Big THANK YOU to Larry (Mobay45)

[adouglas]

Larry;

Thanks for letting me borrow your Bongo 5H. Having a ball noodling with it so far. I get to play it at practice tomorrow, and may well (read probably) play it at this weekend's gig.

Just one thing....

The back of the neck is shiny only from about the fifth fret on down.

Mine is polished for almost its whole length, way up above the 12th fret.

We gotta get you playing something more complicated than that way-down-low, basic, rice 'n beans Texas music, son!

(At least it's shiny up as far as the fifth fret. I bet the necks on Jack's Bongos are shiny in only one spot.... )

 

[Mobay45]

I had to leave something for you to do!

Enjoy it for as long as you want. The DD SR5 is getting all my love right now and we don't have another gig until the 23rd of June.

Not that I need it for that gig. I've got another couple of basses that can fill the back-up slot. Anyway, it just doesn't seem right for that Bongo to be relegated to only being a back-up.

 

[bovinehost]

Now THAT is very gracious.

 

[EBMM7181]

Larry... When adouglas gets done with it.........

J/K

Thats very nice of you Larry, great guy you must be!

 

[adouglas]

Larry... When adouglas gets done with it.........

J/K

Thats very nice of you Larry, great guy you must be!

Sorry, you can't have it.

It's the wrong color.

 

[EBMM7181]

Sorry, you can't have it.

It's the wrong color.

Dont start!


Just when I thought you, Pete, BP, shortsnbass, both Andrews, KennetB, and Rik had forgotten about the teal thing, you gotta bring it BACK up again! Thanks adouglas, what would I do without you?

 

[adouglas]

Thanks adouglas, what would I do without you?

Relax and enjoy your black Stingray, I should imagine...

...but we won't let you do that.

Hey, I've had to put up with bent-knob jokes for a year and a half!

 

[saxnbass]

I think Billy needs a Teal Sterling. ............with bent knobs.



and undies.

 

[Beth]

I think Billy needs a Teal Sterling. ............with bent knobs.



and undies.

LOL!!!

 

[EBMM7181]

Don't provoke him, Beth!

 

[bovinehost]

We gotta get you playing something more complicated than that way-down-low, basic, rice 'n beans Texas music, son!

Heh heh, Larry's got gigs falling out of his back pocket.

So AD, what do you make of the single H Bongo phenomenon?

 

[tkarter]

If I could get Larry's gigs playing only 3 frets I would do it.


You mr. adouglas need to figure out that bass he loned ya.

They kick ass.

Larry doesn't need much troubleshooting. if any.


tk

 

[adouglas]

Well, it KILLS on certain songs...the rock stuff. Most of what my band plays is acoustic-ish pop (Beatles, Paul Simon, CSN, etc.). But we do a few louder songs to keep it interesting. (Bad Case of Loving You, etc.).

Since we have no lead guitar, for songs where there's a lead guitar hook that we can't live without I play it, using a tube overdrive pedal. The perfect example, for those who qualify as geezers like me, is No Time Left For You, by the Guess Who.

On this song and others like it, the H just killed. Flat. I never felt the need to turn any of the knobs at all. Well, I might have nudged the bass a tiny bit. But that's all.

It sits in the mix incredibly well, definitely better than my HHp.

Been trying to come up with the right words to describe the difference between it and the HHp. The H is more direct and less resonant. The HHp has a more complex character to the sound, full of overtones. Like a radio announcer voice versus an every-day voice. The HHp is more "hi fi"....sounds more like a piano. The H has a simpler sound.

I really like the tone of the H and it would make a fine go-to instrument, but based on this one practice, switching back and forth, I think I still like the HHp for most of the music I play. If I were in a bar band, though, I'd grab the H without hesitation.

I also a little time trying to replicate the sound of the H on the HHp, since while I really like the sound I'd rather not buy another bass right now just to get it. If a deal came along I'd jump at it, though.

I know it's not truly possible, but I got in the ballpark. I'll tweak this more in coming days.

Piezo off
Favor the bridge pickup some (20%?)
Low mids cranked up all the way
Hi mids up a bit from flat (10 %)
Bass up a bit from flat (10 %)
Treble flat

 

[adouglas]

Played a gig today and brougt all available basses, including Larry's H. I took her where she'd never been before, actually using the highest possible note...the 24th fret on the G string.

Here's a fact of life about gigging....it levels the playing field to a remarkable extent.

I brought the H because I could, to use on specific songs as outlined above. Everybody in the band had found a real difference between Larry's H and my HHp on certain songs during practice. But out in the real world, the differences that seemed so prounounced during practice and in the isolatoin of solo pretty much disappeared.

Moral of the story...I suppose it's that even though it might make a difference in, say, recording, when you're up there blasting it out live the subtle differentials between pickup configurations seem to disappear