• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan
Ernie Ball Music Man Custom Design Experience

Finally...it is mine! All mine!

T

Transverz

Active member
Joined
Apr 25, 2005
Messages
41
I finally got it! My Sterling has found its massive brother of doom! Oh the humanity...

*sorry for the horrid pictures*

First there was this:

Sterling1.jpg


Now there is also this:

Bongo1.jpg


Family pictures are soon to come. Better ones, I promise.

And yes, the decor of my room is stuck in the 1930's. Can't get more "old school" than that!

-T
 
S

StingRayzor

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2005
Messages
108
That wallpaper just gave me a great idea for a new PG!! All I need is a name for the design.

The family looks real happy!! I doubt they get much rest.
 
T

Transverz

Active member
Joined
Apr 25, 2005
Messages
41
Thanks all! These two definitely gave me the antacid for my bass GAS :D

I finally rescued the Bongo from the horrors that was the back of the store, waiting for me to make up my mind (actually, more like brace myself for the financial pain hehe). I could have waited a couple more weeks, but I couldn't take it anymore. There is only so much torture I can take! So I brought her home.

And now for my inescapable review of both the instruments:

I love my Sterling. But I never knew how much I compensated for its sound until I got and played my Bongo. As soon as I plugged in, I got the super deep and thick tones I was looking for. I played it like I always played my Sterling. Then I thought, "man, this sounds way, way deep and huge". So then I started to back up off the lows on my amp and added more grind. Okay, now it sounded more controlled and warmer, the characteristics that make me like my Sterling. But then I wanted more growl, but not amp growl. I wanted that bass growl. It was then I noticed how high I always played relative to the pickups. I was always playing slightly above the neck p/u! I started playing slightly above the bridge p/u and THE sound was there. WOOHOO! And then I started noticing how I have to force myself to STAY down there! The Sterling had really programmed my amp settings and my playing to compromise for its growl and bite. I never knew how much it had until now.

The Bongo is PURE bass butter goodness. Set flat it can go low. Then with the superb preamp (SUPERB I SAY), it can go lower, lower, then to YOU MUST BE KIDDING. Through the other knobs, I can do other sounds and this is great. It's really comfortable to play too. Not sure if it's just specific to my basses, but the Bongo is much more soft and pillowy to play then the Sterling. Both feels are nice depending on the situation. I'm noticing I have to get used to playing on a painted neck. It's smooth, but not in the super fast way that my Sterling has. I like both and I'm having fun getting used to it. Though the neck is really close on paper and in feel, the Bongo neck is a very little bit chunkier, but again in a secure good feeling way. Definitely not uncomfortable. The body is deceivingly agile. When looking from afar (or without those MM glasses ;) ) it looks chunkafied. But having it strapped on and ripping on it, it feels hardly any different from the Sterling. Lighter even, my arms and back tell me.

My only personal gripes (strictly personal preference) are the knobs and the input signal difference. I really like the knobs and feel on my Sterling. I love knurled knobs and I like them to rotate stiffly and slower. Not snail slow, just enough so that it takes deliberate pressure to rotate. The Bongo is super fast. It kinda scares me that I might accidentally turn myself down or change a setting or something. But on a scale of 1 - 10 on relevance, I place that at about a .005. No big deal. Just personal preference. And about the input signal difference, man, this thing pumps out the signal! But what did I expect from 18volts of bliss? I had to do some major PA and amp tweaking when I tried direct and thru amp playing last night. No biggie as well. You can't fly a plane through the same places you drive a car. So that's that.

Definitely one of the best purchases I've made so far concerning my bass gear. I am going to put it through more paces to see if it is truly right for me to put it on regular bass duty, and having the Sterling step in when appropriate. Thanks to EBMM for making such an awesome, top quality bass! People are definitely missing out if they've made their mind up on it already without seeing and hearing it in person. It's freakin' fantastic.

Thanks for reading,

-T
 
0

0557

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 22, 2004
Messages
307
Location
GA
black bongos

I really wanted at stealth bongo but they can't be manufactured with the piezo
option. So I got sapphire. It should be here around the first or second week in June.


Enjoy
 
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