can a Bongo sound like a Jbass?

[shakinbacon]

I've read a Bongo can be made to sound like virtually any bass

Well, I've been able to approximate a P bass (on steroids) but am not sure how to do the same for a J bass tone

Yes I realize some will say "if you want a Jbass, get one"... but I love my Bongo and don't want to go there if I don't have to. And I'm not convinced I have to

I know the Jbass has many shades of tone, so I'll limit it to both pickups on full... the scooped sound with a lot of clarity. I'm focusing on fingerstyle btw and using roundwound slinkies

Thanks in advance,
shakin

 

[stu42]

I have tried this with a Bongo H/S and H/H but have not been able to get what I would consider "close" to a J-bass sound. I tried a number of different settings but never got there. I admit there may be some settings I didn't try which could get closer but I think it would be a struggle.

To be honest, I've gotten quite a bit closer to the J-bass sound using a Sterling 5H.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

mmmm kinda, if you use the bridge pickup 100% and you set the bass on flat (centre detent) slightly boost the low and high mid and then season it with the treble pot a little, but......

.....You want a Big Al SSS for the real thing, that'll nail it! And a P-Bass too. Guaranteed.

 

[keko]

Do You mean vintage (passive alnico) JBass, or modern (ceramic/cobalt noiseless active) JBass tone?

One more Q, do You mean JBass tone when both pups full on?

 

[mmbassplayer]

What is this J thingy you all are speaking of? Was it a BB bass (before Bongo)?

 

[MK Bass Weed]

Once you strap it on, you won't think like that anymore!

I can say from experience, it has the 'sonic footprint' in terms of classic sound and sitting in the mix..it just does it better...alot better.

 

[Double Agent]

IME....No, it can't. Considering that even hum-cancelling Jazz pickups don't give what some consider to be a true J-bass sound, I really don't think you could get there with any humbucker-equipped EBMM bass. The closest I've been able to get to a modern Jazz sound on my HS is to set the pickup blend in the middle or maybe blended slightly towards the bridge p/u, cut a little bit of low mids and boost a little bit of high mids and treble.

This setting works a lot better at copping a Jazz tone on my HS than any setting I ever used on my old HH, but it won't really fool anyone with a discerning ear. Of course, there are very few of those in a typical listening audience anyways. But, only you will be able to decide if "close enough" is close enough for you. In the end, they are different tools for different sounds. I'll bet you can get a lot closer to making your Bongo sound like a Jazz than you could ever get to making a Jazz sound like a Bongo, that's for sure. I left Bongolia once because I "needed" a Jazz bass tone. 3 years and a half dozen basses later, I came back. No single bass will nail ALL the classic tones, but the Bongo comes a lot closer than any other bass I've ever had.

However, pickup blend centered and all EQ set flat gives me one of the most satisfying tones I've ever had. Seems odd to have all that control and flexibility at your fingertips and not to use it, but it just works better that way IMO. It's the Bongo tone...classic, yet modern...warm, yet aggressive. I'm done chasing tone dragons and trying to get 1 bass to sound like 3-4 different basses. I wish you luck, but I think you'll do better to concentrate on just playing the darn thing .

 

[OldSchool Noob]

... I'm done chasing tone dragons and trying to get 1 bass to sound like 3-4 different basses. I wish you luck, but I think you'll do better to concentrate on just playing the darn thing .

With all due respect, that's kinda where I am. I think sometimes we get hung up in "can it sound like a this?" or" can it sound like a that?"

At the end of the day, it needs to sound like "Bass." Now, not all bass tones sound good in all kinds of music but with most active basses nowadays, you should be able to find some tone in that bass that will work for whatever you're playing -- especially with a 4-band EQ'd monster like a Bongo.

If I'm playing "Shining Star" at a Bar gig, my Bongo might not sound exactly like Verdine White's 1970's J-bass but I'll bet I can find a tone in that bass that WILL get the toes tapping and the butts moving. (I know that fellow knucklehead "adouglas" knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about here.)

No different for any other genre. I play at church and although I don't play a Fender J like Sharay Reed (who is a MONSTER player!) in this video ...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcPhwhgCywk]YouTube - God Is My Everything[/ame]

... when we crank up this song on Sunday morning, my Bongo DEFINITELY gets the job done. For that matter, when we played this song in rehearsal last night, per normal, My Bongo had my fellow musicians shaking their heads in amazement and it had the choir members feeling the song and singing their hearts out.

I think as bassists, we need to understand that our holy grail is not a specific tone but rather the tone that works for what we're playing and for our audience.

 

[bovinehost]

Someone tell me what a Jazz bass sounds like and I'll give you my opinion.

Does a Jazz bass sound like Jaco? Or more like John Paul Jones? Maybe one of those crazy phat reggae players?

If you see what I'm getting at.

 

[adouglas]

I absolutely agree with OldSchool Noob.

Frankly I never really understood the push to get a specific tone out of the instrument. It's all personal preference and point of view anyway.

If MM basses existed back in the day and everybody started using them instead of F*nders we'd all be asking if a J bass can get close to an MM tone....

My goal is not to cop somebody else's sound. It's to make my own. All I care about is the sound in my head (no, not the voices... the other one).

I try to approach this business from the point of view of making the music work. There are lots of ways to accomplish that. Trying to nail a specific tone is one way, I suppose, but to me that's looking at it sideways. What's the point? If you're in a note-for-note tribute band it makes sense, but personally I'd rather take a great song and put my own stamp on it.

It reminds me of the way my wife cooks. She's near-obsessive about following recipes to the letter. I'm more the kind of cook who looks at a recipe as a starting point or guideline... I fiddle with it until I'm happy with the result and am not afraid of making substitutions. Both approaches yield good food, but mine reflects more of my input.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

Someone tell me what a Jazz bass sounds like and I'll give you my opinion.

Does a Jazz bass sound like Jaco? Or more like John Paul Jones? Maybe one of those crazy phat reggae players?

If you see what I'm getting at.

To be honest the signature Jazz bass sound is indeed their bridge p/up soloed, played right on the bridge to get that nasal / burpy sound, if a Jazz is played on the neck p/up then itself is a copy of a p bass sound, whereas both jazz p/ups together give an average & non particualrly defined sound so in a nutshell when people refers to a jazz sound 99% of them mean the bridge p/up soloed a la Jaco / Victor Bailey / Mark Egan / Darrell Jones etc etc which anyone instantly recognizes as a Fender Jazz or clone.

 

[OldSchool Noob]

... when people refers to a jazz sound 99% of them mean the bridge p/up soloed a la Jaco / Victor Bailey / Mark Egan / Darrell Jones etc etc which anyone instantly recognizes as a Fender Jazz or clone.

... which, BTW, the Big Al can cop extremely well, yes?

 

[drTStingray]

... which, BTW, the Big Al can cop extremely well, yes?

Can a Bongo do you think?

How about the 'Geddy Lee jazz bass sound'

 

[MadMatt]

How about the 'Geddy Lee jazz bass sound'

All you need is Geddy's fingers to get that sound. The bass is irrelevant

I doubt he is willing to part with them unfortunately.

 

[drTStingray]

All you need is Geddy's fingers to get that sound. The bass is irrelevant

Yeah so much is in the fingers eh? I've heard him sound v similar using a Rickenbacker.

 

[five7]

I have had my 65 jazz for 35 years and never play it. Only my bongo!

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

You want a Big Al SSS for the real thing, that'll nail it!

I would have to disagree with you on that one. I don't find that it does. Maybe the pickup spread of the neck and bridge are too wide or the middle and bridge are too far back, but it's not the same sound to my ears.

It will do a pretty good P though.

 

[Duarte]

My old Bongo HS nailed that 'Marcus' tone. I loved it, but it just wasn't phat enough...

When you start playing your Bongo you will soon realise that you don't need to sound like the lines on those classic tracks, you will realise that the Bongo does it's thing, and does it so ridiculously well.

 

[TheAntMan]

Someone tell me what a Jazz bass sounds like and I'll give you my opinion.

Does a Jazz bass sound like Jaco? Or more like John Paul Jones? Maybe one of those crazy phat reggae players?

If you see what I'm getting at.

Bingo!!! +1

I absolutely agree with OldSchool Noob.

Frankly I never really understood the push to get a specific tone out of the instrument. It's all personal preference and point of view anyway.

If MM basses existed back in the day and everybody started using them instead of F*nders we'd all be asking if a J bass can get close to an MM tone....

My goal is not to cop somebody else's sound. It's to make my own. All I care about is the sound in my head (no, not the voices... the other one).

I try to approach this business from the point of view of making the music work. There are lots of ways to accomplish that. Trying to nail a specific tone is one way, I suppose, but to me that's looking at it sideways. What's the point? If you're in a note-for-note tribute band it makes sense, but personally I'd rather take a great song and put my own stamp on it.

Bingo again!!! +1

Just my observation.

Seems that we are forgetting what BP has been saying in person, in videos, and on this forum. "we have to break out of the 1953 mindset". The Stingray, Sterling, Bongo, Reflex, and Big-AL are not J-Basses. Can you get a "close to the sound of a J-Bass out of many of these" Yeah, kinda, I guess! But you can get many other fantastic tones out of your EBMM basses. After all, isn't that why we are all here?

Help advance the music, don't get stuck in the past. Respect the effort, dedication and courage that has give us such wonderful tools to express our musician voices in new ways.

My $0.02

--Ant

 

[bovinehost]

FTR, I think it's okay to want to get sort of a Jazz-bass-ish sound and I certainly can approximate that general tone, but there are some questions about what that tone really IS.