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Bongo - ocassional pops

lipan

lipan

Active member
Joined
Nov 23, 2011
Messages
32
Hi there.

My bongo 5 HS makes a pop noise every now and then. Is it a sign of a dying battey perhaps? I doesn't distort as is supposed to when batteries die. The batteries themselves are in there for quite some time now.

Thanks.
 
jlepre said:
Long shot, but you're not pushing down hard on the strings near the pickup and making the strings touch the poles are ya?
Click to expand...

I am not, at least I think I am not. I am consciously tryint to lighten my touch lately. I gues I'll just replace the batteries and see what happens. Hope it's nothing wrong with the preamp.

M
 
If you have extra low strings settings you might get that pops even with very light touching I guess.
 
I am sure it's not the strings hitting the polepieces. It crackles a little first and then it pops. Any idea?
 
Possible output jack in the bass problem, or battery contact problem, I believe?

Check Your cable and other chain of components too ...etc.
 
Ok, I checked the batteries. Only 5,5V each when I measured the voltage!! What is the treshold for changing the batteries on your bongos and other 18V preamp basses guys?

M
 
Last edited:
8.5 V is my personal limit, ...but like I wrote before, 6 months is average period for changing a batteries, no matter how often You play (my personal testing under a very hard and brutal circumstances).
 
keko said:
8.5 V is my personal limit, ...but like I wrote before, 6 months is average period for changing a batteries, no matter how often You play (my personal testing under a very hard and brutal circumstances).
Click to expand...

Thanks Keko, I'll keep that in mind. Did you already get your new bongo?

M
 
Does the noise happen when you are playing hard? Since the preamps are not designed to be overdriven, when they "distort" it will sound more like crackle than anything else. Not a very pleasant sound.

I see that your batteries are at 5.5V... that's past due for replacement. The "official" EBMM threshold for replacement is 8.4V I believe.
 
`

I guess thaz a sorta "hazard" of the dual-battery
set-up, that it can limp along at 5.5v. I doubt a
single-battery bass would play at all, prolly just
croak out at about 7v !

Just in case you didn't know this, the 2 batteries
are run in parallel. So 2x 5.5v is NOT 11v ... It's
still just 5.5v :-/
 
Last edited:
Golem said:
Just in case you didn't know this, the 2 batteries
are run in parallel. So 2x 5.5v is NOT 11v ... It's
still just 5.5v :-/
Click to expand...
are you sure? I've seen the Bongo advertised as having an 18V preamp, which would require the two 9V batteries to be run in series.
 
tbonesullivan said:
Does the noise happen when you are playing hard? Since the preamps are not designed to be overdriven, when they "distort" it will sound more like crackle than anything else. Not a very pleasant sound.

I see that your batteries are at 5.5V... that's past due for replacement. The "official" EBMM threshold for replacement is 8.4V I believe.
Click to expand...

The noise happened randomly, even when I was not playing at all. Anyway, I changed the batteries and so far no crackles and pops. Looks like it was the batteries after all. At least I hope so. Need a few more hours of playing to be completely sure.

M
 
tbonesullivan said:
are you sure? I've seen the Bongo advertised as having an 18V preamp, which
would require the two 9V batteries to be run in series.
Click to expand...

OKaaaayyyy I do stand corrected !!!

However, thaz an even worse problem with those 5.5v nearly dead batteries.
At best you have 11v to run an 18v system, since the batteries tested at 5.5v.
BUT ... depending on the design and condition of the batteries, they may not
actually produce even as little as 11v together in series, if in their fatigued
condition they have developed an internal resistance. Anywho, they should be
discarded [ooops ...RECYCLED!] long before they drop to 5.5v.
 
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