Bongoloids, help please!

[GreyDad]

Hi All Bongo peoples

I'm finally going to do it - get a Bongo that is - yay!, and I reckon I'm going to get a 6-er, 'cos well I've got a Ray4 and a Ray5 and it seems only right the Bongo should be a 6.

Now, I wanted an HH in a really wacky colour (one of those bright sparkly ones like a red or an orange or blue) but the problem is I'm in the UK and Bongo6's are like rocking horse do-do - virtually none around and none secondhand I can find. A custom order is going to take 4-6 months and I just can't wait that long.

The guys at Strings'n'things have no stock left but do have 2 coming in from SLO (the cosmic centre of the bass universe) "at an undefined date some time in the future" but probably less than 4 months. These are:

1. An HS in Sterling Silver
2. An HH in Sapphire Black.

Opinions please, I need some help making up my aged and decrepit mind. I want an HH (like my Ray5) but I prefer the Sterling Silver to the black! What should I do? Would I lose out tonally if I went for the HS instead of the HH? Any strong opinions on the Sapphire black vs the Sterling Silver (ok, I know it's subjective but I love to hear everyone's opinions )

Should I just put in a custom order and have a GAS seizure for the next 6 months?

Or stop acting like a spoilt brat and just order *something*?

Cheers

Neil

 

[TheAntMan]

Hi there future Bongo brother across the seas

I am a spoiled brat myself and I would order exactly what I wanted and just deal with the wait. This way I do not have any second thoughts or regrets.

Not sure it that helps or not but....

-- Ant

 

[mynan]

Since you already have a few other basses, I would think it would be worth the wait to get the color/configuration that you really want. IMO, you will regret letting impatience get the better of you.

 

[GreyDad]

Hi Ant,

You may be right, but I've waited over a year already to be able to do this and I think I'll burst if I don't get one soon!

You have a Sapphire Black B4, what do you reckon? Can you post a pic? I may be persuaded to go for that colour anyway, but then again I've just been drooling over the Cabernet Pearl B5 on markbass99's thread...

You US guys don;t know how lucky you are though - Bass Central alone has more B6's than the entire UK

Neil

 

[GreyDad]

Since you already have a few other basses, I would think it would be worth the wait to get the color/configuration that you really want. IMO, you will regret letting impatience get the better of you.

Tsk tsk, that's being very sensible

I was hoping you'd just say "yeah, go for it!"

You're probably right though.

 

[adouglas]

Go pay the shop a visit once they arrive and try both HS and HH. If one of 'em speaks to you, buy it.

Best case, you'll have your bass soon-ish.

Worst case, you'll have a clear, first-hand idea of the difference between an HH and an HS, plus knowledge of what silver and black actually look like and therefore will be able to order what you really want.

By the way, as helpful as photos are, I've never seen a photo of an EBMM finish that actually looked like the real thing...they're ALWAYS nicer in person.

Instant gratification is overrated. The wait is painful to be sure, but when you take delivery, something really cool happens...you forget all about how difficult it was.

 

[mynan]

Sapphire Black...

 

[patobrujo]

great choice on your next bass Greydad!! i agree with adouglas, you should give the options a try and if you don't like any of them, well you go for the painful road... i've been there and it's really painful but when you get to the end all the pain it's leave behind and it becomes joy, pure joy .... the pro's are you'll get to choose everything like you want it

 

[RobertB]

I've never played an HS, but from all acounts here on the forum, they're great (big surprise there, huh?). In fact, check out Ed Friedland's review of a Bongo 6 HS in one of the recent threads: Youtube of Ed Friendland on Bongo 6.

Since <1> I have a Sterling Silver Bongo and LOVE the finish, and <2> I'm one of the more impulsive type ... I say go for the Sterling Silver 6HS.

 

[MingusBASS]

Get the Sterling Silver Bongo 6HS! You'll love it.

 

[MrMusashi]

special order one in the color YOU want. no matter how much we others enjoy sterling silver or graphite pearl we cannot know what you will dig

MrM

ps: of the 2 aviable id pick the sterling silver one. i bet it looks fabulous under stage lights

 

[strummer]

I think the HH is the better choice, slap a tort guard on it and it'll look way cool

 

[GreyDad]

Kewl, thanks everyone, that's more like it - just like economists laid end to end, all pointing in different directions (bonus point if you know who said that)

Andy: yes, you're right, but by the time those two basses come in they may well be sold and I won't get to see them. If not, I don't know which shop they will go to... unless I order both of them

Bryan: thanks for the pic, doesn't look bad at all actually....

patobrujo: you have my bass!!!! Honestly, I've wanted one of these since the very first post with the very first pic of the 6er on this very forum.

Robert: yes I've watched Ed's video countless times. I note that it's an HS and sounds pretty cool too, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad and anyway it's a pickup combination I don't have yet! I remember thinking how great the silver looked on the John Myung photo's (and the ones where BP was playing the prototype) and I still have a soft spot for it.

MingusBass: I think you're right, and it's a Bongo so any colour or pickup combination is going to be amazing

MrM: I note another vote for the silver. That's 3. Hmmm....

Any UK people know if there'll be any B6-ers at the London Music Show?

Neil

 

[Russel]

I can tell you from experience that even a 7 month wait is more than worth the time.

But if you've been waiting this long already, try them, buy one.

If you can, however, I'd suggest trying a single H model.

 

[GreyDad]

Hi Russell, I have played a Bongo 4 and a 5 and was blown away by them - I posted about my reaction on here at length some time ago - so I'm very comfortable with the idea of becoming part of Bongo-dom. I had wondered whether I should get a 5 or a 6 but have finally decided what the heck get the 6 - you certainly don;t see many of them in Somerset, England.

I do like the 2-pup configuration though, on my 5er I really like it, especially with the switch right in the middle (both pups). I have my 4 with a single H and the maple neck for mad slapping and all that real Stingray stuff but I think the B6 is for doing different things with so either the HS or the HH would be what I want for the Bongo.

Not convinced about piezos though, I still need to be persuaded - sound too bright for me but it may be that I just don't understand how to use them

 

[RobertB]

Kewl, thanks everyone, that's more like it - just like economists laid end to end, all pointing in different directions (bonus point if you know who said that)

Two guesses: Milton Friedman or Oscar Wilde. =P

 

[strummer]

Any UK people know if there'll be any B6-ers at the London Music Show?

I played one there last year, and I'm sure they'll have one there if at all possible.

 

[GreyDad]

Two guesses: Milton Friedman or Oscar Wilde. =P

Nope.

It was one of your Presidents

 

[Big Poppa]

GEt the right bass.......get it in the color you want and be happy. Or buy the 2h and get a custom pickguard form a third party that makes is your unique bass

 

[bovinehost]

GEt the right bass.......get it in the color you want and be happy. Or buy the 2h and get a custom pickguard form a third party that makes is your unique bass

I'm going to agree with the boss. Although I will say that I've occasionally ended up with a bass in a color I would not have chosen and come to love it. (No, I'm not talking about Heinz, although that's true, too.)

The pickup configuration is another question entirely. I love the HH models, but the HS does something a little different, so I'm happy to have one of those to play with. Variety being the spice of life and all that.

Here's the thing with the Bongos. First, everyone wants the HH model. Look at it! It's mean, it's serious, it's got two honkin' big pickups! And no one is going to talk you OUT of it, right? So you get one.

Then, you begin to wonder about the single coil. "It's different, isn't it?" So you have to get one of those, too. Plus, all those different colors......

But BP (and a few of us) is always talking about the Secret Weapon single H Bongo, isn't he? And there must be something to it....plus you could get yet another color.....so you do that, too.

See where I'm going?