OK Bongoloids

[kylierider]

I finally got my hands on a Bongo bass. The singer in one of the groups I play with has had this thing sitting in his garage. I've been bugging him for months (after I found out he had it) to let me check it out. So I'm at his house last night and he pulls it out. It's some sort of grey, HH, with no strings. Took it home last night strung her up with some EB 105-50's that he had laying around.

I'll be trying it out tonight at a blues gig and tomorrow at a rock/pop gig. I will report.

 

[Duarte]

You're going to love it.

 

[adouglas]

Be aware that the EQ on the Bongo is rightly considered to be a weapon of mass destruction. A little goes a long, long way. Start flat and tweak in small increments. (But just for grins crank the bass up at least once and make some stuff fall off tables....)

Soon you'll be a full-fledged member of the cult. Enjoy the ride.

 

[SharonG]

I can't wait to read the post after the gig!

 

[Freddels]

The preamp is extremely powerful. Start off with everything centered. I usually turn the treble way down. Then I might boost the bass just a hair. A little goes a long way.

 

[Steve-O]

I'll be gigging my new Bongo 5 for the first time Saturday night. I'm feeling good about it. This is the fattest sounding bass I've played in 35 years.

 

[Basspro]

Man that sounds great.I've got my eye on a sapphire black 4 HH bongo, but still haven't found one to try yet.Can't wait to hear back after the gig.

 

[SteveB]

Please put two fresh 9-volt batteries in it, and set the EQ flat to start (you'll feel the detent in the knobs' rotation).

 

[Ole Man Blues]

Awaiting the Saturday Gig report with great expectations......

OMB

 

[AnthonyD]

Another convert - He obviously has not been able to put it down...

 

[Ole Man Blues]

Still waiting for a report..........

OMB

 

[Basspro]

I think he got lost in Bongoland.

 

[adouglas]

I do believe the internationally recognized legal name is the Republik of Bongolia. Some guy named Jack is what we would call the prime minister. There, I think he's called the High Mucky-Muck.

 

[Mabongohogany]

Allow me to share input, along with the more seasoned Bongo players
(I'm pretty much a newb)-

To get max headroom/tone from the instrument-

You must take a triangle of aluminum foil and fold it into a sailor-type hat (triangular, not round).
Then crease the corner into a small antennae, approx 1" in length, left side.
Then, of course, put it on.

That should do the work, if you make sure you fast EAST when plugging in.

Now the tone controls can be best centered around proper eq points.
VERY interesting design aspect, especially relevant to the Blues gig.

 

[kylierider]

OK sorry for the delay.

Bongo report....Kinda on the fence about this bass. Good looking bass. Sits well on a strap, good neck feel, plays well, ringing harmonics. But I just don't think it has the punch that my SR's do...

I know, I know you guys are probably thinking NO PUNCH? What the heck is he talking about. I't got PLENTY of bottom, enough to remove plaster if I wanted. But on the other 3 strings it seems I had to work a little harder to get the volume to balance out that E.

I set everything flat then adding some mids and highs as I went. I favored the center detent on the pickup selector moving it around from time to time depending on what the song called for.

As the drummer said "Thats a good sounding bass, but it lacks the punch that your red one has." He was refuring to my fretless 30th. I'm not giving up. I have the bass for a little while and I'm going to explore it more. It needs a little more tweeking, mainly truss rod, pickup hight and such. I may put my tried and true Group III flats on it to get a true test of what it can do compared to my other 2 SR's

 

[bovinehost]

....sitting in his garage...with no strings....strung her up with some EB 105-50's that he had laying around....I just don't think it has the punch that my SR's do...needs a little more tweeking, mainly truss rod, pickup hight...

I think there is an explanation in there somewhere!

Mike, I don't think the Bongo is the be-all and end-all bass for everyone*, and you may be one of those people. Certainly a 30th SR4 is nothing to sneeze at.

You know what I'm going to say. "Strings he had laying around"? I'd start there. And pickup height and action can be a deal-breaker. You know all this. When properly strung and adjusted, that HH Bongo should make your 30th a little nervous.

Jack

*clearly a bald-faced lie

 

[Big Poppa]

swap the strings and put the old ones laying around pon the 30th....

Hey it may not bwe for you but to be fair ut should be same conditions....

 

[kylierider]

Yeah It definately needs a little loving. The strings laying around were brand new in the package, never used before. Roundwounds 105-50. I'm going for the complete setup tomorrow. Yes another bass saved for growing old sitting in the corner of a big 3 car garage.

The guys in the rock band love it, of course the lead singer owns it. To my ears it sounded better in the rock setting than the blues setting. I could dig in a little more on the louder gig.

The reason I have it in the first place was to fix a problem. When you plug it in it does not work. Remove batterys, Do the "battery test" with tongue. replace batterys and the bass works. Play said gig, put bass away. Next gig same thing. I just need to order a battery box. This one looks a little crusty, it even has a black ring on the neg. battery terminal tab. So I'm assuning it's not getting good connection.

So with a little TLC I'll have it all together shortly...

So

 

[bovinehost]

Bring her back from the edge, Mike, bring her back.

 

[Mabongohogany]

Didn't try the aluminum -sailor- hat- thing, huh?

Couldn't hurt.