bongo surgery

[smallequestrian]

Good luck with that man.

That's the only thing i'm worried about with my HH when it comes. I gotta have at least two fingers under there on some of my slap stuff. The one at GC seemed to fit nicely though.

Andrew

I wouldn't worry about it too much Andrew. The reason this can be a problem on the Bongo has to do with the 24 fret neck. With the SR5 21 or 22? you have all that extra room due to the lack of frets.

And +1 on the idea man, gotta go with what works.

 

[Colin]

Don't forget to take pics of the whole process

 

[Dr Stankface]

I demand pics post-op.

Andrew

 

[Randracula]

Plus, if you ever decide to change it back, you can use the original pickguard, and no one will be the wiser. And, it'll give you a place to put your weed.*








*Referencing SNL joke only....um.....yeah.

Hey man,this is a great bass....and you can put your weed in there

 

[bassmonkeee]

Hey man,this is a great bass....and you can put your weed in there

YAY!

 

[sir funkytown]

wow, thanks for the support, I will surely post some pre and post op pics for you all.I am interested in all your opinions on which mod i should do.Move the whole pickup back a half inch ,or, just pivot the pickup back a little on the treble side.The pickup posts are pretty big so i don't think I would lose any of the string movment through the magnetic field with the pivot option.Then again, moving the entire pickup back would retain the symytry of the design.

 

[syciprider]

Can you hear the drums Fernando?

 

[strummer]

wow, thanks for the support, I will surely post some pre and post op pics for you all.I am interested in all your opinions on which mod i should do.Move the whole pickup back a half inch ,or, just pivot the pickup back a little on the treble side.The pickup posts are pretty big so i don't think I would lose any of the string movment through the magnetic field with the pivot option.Then again, moving the entire pickup back would retain the symytry of the design.

I think you should try and get Big Poppa to answer that, as I am sure he mucked about with a lot of pich up placements before they settled on the best one.
Just make sure the guy with the tools really know what he is doing.

IMHO, you should go angled as a nod to the 3 PU Sterling prototype. There, I said it.

 

[sir funkytown]

conflict of interest

Something tells me that a designer working for EB would be hesitant in giving me advice on how to modify their bass.
On the other hand...almost everyone that has played my bass (and everyone wanted to when i got it) has had the same comments"wow...feirce tone,funky/ugly body(no acounting for taste),great neck....but I have to work too hard to slap on it because of that front pickup".I'm thinking that EB has probably received this comment from players a few times since the Bongo came out.
But , ok, if any of the designers have some thoughts on my alteration I would be truly gratefull for the input(I am not trying to throw down any gauntlets here, I sincerly like this bass)

 

[Golem]

and if you ver need to sell it, just say it's a "custom shop" that works everytime.


"one-of-a-kind!!"

"Signed, dated Prototype"

[Don't forget to sign and date it.]

BTW, did you consider removing the highest frets and milling down the finger board?

 

[Samingo]

Can you hear the drums Fernando?

There was something in the air that night, The stars were bright...

 

[Beth]

I LOVE that song...

One time my friend Fernando went to a frat party in college and found an ABBA Gold CD and put "Fernando" on repeat for like an hour before anyone noticed. They almost kicked his a$$, but he hightailed it outta there.

 

[Squozen]

I can't believe that nobody has suggested shaving down your fingers.

 

[sir funkytown]

fat ass fingers

I don't have huge Anthony Robbins fingers if that's what you're thinking.
Fernando is a fun song to do from a bass perspective.The verses are palm mute arppegios plucked across all four strings in the lower octave, with a pick(the only time i ever use a pick on bass....no wait"walk like an egyptian") and again above the 12th fret.Try plucking B minor across all four strings(1-5-octave-flat10) in the upper octave while palm muting...very tricky getting the right amount of pressure from your palm.The chorus has some tricky little jumps in it as well...and a nifty flat 5 that is a little unexpected.
I am thinking I will just move the pickup back a half an inch(although i would have loved some pro advice from the guys that helped design the bass....I understand why not)....I noticed just now , from the schematics for the new 2 pickup option on the Stingray , that the front pickup seems to be back a little.

http://www.ernieball.com/mmonline/techinfo/controls/cfd_Stingray_HS.pdf


http://www.ernieball.com/mmonline/techinfo/controls/cfd_bongo_hs_4eq.pdf

 

[tplyons]

I gotta see this...

 

[Jazzbassman23]

Here's a thought. You're obviously a gigging bassist. Why not invest in a used one pickup Stingray to use for your slap stuff and leave the Bongo intact? What's your current backup bass?

 

[Psychicpet]

...not as easy to afford extra basses when you're a gigging musician





besides, for me,it's nicer to not have to switch between a bunch of different for a gig.

 

[sir funkytown]

the thing....

Well, thats the thing isn't it?It should be possible to have a bass that does both.My Toby(Tobias 5 string) does both but , I wanted a 4 string for the ABBA tribute show I do.The Bongo is perfect in all respects exept that it is a bitch to slap on!I love the way it takes the attention away from the very gay outfit i wear in the band , it's like... "hey, dig that crazy lookin' bass!"....not..."hey, there,s a huge homosexual salsa dancer on stage , lets kill him and take his guitar!"

 

[Golem]

....I noticed just now , from the schematics for the new 2 pickup option on the Stingray , that the front pickup seems to be back a little.
http://www.ernieball.com/mmonline/techinfo/controls/cfd_Stingray_HS.pdf
http://www.ernieball.com/mmonline/techinfo/controls/cfd_bongo_hs_4eq.pdf

I checked those drawings and while it's plain that there's more pickguard between neck and PU on a Ray than on a Bongo, I suspect that is just due to the 24 fret neck on the Bongo. IOW, the Ray PU is not back a little, the butt of the Ray neck is forward a little cuz the neck is shorter.

If you move the PU back, you change the tone. If you remove the last couple of Bongo frets and mill down the neck, you leave the tone as-is.

 

[sir funkytown]

radical thinking

Holy crap!I'm definatly not going to screw around with the neck...that strikes me as a lot more radical than just shifting the pickup back.To be perfectly honest here , I think the bass will sound better with the front front pick where I want it....just a half an inch back.