SR5 or Bongo

[DTG]

i have used my SR5 for the last few months,the bongo never got taken to a gig.Last weekend i just took the old bongo for the fun of it and it sounded amazing,the action is amazing the tone is amazing...........its just the body shape,i still cant fall in love with it

i still giged it for the rest of the weekend and i am going to bring this weekend too.its the tone you get, it really is the best sounding bass i have ever played,the rest of the band alway say that they love my sound when using the "mad looking" bass.

Maybe i am just not ready for it,i am an old school type of guy......maybe it will grow on me all i know is i cant play without it anymore.

 

[mynan]

One thing I've picked up on since owning my Bongo is that, in general, it is only a few "bass players" that don't like the looks of the Bongo. I gigged my 20th SR5 consistently for about 4 months and didn't get a lot of comments on the looks. Within a few weeks of getting my Bongo, people were going out of their way to compliment it's looks.

IMO, a player should have a good mix of "image conscious" and "tone conscious", but when you love the tone of a bass and won't play it because it looks different...I think that says something.

 

[UniTap]

He saw the light ...

 

[bovinehost]

Years ago, when Bongos were new, I had some pickup gig with an oldies/blues kind of band in a beer-stinky bar full of losers. (Man, I miss that.)

These were not forward-thinking musicians. These were working stiffs. The crowd consisted primarily of alcoholics and criminals. Fun!

So, being me, I took a Desert Gold Bongo. The band gave it "the look". It was not a Fender! Could it be trusted? But no one said anything. They knew I knew.

But during the course of the evening, the bartender, who had never said anything, as far as I know, about any musical instrument said to me, "What IS that? It's the coolest looking thing I've ever seen anyone play!"

I got three or four comments from drunken old women in the crowd, too - all of them complimentary.

That's what I've noticed again and again over the last few years. We (bassists and other semi-musicians) get wrapped up about how an instrument looks, but as long as it looks like a Fender (vaguely), no one else is ever going to give it a second thought.

Bongos? Even non-musicians will sometimes be sober enough to notice. And I've never had a "civilian" say it was ugly.

 

[Big Poppa]

Reminds me of the Chevelle b assist who loved everything about the Bongo but he name...I said " (censored version) If you found the most beautiful woman in the world who did everything off the charts and her name was Blanche would you dump her?" If the bass feels and sounds good and makes you happy....remember its kind of dark on stage anyway......

 

[LoEnd]

Reminds me of the Chevelle b assist who loved everything about the Bongo but he name...I said " (censored version) If you found the most beautiful woman in the world who did everything off the charts and her name was Blanche would you dump her?" If the bass feels and sounds good and makes you happy....remember its kind of dark on stage anyway......

Thats an awesome way to put it BP. I love the way it looks(even if others don't), I like to stand out a bit bit from everyone else anyway, so it's right up my alley

 

[RobertB]

Bongo, definitely. Now let me go read the OP.

 

[DTG]

IMO, a player should have a good mix of "image conscious" and "tone conscious", but when you love the tone of a bass and won't play it because it looks different...I think that says something.

I think that says I really really love my SR5 and cant decide on which to use,but read what you may from that ,you will anyway.

if I died my hair pink and put a dress on then people would also mention something, however I don't plan on doing that either. So I am not going to use a bass just because people notice it or me for that matter. I use it because it sounds "amazing" and that's the bongo !

our singer has never said a word about any guitar or bass that any of the band has ever used except my Bongo.......and its the tone she loves, she has never passed comment on how it looks.

I don't want it to look like a fender.....but my heart will always love the stingray for the body shape and the tone (its why I love bass) but I have an uncontrollable urge to grab that darn bongo.......my signature once read

"say no to the Bongo"

but I cant..........nobody can

 

[mynan]

From your original post, I gathered that you were still playing your Bongo...which is why my comment wasn't directed at you.

 

[Psychicpet]

have never had anything but compliments on "that orange bass", some venues even knew me by "you're the guy with that orange bass"

funny how the debate of the Bongo shape is still kicking around. to the best of my knowledge pointy-bandsaw-victim basses don't get as much hassle as the beloved Bongo

 

[DTG]

From your original post, I gathered that you were still playing your Bongo...which is why my comment wasn't directed at you.

read it wrong.... my bad

 

[adouglas]

Chances are, the only people who will really be paying attention to you are other bass players, and if they're worth their salt all they really care about is your chops and your tone anyway. So the whole thing about looks is all in your head.

If you're really lucky, good-looking women will be paying attention to you instead of the singer or guitar player. And that's where the Bongo shines.

Chicks dig da Bongo.

I mean, look at it this way.... BP was instrumental in its design, taking the chubby, circular M&M clone shape that BMW produced and turning it into the thing of svelte beauty and sex appeal that it is now.

And BP is a certified chick magnet.

Q.E.D.


(Obligatory geezer wisdom: The most important thing that age teaches you is that looks are truly the least important thing in the world. Skill, character and substance are WAY WAY more important. Take that to the bank.)

 

[DTG]

FECK ..................

i picked up my SR5 last night and it sounded great so i brought it to rehearsal...........i give up i cant decide which i love more.........

 

[mynan]

FECK ..................

i picked up my SR5 last night and it sounded great so i brought it to rehearsal...........i give up i cant decide which i love more.........

I have the same situation. I switch between my SR5 and my Bongo5 every few months and every time I switch, it feels like I've brought home a new instrument. I fall in love all over again. Trust me, it's more of a blessing than a curse.

 

[MingusBASS]

I own 2 Bongos and a Ray 5. For my Rock/Cover Band(with beautiful female lead singer) I use the Ray 5. It's not because I prefer the Ray5 over the Bongo. It's because I put a set of flats on my Bongo 5 a few months ago and although it sounds great, it gives off the wrong vibe for most of the tunes we do.

I'm so tempted to rip those flats off and put on a new set of Super Slinky 5s on the Bongo but everytime I think about it I remember how much the flats cost me.

That's a perfect reason to buy a new Bongo right?

 

[nashman]

For my Rock/Cover Band(with beautiful female lead singer) I use the Ray 5.

No pictures, no beautiful lead singer !

 

[Aussie Mark]

BP was instrumental in its design, taking the chubby, circular M&M clone shape that BMW produced and turning it into the thing of svelte beauty and sex appeal that it is now.

Which mirrors his own personal transformation!

 

[MingusBASS]

No pictures, no beautiful lead singer !

I figured someone would ask.

 

[nashman]

Thanks Andrew - as advertised!

 

[PzoLover]

Beauty's in the eye of the beerholder

I don't own a BONGO, cuz Pete sold mine to Jack, but I still think they're BEEYOOTEEASSand one day, I'll get me one even though my fave colours are disct'd, I'll get over that sum day, and I'm still a verry lucky stick to call 4 SR5s including a coveted 20th my verry own, pics to follow, I promise
ALL The BASS,/PLand, the singer is pretty scorchin' too