Bongo EQ question

[Powman]

I am curious of Bongo owners are setting their EQ. For example, For the longest time, I set my Bongo 4HH with most things set fairly close to the middle, including a 50/50 blend of pickups. For a more aggressive tone, I dial in more bridge pup, but for a smooth woody tone I use more neck pup.

At the same time, I found that my Sterling 4H was able to cut through the mix better . So I tried to get my Bongo to sound closer to my Sterling tone. I played with the high mids and found that really increasing that and using about 80% bridge pip and 20 % neck pup gave a tone that really cut through the mix.

I am starting to see the Bongo as being a lot more versatile than I previously thought.

How do some of you set your Bongo EQ? Also, please describe what kind of tone you are aiming for.

 

[syciprider]

Low mids dimed. Everything else to taste.

Sorry, I'm a bit of a wanker hehe.

 

[Powman]

I guess you don't get to 2400+ posts without a few "wanker" posts.

 

[mynan]

See this thread...

http://www.ernieball.com/forums/music-man-basses/47297-bongo-hh-p-settings-spreadsheet.html

 

[danny-79]

After borrowing Bert's Bongo 5HH for a while i was tempted to post and ask the same question after getting lost with the EQ, for the most part i had everything set flat an was mesmerized with what i could do with just the pick up blend alone.
As far as setting the rest of the EQ goes i just approached it with the attitude of, set it all flat (center dent) then add or subtract to personal taste depending on the situation that you are in at the time.
I don't think that there are any 'Suggested-Go-To" settings other than the center dent an theres no way that you will ever need to take it up to number eleven (or down) so its not like you will run out of anything to add or take away from it.

 

[Redblade]

HH pickup blend in center

Bass - Low Mid - High Mid = Flat

Treble = Completely cut

Volume = Max - this seems to make sense with this setting since I'm just cutting treble and everybody says start with everything flat and volume at 75%. Sounds really good to me. Can someone tell me if there is a reason why I shouldn't have the volume maxed with this setting?

I like a warm punchy vintage tone, think Andrew Levy of the Brand New Heavies, John Paul Johns or anything from the 60's and 70's. I hate treble and usually also boost the low mids slightly on my amp. I'm not sure what frequency I'm boosting(it's semi parametric on amp) but it sounds better to my ears than the the Low Mid frequency on the Bongo, 400 Hz I think, but it's around that range, maybe 350 Hz. I think Bovinehost does something similar. At least I think I remember him mentioning he cuts the treble. His tone is GOOD in my opinion.

 

[bovinehost]

Volume = Max - this seems to make sense with this setting since I'm just cutting treble and everybody says start with everything flat and volume at 75%. Sounds really good to me. Can someone tell me if there is a reason why I shouldn't have the volume maxed with this setting?

The reason I don't max the volume is because I want to have horsepower to spare if/when I need it. With a passive bass, things really DO sound better with the volume dimed, but that isn't necessarily true with active basses.

I think Bovinehost does something similar. At least I think I remember him mentioning he cuts the treble. His tone is GOOD in my opinion.

Well, thanks! My standard response is, "I might suck, but my tone KILLS." I tend to leave most things flat except the treble, which I almost always turn OFF. (Yes, even with flatwounds.) On the HH Bongos, I boost some bass if I'm using just the bridge pickup. Other than that, I can do almost anything I want to do/need to do with the pickup blend knob.

It's magic, that blend knob.

I don't much get into these "where do you set your eq" threads because each room is different, each of us uses different amplification and cabs, etc etc. And we all have different ideas about how to get to tone nirvana. I think my standard advice ("turn the knobs until it sounds good, then stop turning the knobs") will work in most instances.

Jack

 

[keko]

I don't much get into these "where do you set your eq" threads because each room is different, each of us uses different amplification and cabs, etc etc. And we all have different ideas about how to get to tone nirvana. I think my standard advice ("turn the knobs until it sounds good, then stop turning the knobs") will work in most instances.

Jack

That's the point!

Any other words are unnecessary!

 

[adouglas]

I set my EQ using a complex and subtle formula that takes into account the phase of the moon, barometric pressure, the weighted average of that day's global stock exchange index values (for all exchanges except Nigeria), and how hungry I happen to be when I reach for the knobs.

I'm with Jack on this one.

 

[patobrujo]

I just want to say that i love all the tones i get out of my bongo, it's been almost 2 years since it's arrival, and i love it more everyday just to be on topic, most of the times i use hi and lo mids all the way up, bass at center detent and highs almost at zero...

 

[kamakazee]

Flat with emphasis on low mids. Add/subtract bass and treble depending on the room. I agree with everyone that has said blend knob. The blend knob is the best thing ever. I favor about 70% bridge 30% neck for most rock and metal. I love 95% neck for slap though.

 

[OldSchool Noob]

This is the room I play in ...

I stand about 2 feet from a Hammond B3 & Leslie speaker -- between a guitarist playing through a Fender amp and a drummer. The room seats about 500 people. Bottom line, I need to cut through without becoming boomy & muddy.

To achieve this, I have two go-to settings:

1) Everything flat, slight bias toward the bridge pickup, Low-mids boosted halfway between center & full. That really allows me to cut through and be heard.

2) Same as above but with the Lows also boosted halfway between center and full. This is when I want to be heard AND felt. This setting is almost TOO funky for church. (We played a song last week that was a groove in C. I primarily rode the C on the B-string and it was like . More importantly, it was still musical and crisp. Not too many basses I've played can do that well.)

There are some other settings that I use depending on venue but those two are my "aces in the hole."

 

[five7]

You can't get a bad sound out of a bongo! Danny put some coated slinkies on mine and that has thrown me for awhile. They are almost too much for each other. I usually don't roll off highs but have found I have to, to tame the newness of the coated strings. With factory strings on a bongo you can leave all the knobs centered and just move your right hand around to get different tones. The bongo HH has the biggest balls of them all!

 

[adouglas]

You can't get a bad sound out of a bongo!

You obviously have not heard me play.

 

[bovinehost]

He said "bad sound" not "bad note".

 

[adouglas]

He said "bad sound" not "bad note".

My massive lack of talent and skill can overcome even the mojo of the Bongo from time to time.

 

[five7]

My massive lack of talent and skill can overcome even the mojo of the Bongo from time to time.

Time for a big al.