Dueling Bongos!

[rizzo9247]

Mr Adouglas was gracious enough to lend his 5H for a few days in order to compare with my 5HH. I will be usin g each bass in a variety of settings the next few days so sit back and enjoy (your results may vary)

Day 1

H is significantly lighter than the HH, something to be considered if weight is a major factor in your next bass purchase.

I began by playing each bass my GK/Mesa rig. The H has a pair of broken-in slinkys and the HH has fairly new coated slinkys (which have similar characteristics to the sound of broken-in slinkys sound just lasts a lot longer). All eq is flat, volume at 75%.

Initial bedroom testing: the HH had a smoother sound played right between the pickups where the H had a little more 'bite' right over the pickup. In moving up and down from the neck and bridge, the H was more reactive to hand positioning than the HH. I felt I could get a very similar sound with the HH blended towards the neck and playing the H near the neck. Same held true for the bridge.

Both definitely sounded bongoish, but as Andy told me today, I really couldn't get the H sound out of the HH. I could however get similar sounds to the HH with different hand positioning on the H, just not as smooth sounding.

The H almost reminds me a single pickup stingray 5 with just a little more flavor.

Monday night is band practice, so I will get a nice comparable live sound with these guys. I love having two bongos!

 

[ErlendDL]

Subscribed. I've got massive GAS for a Bongo, and I don't know whether to get a H or HH.

This is probably gonna be helpful!

Thanks man!

 

[jlepre]

Man makes me miss my medallion gold HH...

 

[adouglas]

Have fun, Anthony!

I'd like to make a suggestion... when I did a similar comparison a few years ago I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if I could get the same sounds out of both basses.

While that's a natural impulse especially when trying to decide whether an H would be a worthwhile investment, I now think it's more useful to look at each one by itself. They're different instruments and IMHO they should be judged on their own merits.

In other words, does the H give you what you're looking for? Or do you like the HH better?

This, I think, is more productive than seeing if you can get that redhead to masquerade as the blonde and vice versa.

By the way, I forgot to check the truss before handing it over to you. It should be fine as is, and feel free to adjust it to your own preference. I'd appreciate it if you'd leave the bridge and pickup alone, however.

 

[rizzo9247]

Yes, you are correct in saying that I should not look to see if one can sound like the other because that's not what having two different instruments is about; the true test will be the next couple of band practices where we can hear which instruments suits what type of material I'm playing.

There is a slight curve in the neck with medium action that suits me fine; im not going to adjust anything, its like getting in a car and screwing around with someone elses levels!

 

[sitonmybass]

I personally think it's really cool for adouglas to lend out his Bongo 5 single H to another forum member.

Since I own both a Bongo 5 single H and a Bongo 5 HH, I totally agree that they are individually distinct. In all honesty, I wouldn't want it any other way, would you?

 

[five7]

I personally think it's really cool for adouglas to lend out his Bongo 5 single H to another forum member.

You are right! It doesn't get any cooler!
Is there anyone in the denver area that will let me try a single H bongo or big al? I would also love to hear the differences between my bongo 5 HH and those.

 

[rizzo9247]

Day 3:

I brought both basses to practice this evening and was greeted with, "You bought ANOTHER one!"

Both basses worked extremely well. I am in a hard rock trio and I tried boy the H and HH on both the heavy and lighter numbers. There is a ton of room in our softer material to fill in the low end and felt both basses sounded great set flat. On the faster songs, the H cut through great and had some attitude when played right over the pickup, even more grind down near the bridge. The HH (which I've been using for quite a while) sat in the mix perfectly, smooth and definitive. The band mates loved this experimenting, nd we played songs over using both basses.

Its hard to say which one I like better at this point, they really are two different instruments, much more so than I originally thought.

On Thursday, the producer for our upcoming album will be sitting in, so we can get his take on things as well.

More to come!

 

[adouglas]

Hahaha

I was just mentioning to my wife this evening that my poor Bongo probably doesn't know what hit it. It's been playing all this old Motown and R&B stuff its whole life....

 

[rizzo9247]

Update:

Practice was moved up to tonight and we had a nice 2 hour session with the producer present. I decided to primarily play the H tonight. It is scary how much your right hand placement impacts your sound so much more on the H than the HH.

The producer stated the single H did not sound as round and full as the HH, but sounded better than my old stingray...grrrr

My bassist buddy Steve stopped by for a few and gave the single H a whirl. He likened it to his 02 sterling FWIW.

The way the work schedule appears for the next few days, it looks like I might not have any more time with the single H until Friday, but I think I'm happy with my HH at this point. While the H bongo is a superb and different animal from the HH, I just don't see it nailing the tone I love so much from the HH. One more day might either confirm this, or bring me right back to square 1...

 

[five7]

Well?

 

[OldSchool Noob]

Well?

Indeed.

 

[rizzo9247]

Well, I ordered an HH

It's the sound I fell in love with. The H is very versatile, don't get me wrong, but the HH just hits the sweet spot for me.

 

[RaginRog]

Have fun, Anthony!

I'd like to make a suggestion... when I did a similar comparison a few years ago I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if I could get the same sounds out of both basses.

While that's a natural impulse especially when trying to decide whether an H would be a worthwhile investment, I now think it's more useful to look at each one by itself. They're different instruments and IMHO they should be judged on their own merits.

In other words, does the H give you what you're looking for? Or do you like the HH better?

This, I think, is more productive than seeing if you can get that redhead to masquerade as the blonde and vice versa.

By the way, I forgot to check the truss before handing it over to you. It should be fine as is, and feel free to adjust it to your own preference. I'd appreciate it if you'd leave the bridge and pickup alone, however.

VERY "Classy" of you loaning your beloved Bongo to Rizzo.