Bongo HHp 5 1st impression & review NBD with pics

[Big Poppa]

The biggest issue with the bongo is that it is so versitile....the tone controls and pan and then add piezo make it so the slightest tweek makes is a different bass....I say its like a formula one car....

I tell people to start flat. Dead Flat...Then get your tone with the pan control......remember where you like it....then doctor the eq....

 

[guenter]

I tell people to start flat. Dead Flat...Then get your tone with the pan control......remember where you like it....then doctor the eq....

+1

Very Important. Should be the first sentence in the user manual.

 

[drTStingray]

The biggest issue with the bongo is that it is so versitile....the tone controls and pan and then add piezo make it so the slightest tweek makes is a different bass....I say its like a formula one car....

I tell people to start flat. Dead Flat...Then get your tone with the pan control......remember where you like it....then doctor the eq....

I agree - it's an excellent bass. Mine has really worn roundwounds on it so it's a bit like having flatwounds I guess - I'm looking forward to hearing it with new round wounds sometime.

Thanks for the tip on settings - do you have advice for the magnetic/piezo setting or do you think 50/50 is a good start point?

 

[adouglas]

Thanks for the tip on settings - do you have advice for the magnetic/piezo setting or do you think 50/50 is a good start point?

Do what sounds good to you.

Having said that, I keep on hearing the same thing over and over from those with piezos (including me). We seem to prefer about 30% piezo or thereabouts. Nothing magic about that number... just seems to work well, at least to my ear. Then again, I've got tinnitus in addition to the voices in my head, so what I hear means little.

 

[Big Poppa]

start with zero and add till you like it

 

[DTG]

Man I should of held onto Frans bongo that time, it was mint

This thread has giving me gas, but I also want ambit al !

 

[tunaman4u2]

Went back to the Bongo tonight after the Sterling yesterday.

Alright, I admit it, I like the Bongo HH better for gospel BUT I'm never letting my Sterling HH go

You happy now AD?

 

[guenter]

Man I should of held onto Frans bongo that time, it was mint

It still is mint - and played each and every day...

 

[cellkirk74]

Man I should of held onto Frans bongo that time, it was mint

This thread has giving me gas, but I also want ambit al !

That's a tough one. I am also changing back and forth between the BA 5 H and the Bongo 5, trying to figure out which one I like better.

The BA does not get as smooth as the Bongo, but has a lot more thunder and can sound really aggressive.

But since you already got a 25th, maybe the Bongo is the missing piece in your collection?

 

[tunaman4u2]

The BA does not get as smooth as the Bongo, but has a lot more thunder and can sound really aggressive.

Dude, this is EXACTLY what I found & the complete OPPOSITE of what I thought going in. I wanted a smooth bass to offset my Sterling HH & the Big Al was a lot like it. Which I liked but already had, the Bongo I thought would be super aggressive but its much smoother than the Sterling HH or the Big Al SSS that I tried.

I can dial in aggression with the Bongo as well but I grab for my Sterling HH 1st when I want that.

I was wondering why there is both a Big Al & a Bongo H, they have to be REALLY similar compared to a Bongo HH vs Sterling HH

Cellkirk, you have quite a collection of basses in your sig...

 

[adouglas]

Went back to the Bongo tonight after the Sterling yesterday.

Alright, I admit it, I like the Bongo HH better for gospel BUT I'm never letting my Sterling HH go

You happy now AD?

Give the mind control rays full time to take effect. You can't rewire the entire human brain overnight, you know.

Get back to us in a year and let us know how it's going.

Seriously, though, I'm a big believer in the placebo effect. First impressions can be valuable, but they're just that... first impressions. I take user reviews with a big pinch of salt, because they're always written from the point of view of someone new to the item in question. Long-term tests mean a lot more to me.

What really matters is how you feel about it after you get completely used to it and stop paying attention to the fact that you're playing a Bongo and not your beloved Sterling. When it becomes all about the music and not about the equipment you'll know you're there. Your first impressions may be confirmed, or you may wake up one day and find that you're automatically reaching for one of those basses a lot more than the other one.

For me, it can be a long time before I stop thinking about the gear I'm using and am able to really pay attention to what it (and I) are doing. Months at least, sometimes longer. Not surprising in this crowd... this is a gear forum and we're here because gear matters to us.

Oddly enough, I was thinking about the whole acclimation thing on my commute this morning. I ride a rather basic, entry-level motorcycle and have had my current bike for three years... long enough that it's as comfortable and familiar to me as an old sneaker. Today I didn't give a single thought to the bike itself, how to improve it, or what it would be like to have a nicer bike... all that "gear" stuff. I was just enjoying the ride. That wouldn't have happened two years ago. Back then I wasn't thinking about the ride...I was thinking about the bike.

 

[adouglas]

I was wondering why there is both a Big Al & a Bongo H, they have to be REALLY similar

Don't think so. Different wood, different pickup and a different preamp. The Bongo Hp does have a four-band unlike the straight H model, but that does not necessarily mean the Bongo and Big Al electronics are identical. There's also the series/parallel switch on the Big Al.

 

[tunaman4u2]

AD: Agree completely, having owned a EBMM bass for many years I got really comfortable with it & didn't even think of it much. It wasn't until I completely changed from punk rock to having a baby & now doing slow catholic gospel stuff that I was forced to reapproach gear.
With GC not stocking my favorite brand you had to rely on Ed Fs clips, reviews. A lot of people try to praise their new purchase & write a review around that. You don't have many people that buy a bass, acclimate to it for a bit & say they hate it
Usually bad reviews are written with 1st impressions only... but I needed to read bad reviews to balance the biased reviews affirming their purchase

So looking for my smooth bass I had the Big Al or the Bongo reviews, both being love fests saying they could do everything.

 

[bassmonkeee]

I've owned both a Big Al 5H and a Bongo 5H and they are absolutely nothing alike. The preamps are completely different. The Big Al/Reflex/25th preamp is the single greatest preamp ever created, IMHO. It took an already stellar preamp from the Bongo, and Gamma-Ray the thing to Hulk-ian proportions.

I much preferred the Big Al5H. I'd still have it if I didn't have the fretless thing covered with the BillyBass. I just couldn't justify two fretless 5s.

FWIW, I've never had a problem using piezos on my Bongos and having them sound too glassy, or tinny. I leave the amp flat, EQ from the Bongos. If anything, it's usually a slight bump in low-mids, a teeny little cut in bass, and that's about it. I tend to run the mag/piezos at about 60:40, while also favoring the neck pickups at about 60:40.



At gigs, I set everything flat on both bass and amp, and turn up the gain until I am just about clipping. I play a bit to hear how the bass responds to the room. Then, I bring the gain down a bit and bump the low mids and adjust the bass knob to the boominess of the gig. Then, I readjust the gain.

When I play with the band, I use the hi-mids to either make myself more present in the mix, or to bring myself down in the mix.

I don't really need a treble knob.

 

[tunaman4u2]

Good review monkee, they LOOK like they would sound similar.

I still would like another 4 string 17.5mm, something different than the Sterling HH & Bongo HH. I was looking into the 2011 Deluxe J but would love another EBMM that could be as big of a change from what I got to the J.

 

[73jbass]

Now that I have a Bongo 6 on the way,sure would like to have this one back. I miss it so bad!!

 

[bassmonkeee]

Ooooooo, we might have to arrange a meet up so I can check out the 6 string Bongo. You can try the Franken-Bongo and the Billy Bass.

 

[tunaman4u2]

That 6 string Bongo is sick

What a score there, give us the review when it comes

 

[Freddels]

Tunaman, I'd like to meet up with you some time in the near future to try your Bongo. I'm primarily a 4 string player (but interested in 5's) and need to decide whether to order a 4 string or 5 string Bongo.

 

[tunaman4u2]

Freddels no prob but what spacing do you like? 4 string is 19mm P bass Stingray & 5 string is 17.5mm J bass Sterling spacing. I needed the 5 myself for the 17.5mm spacing but the B string is awesome.