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Bongo 5 HH controls - urgent!

jappy

jappy

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Aug 27, 2006
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Sydney, Australia
Picture this:

Two eBay auctions. One black SR5. One black Bongo 5 HH. Both finish in less than 20 hours. Can only choose one.

My friend is in this dilemma. He's played an SR5 before but never played a Bongo. I'm leaning towards the Bongo because of the great feedback it receives here. He's already placed a bid on the Bongo.

So I show him that Youtube video of the Bass Guitar Magazine sneak preview of the 20th Anniversary SR5 to show him how versatile a HH configuration can be (great vid by the way). He's impressed... but then he says to me:

"The Bongo doesn't have a pickup selector."

"Of course it does... look...."

Crap. It doesn't have a pickup selector :eek:

So... I need to know - what does each knob on the Bongo HH do, and can it switch between pickups? I've never picked up a Bongo let alone played one. Where does the HH configuration get its versatility from if you can't switch between pickups?
 
cat_empire

cat_empire

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Jul 15, 2006
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cfd_bongo_hh_4eq.jpg


this should help you out
 
jappy

jappy

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Thanks heaps! I guess that just means you can blend between neck and bridge pickups, but no coil splitting or anything....
 
cat_empire

cat_empire

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yeh, i would say so, i couldnt say for certain because i havent played an HH bongo (yet...) you can blend it, but no clear cut position switching...

it really just depends on what your after, if you want to just be able to switch between different pickup combinations then i would go for a HH stingray or SR5 or whatever you wanna play, but if you want something a little different to your norm which will a lot of control over tonal variety then i would go the Bongo HH

Also depends on what your going to be using the bass for. I would have thought (without experience to back it up) that it would be easier to have a position switching lever if you were playing in a live situation so you could easily and quickly switch between configurations, but if its just a bass to play with at home or an environment where your not going to have to make quick tonal changes.

but again I could have gotten all of this wrong so It would be safer to wait untill someone more knowledgeable like one of our lovely forum moderators (keeping our forums safe since....long ago) comes along to set this straight...
 
bassmonkey

bassmonkey

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Perth, Australia
cat_empire said:
but again I could have gotten all of this wrong
Click to expand...

Yes, mate, you have it wrong. It's just as quick to turn the blend knob as flick a switch. I've only had my HH for a week, but I can tell you the tonal possibilities are endless and all useable.

At the end of the day, though, the Bongo 5 and SR5 are different beasts and it depends on what you are after. I don't think your friend would be disappointed with the Bongo though.
 
oddjob

oddjob

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May 12, 2004
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Monroe, Ohio
Tonal possibilites on a Bongo HH amazing. Yeah you can't play with the coils or anything like that but the 4 band (and the 3 band on the H models) just plain rock... add to that the fact that it is an 18v system and you can tear the heads of of unsuspecting victims
 
J

Joe Nerve

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Feb 18, 2005
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366
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NYC
surprised nobody mentioned the fact that the knob gives you the ability to dial in just as much of the other pickup ya want. it's not an all or nothing deal. i actually like that option more than the option of splitting the coils. coupled with the 4 band EQ... well, it's all been said. :)
 
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