Bongo Questions . . . Paint Wears Off??

[Penguin]

Hey guys. About 3 weeks ago, I went bass shopping and narrowed my choice down to two. A Warwick Corvette Hot Rod 5 string, and a Bongo.

The Bongo was so freaking awesome it wasn't funny, As soon as I picked it up I had a smile on my face, and when I left the shop I couldn't shut up about how wicked it was. I nearly decided to give up on the other shops I was going to and walk out with the Bongo.

However I went to another shop and found the Hot Rod. This was also an awesome bass, although very different. It came down to these two, and I decided to take the Hot Rod for the sole reason that I can buy a Bongo anytime, however a Hot Rod won't be around forever. Plus I kind of knew I would be getting a Bongo anyway cause I loved it so much.

Anyways, to my questions. One of the shops I was in had a black Bongo with a fair bit of paint off the headstock. The salesman told me it was from the bass hanging from a stand with a plastic cover. The plastic eventually wore away the paint. He told me that it was very common with Bongo's, and that in 4 or so years, there would be no paint left on the neck due to constant wear. He said it was something to do with the type of paint they use. I have never heard of this before, so I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge about this? Does the paint really wear out that quick and easily? I was sure there was a clear sealant on it. I don't want to buy a bass that will look 15 years old in 4 years.

The next question is about the pickup configurations. Unfortunately both the shops I went to only had the SC/HB config, which I thought was awesome. One of the guys told me that you can actually get more tone out of these two pickups over the dual HB setup. Is this true? Which config has better tonal variety? And what are the main differences?

Thanks in advance guys. The Hot Rod set me back AU$3400, so I'm a bit broke at the moment, but after another 2 weeks of working, I will have the money to buy a Bongo. I'm fairly stoked about it!

Cheers,

Penguin

 

[ExLurker]

Cant help you with the paint question, there are plenty of Bongo owners here who will no doubt chip in, the salesmans comments dont sound very plausible.
On the pick up configurations click in this link, that should help you.

http://www.ernieball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11747&highlight=single-H

And welcome..!

 

[Penguin]

Thanks for the link. It helped me quite a bit.

I'm thinking I'll go for a SC/HB config first (I say first, cause I know I will probably buy 2, possibly 3 of these bad boys).

Next Bongo I get will have the HH and piezo pickups.

I can almost hear it in the background!



Also, my mum is a signwriter, so I'm thinking I'll get her to make up some crazy stickers for the Bongo. I love Jack's (I think that's him, BovineHost) flame Bongo heaps. However rather than flat out copy his, I think I may go for a lightning bolt theme all over the body. More to do with the paint, does anyone know if stickers will ruin the paint on this?

 

[dlloyd]

Anyways, to my questions. One of the shops I was in had a black Bongo with a fair bit of paint off the headstock. The salesman told me it was from the bass hanging from a stand with a plastic cover. The plastic eventually wore away the paint. He told me that it was very common with Bongo's, and that in 4 or so years, there would be no paint left on the neck due to constant wear. He said it was something to do with the type of paint they use. I have never heard of this before, so I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge about this? Does the paint really wear out that quick and easily? I was sure there was a clear sealant on it. I don't want to buy a bass that will look 15 years old in 4 years.

He's paid on commission. Commission does funny things to people's honesty.

The bass has been abused, and he's shifting the blame. He knows you're not going to buy that bass. If he says it's an inherent fault with the bass, you might buy a different bass from him. If he admits the bass has been abused in the store, chances are you won't buy anything from him.

 

[strummer]

The only paint that has come off my Bongo is a chip in the head stock, from banging it into something.
I think the paint is some kind of polyester, and that won't wear off easily.

 

[arrowheadguitar]

He's paid on commission. Commission does funny things to people's honesty.

The bass has been abused, and he's shifting the blame. He knows you're not going to buy that bass. If he says it's an inherent fault with the bass, you might buy a different bass from him. If he admits the bass has been abused in the store, chances are you won't buy anything from him.

Which would also cover the "the pickup option we have in stock is the best choice there is" remark too, he's not going to try and sell you a bass they'll have to order in, and you'll have to wait for, if he can get shot of the one on the wall.

IMHO, of course.

P.

 

[ExLurker]

Stickers (or rather the adhesive) will harm any paint finish.

Stickers on that lovely bass To each their own I guess

 

[Psycho Ward]

Penguin, first welcome to the forum, make yourself at home and have fun.

My Bongos are too new to know about any paint problems, but the finish on all my EBMM's are top notch and I haven't heard around here of any paint problems.

All I can say is that I love my Bongos, I sure you would love them too.

Again, welcome.

 

[strummer]

All I can say is that I love my Bongos, I sure you would love them too.

Again, welcome.

Even I love your bongos, even though they're backwards

 

[Psycho Ward]

They're not backwards, you just have to play them from the other side.

 

[bassmonkeee]

The salesman is full of crap. I've had one of my Bongos for well over 2 years, and it still has all of the paint on the neck except for what I knocked off of the headstock banging it into things.

What a putz.

 

[corrosiontrav]

That salesman is totally not right.

I have a 2003, I think that's the first year, and the finish on my headstock is fine, it has a few nicks, but that will happen to any bass.

I love bongos! I've tried a lot of basses and I always come back to mine.

 

[bovinehost]

One of the shops I was in had a black Bongo with a fair bit of paint off the headstock. The salesman told me it was from the bass hanging from a stand with a plastic cover. The plastic eventually wore away the paint. He told me that it was very common with Bongo's, and that in 4 or so years, there would be no paint left on the neck due to constant wear. He said it was something to do with the type of paint they use. I have never heard of this before,

I like the "very common with Bongos" comment. I suppose he's had hundreds of them!

Clearly, he's smoking something. People are so ODD sometimes.

Add my voice to what the other guys said already.

Jack

 

[Oldtoe]

The paint thing is total crap.


the eloquent,

 

[LisaIs]

MM finishes are liquid rock!

 

[Mobay45]

No problems with the finish on my Bongos.

I wonder where he's seen a 4 year old Bongo?

I have one that's about 2 years old. It has one chip on the very end of the headstock. It was there when I bought it used.

I believe that EB uses a polyester finish. Polyester = plastic. So in essence, the basses are plastic coated. Can't get much tougher than that!

 

[Bill]

MM finishes are liquid rock!

I like that!

 

[adouglas]

No problems with the finish on my Bongos.

I wonder where he's seen a 4 year old Bongo?

I have one that's about 2 years old. It has one chip on the very end of the headstock. It was there when I bought it used.

+1

Reminds me of my father. When a salesman was trying to sell him some sort of expensive lumber for a project he was working on, the sales guy said "This is treated...it'll last 50 years without rotting!"

"Oh, yeah? How long has the process been used?"

"About five years."

"Uh, huh. So how do you know it'll last 50 years?"

Silence.

I've seen quite a number of Bongos with a little chip taken out of the very tip of the headstock. It's not wear, it's a ding. I think it's partly because the bass is longer than most, which means people hit things with the headstock inadvertently. I'm a short guy and I've tapped the ceiling with mine while taking it off. I can only imagine how easy it is for a tall guy to bump into things with it.

And the fact that the end of the headstock is pointy means that when you do bump into something, all the force is concentrated at a point.

BTW...I think that the clear finish on the body is polyester, not the satin finish on the neck. But I may well be wrong.

 

[Big Poppa]

My favorite comment is that the h/sc has more tonal options........THis guy needs to pee in a cup.

Eventually your neck paint will show some wear and I have no idea when that will be but that is when is gets really special.....I have yet to see one with wear but if you palay it for 10,000 hours any finish will wear. Some people charge extra to wear it out for you...

Which reminds me of a Luke story....


We were in LA and staying an extra night and so I had to buy some clothes. Luke went with me and I went to the Levi's section and I pulled out my size and Luke says " Dude why are you buying these new ones, this place over here sells then already broken in with really cool wear marks and holes already in them" The broken in ones only cost $100.00........... Go figya.....

 

[Golem]

He's paid on commission. Commission does funny things to people's honesty.

The bass has been abused, and he's shifting the blame. He knows you're not going to buy that bass. If he says it's an inherent fault with the bass, you might buy a different bass from him. If he admits the bass has been abused in the store, chances are you won't buy anything from him.

If that bass was in my neighborhood, and really priced to reflect it's cosmetic flaws, I'd be the guy that buys *that* bass, still under full EBMM warranty for cheap. I would not expect further problems and not suspect any self-destruction of the finish once I got it away from the shop environment. BTW, both my Bongos were over 2 yrs old before I became their 1st home and I have no failures in the finish.

I'd tend to agree about the SC-H being more versatile than the HH. Being rather olde skoole, I have two fretted HH models [4 & 5 string] cuz huge bottom trumps any added versatility, and it's not like the HH is un-versatile. That's for fretted. My dream Bongo is SC-H with piezo, fretless, and the time *will* come. I feel FL is so 'multivoiced' of its own nature that I also want as many ways as possible to express that. For me, fretted basses are primarily thudwacking keepers of time and form, no showy manuevers please.