Grand Wazoo
Well-known member
Bongo 5HHp Review and comparison with StingRay5
Well today I have finally managed to have some time to myself without a ship or a tug in sight, and in the comfort of my home, I have set to test all the features of my new Bongo 5 HHp and to compare it with my StingRay5.
With my two amps side by side, a Trace Elliot 1225 valve combo and the Mark Bass CMD102P, both set to simply amplify the sound, and with all the eq. controls set to flat.
Pickups Mag / Piezo
With all the controls set at the centre notch, the bass sounds clean and clunky, and when panning between the neck p/up and bridge one, I am pleased to observe that they are perfectly balanced from bridge to neck volume wise, I hate a bass with a pickup louder than the other, because you have to adjust the volume control when switching p/ups.
The neodymium magnets definitely account for a distinctive tone to this bass, and the reason why I can tell the difference is that all my life I have learnt to easily recognize the sound between an alnico and a ceramic pickup, and these 2 beauties fitted on the Bongo have a very modern and extremely hi-fi sophisticated sound. I would go as far as saying that they sound similar to those boutique basses but without all the bells and whistles, fret lights, tree of life inlays, and endangered exotic woods of the likes of Ken Smith, Alembic, etc.
The bridge pickup is sweet and clear, the neck pickup even sweeter, used together they offer the best and most captivating sound option as opposed to either one individually; however all that changes when you introduce the piezo, have it half way i.e. 50% piezo and 50% mag and you will experience new broad territories when used in conjunction with either neck or bridge p/ups. Again it’s down to taste but with the use of the neck p/up and 50% piezo I believe that I have managed to achieve a faithful replica sound to that of a 73nd3r Precision even more so when played with a plectrum.
As far as a 73nd3r Jazz sound is concerned, I now really feel for that man (ggun?) that wanted to swap his neck H pickup for a single coil, in fact you would be really hard pressed to get an accurate Jazz sound with the Bongo neodymium pickups, but at the same time I can actually confirm that you can get a pretty similar jazz sound when you introduce the piezo to both your HH pickups. In order to achieve that I did as follows: the piezo pickup was panned 60%, I had to nearly dime out most of the treble pot, lets say the treble was set to 1.5 or 2 max from zero. The Bass pot is set to middle notch, the low mid and high mid, both rolled 1 or 2 positions over the middle notch. The trick to get a jazz sound in fact lies within the low and high mids, add to taste but not too much or you will end up with a plastic sound.
Finally I can also confirm that whoever said that you can get an upright acoustic sound with a piezo is only misleading you 50%; your piezo bass will not sound like an upright, not ever! I have the very thing so I know what that sounds like, but it’s right that it does sound a lot like an acoustic bass, and in particular those fitted with a piezo pickup in the wooden bridge, which is where the similarity occurs.
So don’t be mistaken in thinking acoustic = upright double bass. Think more of “Violent Femmes” Earthwood bass. It’s definitely not Ron Carter or Charles Mingus.
On board preamp/eq:
The 4 rotary eq controls Low Mid / High Mid and Treble (I’ll get to the Bass* in a minute) do exactly as expected and needless to say they all work very well, however the *Bass pot should carry a Surgeon General health warning. In fact, if you add more than a quarter turn over the centre notch, your speakers will start flapping, and in my case the floor board under my feet were shaking and I could actually see the double glazed window panes trembling. So much so that I had to connect the 15” Electrovoice Gallien Krueger cab to my amp to release some pressure.
Body / Neck shape & balance
The body appears to be a bit thinner than the StingRay5, the overall weight also feel a bit lighter than the Ray, but you stand them up side by side and you’ll see the Bongo standing quite a bit taller than the Ray (due to the longer headstock).
If played in a seated position I’ve noticed that the lower horn takes some getting used to, it’s got this pointy edge to it, that digs a bit into your leg, not a biggie and you soon get used to it.
The neck shape feels slightly less deep into the palm of your hand than the SRay5 does, but the width seems to be the on par with the SR5. However, while the edges of the SR5 neck are smooth to round, the Bongo has a definite sharp angle to it, and for one thing I actually kinda like that feature because in my case I don’t have really large hands and playing a 5 is a bit of a challenge to me, but the almost straight edge of this neck stops me from pulling the g string off the edge which sometimes happens to me with the more rounded profile of the SR5.
The headstock / neck & upper horn make the bass more balanced and you can sit and play this comfortably without a strap, whereas with the SRay5 you are forced to hold down the body with your arm as it tends to rock forward towards the headstock. Not a problem when you stand up or use a strap, of course.
Manufacture quality / attention to details
All the hardware is top class, the stacked pots are so smooth, that you can roll them with a pinkie effortlessly, they feel just right: not too loose and not to tight, often an overlooked feature from other manufacturers, but nice to see that EB have ensured that these work so perfectly.
The paintwork, pick me up as I faint again! Really is breathtaking, in my case the colour is Sapphire Black but it is so clever that while it looks like dark gray from the front, turn it at a different angle, and it changes into a very nice night blue BMW type of colour, not too sparkly and far from doll. The satin feel of the neck is a new thing for me, I had never before owned a bass with satin neck paint and at the moment it feels a bit funny but not in a bad way, just… odd! I can expect that, in a few years time, it will smooth to perfection and will feel at home with me. It is definitely a different feel to the classic unfinished neck of the EBMM range.
Big respect to whoever thought of the neck / heel redesigned scooped joint with the 5 screw fitting and neck plate, a wickedly clever feature that the SR5 would no doubt benefit from.
The SOUND!! Other people warned me about this, and I have to confirm it, this is a powerful bazooka of a bass, you can go from subtle to pronounced to total ART OF NOISE, so it is something you have to watch out for, I’d like to see the faces of the guys I play with next time I turn up with this new weapon, specially the drummer.
One thing I have to say the Bongo works better with the sound of the solid state Mark Bass better than with the valve Trace Elliot which is the opposite of the SR5 which is more at home with the Trace than the MBass.
How do I personally feel with the difference between the Bongo and he StingRay5?
Well I have been swapping back and forth all day and while I welcome with great amazement and excitement the new tonal possibility offered by the Bongo / piezo I still consider the sound of the SRay5 to be an institution in itself, unrepeatable, unique and with BIG balls.
You can’t compare a Picasso to a Dali’ and you just have to appreciate these to be very different masterpieces each one of them excelling in a field of their own.
Well today I have finally managed to have some time to myself without a ship or a tug in sight, and in the comfort of my home, I have set to test all the features of my new Bongo 5 HHp and to compare it with my StingRay5.
With my two amps side by side, a Trace Elliot 1225 valve combo and the Mark Bass CMD102P, both set to simply amplify the sound, and with all the eq. controls set to flat.
Bongo first impressions.
Pickups Mag / Piezo
With all the controls set at the centre notch, the bass sounds clean and clunky, and when panning between the neck p/up and bridge one, I am pleased to observe that they are perfectly balanced from bridge to neck volume wise, I hate a bass with a pickup louder than the other, because you have to adjust the volume control when switching p/ups.
The neodymium magnets definitely account for a distinctive tone to this bass, and the reason why I can tell the difference is that all my life I have learnt to easily recognize the sound between an alnico and a ceramic pickup, and these 2 beauties fitted on the Bongo have a very modern and extremely hi-fi sophisticated sound. I would go as far as saying that they sound similar to those boutique basses but without all the bells and whistles, fret lights, tree of life inlays, and endangered exotic woods of the likes of Ken Smith, Alembic, etc.
The bridge pickup is sweet and clear, the neck pickup even sweeter, used together they offer the best and most captivating sound option as opposed to either one individually; however all that changes when you introduce the piezo, have it half way i.e. 50% piezo and 50% mag and you will experience new broad territories when used in conjunction with either neck or bridge p/ups. Again it’s down to taste but with the use of the neck p/up and 50% piezo I believe that I have managed to achieve a faithful replica sound to that of a 73nd3r Precision even more so when played with a plectrum.
As far as a 73nd3r Jazz sound is concerned, I now really feel for that man (ggun?) that wanted to swap his neck H pickup for a single coil, in fact you would be really hard pressed to get an accurate Jazz sound with the Bongo neodymium pickups, but at the same time I can actually confirm that you can get a pretty similar jazz sound when you introduce the piezo to both your HH pickups. In order to achieve that I did as follows: the piezo pickup was panned 60%, I had to nearly dime out most of the treble pot, lets say the treble was set to 1.5 or 2 max from zero. The Bass pot is set to middle notch, the low mid and high mid, both rolled 1 or 2 positions over the middle notch. The trick to get a jazz sound in fact lies within the low and high mids, add to taste but not too much or you will end up with a plastic sound.
Finally I can also confirm that whoever said that you can get an upright acoustic sound with a piezo is only misleading you 50%; your piezo bass will not sound like an upright, not ever! I have the very thing so I know what that sounds like, but it’s right that it does sound a lot like an acoustic bass, and in particular those fitted with a piezo pickup in the wooden bridge, which is where the similarity occurs.
So don’t be mistaken in thinking acoustic = upright double bass. Think more of “Violent Femmes” Earthwood bass. It’s definitely not Ron Carter or Charles Mingus.
On board preamp/eq:
The 4 rotary eq controls Low Mid / High Mid and Treble (I’ll get to the Bass* in a minute) do exactly as expected and needless to say they all work very well, however the *Bass pot should carry a Surgeon General health warning. In fact, if you add more than a quarter turn over the centre notch, your speakers will start flapping, and in my case the floor board under my feet were shaking and I could actually see the double glazed window panes trembling. So much so that I had to connect the 15” Electrovoice Gallien Krueger cab to my amp to release some pressure.
Body / Neck shape & balance
The body appears to be a bit thinner than the StingRay5, the overall weight also feel a bit lighter than the Ray, but you stand them up side by side and you’ll see the Bongo standing quite a bit taller than the Ray (due to the longer headstock).
If played in a seated position I’ve noticed that the lower horn takes some getting used to, it’s got this pointy edge to it, that digs a bit into your leg, not a biggie and you soon get used to it.
The neck shape feels slightly less deep into the palm of your hand than the SRay5 does, but the width seems to be the on par with the SR5. However, while the edges of the SR5 neck are smooth to round, the Bongo has a definite sharp angle to it, and for one thing I actually kinda like that feature because in my case I don’t have really large hands and playing a 5 is a bit of a challenge to me, but the almost straight edge of this neck stops me from pulling the g string off the edge which sometimes happens to me with the more rounded profile of the SR5.
The headstock / neck & upper horn make the bass more balanced and you can sit and play this comfortably without a strap, whereas with the SRay5 you are forced to hold down the body with your arm as it tends to rock forward towards the headstock. Not a problem when you stand up or use a strap, of course.
Manufacture quality / attention to details
All the hardware is top class, the stacked pots are so smooth, that you can roll them with a pinkie effortlessly, they feel just right: not too loose and not to tight, often an overlooked feature from other manufacturers, but nice to see that EB have ensured that these work so perfectly.
The paintwork, pick me up as I faint again! Really is breathtaking, in my case the colour is Sapphire Black but it is so clever that while it looks like dark gray from the front, turn it at a different angle, and it changes into a very nice night blue BMW type of colour, not too sparkly and far from doll. The satin feel of the neck is a new thing for me, I had never before owned a bass with satin neck paint and at the moment it feels a bit funny but not in a bad way, just… odd! I can expect that, in a few years time, it will smooth to perfection and will feel at home with me. It is definitely a different feel to the classic unfinished neck of the EBMM range.
Big respect to whoever thought of the neck / heel redesigned scooped joint with the 5 screw fitting and neck plate, a wickedly clever feature that the SR5 would no doubt benefit from.
Summary:
One thing I have to say the Bongo works better with the sound of the solid state Mark Bass better than with the valve Trace Elliot which is the opposite of the SR5 which is more at home with the Trace than the MBass.
How do I personally feel with the difference between the Bongo and he StingRay5?
Well I have been swapping back and forth all day and while I welcome with great amazement and excitement the new tonal possibility offered by the Bongo / piezo I still consider the sound of the SRay5 to be an institution in itself, unrepeatable, unique and with BIG balls.
You can’t compare a Picasso to a Dali’ and you just have to appreciate these to be very different masterpieces each one of them excelling in a field of their own.
