surprise, that the H/SC had quietly slipped into the favorite slot. It has a fullness (to my pedestrian ears) that the HH doesn't quite match.

 

[Psycho Ward]

I find my H/SC to be the angrier Bongo. Night before last, I played all my basses back to back and concluded, to my endless surprise, that the H/SC had quietly slipped into the favorite slot. It has a fullness (to my pedestrian ears) that the HH doesn't quite match.

“Ben Johnson’s’ right! … reverend!”

I have both an H/H and the H/S Bongo and I favor the H/S. The tone spectrum is probably wider on the H/H, but the single coil has a voice of its own and I like it!

I’m more concerned with it being a 4 string, the SR5 and Bongo 5 have the same neck, or, are you like me and like both?

For any country music I would definitely grab the H/S Bongo, but then with just a turn of a knob you could play Presbyterian Death Metal.

 

[roballanson]

Well I have to say I tried a bongo5 HS this afternoon and if the finance thing and trade in goes ok it might be replacing Clifford....I was pretty impressed I have to say.

its graphite pearl with a moonstone pg so looks the mutts as well....

 

[Oldtoe]

“Ben Johnson’s’ right! … reverend!”

Just a little authentic frontier jibberish for you folks.

 

[SteveB]

Just a little authentic frontier jibberish for you folks.

I recognize lines from Blazing Saddles when I see them...

 

[maddog]

The sheriff is...























near.

 

[shamus63]

I find my H/SC to be the angrier Bongo. Night before last, I played all my basses back to back and concluded, to my endless surprise, that the H/SC had quietly slipped into the favorite slot. It has a fullness (to my pedestrian ears) that the HH doesn't quite match.

 

[Oldtoe]

And I thank you again, sir.

 

[ghunter]

I have a StingRay 5HH and a StingRay 4H, and my Bongo 5HH is on the way to me now. I wanted to read this thread just to see why anyone would want the HS configuration, given the flexibility of the HH. Here are some observations from the SR

- When I put the SR5 into "StingRay mode" (bridge pu only) it still sounds different to my good ol' SR4. There's a bite and a presence that the single pickup model has that I won't ever be able to EQ into the HH model.

- Putting it into "dub mode" (neck pu only) is actually rather anemic sounding without EQ (bass up, treble down). With EQ you get a huge, deep, rich tone that admittedly is only usable in a few situations. I like having that flexibility and I can see using that tone on a few tracks, but I'd never use it if I was playing any sort of traditional music.

- The split-pickup modes are very interesting, and I'm sure you could get a lot of mileage out of an HS Bongo. Perhaps even more if the S has more bite/presence than the H.

I really do wonder why MM released the HS model. They had to have a good reason to add that much complexity to their manufacturing process. Perhaps it's exactly what we're guessing here - that the tonal quality of the S is really that different.

 

[maddog]

... that the tonal quality of the S is really that different.

Yes.

 

[shamus63]

And I thank you again, sir.

I'm just glad you decided to hang on to it!