Bongo pickups observation/question

[shakinbacon]

I want to pose this as an observation and question and not as criticism*

I have found during all of my time on the Bongo 5HH I just am not a fan of either pickup solo'd. When I blend them the strengths of each shine through and they are amazingly complimentary. I find the blend at the center detent to be my favorite. It seems likely to me that each pickup is voiced quite differently to take advantage of their placements.

If I want a more "throaty" tone, I dial in more neck pickup. If I want more bite, I dial in more bridge pickup.

Those of you with experience with the bass, what have you found?

There are so many subtle tones (especially in the critical midrange) with the pickup blends + the 4 band eq that it is staggering.

*No offense to those who like the pickups solo'd. However, please offer hints on how you eq so I can try them out.

 

[maddog]

I found I dug the singleH model better than any of the dual p'up ones.

and i leave the on-board eq flat.

subtlety and me don't get along so well.

 

[kamakazee]

I've been away doing nothing but practicing since I've got my Bongo 6 HH and I'm the same way. My favorite setting is about 85% bridge. I really think they compliment each other very well. And I do like the way the neck sounds by itself with added treble and mids cut some. It feels like the bridge pickup needs more meat in some situations (rarely), but it really depends on the room size and how carefully you use the bass boost.

 

[Big Poppa]

one of the reasons is that you never get to blend with most basses.....there are so many tones in a bongo using the blend......THink of it like a shower.....the bridge is cold and the neck is hot.....Sometimes a cold shower is good but you will usually blend in some hot for aperfect one.

 

[ZiggyDude]

My HH is the same way. I almost always stay very close to the center - with the twit of a nudge to neck or bridge often being an adjustment to the room as much as anything else. In this situation I get what I sometimes call "The Bongo Boink". The bridge H is pretty useable - but the neck one lames out some. I think that is a result of the volume feathering that happens internally with the blend to try and keep the volume about the same as you pan between the two pups.

I have often wondered if there is an adjustment internally (other than the blend) to have the preamp give a bit more stink to the neck H.

I would not give away the 4 band EQ for anything though.

Also – the HS reacts very different. I am working on a little “A/B” comparison thing to share.

 

[Yerf Dog]

THink of it like a shower.....the bridge is cold and the neck is hot.....Sometimes a cold shower is good but you will usually blend in some hot for aperfect one.

And then someone flushes the toilet.

 

[Double Agent]

Also – the HS reacts very different. I am working on a little “A/B” comparison thing to share.

I am very interested to hear your thoughts on this. I used to own an HH Bongo and am expecting an HS Bongo sometime this week. My old HH had a bit of an unruly low end, which didn't really work for the tone I was seeking at the time. I usually tried to keep the blend at about 75/25 favored towards the bridge pickup, but then I struggled to find a balance between enough low end and too much low end. Now, my musical situation has changed and I think that the HH and I would get along a bit better, but I'm still hoping the HS will be a better match for me. I really like being able to solo the neck pickup on my basses, which is something I don't think I would ever have done with my HH.

Of course, in light of BP's contribution to this thread, I might have been missing the point by making extreme changes with the blend knob. That is, of course, a traditional way of judging a two-pickup bass and the Bongo should not be treated like any traditional two-pickup bass. Still, I hope the single-coil will work out better as a soloed neck pickup for me. But, I won't judge it based solely on what it sounds like with either pickup soloed.

 

[adouglas]

On my HH I almost always leave it centered. I never use the extreme settings.

I should note that I also never use the extreme settings of the EQ, because those don't sound good as a rule.

Just because you can turn a knob all the way to the stop doesn't mean you should.

I think BP's analogy is spot on.

 

[shakinbacon]

Just because you can turn a knob all the way to the stop doesn't mean you should.

This lines up with one of my philosophies to life:

more options isn't necessarily better. more options may simply be more

 

[five7]

I too rely on the middle settings when playing live but last night decided to try something different and cranked the high mids almost all the way up and rolled the highs and low mids down about 3 and the bass down by about one and after the show my band said they could really hear me. At home I have a new favorite tone. I roll the highs and low mids all the way off, high mids all the way up and bass flat. Roll the pickup knob to the neck pickup and then back two or three to the sweet spot and WOW what a tone. I tried that setting last night at soundcheck and it was way to clangy on the stage we were on. So I went to the standard middle settings to start the show with and after the first song realized I needed more clarity. Adding the high mids helped and rolling the lows down reduced the boominess. The bongo HH has a zillion tones between the 4 band eq, the pickup pan and placement of your right hand. Sometimes it is pretty hard to find the sweet spot when playing live but when you do, it is a great experience. I love my bongo!!!

 

[Aussie Mark]

On my HH I almost always leave it centered. I never use the extreme settings.

I should note that I also never use the extreme settings of the EQ, because those don't sound good as a rule.

Just because you can turn a knob all the way to the stop doesn't mean you should.

+1

They could make a Bongo HH with the EQ and blend all factory set flat and with just a volume control and it would still kick arse.

 

[bovinehost]

I still like that bridge pickup alone (on the dual pickup models) but do dial in a bit more beef when using it solo. It's snarly and angry and VERY in-your-face but it works on some stuff. If I want to widen it out, just a touch of the blend knob does the trick.

Of course, I'm usually sporting a single H model.

That really keeps it simple, which is good when you're me.

 

[OldSchool Noob]

They could make a Bongo HH with the EQ and blend all factory set flat and with just a volume control and it would still kick arse.

^ This

 

[shakinbacon]

I too rely on the middle settings when playing live but last night decided to try something different and cranked the high mids almost all the way up and rolled the highs and low mids down about 3 and the bass down by about one and after the show my band said they could really hear me. At home I have a new favorite tone. I roll the highs and low mids all the way off, high mids all the way up and bass flat. Roll the pickup knob to the neck pickup and then back two or three to the sweet spot and WOW what a tone. I tried that setting last night at soundcheck and it was way to clangy on the stage we were on. So I went to the standard middle settings to start the show with and after the first song realized I needed more clarity. Adding the high mids helped and rolling the lows down reduced the boominess. The bongo HH has a zillion tones between the 4 band eq, the pickup pan and placement of your right hand. Sometimes it is pretty hard to find the sweet spot when playing live but when you do, it is a great experience. I love my bongo!!!

Thanks for the suggestion 57! I never would have tried this combination but it sounds great and inspired me to try some things

I find with the Bongo my biggest hurdle is challenging my assumptions in terms of what the knobs do to the sound. For example, I find I assume adding treble takes the fundamental out of the B string, yet I find a setting that it adds definition to it and I'm scratching my head. There are so many sounds available it makes my head spin... in a good way

You inspired me to cut the low mids which I never do. As I dial in more piezo I find cutting the low mids slightly helps bring out the definition of the note

Thanks again!

 

[shakinbacon]

I still like that bridge pickup alone (on the dual pickup models) but do dial in a bit more beef when using it solo. It's snarly and angry and VERY in-your-face but it works on some stuff. If I want to widen it out, just a touch of the blend knob does the trick.

Of course, I'm usually sporting a single H model.

That really keeps it simple, which is good when you're me.

Yo recent daddy, by beef you mean bass and not low mids huh?

How's your sleep cycle doing? (;adfsadfsj;aadsf... shakinbacon lifts bovine's head off the keyboard)

 

[bovinehost]

Yo recent daddy, by beef you mean bass and not low mids huh?

I do mean bass. I have fooled with the low/high mids in order to compensate for some atrocious rooms but my amp/cabs do a good job in general with such things.

How's your sleep cycle doing?

What? What kind of cycle? I have a Huffy. Are you talking to me? What time is it?

 

[stu42]

This is so interesting. I've had my Bongo for a few years but for some reason I only played with the EQ and pickup blend very little and somehow ended up using the same settings since shortly after I got it. The little I did play with the settings I found myself almost getting lost in the options.

A couple of months ago I bought a Sterling 5H because I felt that the Bongo wasn't really giving me what I wanted and I found the Sterling to sound great. It has a great variety of tones that it can produce but is also very easy to dial in to get those great tones.

I was giving some thought into selling the Bongo but then this past week I decided to play with it some more. The result is that I'm learning so much about how to dial it in. To be honest, I think I have to thank my experience with the Sterling for "tuning in" my ears to some extent and to see the error of my previous ways of dialling in the EQ on the Bongo.

I used to always boost the low and high-mids a bit on the Bongo and very rarely added any treble and only slightly boosted the bass. Recently I found that if I took away some of the low-mids and was a little more generous with the bass and treble boost it really creates a fantastic sound - so tight and punchy!! Adjusting the treble really has a huge effect on how aggressive it sounds as well (likewise the high-mids).

Anyway...long story short...as others have said the Bongo has an astounding variety of tones it can produce and even small adjustments on the dials can make a significant (if also subtle) difference to the tone. The trick is to throw away pre-conceived notions about how to dial in your tone and get creative and really listen!!

But...to the OP point...yeah, I find I rarely solo either pickup. I find a blend of the two usually works better for me...but, I admit that this could just be a lack of finding the right time and place and other EQ settings that make those solo'd positions work just right.

 

[sitonmybass]

Earlier today I had decided to play my Bongo 5 HH this coming weekend (we're playing Friday and Saturday at the same club.)

Since 2004 when I got my first Bongo 5 HH, I have been mainly keeping the blend knob centered with varying degrees of boost on the 4-band EQ. Of late, I've been slightly favoring the bridge pickup but only at certain times.

Having spent a half hour or so yesterday trying a Big Al 4 SSS/maple at Guitar Center and after reading some of the suggestions in this thread, I may find myself getting a little more adventurous with the settings on my Bongo 5 HH.

Just another reason to piss off our sound man.

My Bongo 5 single H, Sterling 5 single H, and Big Al 5 single H are simple and effective and I love them as well.

I think that my varied collection of EBMM's makes it easier for me to find the right tone every time. I expected to have a tough time with the Big Al 4 SSS/maple that I tried at Guitar Center yesterday but in no time flat I was switching pickups and tweaking the 4-band EQ and coming up with great tones that all sounded different. Each pickup change that I did caused me to use the 4-band EQ intuitively.

 

[shakinbacon]

...as others have said the Bongo has an astounding variety of tones it can produce and even small adjustments on the dials can make a significant (if also subtle) difference to the tone. The trick is to throw away pre-conceived notions about how to dial in your tone and get creative and really listen!!

I totally agree stu. I attempted to explain this point but you've stated it much more eloquently

 

[shakinbacon]

I do mean bass.

I tried your setting bovine of bridge pickup with bass boost

I really like it - thanks for sharing!!!