Bongo design gotcha (minor)

[adouglas]

M'kay, I didn't post about this before because I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about the Bongo (which is a fabulous bass), but stuff that I've seen over the last two days compels me to go public in case it might help someone else.

After I'd had my Bongo exactly one week, I noticed that the volume knob was crooked. Crooked as in cocked to one side...obviously a bent shaft on the pot because of the way it rotated. The function was fine, but the knob was tilted over a bit.

I checked the photos I took of the bass right after I got it, and sure enough...the pot was crooked.

I took the knob off hoping that it was faulty, but no...the pot shaft was bent.

So I emailed EBMM customer service and they told me to just bend it back, and it would be fine. A very deep breath, some pressure with my thumbs and several crossed fingers later, and yup, it's fine.

Now, yesterday afternoon, I was driving around here in Connecticut looking for a nice fall foliage setting in which to photograph my bass. Found one, propped it up, and while I was fiddling with my camera the bass fell over in the grass (dammit).

And...the volume pot was bent again. So I bent it back, no problem.

Today I happened to be near a GC so I stopped in just for laughs and...the Bongo on the floor had the EXACT SAME THING...a bent volume pot. Hmmm...must have fallen on its face, just like mine did.

So I experienced this TWICE and saw another bass with the same thing going on. That's pretty conclusive to me.

So:

1) The pots that are used on the Bongo are really nice, really high quality, with low friction. But the shafts are skinny.

2) When the Bongo falls over and lands on its face, it WILL land on the volume knob and the pot shaft WILL bend, even if it falls on a soft surface (grass).

3) The bent shaft is not a big deal, since the pot is solidly mounted to a beefy metal plate. Just apply appropriate pressure with your thumb and bend it back.

I won't call this a "flaw," but it is a bit of a "gotcha."

Anyone else have this happen to them?

 

[Steve Dude Barr]

Anyone else have this happen to them?

Nope, never have let any of my basses fall on their faces though.

 

[adouglas]

Nope, never have let any of my basses fall on their faces though.

You mean you've NEVER, ever, not even once, had a bass fall over in your entire life (that's rich...tell me another one), or when they have, they've ALWAYS landed on their back (equally unlikely IMHO)?

 

[TSanders]

Im not trying to insult, or take validity away from your claims, but if you called customer service, and they got you straightened out, whats the big deal?

So another Bongo had a crooked pot also. It was at GC. Theres a good chance it had fallen on its face too.

I guess what Im trying to say is that there are bigger fish to fry. Go look at some other production basses in a music store, that come in with fret sprouting, sratchy pots, and poor intonation, etc.

 

[shamus63]

Bottom-line here...your bass fell and suffered damage...very minor damage at that.

I don't even think 'gotcha' is a fair deal to lay on EB; it's probably the same pot that is used on a dozen or more different basses and guitars.

I'd be more worried about damage to the neck and headstock in a fall...IMO.

 

[maddog]

Now, yesterday afternoon, I was driving around here in Connecticut looking for a nice fall foliage setting in which to photograph my bass. Found one, propped it up, and while I was fiddling with my camera the bass fell over in the grass (dammit).

Ravi Shankar would be rolling over in his grave if he were dead.

 

[barkatozz]

Buy a guitar stand where the bass hangs rather than sits & you won't have to worry about it falling. Have I ever had one fall?...yes.....after buying a hanging stand?...nope.
This reminds me of that idiot who complained about the input jacks breaking....to only find out the dope kept stepping on his cord & didn't loop it through the strap like a normal person.

 

[adouglas]

Im not trying to insult, or take validity away from your claims, but if you called customer service, and they got you straightened out, whats the big deal?

I don't even think 'gotcha' is a fair deal to lay on EB; it's probably the same pot that is used on a dozen or more different basses and guitars

Let me be absolutely, perfectly clear here. There IS NO big deal. I am perfectly, 100% happy with my bass and with EBMM.

I'm merely making an observation that the volume pot is prone to getting bent as the result of a very common occurrence (now seriously, how many people here have NEVER EVER had a bass fall over?). I don't make a habit of tossing things on the floor, but in 23+ years of playing things are inevitably going to tip over once in a while, no? I can't recall specifically, but I think it's fair to say that every bass I've ever owned has tipped over at least once.

I've had something like eight or ten basses in my life, and none have had anything remotely like this happen to them.

And shamus, I have looked inside every one of them and I've never seen pots like this before in my entire life. I really like the pots that EBMM use on the Bongo...they have very low friction and are very smooth. But they are not your run of the mill pots. The shafts are MUCH thinner than the ones I've seen in the past.

Please be aware that I'm NOT COMPLAINING, okay? Consider it just a friendly heads-up for my fellow Bongoloids to be very careful, and not to freak out if the same thing happens to them.

I wouldn't have posted at all, had I not seen the same thing this afternoon on another Bongo.

 

[adouglas]

Buy a guitar stand where the bass hangs rather than sits & you won't have to worry about it falling. Have I ever had one fall?...yes.....after buying a hanging stand?...nope.
This reminds me of that idiot who complained about the input jacks breaking....to only find out the dope kept stepping on his cord & didn't loop it through the strap like a normal person.

I have one (Hercules, great unit). Stuff happens anyway. Somebody (not me) bumped into the stand once and knocked it over. Thankfully there was no damage to the bass that was hanging from it at the time (not the Bongo).

And I'm not an idiot, thank you very much. So nice of you to say so. Was that called for? I think not.

And will you people PLEASE get it straight? I AM NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT MY BASS!!!! Read the post, will you?

Sheesh. Am I posting in English? Why do people constantly misunderstand what I'm saying?

 

[barkatozz]

Let me be absolutely, perfectly clear here. There IS NO big deal. I am perfectly, 100% happy with my bass and with EBMM.

I'm merely making an observation that the volume pot is prone to getting bent as the result of a very common occurrence (now seriously, how many people here have NEVER EVER had a bass fall over?). I don't make a habit of tossing things on the floor, but in 23+ years of playing things are inevitably going to tip over once in a while, no? I can't recall specifically, but I think it's fair to say that every bass I've ever owned has tipped over at least once.
.

Damaged gear in GC.....hmmmmmmmmm.
I once recommended an OLP MM1 to someone looking for a cheap bass...when he went to plug it in to try it, there was no input jack.
I'll say this once......you have a bass worth over a grand......don't cheese out on the stand.......get a Warwick Rockstand.......only way for the guitar to fall over is if you walk up to it & give it a good stiff kick.

 

[shamus63]

Jack says the same thing happened to his beloved DG B4 at its maiden gig...somebody nabbed his attention and down the Bongo went...with the same result.

You may be right about the exclusiveness (is that a word?) of the pots used in EB axes, but you would have to admit that using the word 'gotcha' to describe this problem would most likely evoke a negative response.

Your English is fine, and yes, I did read everything *before* posting.

 

[barkatozz]

I have one (Hercules, great unit). Stuff happens anyway. Somebody (not me) bumped into the stand once and knocked it over. Thankfully there was no damage to the bass that was hanging from it at the time (not the Bongo).

And I'm not an idiot, thank you very much. So nice of you to say so. Was that called for? I think not.

And will you people PLEASE get it straight? I AM NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT MY BASS!!!! Read the post, will you?

Sheesh. Am I posting in English? Why do people constantly misunderstand what I'm saying?

I didn't say YOU were an idiot.....the input jack guy was though because his sorry ass actually tried to get it covered under warranty.

 

[shamus63]

I didn't say YOU were an idiot.....the input jack guy was though because his sorry ass actually tried to get it covered under warranty.

That sounds exactly like the guy who f/u my Ashdown MAG-300R yesterday when we were negotiating a trade...he plugged his Ampeg B2R speaker out into my Ashdown speaker out...end result...

...I now own the Ampeg ...and he's trying to warranty the Ashdown (non-transferable warranty and the damage was of his own doing).

 

[dougmoser]

my volume pot is crooked also. we seem to have gotten our basses very close together, I got my 3 weeks ago or so. i don't have a problem with it though, just bringing it to your guys attention that it might want to be something you look into ;

 

[Steve Dude Barr]

You mean you've NEVER, ever, not even once, had a bass fall over in your entire life (that's rich...tell me another one), or when they have, they've ALWAYS landed on their back (equally unlikely IMHO)?

Yup, that’s exactly what I'm saying...did I stutter or do you have reading comprehension difficulties???

This entire thread is about as lame as if you said "I caught my pecker in my zipper" and blaming Levi's for a "defect". (Now, I have done that and that's why I wear 501's only.)

Gee...don't drop your bass cuz it may bend something...Ok..thanks for that wisdom!!

 

[midopa]

Ja, the pots on my Bongo are crooked as well. I dropped the bass a few times and it suffered a pretty formidable drop when my little brother fumbled it. Also, I tried to take off the pots but found the screws to be in there really tight (at the moment, I was thinking about changing the knobs just for kicks). That was countered with even more pressure to loosen the screws. This is probably the most-likely reason why mine are slightly bent. It still works great and it doesn't bother me anymore.

 

[Steve Dude Barr]

I dropped the bass a few times and it suffered a pretty formidable drop when my little brother fumbled it.

Try not doing that anymore.

 

[Disquieter]

My bongo goes from case to hands to case, no stands in between, i do not like stands and don't use them unless I have to.

not for my good stuff anyway.



I once recieved a fender jazz bass, fretless where the fretboard was wider than the neck.. it literally stuck out about 1/10th of an inch on either side...

 

[strummer]

I don't get the attitude?
The shafts on the Bongo pots are skinny as hell, so they bend easily. I have replaced my vol pot because when I bent it back the fourth time it snapped. (Got a new pot form the swedish EBMM representatives EM Nordic, no problems there.)
And no, I didn't drop the bass, I used the accompanying hard case. However, the bass can move in the hard case and the padding taht is supposed to press the bass down will bend the pot shaft if the bass slides forward in the case.
Now I put padding in front of the upper horn whenever I use the hard case, so the bass can't slide in the case.

 

[Steve Dude Barr]

That's a much different story than complaining about something after a bass has been dropped on it's face now isn't it?

Attitude begats attitude...