Bongo 4, EQ, confused! Help :)

[bassmanUK]

Hi everyone.

I am currently playing a Bongo 4 HH with a 4 band EQ. I must admit that having a 4 band EQ on my bass AND two hum buckers to choose from AND having EQ on my cap and potentially on any stomps I might be using it all ends up being a bit confusing. Not to mention boosting and overloading the amp causing it to clip.

I usually end up just randomly twiddling around, not quite knowing what im after and never really being satisfied with my sound.

I was wondering if anyone could offer me some ‘sound’ advice on using EQ, and how to recreate some commonly used sounds (to slap with, the play pop with, to get a warm more fretless sounds, a rock sound). Or perhaps point me at some literature that would help me get started? Would it be better not to use the EQ on my amp at all ?

Im using an Ashdown MAG 300 head.

Thanks for your help

Phil

 

[tiffles]

other more experienced amp users will chime in. but for me, i just set the bongos eq flat, boost the bass a little cause i can. but that, for me, is bliss.

 

[Psycho Ward]

I suggest you set everything flat on the Bongo and amp to start with. Then play with the pickup blend knob and see if you can get what you want to hear from just that. If you find something close then head for the eq section on the Bongo. A little eq goes a long way on a Bongo.

I usually only use the eq on the amp to compensate for the room or stage I'm playing on.

 

[bassmanUK]

im wondering also if my mag head and cabs are letting me down and if I ought to consider replacing either or both?

I do have a 700W PA poweramp that isnt doing anything so perhaps a preamp to go with that? (or dont bother with a preamp becuase the bongos eq and active circuits already do the job?)

 

[mammoth]

im a bit of a knob twiddler myself (no... leave it )

but +1 to starting flat and going from there

I play quite a bit of throaty funky slap and usually:

Twiddle up the bass a smidge

twiddle down the mid knob (a smidgen less than the bass up)

twiddle up the treble a smidge (more for ear-splitting pops i guess)

now... im only using a Bongo 4H so god know if this even helps

also, i leave my Head (ampeg SVT) equaliser OFF (as i've pronged alot of the eq knobs off) and emulate the eq settings on my bongo to the bass, mid and treble on my head.

the sound is amazing to be honest. but i doubt if its anything to do with the twiddling!!!!

 

[Big Poppa]

you can go blind twiddling too much.

The Bongo has tons of EQ. As I've said before we detuned it. The protos were off the charts but we know we couldnt offer it to the general public. The habit from passive instruments of "dimeing" everything creates some horrible tones.

Chuck gave great advice regarding your amp. I think that when you are looking for your sound start simple and go from there. Flat. Also rethink how much you want in your signal chain. THe Bongo is capable of the widest variety of tones because of the 4 band and the blend control.

 

[bassmanUK]

would a setup such as

Bongo - AKG wireless sytem - poweramp - speakers

be realistic or would i have problems without a preamp?

 

[adouglas]

As others have said, start flat on both bass and amp and go in small increments. Use your ears, pay attention, when you make a change stick with it for a while and if it doesn't please you, think about WHY it doesn't please you. Then adjust.

Flailing randomly does no good, but you've already found that out.

For example,
Too harsh = too much treble
Too muddy = too much bass
Too "nasaly" = too much mid
Doesn't cut through the mix = not enough mids
A whole lot of SOUND and no definition = too much of everything

....and so on.

For pop/slap, conventional wisdom is to boost lows and highs, and scoop the mids...all just a bit, not too much. Again, avoid extreme settings.

For a good rock tone that cuts through steel doors like a plasma torch, keep the bass and treble flat, and boost the mids a bit, especially the low mids.

For a muffled 60s tone, kill the treble and hi mids.

My favorite tone for my Bongo is to have both humbuckers on equally, bass and treble flat, lo mid boosted to about 70-75%, hi mid to taste, (usually flat). But that's me. YMMV.

Be aware that a tone which sounds good when the whole band is playing doesn't really sound that great soloed. It'll seem mid-heavy and nasaly. So pay attention to your tone when the band is playing along and adjust to suit that.

Experience has shown me that low bass, below 100 Hz or so, is dangerous. I think they should label the EQ knob "MUD" instead of "LO" on most amps. Keeping things flat down there does wonders for tightening up and clarifying your tone. Boosting a bit just above that, from, say, 120 to 250 Hz or so, adds punch.

EQ curves should be smooth....without huge jumps from one frequency to the next. What that means for an amp with knobs is that you shouldn't have one EQ knob cranked up to 11 while the one next to it is turned all the way down.

Regarding the preamp...before I abandoned conventional amplification (I use the Bose system now), I had gone to a rack system with a power amp and SWR Grand Prix preamp. It was great...I'm a big fan of the component approach.

Lastly, choice of cabinet has a huge impact on tone. Go to a music store sometime and listen to different cabs through the same amp with the same settings. More, smaller speakers will be "tighter" and punchier than fewer, bigger speakers.

Hope this helps.

 

[ExLurker]

That just said it all, adouglas you've just put in a nutshell what took me a long time to work out for myself over too many gigs to mention. Well done mate!

 

[tadawson]

would a setup such as

Bongo - AKG wireless sytem - poweramp - speakers

be realistic or would i have problems without a preamp?

Most wireless devices don't put out that much level, so I would be concerned that the AKG would not be able to drive the power amp to a decent level. If it can, then you should be OK - the wireless will basically be acting as a DI box . . . .

- Tim

 

[adouglas]

That just said it all, adouglas you've just put in a nutshell what took me a long time to work out for myself over too many gigs to mention. Well done mate!

You don't want to know how many years it took me to figure all that out....

 

[Aussie Mark]

As others have said, start flat on both bass and amp and go in small increments.


I'm a big fan of the component approach.


More, smaller speakers will be "tighter" and punchier than fewer, bigger speakers.

+1 to each of those suggestions.

 

[bassmonkeee]

Good advice all around in this thread. Almost everything I would have said has already been covered.

One recommendation I would add is to familiarize yourself with what frequencies each preamp knob covers.

Plug your Bongo into the amp, and set everything flat on both. Then, take the time to turn one knob all the way up and play the bass up and down the fretboard. Listen to what it adds to the sound and listen to where it is really pronounced on the fretboard. Now, listen to each pickup individually with the extreme knob setting. Do this with the knob turned all the way off, too (again, each knob individually). Remember to be careful, though, since extreme frequencies can do plenty of damage to ears, walls, speakers, neighbors, pets, plants, and very small rocks. I'm not saying to go into a slapping frenzy with the treble knob pegged.

Once you get an idea of what each knob is capable of doing, you can more easily shape the tone. A little goes a long way with the Bongo EQ!

 

[mobass]

Can someone tell me what all the knobs are on the bongo hh? It looks like it has 3 stacked knobs and one regular. I'm guessing the single knob is the pup blend, then to the right of the pup blend is bottom knob bass, top knob treble, and the next over is low mid lower, high mid upper. Is that correct?

 

[adouglas]

Can someone tell me what all the knobs are on the bongo hh? It looks like it has 3 stacked knobs and one regular. I'm guessing the single knob is the pup blend, then to the right of the pup blend is bottom knob bass, top knob treble, and the next over is low mid lower, high mid upper. Is that correct?

Nope...you've got the stacked knobs reversed.

From the headstock end of the row, moving towards the tail end of the bass:

Volume
Pickup blend
Lo mid/Hi mid (bigger knob is lo mid, smaller is hi mid)
Bass/Treble (bigger knob is bass, smaller is treble)

A nifty diagram is here:

http://www.ernieball.com/mmonline/techinfo/controls/cfd_bongo_hh_4eq.pdf

 

[bassmonkeee]

Nope...you've got the stacked knobs reversed.

From the headstock end of the row, moving towards the tail end of the bass:

Volume
Pickup blend
Lo mid/Hi mid (bigger knob is lo mid, smaller is hi mid)
Bass/Treble (bigger knob is bass, smaller is treble)

A nifty diagram is here:

http://www.ernieball.com/mmonline/techinfo/controls/cfd_bongo_hh_4eq.pdf

Just to add a little to this, if there are three stacked knobs, that means the bass has piezos in the bridge. So, the stacked knob adjacent to the single knob would be neck/bridge blend (bottom) and mag/piezo blend (top)

 

[mobass]

Awesome. Thanks for the reply guys. Kinda makes me want a bongo now. Stupid GAS!

 

[adouglas]

"Kinda?"

What's this "kinda" nonsense?

Of course you want a Bongo!

You just haven't admitted it to yourself yet.

 

[nashman]

Everything flat including your amp, tweak the bass EQ. On most amps, flat eq is at 12:00 ... and remember, the knobs turn both ways, not just boost!

 

[bassmanUK]

I must admit that the treble control on my bongo seems to do very little, where as the other 3 make a big difference. Is this normal?

After a gig the other night a guy came up and said how cool he thought my bongo looked. More of this please!!

Ive been around music shops having a play of the other bass guitars that im MEANT to like and no matter how many I try I always come back home to my bongo.