Resolute
Well-known member
This forum is a terrible, and great influence on me. I see tons of posts about having flats on a Bongo. When I first got the bass, I put my standard Super Slinkies on it. I was disappointed. I felt the strings had to much color and darkness from the pristine sound that came with the strings that were on it when I got the bass.
Having played flats before, I knew I liked them, and would be ok having them, so after saving the $50ish to get a new set, I ordered a some Chromes.
An odyssey ensued to make my preferred stinging method happen. I play 4 stingers, with the BEAD setup. The Chromes B string was significantly larger than the super slinkie, and with the blue wrap around the bridge end, it simply would not fit all the way into the bridge hole.
Dismayed, I made a call to SLO, and got someone who said they had the same issue with their bass, and I should just file the hole. 3 different files later, and about an hour total in filing, I finally got the hole big enough. That bridge was TOUGH! Unfortunately, I managed to scratch the bridge in a couple of places, and mess up what was a MINT bongo.
However, the TONE... oh. my. Any phone calls, filing, scratches were MORE than worth it. So full, powerful, round, clean... it's a BEAST.
If anyone is debating putting flats on your Bongo, don't hesitate. It is AMAZING.
Having played flats before, I knew I liked them, and would be ok having them, so after saving the $50ish to get a new set, I ordered a some Chromes.
An odyssey ensued to make my preferred stinging method happen. I play 4 stingers, with the BEAD setup. The Chromes B string was significantly larger than the super slinkie, and with the blue wrap around the bridge end, it simply would not fit all the way into the bridge hole.
Dismayed, I made a call to SLO, and got someone who said they had the same issue with their bass, and I should just file the hole. 3 different files later, and about an hour total in filing, I finally got the hole big enough. That bridge was TOUGH! Unfortunately, I managed to scratch the bridge in a couple of places, and mess up what was a MINT bongo.
However, the TONE... oh. my. Any phone calls, filing, scratches were MORE than worth it. So full, powerful, round, clean... it's a BEAST.
If anyone is debating putting flats on your Bongo, don't hesitate. It is AMAZING.
